Westward Ho

After a few days of visiting Grandma DeShon's house, it was obvious that it was going to be tough to beat the excitement of her new washer and dryer.  Despite this, we set off to North Platte, Nebraska.  Definitely not the most exciting place we could vacation, unless you know that Uncle Andy and Auntie Lisa live in North Platte.  They moved there last fall when Uncle Andy was hired as the youth pastor at a local church.  Andy and Lisa were expecting the arrival of Ingrid, their first daughter, around Christmas, so travelling to North Dakota, or even Lincoln (3.5 hours away), was completely out of the question for them this year.  Thankfully, us travelling to see them was not out of the question, and we ventured to their new house for a fun day together between Christmas and New Year's Day. 

They know how to start things off right, so after a quick tour of their new abode, we got right into present opening. 

Although they had yet to actually see their little girl, Andy and Lisa already knew that Princess games and dollies are the way to little girls' hearts.  We're still playing Princess Bingo, Princess Old Maid (Xandra informs us every time that she doesn't like the Old Maid aka Ursula the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid), and Princess Go Fish many nights before bed.  They also gave them Christmas Ring Pops.  The girls thought this was spectacular, especially since they hadn't even had lunch yet.

Uncle Andy and Joe exchanged gifts, too.  Uncle Andy got two hoodies, a new KU Jayhawks hoodie and a Nebraska Huskers hoodie.  He opted to wear the KU hoodie and muttered something about using the Huskers one for an oil rag.  At least it won't go completely to waste.

Among other, more practical gifts, Joe got a double barrel shotgun that even ejects the used shells when you open it up.  All I'd like to know is, where's mine?  Thanks for leaving me defenseless guys! 

Aliyah worked so hard to be able to load the shells, but it was a little beyond her.

It seems as though firing the gun properly was also a little beyond Theia.

Definitely a commercial for the merits of training on gun safety, don't you think?

The rest of the day was filled with chatting and playing.  The adults even got a few rounds of the game "A Ticket to Ride" in while the kids were napping.

At dinner time, Aliyah wasn't interested in eating her taco soup.

She thought it much more fun to feed Uncle Andy.

They did a pretty good job.  I thought Andy's shirt looked cleaner than it usually is when he's done eating.

After a full day, we piled back in the car and drove home to Grandma DeShon's.  The older girls played in the dark with their Christmas flashlights and travel kits (a Christmas gift I put together for them with our many travels in mind), Aliyah and Joey slept, and Joe and I drank soda and chewed on candy in an effort to keep our eyes open.

A few days later, Andy and Lisa welcomed Ingrid into their home, and while we were sad to not be there meet her, we were glad to share a special day with Andy and Lisa beforehand.  Our only mistake was forgetting to leave that pesky shotgun at their house.