Christmas Post

We had such a great Christmas! I "finished" the stocking on the 22nd... It's not quite finished, but it was time to put the back and tag on. There are supposed to be presents in front of the snowmen. I'm just telling on myself though because no one else would ever know. There will be presents next year!

On the 23rd, we cooked dessert (s'mores bars) and Gloria's stuffing.... and cleaned the house like madmen! Everything was ready for us to host the Hicks crew on the 24th.

This was super easy - Joe Pat smoked us a turkey, so we had to throw a few things together, and Derek's mom brought pies, pea salad and deviled eggs. It was probably easy because his family is so small! Thankfully, Marie and Doug were able to stop by, too.

It snowed almost all day on Christmas eve - it's been a LONG time since Dallas had a white Christmas. The pictures show the snow at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. Lola was outfitted in a new Santa suit!

She also destroyed the new toy that her grandma gave her in about 10 minutes! Derek did manage to lose $20 to Kennedy when he told her "I'll give you $20 to go put your face in the pool." She jumped on the offer so quick that she didn't even put on her jacket. She went out in the snow in her t-shirt, laid on the ground, and...

Here's a few shots of the Hickses:

On Christmas day, Derek and I exchanged gifts, then house-hopped. Derek had already gotten me a sink and a shower door. The shower door was a real surprise! On Christmas, I opened his final gift - a pregnancy massage at the Crescent. He already had the appointment set up and everything. I can't wait! He also seemed to enjoy his presents. He got 2 books: "Humpty Who?", for parents who need to learn nursery rhymes (he needs help with that), and "A New Dad's Survival Guide." He also got a GPS and a web-cam so that we can Skype with his grandpa! I think he was surprised. Santa filled the stocking with a new toy for Lola (the indestructible type), coffee, gum, mittens, and for Derek, a new deck of cards (presumably because he can't win with any of our current decks).

We started at Steve & Gloria's for breakfast. We got so full that we didn't eat a full meal for the rest of the day. Next stop was Gaumy's where we got to the "Just Married" couple - Morgan and Tyler. Then we were on to Donnie and Susan's in Lewisville. We stopped by to see Paul & Julie and joined in their family Taboo game. Derek says I took the game too far. With the clue "Tiger Woods lacks this," I answered "SEMEN!" The correct answer was Honesty. Apparently, Julie's family is pretty conservative.

We came home to pick up Lola and pack our bags, then stopped by Gaumy's one last time before heading to Red Oak. I got to see Jacob and Andrew over there.

On the 26th, the entire Paxton family went to Kaufman for lunch. We were there early to set up with my parents and the Motos. We ate a hearty meal, played our white elephant game, and then headed to the graveside to spend some time remembering Grandma and Russell. It was a nice day.

The final stop was back to Red Oak for Christmas with my immediate family. Santa still fills our stockings there, and it was so much fun to watch my nephews open their gifts.

My parents also exchanged gifts. For the past few years, all of us kids have gone in together for a "big" gift for the parents. They seem very excited about this year's gift - tickets to the Cowboys vs. Eagles game on January 3rd. They've been saying it's essentially the "first playoff game." I hope it is a good game!

Other than that, I've been working alot. We are set for trial February 15th, and I will be super-busy until then. Yuck. Lola did give us a Christmas present on Tuesday - she found the lizard that we had brought in with the Christmas tree. We saw a lizard when we first brought in the tree, but then we had to leave the house, and we didn't see it again. Lola started barking Tuesday evening, so Derek went to see what she was up to, and she had found the lizard in the kitchen! Derek trapped it under a cup (it was big, so not sure how he managed that), and saved it for me until I got home! Merry Christmas from Lola!

Tonight we are heading out to Matt and Erin's to spend NYE with the family. It should be great. On Saturday, we have New Years Brunch with my "adopted" family (the law school crew). I'm looking forward to all of it. In between all of that, I will be working. Happy New Year!