The Phillips Family: Back To Texas!

(a heads up: this post will be full of pics...scroll fast if you need to!)

It's a (well, should be) an 11 hr drive to Amarillo.

But, we had some car trouble.

Something about a sensor in the computer of the car that was malfunctioning.

We would hear a ding and then the car would basically start to power down

(force us to drive 20-30 mph...and we're on the highway. scary)

We would have to pull over, turn the car off for 20 sec, let it "reboot" and then

turn it on again.

This happened sporadically for most of the trip, until the last two or three hours when

it started happening every 15 minutes or so, sometimes every 5. Not super safe on the highway.

The only humor we had in it was sweet Sarah Grace saying (every time we stopped)...

We at John David's?

And sometimes,

WE AT JOHN DAVID'S!!

One time we had pulled into a gas station, she asked the question.

We got the car running again only to have it stop again before we could get out of the

parking lot.

When of course she said, "We at John David's now!"

Oh, the mind of a 2 year old. I love it. Her innocence and sweetness

melt our heart every day.

(and her independent, "I do it myself" spirit, keep us on our toes!)

But we did eventually make it to Amarillo and what followed was a few days
of bliss when it comes to family togetherness!

Yay that we finally made it.
Didn't take E long to find JD's hats and nerf gun!

We ate,

i caught her just as this was going in (thus the blurry pic)...little stinker, eating santa's cookies!

drank,
(Amarillo is home of the fountain drinks!)

played,

wii (yes, emmy is watching from the packnplay!)

don't even know what game this is but she is serious about it.

just hung out,

all with their new pillow pets from my parents

decorated cookies,

yes, there is a cookie under there!

went to the Christmas Eve service,

showing Ellie how tall the tree was they were sitting under

wanting to hold baby Jesus

sweet mama

made gingerbread houses,

this was kind of a disaster

Travis, trying to make the best of it!

opened presents,

we've always gotten to open one gift on Christmas Eve...our matching pajamas!

aprons from my mom and dad from russia

i LOVE this pic of my brother. it totally captures him. (not easy to do on camera!)


thanking uncle david for always buying them such cute clothes! (you have great taste!)

love it. classic ellie.

what i caught gracie doing in the middle of the chaos

and had a white Christmas.

Travis and I's first Christmas married we were in Amarillo.
It was his first Christmas away from Edna, and it snowed there 12in on Christmas Eve.
(Edna is in South Texas, crazy)
We haven't been back to Amarillo for Christmas since that first year,
so we thought this was a little redemptive!