Welcome to T'town

A snapshot of my favorite place on earth

A Merry Little Christmas

A White(ish) Christmas in Tuscaloosa? It snowed (flurried) on Christmas day and it was very exciting for the residents of this deep Southern town who rarely see snow on their front lawn much less on December 25. It was very special indeed and so very merry in the Shamblin house. I am so thankful for my wonderful family. We have had such fun that James can now say each of my family member's names!

Nice family pic...except this isn't our dog.

The week before Christmas, James stayed with his grandparents and Jordan and I went to Steamboat Springs, Colorado to ski. It was the most fun trip ever!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Christmas Card 2010

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!

Oh What Fun

James is having a ball in Tuscaloosa for the holidays.

And this week, his walking has quickly progressed to running everywhere! Things will never be the same.

Christmas in Chicago

A white Christmas season is very novel for us; we are currently in the middle of a snowstorm! We have been trudging through the snow to Christmas parties, Hanukkah parties, and to fun Chicago Christmas attractions, and we will soon leave for a couple weeks in Tuscaloosa and Steamboat.

I know I've said this at every age and stage but James is SO FUN right now. He understands so much more and has lots of tricks like identifying his belly button, head and airplanes. He giggles all the time and has the cutest little walk. He is very very active though and it is definitely going to be a challenge to come up with fun activities for him all through this extremely cold and snowy winter!

Trains, Trains and More Trains

James has a new love: trains. He points at the "El" every nine minutes as it whizzes by our kitchen window. He drags around his Thomas the Train toy all day every day. And, this evening, he was in heaven when we went to the Chicago Botanic Garden Winter Wonderland in which they recreated Chicago landmarks and had dozens of miniature electric trains.

Poor James - it is SO cold. It was 11 degrees this morning when I took Elliot outside.

He pointed at all the trains: every.single.one.

He also loved all the decorative "balls," (he calls them "bahs").

And it was another big day in the life of James because I finally got around to turning his car seat around to face forward. He loved being able to see outside.

Oh, Hello Snow

We woke up this morning to the first big snow of the year in Chi-town.

Also, it was a big week in the life of James: he started walking. Although he took his first steps a couple months ago, he really took off this week. He gets so proud of himself when he goes a long way.

Happy Snow Day in Chicago!

Ho Ho Ho...

Merry Christmas!

It's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Chicago. We got our first Christmas card in the mail (way to go, Meg!), decorated our tree this weekend and now it's snowing outside. It's much more festive to buy a tree while bundled up in coats and hats and scarves than it is to buy one in a t-shirt and shorts in Dallas! It's also a lot more interesting to carry a Christmas tree up three flights of stairs...

A Very Thankful Holiday

We returned late last night from a nine day trip to Texas filled with lots of family, friends and laughter. This Thanksgiving, we are so thankful for all that we have been blessed with and the Lord's provision in Jordan's job search. He accepted a position in Dallas last week and we are thrilled to be returning to a city we love.

The Campbell Family

Cousins!

Cowboy Breakfast at the Farm