gilpinology: {She Said} Our 2009 Holiday Adventures...

Starting on the 20th, we attended the annual Christmas party with some family friends- I made cake balls for the event.

On the morning of the 22nd, Matt and I had our own little Christmas celebration together with doughnuts, stockings, and sweetness. Capri LOVES opening her stocking every year- she gets so into it and then this year, instead of adding more candy to our abundant supply, Mrs. Clause put a note in Matt's stocking to just help himself to some of the candy already in the candy dish.

That evening, Becky, Mike, Matt and I went to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags for some festive fun.

On Christmas Eve, we started with a breakfast of waffles ala Matt and Mike, only the waffle maker broke down half way through so it was a combo of waffles and pancakes. Then, Becky made eggs and I made little smokies- dad did nothing.

Then we had some time with stockings and gifts... a few of the favs:

After our gift exchange, Becky and Mike started on the afternoon meal while Matt and I got dressed and beautified and then we switched. During all of this it started to SNOW!

We kind of hurried the afternoon meal along because we were worried about the snow building up and ice since we all had to travel that evening.

We all got on our way around 5:00 p.m.: Dad, Becky, and Mike to Maypearl and Matt and I to Wimberley. In Wimberley, with Matt's parents, we had a low-key Christmas day- people trickled in throughout the day and then a close family friend came over for an exchange of a few gifts... she gave the family a sealed empty Coke can as a mascot of sorts for the family (Coke is a general favorite). When it was time for her presents, she didn't want to rip any of the paper so Bobby tried to help but wasn't trusted, so Ryleigh had to step in.

Then the festivities really kicked up on the 26th. With so many family members, gift exchange took nearly 5 hours with plenty "ooohs" and "ahhhs" to go around.

We had a beautiful meal provided by Matt's mom, the lovely Becky, with poppers at dessert. The joy was boundless- just as Christmas should be. The boys were especially joyful when they got to play with their new toys right after dinner BEFORE doing the dishes.

The next day, the boys got to play with even more toys by shooting off rockets down the street- Adrienne and I were cold so we did the bunny hop in Bobby's coat. The rocket got stuck in a tree.