Warning: This blog post is bascially a very long journal entry. If you get bored along the way and stop reading I'll never know, ha, ha. ;) And if you notice any spelling or grammar errors.....oh, well.
I'll post a collage of photos next.
Dec. 17th
Jeremy and the girls and I, along with Tim & Monika; Todd, Michele & Shayna; Chris, Jodi, Katelyn & new baby Isabel gathered together at mom's house for a Holiday Celebration. Mom treated us to a Christmas feast of homemade enchilada caserole, and more yummy desserts than any person should consume in one sitting! Mom had everything beautifully decorated and so warm and welcoming. We all had a great evening visiting with each other and swooning over the new baby while Carley, Zoe, Katelyn and Shayna had a blast playing together! The kiddos joyfully ripped into Christmas packages and played with their new treasures.
Dec. 18th
Got the weather report that snow was headed to the Amarillo area, possible blizzard so we hurried and packed our bags and finished wrapping last minute gifts and loaded up in the truck to head out and hopefully beat the weather in time to spend Christmas with Jeremy's family. * Fortunately the weather report was a little over amibitious on their expectations.... no blizzard, not even any snow or ice, except in the immediate Amarillo area. Good news, we arrived safely a day ahead of schedule to begin the fun.
Dec. 19th
Jackie's Birthday! Not too much to say on this one, I was blessed with another great year (no need to tell you how many this makes) and I had many sweet birthday wishes and lovely gifts from my cherished friends and family. Thank you all so much, having you in my life is the best gift of all.
Dec. 20th
Today we celebrated Christmas with Jeremy's siblings and family. We feasted on way too much amazing food (brisket, chicken, and ribs..... after a small kitchen fire, no worries once the flames died down and the smoke cleared all was well). We followed that by stuffing ourselves with entirely too many delicious desserts. We let the kids go first this year, opening their gifts early in the afternoon and they LOVED it! They had the rest of the day to play with their stuff together then the grown ups opened their gifts in the evening. It was wonderful. Love you all: Brent, Traci & Jorden; Matt & Jenna; Tay, Jason, Savannah, Karston & Kade; Lewis & Rosella; and Brenda & Monte.
Dec. 21st
A relaxing day, just hanging out followed by a lovely Christmas dinner at Jeremy's dad's house in Amarillo. Stephanie made a spicy tortilla soup (and mini corndogs for the kids) and we all ate together and opened gifts and the girls watched "A Barbie Fashion Fairytale" in Tayla's room. They also colored pictures with all of Tayla's basket full of cool markers and funky pens and pencils and played with Sam (a big loving boxer who thinks she's a little lapdog). We had a great evening. Thank you: Kendall, Steph, & Tayla.
Dec. 22nd
Happy Anniversary!
Today Jeremy and I celebrated 11 years of marriage. We all drove to Plainview and had lunch at Brent & Traci's house and saw the remodeling they just completed (adding a master bathroom and closet.... gorgeous!) Then, the grandparents took the older kids to see Chipwrecked while Zoe hung out with uncle Brent and took a nap. Jeremy and I headed out to have a day to ourselves. Jeremy treated me to a shopping venture where I got a great pair of new jeans and a super cute top. Then we headed to Lubbock to watch Sherlock Holmes (great flick!). After the movie we went to the mall to walk around window shopping and sharing a yummy soft pretzel snack. Jeremy decided we just needed to not go back tonight.... we were going to run away together for the night, our own little adventure! So we texted to let the grandparents know and we went to check in at a beautiful hotel. (We had stayed there several years ago for an anniversary) We were chatting with the lady who was checking us in telling her about our anniversary excursion and she was so sweet telling us how she and her husband had just celebrated their 21st anniversary and how she wished they could have "run away for the night" like us. Then she upgraded us for free to one of their nicest suites! We walked around the hotel looking at the beautiful Christmas decorations, admiring the little indoor waterfall along a landscaped walking path. We crossed over a little foot bridge and stopped to see the brightly colored coyfish below. We rode the elevator up and found our suite. We had been in the room about 10 minutes and were hanging out in the "living room" when there was a knock at the door. It was a gentleman from the front desk. He delivered a lovely card signed by all the staff wishing us a Happy Anniversary and thanking us for being repeat guests. With it was a basket filled with nuts, pretzels and bottled waters and golden box of gourmet chocolates! Wow! We thought of ordering room service, but opted for the cheaper alternative of Jeremy running down the street and bringing back Chick-fil-A along with a toothbrush and toothpaste from the front desk. :)
The next morning we woke up early to enjoy the incredible breakfast buffet the hotel served and then we went back up to our room and went back to sleep for two hours! Yay!
Before returning to our family later that day we stopped to have lunch at our very favorite Japanese Steak House! Totally great spontaneous anniversary!
The hand-made gifts were pretty special too! Jeremy made me a wooden bread tray with scripture engraved on the back and a small inlaid cross made of steel horse shoe nails. I made him a leather Bible cover that also incorporated a unique piece of steel (steel was the anniversary gift for 11 years).
Dec. 23rd
Happy 5th Anniversary to Brent & Traci!
Today we all went to Jeremy's Aunt Gay's house for yet another yummy homemade dinner and a Chinese Christmas Gift Exchange. We had a great evening visiting and letting the girls play. Carley, Zoe & Keeley were constant entertainment. Merry Christmas. Love you: Aunt Gay, Uncle Mark, Laci & Keeley, Chris, and Meme.
Dec. 24th
Christmas Eve!!!
Today was a wonderful continuation of fantastic family breakfast and coffee in our jammies, watching Christmas movies on TV during the day, cooking, eating, hanging out with family and celebrating the Holidays. Today the party was hosted at Brenda & Monte's so we didn't have to venture far. Everyone came to us. :) It was a small intimate gathering this year for the Sanders Family Christmas (Jeremy's mom's siblings & family).... next year everyone will be traveling here and our group will be well over 30 adults and children! We ate and enjoyed our last big homemade feast of traditional turkey and dressing and watched "Mr. Poppers Penguins" (super cute movie!) followed by our traditional watching of "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". Then we had our gift exchange, the family drew names as we do each year and for those that were not with us we were texting and sending photos as we unwrapped gifts. Jeremy read the story of the first Christmas and the Birth of Jesus from the Bible and we all sang Christmas songs together. Then Carley sprinkled her reindeer food and grinch dust on the front lawn and prepared a plate of chocolate chip cookies, a glass of milk and a note for Santa in the living room. We tucked the girls into bed and settled down for the night awaiting Christmas magic to arrive.
Dec. 25th
Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus!
Carley came bounding into our room to wake us! She was ready to see what Santa had brought! We jumped out of bed, and woke Zoe to join us and then we saw it..... the most beautiful Christmas morning surprise...... a beautiful thick coating of fresh fallen snow with big flakes still floating down! Oh, how I love to see snow on Christmas!
We rushed to the living room and I grabbed my camera. The girls were thrilled to see the hand-crafted puppet theater that Santa and his elves had created for them, complete with two colorful, furry, googly-eyed monster puppets! The big hit for Zoe was the new set of Zoobles and underwater Zooble playhouse! The girls have been putting on puppet shows throughout the day.
We opened our family gifts to each other and then got the girls bundled up to go play in the snow. Carley LOVES the snow! She stayed out there forever and daddy helped build a big snowman. Zoe, on the other hand liked it at first then decided it was just too cold for her so she came back in to play with her Zoobles. Who could blame her. ;)
The rest of this day is devoted to relaxing family time, movies on TV and leftovers. Yum!
Oh, what a Christmas season it has been, so much celebrating and eating, and eating, and eating...... I think I know what my New Years Resolution might have to be this year!
Love you all so much!
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