Thursday, December 20, 2018

ROUND ONE: THEN THE ADULTS WENT A WEE BIT CRAZY

Once the kiddos had finished unwrapping all their gifts, it was our turn. Several years back we decided to switch to a white-elephant-style gift exchange, where everyone gets a number and has the option to choose one from under the tree, or steal one from someone else. Since we never actually mandated whether they were to be gag gifts or something useful, one just never knows what one might get!

Pick a number -- any number!

My hubby got a funny game about bananas, which came in the little yellow pouch you see dangling from his hands in the photo above.  Now, do you see what my son-in-law Nate is doing with his phone in that photo? That boy is dangerous! Next day he had turned that little video into a rather disturbing "gif" that appeared on facebook, for all the world to see! Guess he forgot who fills his stocking with all the best stuff each year!



Can't wait to play this game, all about your crazy relatives!
Wow! A pizza snuggie!

Hmmm, looks like Sant's elf is sleeping on the job!
Best surprise of all (although I wasn't so sure about that when my niece and nephew told me I had to tromp down the hill in the dark to see it ) was discovering that they had secretly adorned  "Our Lady of the Grotto" with a twinkling santa hat and a solar spotlight to make her more visible at night!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my crazy family?

Now it's time to gear up for Round II!


Wednesday, December 19, 2018

ROUND ONE: AFTER

Cooks in the kitchen assemble our appetizers...
while chefs in the garage prepare our Cajun shrimp boil and some cheesey garlic bread!
Calvin Meets New Cousins And Decorates His First Christmas Cookie!

Surely Will and Dani did not give Calvin an electric drum set...
OH FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDGE...they did!

I see Papa is eyeing Calvin's snazzy new cap.
He stole it!
To Be Continued...
  

Monday, December 17, 2018

THIS CHRISTMAS: ROUND ONE, BEFORE

This weekend was Christmas: Round One for us, where my three siblings and their families head down from Dallas, Ft. Worth, and beyond for an early Siblings Celebration, so that we can then all be home with our individual families or in-laws on Christmas day. It's been so long since we've had any small ones in the family, we'd forgotten what it was like! This year, not only is our little Goober Bear a rambunctious 2 1/2-year-old, but also my brother now has a couple of grands to add into the mix! Quite a change, let me tell you, but all for the better. Today I will just share with you a few pictures of the calm before the storm.







First to arrive? My nephew Kevin and his wife Goya, who not only left an expectant heifer just to be with us, but also hauled all the necessary equipment and a huge cooler full of shrimp, sausage and crab legs, so they could cook up an old-fashioned Cajun Shrimp Boil for our Christmas feast!

Is it any wonder I love my family so much?