Christmas with the Fam - Part 1

So I know it has been a while since I really blogged. Blame it on busyness and travel. Anyways, I have a few weeks to catch up on so here goes:

2 weeks before Christmas, Dad, Mom, & Daniel came down to spend the weekend with Randy & I and to celebrate Christmas with us. The weekend started with the boys heading out to shop and Mom and I making our Christmas dinner. We made monterrey chicken (yum!), green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, mac'n'cheese, and salad. It turned out great. So yummy! Afterwards we exchanged our gifts. I got a picture frame clock from Daniel, Randy got a shirt and book from Dad, Daniel got books from Mom, Mom got a Shark VX1 and drying rack from me, and Dad got a shotgun from all of us. We originally were supposed to only buy gifts for the person whose name we drew. That was until Randy found this super good deal on the shotgun he knew my dad wanted. So after working it out with Mom and Daniel, Dad got a huge surprise when he opened his present and found the shotgun he wanted. :) I think he really, really, really liked it. There were several other gifts - you can see them in the video below.

On Sunday, we went to church, then home for lunch. Mom and I headed out to do some shopping. It was good just to have some girl time. :) That evening we put on the layers and headed up to Grapevine to the Gaylord Texan to see their ICE Exhibit. If you have never been, you need to go. It was incredible - cold, but very cool to experience. We didn't take our good camera in because we weren't sure what the cold and humidity would do to it. Thus, our pics are not quite as clear as normal. We used Randy's old faithful camera - the one that survived the trip to India a few years ago.

Monday had a serious change in the weather - a super cold, windy front came through. We did a late breakfast of pancakes and bacon before heading out. Mom and I did some last minute shopping, while the boys went to Cabelas to do "manly" stuff. Monday also was Mom and Dad's 29th wedding anniversary, so we treated them to dinner at Outback - all of our favorite!

I am so glad we got to "do" Christmas with them early. It was a great weekend celebrating Jesus' birth and being with family. Thank you Dad, Mom and Daniel for coming to our home for Christmas! We love you!