New Year House in the Texas Panhandle

After spending Christmas in Arizona with Rachel's side of the family, we started our drive toward Amarillo to have New Year's with Tyler's side of the family. Tyler was unable to attend the Carson family reunion earlier in the year because of a training event for the Army, and the family wanted to have everyone get together because Tyler was going to Afghanistan in February. 

It was a short four hour drive from Show Low, Arizona, to Albuquerque, New Mexico where we got a hotel for the night. The hotel offered free tickets to the Albuquerque Zoo and Aquarium as part of a deal! We only had about an hour before the zoo closed so we bundled up and hurried over to see what we could see.

They had a very cool polar bear exhibit. It felt very authentic since it was so cold outside!

We didn't have time to see the Aquarium, but we were able to see some fish at the zoo anyway.

Cute picture of Tyler and Christian 

After we left the zoo we went back to relax in the hotel room. It was the first time we had gotten a hotel with two separate bedrooms for ourselves and it was great! We put the babies pack and play's in the larger room with us in case they needed Mommy in the night.

The other bed and bathroom were upstairs that the big kids shared. They always like to watch cartoons when we stay at hotels. 

After a relaxing night's sleep we continued our trip of almost five hours toward the lodge we were staying at near Amarillo. 

There was plenty to do in the van during the drive. We have our trusty DVD player to help keep the kids entertained. The babies took naps.

Andrew made silly faces while Rachel took pictures.

Sylvia and Rachel had contests to see who had the best smile. 

All of Tyler's family arrived at the cabin around the same time. It was great to see everyone again!

Melody with her cousin Carson Lee.  I think she was confused for a split second and thought it was Christian.

The Christmas decorations were still up and the Cabin had a very festive feel. 

Here's a view of the large living room from the loft

Christmas magic and tots with eyes all aglow.

The Christmas tree was huge and magnificent.

Christian loved the Christmas decorations, especially the Christmas tree shaped chair that was just his size!

Everybody had lots of fun playing together and talking. Here is Sylvia putting her baby doll down for bed time.

Going exploring!

There was quite a bit of land with walking trails around the cabin. Here's another picture of Tyler and Christian, this time in a Gazebo by a pond. 

At one of the pond there was a well and small stream that led into the pond.  

It was really cool looking.

The pond was frozen over near the edges and the kids liked trying to throwing rocks into the water.

Some of the grand kids posing with Granddad Carson

Then Grandma joined in the picture too!

This looked like the entrance to a mine or cave but it really wasn't.

We didn't have gloves that fit the babies so we used socks. It actually worked pretty well!

The trail around the pond continued up some hills and an overlook before circling back around to the cabin.

The cousins had lots of fun playing together during the hike. Here is Sylvia with her cousin Grace Lee.

This is a view from the top of the hill. You can see the cabin on the left and some of the clay rocks on the right.

It was so fun walking around the property especially with the kids because their imaginations made it all the more exciting.  The owner's dog also tagged along and was really sweet because she was shepherding the kids and making sure they all stayed together.

We went for a walk the second day but it was way colder!

The kids didn't last that long the second time because it felt like our faces were freezing!

There were lots of fun things to do, but sometimes just playing with daddy's toes is enough to keep the babies entertained! Melody has such a sweet smile!

         Sporting onesie pajamas that Grandma and Granddad Carson got for the babies for their birthday.

The oldest cousin, Kiera Stinson, had her own tablet. Naturally the kids congregated around her to watch the shows or games she had on the device. 

Sylvia and Makayla posing for the camera.

 Andrew loved the puzzles that Aunt Lissa brought. 

When we played Bean-boozle it was scary for Andrew because he did not want to get a bad bean. He wanted to get a good bean like the tooth paste one!

Sylvia loved drinking hot chocolate while playing with her cousins Sophia and Grace Lee

There were even games just for the kids.

We even got a chance to get away while the twins were napping one afternoon to take a walk just the two of us.  We explored a different trail this time and enjoyed the crisp winter fresh air.

We love our family and were happy we could all get together for our New Year celebration!!