Christmas here and there!

Wow, quite the fun we have had this Christmas as we made our travels! Of course we started in Dallas 3 weekends ago where I took this great video of my nephew Cade getting his "trucky truck" from KK. Hope you can view it okay as I have never posted videos before!
The next round took place in Clear Lake, TX with my Aunt "Crazy" Donna, Uncle Hank and family. We attended the Christmas Eve candlelight service then came home to tear into presents! It was fun watching my 2 year old 2nd cousin, Parker with her presents and we can't wait for Luke to realize what he has opened next year. :-) Beaumont was the next stop where we were greeted happily by Paw Paw, Nana, Aunt Brina and Mee Maw (well, I say we, but it was really Luke they were waiting on)! We spent Christmas day with the Lowe family and kids and had a blast doing the white elephant gift exchange again! Next stop, Trafton house for lunch on the 26th.... we caught up with KK, Paw Paw and Granny and Luke was finally able to meet his Great Aunt Brenda and Uncle Doug! He also made quite the "showing" with this attempt to crawl.


Finally, back to San Antonio we came and Chris and I exchanged our gifts Sunday night. Luke finally had his Santa Clause Monday morning and Mimi brought over her load Monday night! Whew, what a whirlwind and even after all of the gifts have been exchanged, I must say my favorite part of this whole season was watching our family interact with Luke and get to know him. He is such and joy and doesn't meet a stranger.... even with skipped nap times and odd meal times, he remained his adorable self.
As we venture in to 2011, I have to pinch myself to believe all of the wonderful blessings that came our way in 2010. Allow me to reminisce a bit:

1. We applied for adoption mid January and our application was picked mid February (which meant our total wait time was just under 1 month.... compared to the 2 years we had come to expect)!!!
2. When matched with our birth mom, we were told she had a girl on the way..... but in April, we found out we would be welcoming a baby boy (which we both secretly wanted)!:-)
3. Also in April, Chris' acquisition of his company was finalized and while the new job they offered him didn't prove to be as challenging as he hoped, it did provide a nice increase in pay which allowed me the opportunity to stay home with our pending arrival.
4. We had 2 baby showers in May thrown by awesome friends and family to celebrate the pending arrival of our little boy.
   
5. June 10, 2010 on Thursday evening, we witness a miracle happen. Our precious baby Luke was brought into this world and most importantly our world by a very courageous and generous woman. By allowing us to be in the delivery room, she ensured us that we would not miss out on a single breath of his life.
   
6. June 12, 2010 on Saturday evening, we proudly brought home Christopher "Luke" Hiltpold, the most precious gift we could have prayed for and had loved ones to greet us.
   
7. The morning I woke up on June 13th I realized I would never again have a moment without worry for this little boy's safety and well being. LOL!
8. Sept. 1, 2010 was my last official day at USAA and I started being a full time MOM! God is great!
9. In November, we celebrated Luke's first Thanksgiving at our home with family AND finalized Luke's adoption on November 29th- he's officially a Hiltpold!
10. And finally... in December 2010, Luke turned 6 months old and we made the Christmas rounds so all could love on him as they should!
    

I can't even imagine God having a better 2011 in store for us, but somehow I know he does. Not all of our friends and family can say they had a terrific 2010, but what I wish for all of you reading this is that you have peace, love and joy in 2011 no matter what life brings you.