As a family we decided to celebrate Christmas a week early so that we could avoid the crowds and the expense. It also allowed Ariana and Matt to have Rylan’s first Christmas morning in their home. This year we decided on meeting up in San Antonio as Keenan and Sarah had moved there recently and it allowed Sarah to join in on some of the activities as she is very busy in residency. Sarah is in her first year of residency at the Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) and she is a lieutenant in the Air Force. They rented an apartment in the Pearl area which was recently converted from the old brewery to apartments and a shopping area.
We booked a VRBO near Keenan and Sarah’s house located along the famous San Antonio’s River Walk. It was Rylan’s first plane trip:
He did really well! Perhaps he will follow in his daddy’s footsteps and become a pilot!
Unfortunately, Matt could not join us for the entire time we were there and Sarah wasn’t feeling great, but we made the most of it. Keenan and Sarah came over to open gifts and everyone was surprised (no, not at all) to get matching jammies:
What a good looking family if I do say so myself!
The blanket that cool Rylan in the shades is on was actually Keenan’s when he was an infant. It really held up well! Gymboree = quality.
One day we ventured out to see the Alamo while Keenan and Sarah were working. It’s not nearly as big as you would think, but reading about the history and the battle were very interesting.
We went back one night after dinner to see it lit up:
Beautiful decorated for Christmas!
One of the Busse Christmas traditions is to complete at least one jigsaw puzzle. This year we did a very special one:
It wasn’t extremely difficult, but it was fun finding all the pieces with Rylan in them and then putting them into place.
Near our VRBO was the Elsewhere Garden Bar & Grill and because they were decorated for Christmas with a “Grinch” theme we had to check it out:
The place was packed and we were lucky to share a picnic table with another family. The food was surprisingly good. I think that Sassy (Katrina’s grandma name) and Rylan really enjoyed it:
Numerous nights we strolled on the RiverWalk to have dinner.
Of course Rylan was central to everything we did! He always lights up when he sees a camera aimed at him. He will probably be an actor as he loves the limelight. While everyone was together Rylan laughed for his first time. What a treasure to see that!
It was beautiful returning from dinner along the RiverWalk and seeing the lights:
I have to say that the RiverWalk decorated at Christmas is quite beautiful and worth a stop!
As we where hanging around the apartment we were able to capture some great pictures (of course with Rylan):
As all great things come to a close, so did our family gathering for Christmas in San Antonio. We were able to take this final picture at lunch on the day that we left:
It was a shame that Matt wasn’t there at the end, but of course he was in spirit!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
0 Comments