Catchin up!

Alright, so I've kind of slacked a bit, but it is the holidays and life gets a bit crazy, I'm sure you all understand, right? I am so happy to say I am done with my Christmas shopping, so I can now relax.
Let me catch you all up on the Madsen's life in Texas. Since I wrote last we have been having some fun, and not so much fun.
The fun... Riley's parent were here for about a week last month and they kept us really busy. We went to a wild animal safari and had a blast! The animals came right up to our window and we were able to feed them. The kids liked the Zebra's the best. That same day day we went on a glass bottom boat tour where we got so see all kinds of fish and plants. It was a busy day! The kids loved spending time with their grandma and grandpa.
The not so fun... Since Damien started school, he has brought home many different viruses. Last month he had strep, bronchitis, and the flu. We had to put him on breathing treatments for about a week. Thank goodness we didn't catch any of this. Thanksgiving was not so much fun. We thought Damien was feeling better, so we went to breakfast, but he started feeling sick again, so we had to spend the rest of the day at home.
This is our first Christmas in our new home and we are loving it. Since it doesn't get really cold here, we try to light our fireplace every chance we get. It was cold the day we decorated our tree, so we turned on some Christmas music and lit a fire. That really put me into the Christmas spirit. This was also the first year for us to put Christmas lights on the house. Riley really enjoyed that, and it looks great.