Much of Monday was spent in the kitchen cooking. I started out baking cookies using a new recipe I found in a magazine, while Mom started cassaroles and other Christmas delicacies. We made sweet potato cassarole, broccoli rice cheese cassarole, candied sweet potatoes and deviled eggs (I am sure there is something I am forgetting).
My cookies–they are called stained glass ornaments and were so pretty and yummy!
We did take a break mid-day, though, to run a few errands and for Starbucks, of course. In case you don’t know, my husband is a Starbucks junkie and has to visit one (or more, if available) in every town we are in.
That evening we prepared to go to my grandma’s house (my dad’s mom). Dad had to work Monday, so we had to wait for him to get off before we could go. Our Christmas eve tradition is for each person to open one gift. We opened our gifts from Vanessa–she gave me some lotion and soap from BBW and the cutest wooden plaque that says “Our perfect companions always have four feet” with pawprints, too. It was so sweet and so perfect–I can’t wait to hang it in my pug room!
After gift opening, we headed to Mamaw’s house. This is always an adventure because you never know who is going to be there. My dad is one of eight kids, so there are lots of grandkids and great grandkids. Some years it is REALLY crowded but this year it was pleasant. Mamaw got us all a gift, and then we did a gift exchange where you still. Every year, my family brings gifts that we want and then we try to get our own gifts. And we were successful! I almost caved in and picked a gift someone else brought, but Jason told me to “stay the course.”
My grandma with some of her friends
Josh, Jason and I at my grandma’s house
Sunday morning we got up and went to church, then came home for a yummy brisket lunch. I napped that afternoon, then we went back to church. After church that night, we went to the
Fantasy of Lights, a light display on the campus of Midwestern State University. It started many years ago on the lawn of a family in town, and was eventually given to MSU to display on campus. My dad remembers seeing the lights displayed when he was little! It is really fun to visit, because it brings back so many good memories.
After the Fantasy of Lights, we drove around town for a little while looking at lights, which I love to do!
Last Friday, Jason and I got off work early and left Denver around 4:00 to head to Texas. It was snowing in Denver, but the roads were fine. We drove through southeast Colorado, the panhandle of Oklahoma, into the panhandle of Texas, where we stopped in Dumas for the night. The roads were fine, but the blowing snow made it pretty hard to see the road.
We got up Saturday to what looked like a blizzard outside. It was only snowing lightly, but the winds in the pandhandle of Texas are horrible! I went outside to load up with wet hair in a ponytail, and the tip of my hair froze! We hit the road (after a few breakfast fiascos) and found what looked like a sheet of ice on the highway. Thankfully, Jason is an excellent driver in ice and snow and God was protecting us, because we made it through without any trouble. Later we heard there was a 50 car pile-up in Amarillo on the very highway we were on. And my poor sister–she drove in from Kansas and hit lots of bad weather. What is normally a 7 hour trip turned into 12 hours, and she was by herself. Poor Nessa!
We made it in around 3:00 to cold but no snow. My parents live on about 6 acres, and the pugs love running around the yard. Everytime we turned around, Daisy was waiting at the front door to go out. Saturday night, we had dinner and gift exchanges with some longtime family friends and one of my best friends from childhood. It was great to see them!
Many more pictures to come!
I hope everyone had a wonderful, blessed Christmas! We made it to and from Texas without incident and had a great time. I have LOTS of pictures (about 250) which I will post later. Right now I am going to snuggle with my husband on the couch for a movie while the snow continues to fall outside. We came back to almost 8 inches of snow from Christmas Day, and it has snowed all day today. It is a winter wonderland!
Last night when I went to the mailbox, I found our Secret Santa gift! Look what we got!
We were given authentic Alaskan salmon jerky for dogs and a REALLY YUMMY candle!
Daisy and Oscar really liked the candle. Oscar even licked it!
And, of course, the treats were a BIG hit! You see how good Daisy and Oscar were sitting for them?
Thanks so much, Frances Louise! We love our gifts!
Thank you guys so much for your wonderful Christmas cards! I have been in a Christmas funk, and your cards have made me so happy!
And we received our Secret Santa gift today! There was no name, but the initials on the return address were FL and it was from Alaska. Any ideas? (Hehe) We love our gifts and will post pictures soon of us enjoying them!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful, blessed holiday season!
Last night was Santa Paws & Claws at one of our local malls, so we went and had the pugs picture made with Santa! It was so funny to see all of those dogs (and one cat!) in the mall.
I was pretty pleased with the result. Oscar never looked directly at the camera, but he’s still cute! Hope you all are having a great Christmas season!
Jason had a conference this week in Vail, so I met him there on Tuesday night and stayed with him, and then we skiied on Wednesday. The snow was AWESOME!
The view outside our hotel room window. It was so beautiful there–the town was all decked out for Christmas, lights, wreaths, and trees everywhere. I loved looking out the window and seeing the lights twinkling while the snow was gently falling. It was amazing.
The slopes. The snow was really fresh, powdery and deep. The day started out overcast and cold but got warmer and sunny later.
It was a great ski day, and I can’t wait to go back. We probably won’t get back up until after Christmas.
Tonight Daisy was helping me wrap presents, so I decided to wrap her, too. Anybody want a Daisy gift?
Getting to Know You: Christmas Edition
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper!!! I LOVE wrapping gifts!
2. Real tree or artificial? artificial, I hate the mess of a real one, plus I am super paranoid about the fire hazard
3. When do you put up the tree? either Thanksgiving night or the day after Thanksgiving
4. When do you take the tree down? usually New Years Day
5. Do you like eggnog? blech, no, plus it is SO high in fat and calories
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Little Tykes kitchen and a bike
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? No but I want a Willow Tree Angel one
8. Hardest person to buy for? Jason
9. Easiest person to buy for? My mom
10. Worst Christmas Gift you ever received? I honestly can’t think of anything really bad
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail cards–I love them!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? usually mid-November
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope
15. Favorite thing to eat/drink at Christmas? Hmmmm, this is hard. I love Starbucks Peppermint White Mochas
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? clear
17. Favorite Christmas song? I have so many…..my most favorite are O Holy Night (especially the Josh Groban version) and What Child is This
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel to Texas
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Yep, thanks to the song
20. Angel on the tree top or a Star? angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? One on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning
I tag anyone who wants to do this!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!!
