New Year’s Eve

While we were having dinner at Escalante’s on the evening of December 30, the kids were discussing what to do for New Year’s Eve. I really wasn’t paying very much attention because I figured we’d just be the babysitters. We have never done too much celebrating on New Year’s Eve – it’s usually an early dinner and home to see in the New Year.

This year it was decided that instead of going out to dinner Amy would just have everyone over at her house. Chris fixed a pork loin on the grill and the rest of us brought side dishes. We invited Lucas’ parents and brother and wife. Katie was so excited to have all of her “friends” over.

Since we had no Christmas pictures of us, we made sure we got some of New Year’s.

Three princesses – Ashley, Erin’s sister-in-law, Katie, and Erin

My two girls…

 

Hannah had just about had enough of a celebration. It was getting past her bedtime.

We did some playing in Katie’s new playhouse that was her Christmas present from Grammy and Grandpa.

She likes for everyone to come inside her house. In fact, her favorite thing to say is “Come in guys!” It is a little cramped with the baby high chair, vacuum cleaner, etc. inside!

We then went outside to shoot off fireworks. We discovered quite quickly that none of the fireworks we had compared to what the neighbors where doing. Oh my! I thought we were in Disneyworld. Erin thought the show was a close second to those she saw on the Fourth of July on the national mall.

Katie was more interested in Lowell’s flashlight than smiling for the camera.

This would have been a perfect picture had Dan cooperated. He said we could crop him out, but I guess we’re keeping him.

Katie was holding on to that ball for dear life. The firecrackers were getting to be a little too much for her. Ashley was very sweet and ended up taking her upstairs to watch the fireworks out the window.

As you can see, she was having none of it!

It was a delightful evening and a wonderful way to end the year.

Holiday Memories

Well, tomorrow it’s back to work for me. Every year it seems like the holidays (and the months) pass more quickly. I was luxuriating in the number of days I had off on December 17th, and now I’m wondering where the time went. This will be a long post because I have a lot of catching up to do.

In the middle of the month Amy and Chris went to their company Christmas party, so we had a sleepover. Some of us look cute with bedhead. Others of us are not having our picture taken.

Hannah helped Grammy clean out her drawers. She is a fast worker!

We played “My Little Pony” in our jammies.

And watched Nick Jr…

Then mommy crashed our party and the girls had to go home.

However, Amy had to have some fairly minor surgery which meant that she couldn’t do any lifting for a while, so Hannah and Katie got to spend some special time with Grammy and Grandpa the week before Christmas. Hannah accompanied us as we sang Jingle Bells…

She learned to drive…

by turning on the ignition…

and honking the horn at anyone in her way…

We sat on Grammy’s lap…

Learned to play the drum… (It takes lots of concentration.)

And filled up our glasses to overflowing with love.

On Christmas Eve we met Judy and Tony at our church for the 4:00 service. It is always a special, sweet service of carols, candlelight, and a simple message God’s love toward a fallen world that came in the form of a baby, Jesus.

After the service we had dinner at Escalantes which is always yummy.

Erin flew in on Christmas morning, so we had dinner late that afternoon. Lucas had to work Christmas day, so he didn’t come in until the next morning.

Our holiday table.

Katie was very excited to see her Aunt Erin.

As well as Aunt Judy…

Getting ready to open presents…

I think that the string on the puppy was the most interesting of the presents for both Hannah and Sawyer.

Unfortunately, I don’t have many pictures of Christmas Day. I was too busy cooking, eating, and cleaning up after the meal. I can’t remember even seeing the babies open the presents. I do know that there were a lot of boxes and wrapping paper. Next year I need to do something differently, I think!

Between Christmas and New Years it has become a tradition for us to take a little shopping trip to the hill country to spend our Christmas money. We left early Monday morning for Fredericksburg, San Antonio, San Marcos (the outlet mall), and Wimberley. Erin needed her Texas shopping fix. Dan was under the weather so didn’t make the trip with us. Amy and Chris were in Galveston with his family. We hit our favorite stores in Fredericksburg - Abella Home, Auer Haus, and D’Vinely Designed – where we were able to get some more ornaments for next year’s trees.

For dinner we went to the Hilltop Café, a cajun restaurant about 11 miles outside of town. It is located in a remodeled old gas station. We ate fried green tomatoes and shrimp.

This was after our pinto beans and cornbread lunch.

The next night was spent in San Antonio at the Hotel Contessa. I now have a new favorite hotel. While there, we were able to mingle with the Oklahoma State fans and experience vicariously their excitement since a bowl game is not in our future for 2011! Ha! This was our view out the window.

And our sitting area…

Before heading home, we went to the outlet mall in San Marcos and made a quick trip to downtown Wimberley.

Wednesday night Amy and Chris came over to eat leftovers with us.

 

And to do a little reading…

It’s never too early to learn about where you’re from!

Or to rough-house with Grandpa!

Thursday night we all (and I do mean all, since it was very crowded and we had to wait an hour for an outside table) went to eat at Lupe Tortilla’s. This isn’t a very good picture, but I needed at least one with Lucas in it!

Lots of wonderful memories…

Merry Christmas!

And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11

Of Christmases Past

I have been stuck in a state of nostalgia reminiscing about the Christmases of my childhood. This is directly related to the Christmas Traditions radio station I am listening to that is playing songs from the 40’s to 60’s. Music is a powerful evoker of memories.

My earliest memory of Christmas was the year my granddaddy died. I was around five years old. Both my family and my uncle’s family were gathered at my grandparent’s farm in central Texas. This farm was actually my grandmother’s birthplace. As the baby of her family, she inherited the farm from her parents. Her brothers and sisters lived on nearby farms that were all a part of their parent’s original acreage.

The house was built similar to a dog trot cabin and modified over the years. There was a central hall down the middle of the house that opened in the back to a screened-in porch. The house had a big porch across the front with several steps leading down to the yard. We used to sit on the porch and snap peas. On one side of the hall was a large room with a fireplace that my grandparents used as a bedroom. On the other side of the house were the living room, dining room, and large kitchen. There were two large bedrooms upstairs with a storage area in between them. To get to the upstairs bedrooms you had to go outside on the screened-in porch and go through a narrow door to get to the stairs. The one bathroom was also accessed off of the screened porch. It was obviously an addition to the original house. (I can remember it being quite chilly having to go out there on a cold night.) There was always a pail of water by the back door with a dipper hanging above it so that you could come in from the fields and get a fresh drink of water. The water came from a well in the back yard and you actually had to let a bucket down into the well to draw the water. There was a smokehouse in the backyard in which we played. I loved everything about that old house in the country. This city girl was enamored of that Walton-like lifestyle before I even knew what it was!

I’m sure this particular Christmas Eve we were all gathered there because we knew it would be the last one with granddaddy. Both my two cousins and their parents and my sister and I and our parents were sleeping upstairs and anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa. As if on cue, the cousins got up while it was still dark to check to see if Santa had come and gone. I remember sitting in the dark stairwell waiting until my grandparents awakened and we could go in their room where the Christmas tree was located (for my granddaddy’s benefit) and open presents. I got a beautiful Madame Alexander doll that I wish I still owned.

A couple of days later my granddaddy died and within a year the farm was sold and my grandmother moved into town. Not too many years later the farmhouse burned to the ground. I’m sure that is why this memory is etched so vividly in my memory.

From that time forward until Judy and I were teenagers, our family tradition was to celebrate our immediate family’s Christmas on Christmas Eve because we were either going to relative’s houses the next day or were busy preparing for them to join us for Christmas dinner. After dinner on Christmas Eve, daddy would “say let’s go look at the Christmas lights.” Then he would tell us to go ahead and get in the car. So grandmother, Judy, and I would obediently go get in the car and wait for Mama and Daddy to finish whatever they were doing and join us. Judy and I, being the smart girls we were, knew that what they were really doing was putting the Santa presents under the tree. So…after a few minutes of waiting, we would get out of the car and tiptoe up to the picture window in front of which stood the Christmas tree and peek through the venetian blinds to see what Santa had brought. I think Grandmother enjoyed this charade as much as we did – she loved Christmas. We would ride around for a while looking at the lights until daddy said “Do you think Santa has come yet?” We would drive home and what do you know!!! Santa had come!!

Tomorrow we will be making more memories to hold close to our hearts. I hope that you will, too!