Two nephews and a niece

I had the opportunity to go to the states to see my sister and meet my nephew, whom I had never met.  And also meet my new brother-in-law, Doug.  I had met Doug right before we left for Costa Rica, but he wasn't my brother-in-law at that time.  I had really kept it quite because I wanted to surprise Laura, but I ended up telling her right before I left.  I really enjoyed my time with family and enjoyed Starbucks and the mall.  I think I keep my mom jumping while I'm there, going here and going there.

Here are a few pictures of Dathan.

Enjoying a ride at the mall.  Check out that tooth.

Dathan doesn't actually turn one until January, but we had a birthday party with family.  The theme of the party was Captain America.  And this is him getting some icing. 

Eating his cupcake.

My sister, Laura, loved it when he did this.

Since I was going to be in Texas, my mom and I decided to go to Arkansas and see my new niece, Maggie and my other nephew, Tucker.  We flew in late Saturday night and spent Sunday with them and then flew back to Texas on Monday.  I think it rained the whole time we were there and Monday morning it started snowing and sleeting.  I enjoyed spending time with my brother and his family, but not the weather.

This is Tucker.

And here is sweet Maggie.

I am very thankful for airline miles because without them I would not have been able to go on this trip. The only way I had enough miles was because I flew through Panama City, which wasn't that bad.  I really hate traveling days but I really hate traveling days by myself.  I always get so nervous.  Am I going to make my connecting flight?  Will my luggage make it?  And the list goes on.  Well, everything went great on the way there, but on the way home not so much.  While sitting on the plane in Panama City getting ready for the last leg of the journey I noticed my luggage.  It was just sitting there and they weren't putting it on the belt to be loaded on the plane.  Then I saw them load it on a cart and carry it off.  I then knew that my luggage was not going to Ecuador with me and I seriously almost cried.  Why?  Because my suitcases were full of presents for the kids and things that we needed.  I always tend to think the worst and in my mind I thought that I would never see my suitcases again.  After arriving at the airport I had to report that my luggage did not show up and they didn't know where my luggage was.  We went back down to the airport the next day to check on my luggage and they told us that my luggage was on a plane that had just landed.  I was so relieved and so thankful.  Now the kids are really excited about Christmas because they know they got gifts from the states.  We usually end up giving them money because everything is so expensive here.

Very, very thankful for God's many blessings!