From Our Family To Yours

Merry Christmas from the Stone's!

We hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas and may your 2013 be blessed with lots of love & laughter!!

Christmas in Holliday... Again :)

On Thursday morning, Chris and Crockett went to Holliday. Chris had some business to take care of, so naturally, he took his business partner :) Crockett was a little hesitant to leave momma this time, which is unusual, but I was coming to Holliday the next day, so he was ok. Chris kept him busy. Brenda even took them all on a carriage ride. Crockett thought that was AWESOME! On Friday morning, Bowen and I packed up and got ready to leave. I had to get an oil change before I left.... BIG MISTAKE. Bowen was crying before we even got out of the city limits. He took a 30 or 45 minute nap, but cried the rest of the way. This mommas' nerves were beyond frayed by the time we got to Holliday. But at least we made it. This year, instead of having Christmas at Elwanda's house, we went to the Holliday Community Center. The family has grown SO much and there are so many rowdy little kiddos who love to run around and play, so it worked out really well to have lots of room. The kids played on all their cars and Chad and Sara got Crockett a plasma car like Rich's, so they rode in circles all night. They had a BLAST! He also loved the box it came in! It was his 'rocket ship'. What an imagination Crockett has :) The babies all got to play together for the first time. Bella, Bowen and Wes are all so close in age. They will have so much fun together in the years to come. The traditional opening of the packages was fun and crazy, as always! Everyone opens 1 gift by themselves, in order from youngest to oldest, and then everyone opens everything else. It is quite chaotic but the kids love it!   All the kids made out like bandits... we have toys coming out our ears :) After the gifts, we took lots of pictures. How often do this many people get together!?! We were only missing 2, Kelly and Grandpa Steve. Maybe they will be here next year. We sure did miss seeing them, though! After tons of pictures, all the men got up and decided it was time to eat. We had a yummy homecooked Christmas dinner. Just when it was time to eat, Bowen decided he had enough. He was SO tired. He had that short nap in the car and wouldn't sleep at all after that. His eyes were red and it was easy to tell he was miserable. It was a really great evening and weekend. We had so much fun seeing everyone and getting to celebrate Christmas with all of the family. We treasure these memories together.

It has been a LONG Christmas. It all began over a week ago. But we are SO thankful to have been able to spend time with everyone in our family. We are blessed to have so many people to celebrate and make memories with. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas At LuLu's!

Since the Curry's didn't get back until late the night before, we decided to Christmas with LuLu and Papaw on the day after Christmas. We all went over to Lulu's where we had a mexican fiesta! Rachy's sweet boyfriend, John, even came to join us! We are so happy to have him here with us. He even brought his dog, Charlie. They boys loved him, but I am not sure the feeling was mutual. We had chicken enchiladas, Pedro's tamales, guac, and Mom and I had margaritas! It was relish! It is actually becoming a tradition for Rachy to cook these for Christmas :) YAY! After a we were all full, we decided it was time to open gifts. The boys were so excited to pass them out, and only a couple of times did we have to tell Quin that he couldn't open the gifts yet. He REALLY, REALLY wanted to open gifts, any gifts :) The little boys were SO good this year! They each took a turn and opened a gift and then watched everyone else. Rachy got Braidy and Crockett digital cameras, which they LOVED. LuLu and Papaw got the big boys sleeping bags, that they wanted to use last night! Bowen wasn't really into any of it and was not happy with anyone except Papaw. He held him all night and by the time everything was winding down, Bowen was sound asleep on Papaw's chest. It was such a precious sight. Quinny loved opening his gifts and was so fun to watch. The boys were definitely spoiled... as were the adults :) I got a set of Le Cruset cast iron pots. I was SO excited! We are really so blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas with all of the people we love. The gifts are fun, especially with the boys, but really getting to spend time is the best. Very rarely these days do we all get to hang out. I am truly thankful for these memories. We have had a Very Merry Christmas this year and only have 1 more to go!

A Very Merry Christmas!

Crockett woke up Christmas morning ready to go! Momma wasn't quite ready to get up, but I sure didn't want to miss anything! Crockett ran into the living room to see what Santa had brought him. He began tearing off paper and looking at all his new toys. He was SO EXCITED!!! He got trucks, trucks and more trucks.  Bowen loved his new car and he looks so cool driving it :) Mommy and daddy love watching their precious baby boys faces light up. Nothing is sweeter. After we opened presents and checked out our stockings, we started a fire. We had a white Christmas! There was about 1 or 2 inches of snow outside and it was C-O-L-D! Lulu, Papaw and Rachy came over and brought breakfast. We always have a breakfast casserole on Christmas morning and LOTS of coffee this year! Crockett was so happy to see them all and get to show them his new toys. It was a fun morning and we are so glad Santa found our house this year :)

This year was also a little different because Poppa and JJ came to Lubbock! We never get to celebrate with them this close to Christmas, so that was very special! Poppa, JJ and Rachy all came over to our house and helped me make dinner. We had yummy brisket, hashbrown casserole, green beans, bread and apple cobbler with ice cream. And LOTS of wine. It was very yummy. So glad to know how to cook a brisket now! HA! The Curry's came over when they got back in town and joined us for dinner and presents, too. It was kind of crazy with 4 kiddos and a screaming baby, in addition to the 7 of us! The boys loved all of their gifts. Crockett and Braidy got a bullhorn from Poppa... and just FYI: Poppa, If you are reading this, just know that we will be bringing those next time we come visit :) The boys LOVED them! They were the highlight of the night! I got lots of cookbooks, which I have started collecting, and stuff for my kitchen, Chris got a very nice shirt and Bowen got a book, his 1st tractor and a musical walker. We had such a great time and were so thankful to get to celebrate with everyone! Merry Christmas to All!!

Christmas Eve!

Our Christmas Eve was a little different this year. We traditionally go Christmas at my mom's house, but this year, the Curry's were skiing, so a few main players were missing. It was such a fun day, though. It began with a note from Buford! Crockett found a message from Buford, which he thought was really cool. He was sad that Buford was about to leave us, but he cheered up when I told him that he would be back next year. Mom, Rach and I also went to Painting with a Twist. It was SO fun! We got to do an ornament painting and drink mimosas :) What could be better!?!? After a quick lunch, I had to go home and relieve my babysitter! Ha! Chris was so kind to let me get out of the house for a while. That night we went over to LuLu and Papaw's house for steaks. It was a delicious dinner! But I had two very sleepy, fussy and unhappy boys, which put a slight damper on things. They were both exhausted, so we didn't open any presents, or get to look at lights. We left LuLu's and got ready for bed. We did read a book that Santa sent with Buford for us to read on Christmas Eve. The book is called "Room for a Little One" I love that Crockett knows about the TRUE meaning of Christmas... even if it gets a little lost when we start opening presents. We also had to leave a little food out for Santa and his reindeer. Santa got some Cuties, 1 Oreo and chocolate milk. Crockett didn't want to share the other Oreo and I wasn't going to fight him and I just didn't get my other cookies made. Santa liked the Cuties though :). The reindeers got peanuts and some reindeer food we left outside. Christmas is so much fun through the eyes of little kids. Merry Christmas Eve!