Christmas Eve and Day

Christmas Eve was one of the best days of the year. We had a great day of family--just our immediate family. It snowed, no wait, it was a blizzard. We watched The Nativity Story as a family all snuggled up on the couch with a roaring fire. I made Crab Bisque and we went to St. Andrew's UMC for their 6 o'clock candlelight service. My favorite was listening to Cavett belt out "O, Come All Ye Faithful" and "Go Tell It on the Mountain." We came home, opened pajamas, read Luke 2 and put the kids the to bed, while Daddy played Santa Claus.

Christmas morning we danced to "Merry Texas Christmas You All" (a Dadoo favorite), opened stockings, did the Advent calendar (which was a hunt to ffind the Baby Jesus which had been missing out of the nativity scene all season), ate Christmas bread and opened the rest of our gifts, had a snowball fight with the wrapping paper and tried to sled on the icy street. The tragic part was that we had to take them away from all their new toys and pack for Grand Saline and Shreveport. We did both in one day--a mistake. But, that gave us all of Saturday morning to spend with little cousins. It was greeat weekend and one that I will treasure for years to come.

The Granmother Gifts

We made stepping stones as gifts for our grandmother's today. It was a beautiful warm 70 degrees and we enjoyed playing on our playset again. It's only been 5 months....

Crystal Christmas Tree, Take 2

We finally found some ammonia in an off brand of Windex at Target. It wasn't pure, so we used a little extra. Our tree was already cut and ready to go. Cavett mixed up the solution of water, ammonia, salt and blueing and we waited. By the time we got home from Christmas travels it was a fully covered tree and then some. Way cool!!!!

After 3 days:

After 5 days:

Caroling

This evening we went caroling to our neighbors houses on our street and gave them Oreo Truffles. 2 out of 4 were home. We sang Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, because that is what the kids knew best. Stephen played guitar and the kids fought over the jingle bells. The best part, we were invited to the birthday party of one of the kids at the end of our street who is between the age of Cavett and Kendrick.

Brrrrrrrrr...............

We tried to head to the Gaylord in Grapevine to see ice sculptures from the Grinch, but evidentally it is very popular. We arrived around 3:30 and they were selling tickets for the 7:30 viewing. So, we looked at their beautiful decorations and trains, as well as rode the escalators. After dinner, we drove around old El Dorado in McKinney and looked at some fun Christmas light displays.

Reindeer Visit

We are really trying to down play Santa Claus, but seeing the sights around Allen includes a trip to see Santa's real live reindeer. Really, they are just animals that we typically don't see in a zoo. Interesting hooves they have....

Giving and Christmas Parties

Today we gave Christmas presents to the kids teachers. We gave them, what else but, Christmas Bread! It was also Cavett's school party which I helped with. The first picture is Cavett with his favorite girlfriend, Bella. In the second are his teachers and he is holding up the star ornament we made.

While Cavett was at school, Kendrick and I enjoyed making a batch of Congo Bars.