Merry Christmas & Happy New Year @ Poppa's!

Last weekend we drove to San Antonio to celebrate our 4th and FINAL Christmas for 2010!! Since it was New Year's Eve when we arrived we got to celebrate New Year's with Poppa and JJ, too! Although it is quite a LONG drive, it is always well worth it and we all have such a great time! Plus, now that we have a dvd player for Crockett in the car... it was SO MUCH EASIER! (Can't remember why we didn't get one 2 years ago!!) When we arrived on Friday the Curry's and Aunt Susan were already there, so Crockett was busy with Braidy as soon as we got out of the car! They had such a BLAST running around outside, going up and down (and up and down!) the stairs, looking for the kitty cat, playing by the pool, just being busy little boys! Chris and I got to catch up with everyone and relax a bit before dinner. We always eat wwwwwaaaayyyy too much while we are there, and this weekend was definately no exception! After dinner, we decided to give Poppa and JJ their big Christmas gift. We gave them a big patio heater, which they LOVED! It was perfect weather outside to use it, too!

On Saturday, we had a huge breakfast and then opened (more) presents! The boys were so excited to see their awesome rocking chairs and Mickey Mouse song books... they got lots of great stuff! Puzzles, tee-ball stand, and LOTS of things little boys love! Us grown ups got some great stuff too! We were so thankful for all the gifts, tangible and intangible, that we got from Poppa and JJ and Aunt Susan. It was such a great day, the guys got to watch TONS of football (Can they ever see TOO much football??), Monica and I got to go shop for a bit (Ann Taylor had 50% OFF your ENTIRE purchase!! How could we pass that up!?!), Braidy and Crockett helped Poppa and JJ put out corn for the deer, move some rocks and basically get a little extra excersize :) It was a great day and we really enjoyed spending time with so many people we love! We had a delicious dinner, which included some black eyed peas, as it was NEW YEAR'S DAY! After dinner, Poppa shot some AWESOME fireworks, I was quite impressed, Crockett was not... and he lit the firepit for some marshmallow roasting! It was tons of fun and we LOVE LOVE LOVE roasting marshmallows!!

After a good night's sleep, it was time to eat some breakfast (a HUGE breakfast, actually :) and hit the road! We always have so much fun with Poppa and JJ. It was a great ending for the 2010 Christmas season! We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives. It is a great time of the year to reflect on the many blessings the LORD has given us. We are so thankful for each and everyone who is in our lives and has helped make 2010 such a special year!

It's OFFICIAL!!!!!!

We are packing up and heading to..... MIDLAND, TX! Chris has been offered, and accepted, a job with Halliburton beginning on January 5th! Talk about fast! We have put our house up for sale... never really sunk in until she put the HUGE sign in our yard! We have a townhouse... and will move in sight-unseen! Have begun packing, throwning away and donating in a BIG way! The back room and the back bedroom are empty and slowly, or quickly, everything else is becoming pretty bare too! We have shown the house several times. Elwanda (God Bless her soul) has helped me DEEP CLEAN the house and kept Crockett while I tackle everything else. It has been a whirlwind.

We are very excited about this new opportunity for Chris and our family. It is also very bittersweet. We are leaving so many people that we love and a home that we brought our baby home to. But we also know that this is the best thing for our family right now. So we are very optimistic about it even though we are also realistic enough to know that it will be difficult.

We look forward to seeing what God has in store for us in Midland and are excited to begin this new adventure!

Christmas Day at Grandmaw's!

For lunch on Christmas Day, we went to be with the Stone family! It is always such a special get-together and really is a great way to celebrate the day. Grandmaw is such a remarkable woman and is the glue that binds this family together. I always feel like we really remember what these holidays are about when we are at her house. God, family, friends... the most important things in life (and in that order).

We ate such a delicious meal. There is always so much food! Most of the time I don't even make it to dessert! (Yeah, right, maybe a little bit :) We get to catch-up with the ones we don't see often enough, the kids get to play, the men talk shop, it is such a great occasion! After we cleaned up, and cleared away, it is time for presents. This year, Grandmaw made EVERYONE pick a number between 1 and 19... whoever guessed her number was SANTA!!! I guessed 18 and the number was 17, luckily, Kayleigh guessed 17 and happily accepted her new job :) She was a good little Santa too!! Everyone goes around (youngest to oldest) and opens one gift... while EVERYONE watches you! It really was nerve-racking my first couple of years in the family, but we have a really good time now. After that, it is like a free-for-all!! There is wrapping paper going everywhere, toys flying, kids playing, people hugging... it is wonderful! Just what a big family Christmas should be!

There were lots of great moments: Grandmaw got Crockett a pair of pj's with tractors on them... he had to put them on right then! He kept looking at his legs telling everyone "TACTOR!" He had actually borrowed the same pair of pj's from his friend, Cade, and I kept worrying because he wants to wear them EVERYDAY and I didn't know how I was going to give them back :), Brenda got a sign that said "There would be a lot less spoiled kids in this world if we could spank Grandma and Grandpa! HA! So true :), Marla and Brenda both got teeny tiny shirts (Grandmaw said they were the BIG THING in Granbury :), Shirley made a delicious Kahlua cake, but by the time we found out it had Kahlua in it, Nathalie, Crockett and Rich had already DEVOURED it!, All of us girls got house coats! We should have taken a big picture :) And I could go on and on....

I am so lucky, happy, proud to be a part of this family. I have spent the last 5 years right down the road from most of these people and they have taken me in like I have been here for 15! We had a wonderful day and Crockett was WORN OUT! It was the perfect ending for a pretty perfect Christmas!

We have been so lucky to celebrate with each side of our family this year! It is exhausting but so worth it. We are blessed with so many people in our lives and getting to spend part of a holiday with them is just a small way to say 'We Love You'!! After heading to my dad's this weekend (NYE!) Christmas 2010 will officially be over. What a Christmas it has been!!! :)

Merry Christmas from our home...

We had decided last year that from that Christmas on, we would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day at our house. One day Crockett will know all about Santa and he will know that Santa comes to his house! I have never NOT been at my mom's for Christmas, so it was a bit bittersweet, but she understood... and I have been looking forward to it ever since! So on Christmas Eve, after Hotshot and MaryAnn's house we went home and opened a couple of presents! Chris and I decided to let Crockett open a couple, because we couldn't stand waiting!, and he and I could only open the one Crockett had given each of us. Last year was so special since it was Crockett's 1st Christmas, but this year was even more WONDERFUL! He was sooooo much fun to watch! He knows how to open the gift and when he sees what is inside, his eyes just light up and most of the time, he says "WHOA!!" It was priceless and such a fantastic memory that Chris and I will always share. Crockett loved his tractor shirt and his toolbox... Chris LOVED the photobook Crockett:) made about "ME and MY DADDY"... and I was SO SO EXCITED about my new NIKON D3000! It was so special to spend Christmas Eve with our little family!

After Crockett went to sleep, Santa's elves got to work! We set up his kitchen, put up his "tractor" tent, got all of the stockings ready and finally got to sit back and just enjoy the moment. It is fun to enjoy Christmas through the eyes of your child and I think it really meant a lot to both of us!

On Christmas morning, of course that would be the morning, Crockett decided to sleep until about 8:30!! It was killing both of us not to wake him up! When he FINALLY got up, he was so excited about everything and just played, and played, and played! He loved all of his new toys and was such a busy little bee buzzing around our house with a new toy in hand each time he crossed the floor! It was so much fun and really made Chris and I thankful for our family. We are truly blessed!

Christmas Eve at Hotshot's!

We decided to go visit HotShot and MaryAnn on Christmas Eve! Casey, Amie and the girls were already over there, so it was even MORE fun! They had gifts for the kiddos and they had a blast opening them! We had a blast watching their little eyes light up :) They gave Crockett a Race Car scooter, which he LOVES! and a musical jack-in-the-box. He was so much fun to watch this year! The girls loved their gifts also! Emily couldn't believe all the princess Barbie clothes she got and Nathalie got a scooter with Minnie Mouse on it. (Crockett was pretty excited about Minnie too! HA!) Kayleigh got a jewlery making set, with all the tools she might need! Looked very cool! They all played and played! Crockett found a NEMO ball and threw it around (pretty hard, I might add!) with HotShot! We all thought it was pretty funny! MaryAnn had set up a choo-choo train around their Christmas tree, so she started it to show the kids.... Crockett was in LOVE! He layed in front to the train just watching, and would get up every once in a while and tell everyone "CHOO CHOO!!!!" with the hand motion and everything! It was so so so cute!

It was such a fun evening and Crockett really had a great time! It usually takes him a little time to warm up to Hotshot, but not this time! He was hugging on him and playing with him. It is very special for Chris to see them play together and get to know one another. What a wonderful way to spend Christmas Eve! We are so blessed!

Christmas with MiMi

On the Wednesday before Christmas, Chris, Crockett & I headed to Ringling, OK to have Christmas dinner with Mimi, Karen, Tara, Caige & Camille. Amie, Casey, Kayleigh, Emily and Nathalie were there too. We had a nice dinner and spent some quality time together. The kids got to open their gifts from KK & Brendan. Crockett got a bulldozer, that he did not put down until he fell asleep in the car! Caige and Camille got him a little work bench with shapes and a hammer, and Mimi gave him some money. The kids had a great time playing together, as usual! I forgot my camera, but got one of Mimi and the kids when she came to Grandmaw's on Christmas Day. It was a short, but nice evening of celebrating the holiday season with family.

Christmas at LuLu's!

I cannot believe I am already blogging about Christmas 2010! It has come and gone in the blink of an eye!

This past weekend, we went to Lubbock to celebrate Christmas with LuLu, Papaw, the Curry's and Rachy! When we got there on Friday, we ate pizza and just enjoyed being together. Crockett was SO EXCITED to see BAY-DEE and BEEBE!! He had been waiting all week to see them :) On Saturday, Chris and I had my dear, old friend, Micah Meixner's wedding. It was at noon at First United Methodist Church... SO, SO, SO BEAUTIFUL! The bells sounded at noon, the entire choir sang, there was a trumpeter along with the organist, poinsettias everywhere... seriously, one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to! And on top of that, I got to see SO many dear friends. Micah and I went to elementary school-high school together, so I really saw SO many friends! After the lovely wedding and reception, Chris and I went to Chimy's - if only to make the most of our "alone" time :) which we don't get very often!

At 4:30 on Saturday, LuLu, Rachy, Mon, Braidy, John, Crockett and I took a trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express! The boys were VERY HAPPY when they saw the CHOO-CHOO!! It was so much fun; we sang Christmas music, they read the story, we drank hot chocolate and ate sugar cookies, the elves danced for us and Santa came and talked to each of our boys! They all did great and there were no tears shed this year! YAY! Each child was given a jingle bell... they LOVED that! It was so much fun - for all of us and for the kids!

That night, we ate a delicious meal and then opened gifts! It was definately a little more chaotic this year than in the past... there were little boys all over the place and little boy-toys EVERYWHERE!!! I guess that is to be expected and it will only get crazier :) We all got some really nice things, but most importantly, we got to spend some time together and make some great memories (Crockett and the marshmallows :). This is the 1st year, in all my 30 years, that I will not be at my mom's for Christmas day. So although it was a little bittersweet, I look forward to Santa coming to OUR house and Crockett seeing his gifts under our tree! I just can't wait to see his little face light up :)

On Sunday, we went and ate a wonderful meal at the Curry's. The boys played with their new toys... Baby Quin slept... he is really the perfect baby! It was a very busy, quick, and wonderful weekend! Hard to believe Christmas with LuLu is over until next year... we had such a great time! Thank you for EVERYTHING! Merry Christmas and we love you all!