I can't believe another Christmas has come & gone. We were BUSY this year, as usual. So, get ready for a long post & lots of pictures!
We left Texas after Justin got off work on Thursday, December 16th and headed to my parents' house in Oklahoma. We got there a bit past midnight & quickly got settled down for bed. Friday morning, we went up & visited my Mama Bea (my Dad's Mom); Austin kinda posed for a pic with her, but Kaylee wasn't in the picture mood that day.
We decided on Friday night that Saturday morning (the 18th) would be "Christmas morning" at Nanna & Pock's house. We'd open our presents, check out our stockings from Santa & such. So, we went to bed eager for the next morning...
However, our sweet Austin woke up a bit before 1am sick. Not just kinda sick, but really sick; throwing up about every 15-20 minutes on the dot. After we changed the sheets on his bed, Austin decided he wanted to sleep in the floor by the bedroom door so we could be that much closer to the bathroom in case he needed to get up & throw up again. Good decision because from about 1:30am until about 5:30 Saturday morning, we slept on the floor & were up about every 20 minutes running to the bathroom for him to throw up. We finally got a few hours of sleep between 5:30-7:30am when everyone else was up & ready to open stockings & gifts.
But... our poor Austin still just didn't feel up to par...
He sat back & watched while Kaylee dug into her stocking (which is pink -- her favorite color!).
And then he joined Kaylee in the floor and opened his stocking as well. You can tell by the look on his face that he's just not feeling good...
He only got sick one more time that morning (while we were opening gifts), and after that, started feeling better. Just in time too, because he got this awesome Red Ryder BB Gun from his Uncle Brian & Aunt Rachel! And that meant target practice that afternoon!
Kaylee decided to have a little impromptu photo session after we had opened all of our presents. She's quite the model (ha):
By noon, Austin felt tons better & was ready to go shoot his new gun with his Daddy & his Uncle Brian.
And, of course, when the guys were busy doing guy things, us girls had to keep busy by petting Tootie, my parents' rat terrier dog.
Sunday morning, my parents went to church, but we hung back in case Austin was still contagious. That night was the Christmas program at the church, so me & the kids got all dressed up & got ready to go with Nanna & Pock to church. (Justin stayed behind & went hunting with Brian & Rachel.)
(And Kaylee had yet another modeling session before we left for church!)
Monday morning, we loaded the Tahoe & headed for Arkansas. Our first stop was in Rudy, where I was raised. We always stop to visit my Aunt Leon, who was my babysitter growing up & lived right across the road from us. She is 97 years old (yes, you read that right!) & is still doing amazingly well! The kids were anxious to see her & help her open her gifts from us! They had had LOTS of practice!
Monday afternoon, we got to Berryville where Justin's parents live. We were excited to start the celebration there, and the kids didn't waste any time in getting bundled up to go play outside at Mimi & Pawpaw's house!
Justin's Dad had bought this small dirt bike a few years ago so Austin could have something to ride around the farm. I must say that he is pretty good at riding this thing around -- and looks SO BIG on it!
While in Berryville, we stayed at his parents' new cabin on their property. It's a nice getaway & we honestly feel like we're on vacation in Colorado when we're there. Here's a few pics I snapped of the inside:
On Tuesday, we ventured to Bella Vista/Rogers where I met up for lunch with a dear friend, Shannon. Justin's sister, Shelcey, made us a delicious dinner at her house that night (corn chowder - yum!), and then we headed back to Berryville later that night.
Wednesday & Thursday, we stuck around Berryville getting things done. On Thursday, the highlight of my day was shooting pistols with Justin & his Dad. Justin & I are going to take the CHL class here in Texas & I needed some practice target shooting.
(Here's big man Austin with his ear protection on!)
My target!
This was the first time I had ever shot a pistol & I was pleasantly surprised at how I did! I learned quickly that I don't like automatic pistols, but really preferred Kevin's .38 Special with the extra long barrel. We're hoping to target practice some more in the upcoming weeks...
Thursday evening, Justin's Mom made a big turkey dinner for all of us & we feasted before heading to Keith & June's...
The regular Christmas Eve Ham get-together was moved to Christmas Eve Eve night, in fear of bad weather that was moving in. The whole family (minus one of Justin's cousins & his new fiance) got together at his Grandparents' house & we had such fun celebrating!
This picture is of Justin's grandparents & all of their great-grandkids! 7 of them! Austin is the oldest... by just a few weeks!
And them with their grandkids (minus Nick):
Kaylee jumped right into June's lap for this picture -- and June couldn't have been more happy!
And here's one of the whole clan together. It can kinda get like a "Where's Waldo" picture there's getting to be so many! How wonderful!
Then it was PRESENT TIME!
Kaylee became fast friends with Hannah, Justin's first cousin. They had a big time that night & I know Kaylee was sad when we had to leave...
But, the next morning (Christmas Eve morning) was time to open presents at Mimi & Pawpaw's house! Austin was up by 7:30 at the cabin, so we threw on heavy coats & headed down the hill to their house. In tradition, we had to take a pic of the kids in front of the fireplace & stockings...
Crazy enough, we got so busy opening stockings & gifts that I didn't snap even one picture during the festivities. BUT - I did snap a few after all of the gifts had been torn into:
This is our niece, Emilee. She LOVES Austin... they were so sweet together!
Christmas Eve was relaxing! After opening gifts & eating lunch, we sat around & watched Christmas programs on TV, I went & packed/loaded our stuff from the cabin, then we ordered pizza & played Scrabble before we left Berryville around 7:30 that night. We were headed back to Oklahoma & to my parents' for Christmas Day...
We met up at my Mama Bea's house around 11:00 on Christmas morning & ate a big "lunch"; we decided this year that instead of turkey & dressing, we'd have breakfast for our main meal. It was DELICIOUS! Bacon, pancakes, biscuits with 2 kinds of gravy, monkey bread, breakfast casserole... honestly, I hope this is a tradition we decide to keep. It was SO GOOD!
After we ate, we quickly cleaned up the tables & the kitchen & got ready to open gifts! Austin was one of the honorary present distributors this year & he was really good at it!
...and he was also good at opening his gifts as well!
Kaylee loved opening her gifts, but I think she had more fun making the rounds & gathering up trash around the room to throw away in Uncle Brian's trash sack! We all got a kick out of it! She was jumping & having a great time!
And now for the Pugh/Ham family picture:
Christmas night, Brian & Rachel came over to my parents' house & had dinner. Before they left, I snapped a few pictures of the kids with them:
We left Oklahoma the morning after Christmas & made the trip back home to Texas. We got home around 4pm, which was plenty of time to get unloaded & start digging into all of the presents the kids got while we were gone. (We don't let the kids open their boxes when we're not home, afraid that we'll lose pieces to their toys.) So, needless to say, there were LOTS of boxes to be opened, lots of toys to be played with, and lots of batteries to be bought at Wal-Mart to make the new toys work! (ha)
We had a wonderful Christmas with family & our 10-day trip just flew by. We are already looking forward to our trip next year & hope to see all of our friends and family before then.
Here's wishing each of you a great holiday season!
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