Where are we going?

We went to visit Jerod’s family the last week of January.  Many of his cousins, aunts & uncles, and the great grandparents hadn’t had the privilege of meeting Elijah yet.  Elijah did wonderfully on the drive up to Dallas, then on to Snyder, and eventually to Denver City.

We are going to west Texas!

The first stop:  Dallas.  We got there right in time for an ice freeze.  We stayed with Jerod’s three cousins Alex, Amory, & Abby.  It was a great time because Alex and Abby’s classes were cancelled due to weather.  Even Amory got to come home early from work one night!

Cousin Amory

Cousin Abby

Cousin Alex

I think they enjoyed Elijah.  He loved hanging out with his three cuddies!  From Dallas we went to Snyder, Texas.  On the way there, we got the chance to visit with Debbie, Jerod’s aunt.  It was pretty obvious that she was a big fan of Elijah’s.  He thought she was pretty great too.

Aunt Debbie

We arrived in Snyder to hang out with Abuelo and Carl, Jerod’s uncle.  Carl lives in a log cabin.  It is a cool place and we enjoyed hanging out with Carl and Ellis (Abuelo/Jerod’s dad).

Uncle Carl

Abuelo

The next day we headed out further west to Denver City, Jerod’s hometown.  We stayed at Yvonne’s house- which is Jerod’s aunt.  Apparently she doesn’t want anymore nieces or nephews because she put us in two twin beds.  :)  Seriously though she loved Eli too.

Aunt Yvonne

Elijah also met his big cousin, Christian.  Christian was so loving toward Eli.  He offered to let Elijah keep his very own baby blanket.  Jerod & I really enjoyed Christian.  He is getting so big and always had funny things to say.  He is a great kid.

Cousin Christian

Elijah got to meet his great Grandma and Grandpa.  Elijah loved them!

Great Grandpa

Great Grandma

Grandma & Grandpa

He also met his uncle Greg.   Greg is married to Yvonne.  We had some great conversations about raising a family.  Yvonne and Greg have raised three wonderful children, Abby, Alex, and Amory.  Jerod and I took good notes!

Uncle Greg

Jerod’s Dad Ellis came to DC too and we celebrated his birthday.  We stayed three days in Denver City.  We ate plenty of good homemade Mexican food.  I got the recipes from the matriarchs- we’ll see if I can even come close to their cooking.  I’m trying, Jerod!

Happy Birthday Abuelo!

We were very fortunate to see some of Jerod’s buddies from high school & college.  We saw Dave & Meghan and their beautiful son, Brady.   Brady and Eli became friends pretty quickly.  We enjoyed catching up and reminiscing about fun college stories.

Brady & Elijah

We also got the chance to see Blake and Brooke.  They have two handsome boys named Hudson and Haddon.  We only got to see them briefly, but we enjoyed spending a little time with them.  Blake just released his second CD.  It is really good.  If you have a moment, check it out at www.blakehicksmusic.com/.  We listen to it often in the car.

Brady doesn't know about personal space yet

We got the opportunity to see Tyler and Haley.  Tyler is Jerod’s best friend.  He and his wife Haley are expecting their first baby in May.  Its a little boy, so Elijah will have a fun buddy to hang out with pretty soon!

Tyler, Haley, Elijah, & their baby in the belly, Griffin

One week after starting our first road trip with Elijah, we headed back to Austin.We spent the night in Snyder on the way back to break up the trip.  Overall I think Eli had a wonderful time meeting all the family.  Jerod & I loved it too.

mom & Elijah

We're going home!