Christmas 2007

Well, folks... another great holiday has come and gone.

We were fortunate that my side of the family made the trek to see us this year. (It was our year to head to Searcy... but no one really thought it was a good idea to get my big self into a car for the trip.) Claudia and Ryan headed to Searcy from Dallas and caravaned with my parents.

All of them were able to stay for almost a full week!

Here's a quick re-cap of the events from the week. (a slideshow will follow)

Saturday (Dec. 22): Family arrives and heads to Debby's house. (Debby graciously extended an offer for the family to use her house while she was gone. I think without that offer, we would've been driven crazy from the cramped quarters of our apt.)

Sunday: We all meet up at church, enjoy worshiping together, and then head to MoMo's. During G's nap, groceries were purchased because it's not a true Stockstill holiday unless the menu is the main event. :) Sunday night we all watched the Elmo Christmas Countdown, then headed over to the apt. where the women killed the guys in multiple rounds of Catch Phrase.

Monday: Claudia and Ryan had asked to be able to kidnap Gideon for about an hour. So, we scheduled the kidnapping for Monday morning. G was so excited to go on an adventure with Aunt Claudia and Uncle Ryan. They took him to Build-a-Bear to make a stuffed animal for Naomi. (pics in the slideshow) All three of them had a blast.

We kept G to his routine pretty well. So, after his nap, we headed back to Debby's for dinner. Our X-mas Eve activities began with a walk over to the Mosier's get-together. Madison and Gideon exchanged gifts, we ate some yummy festive desserts, and walked back to Debby's for our sorting/whining/counting session. (Whining is only allowed one time a year in our family: Christmas Eve.)

We put on "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" as we cuddled Gideon to sleep and put him down for the night. (we were all staying at Debby's this night) The guys continued their Risk games and the ladies watched tv.

Tuesday: Christmas!!! We got up, grabbed a snack-like breakfast and headed into the parlor to gather around the tree and the immense amount of gifts. Gideon had enough that he was able to open a gift out of turn more than once. We got some great stuff! We were able to give some nice things (we're still debt-snowballing it, so next Christmas will be even more fun).

I have been excited about JR's main present from me to him for a while. I included a pic of him getting it in the slide-show. And his gifts to be were accompanied by a song which my dad got most of on video. He's so perfect for me it's almost scary. :)

Once all the gifts were opened we set about (and by "we" I mean Mom and Claudia) making Christmas lunch. (dinner's too late, and if you serve all the great food for lunch you can eat on the food all day)

We took the day easy. Lots of games were played, books read, ... good times.

Wednesday: "the Day of Pampering"
The first Thanksgiving that Ryan was officially engaged to be part of the family, we began a tradition of the men cooking us breakfast. They go all out. Fancy menu, great food, everything done for us... Wow!!! This year was no exception. Papa got a recipe from Paula Dean and it was amazing. There were fresh fruit smoothies (in a variety of flavors), stuffed french toast, and scrambled eggs, as well as fresh fruit, fruit juice, and fancy coffees. YUM!!!

After we feasted, we played a bit, and while Mom put G down for his nap, Claudia and I headed to get our hair cut. I love getting my hair cut. I love having someone wash my hair... and when all was said and done, we both had hair cuts we were proud to show off. But the pampering wasn't finished.

Papa had given us girls a coupon for pedicures. So we picked Mom up and headed to a Starbucks so we had something to sip while we were getting "beautified".

Then there was dinner and more games.

Thursday: (my parent's wedding anniversary and G's 19th monthabirthday)
JR went back to work, but the rest of us headed to the mall. It wasn't very crowded and it was nice to get out and about. G loved being pushed about in his stroller by Papa Dan. And Ryan quickly became one of G's favorites. (Ryan plays cars with almost as much enthusiasm as G.)

We took it easy and just hung out. That is, until game time... the boys may try, but the women have proven their dominance in Catch Phrase. :)

Friday: (my 28th B-day)
Since I've been having some weird "episodes", Mom wanted me to get my blood-pressure checked. So before I met up with everyone at Red Lobster for lunch, I hit my doctor's office. While my blood pressure is going up, as of Friday, it was still within the normal range (but barely).

Red Lobster was good. JR joined us for lunch. After we finished eating, Mom, Ryan, and Claudia took G home for his nap, while Papa and I ran errands. When G woke up we took him over to the Mosier's and we hit "National Treasure 2". Good flick. Like the first one...

Since Papa had scheduled an apt. for 12:00 pm in Searcy, the crew had to head out.

We loved having them in town. It was great to all be together for a bit. Actually, I think it's the longest we've all be together period.

I know... I've made you wait long enough...