We chose to ring in 2011 with the McLaren family (big surprise, I know). We arrived at their house around 8pm, let the boys play until they couldn’t keep their eyes open or their tempers under control and then put them to bed. Thankfully Dean decided to sleep as well and we could enjoy our evening child freeish.
We had originally planned on playing games and eating snacks but never quite managed to open one of the games. We all enjoyed having uninterrupted adult conversation way too much! At midnight we popped open some champagne and toasted in the new year. The night was perfect in our eyes. Dean slept, we enjoyed great food and drinks, had adult conversation and stayed awake until midnight.
We are already making plans to celebrate midnight at 9 PM next year. It will give the boys a chance to ring in the year and we won’t have to get shots of espresso to make it until midnight!! (sad but true)
Thanks for hosting us Dave and Miranda. We had a great time and maybe we will get to those games another day. Anything but scrabble!
After opening gifts and eating breakfast with the Hopkins we dressed and headed over to my parents house for a little more Christmas food and a few more gifts. We decided in advance to change it up a bit and enjoyed a Feliz Navidad themed holiday. After consuming a huge Mexican feast we retreated to the living room to watch the kids unwrap their gifts. It was so much fun to watch the excitement on each child’s face as they opened a gift. No one was disappointed and everyone loved their new toys.
The dart gun we gave Logan proved to be the item that provided the most fun for the men. Layne, Travis, Matt and Derek enjoyed making up games and shooting each other with darts all afternoon long. I guess next year I need to order 4 more guns!
Dean and I continued our fun with my family at the lake on Monday and Tuesday. It was nice and relaxing as we played, slept and watched the cool, overcast weather. Dean did manage a little outside play time but for the most part was forced to stay indoors and play with his cars.
We had a great Christmas vacation in Houston. Although it always goes by so fast I feel that this year was the most relaxing. Merry Christmas Y’all!
We spent most of our Christmas break with the Hopkins family this year. It was so much fun for all of the family to stay together for the entire weekend. We loved seeing Adam, Genie and especially Mason each morning along with Carla and Ronny. We also got our fill of Grandaddy and Grandma.
On Christmas Eve we celebrated Grandma’s 80th birthday with a special Birthday lunch followed by the children’s Christmas Eve service and the Connexion service. Dean warmed up to the Children’s service about half way into the 30 minute service. He had the pleasure of playing in the nursery during the next. I’m not sure if he was too happy about the arrangement but Mommy and Daddy were able to enjoy the service more.
On Christmas morning Matt and I enjoyed watching Dean play with the gifts Santa left. It was so much fun for us to have a child that was semi interested in the idea of Christmas. We know that next year will be SO much fun. Matt and I were blessed with some amazing gifts such as a Roomba (oh I so wanted one of these) and a new iPad (oh I so wanted this too). Dean was showered with books, bath toys, crayons, paints, and much more. It was a fabulous morning of togetherness.
After making a stop at the Yeager house for lunch we headed back to the Hopkins for Christmas dinner. Ronny had ordered an array of smoked meats from the New Branufels Smoke house and they were devine. We ended our night with a few more gifts and a marathon game of Loaded Questions.
Sunday brought an end to our time at the Hopkins house. After church Carla fixed an AMAZING baked ziti and we stuffed ourselves, yet again. Dean and I slept off our carb induced comas while Ronny and Matt went to the movies. I was fortunate enough to meet up with Matt after his movie for a dinner date, just the two of us.
We had a great Christmas holiday with Matt’s family. I enjoyed staying at the same house and getting to soak up so much together time. Truly special!
Once we arrived in Houston we were invited over to the Sampley house to see Mrs. Sampley’s brother’s latest litter of puppies. The puppies were just in time for Christmas and were going to be placed in their new homes the following day. As you can see Dean was a bit frightened at first but found comfort in a giant cardboard box. It was such a fun start to our break in Houston. Thanks for letting us play!
Dean and I headed to Houston on Tuesday morning to begin our Christmas vacation. Matt had to stay in Ft. Worth to work for a few more days so we decided to take our time and visit Granny and Pop on our way into town. Dean had a great time during our short overnight visit. Thankfully the weather was nice and we were able to stay outside most of the time. Dean played with Pop’s wagon and wheelbarrow. He also enjoyed walks around the neighborhood pulling the wagon. As you can imagine those walks took forever as Dean is quite skilled in stopping to play with the wagon. It’s always nice for me to visit my grandparents and I am so glad that Dean enjoys their house as much as I do. We look forward to the next visit.