Christmas in Texas

Like I said in my last post, the best part of Christmas is spending it with family.  We got home from Birmingham on Friday and I was on a flight to Ft Worth at 8:00 Saturday morning because I didn't want to wait until Monday.  Dan had made a commitment to preach on Sunday so he drove down on Monday.

I was looking forward to time with the boys and I wanted to meet the girls that lived with Michael and Jennifer.  The girls had all left for family visits and would start coming back on Monday.

I have so many new things to tell that I almost don't where to start.  This was my first visit to their new home and WOW!!!  The house is huge and Jennifer has decorated it beautifully!!

The kitchen has two large refrigerators, two ovens, a giant icemaker, and a drinking fountain!  When I first saw the icemaker, I thought it was a trash compactor because it's about that size.

This is a picture of the kitchen with some Jennifer's family when they came over Christmas day.  I see Bennett's birthday balloon is still holding it's own near the ceiling.

 The picture above doesn't capture how long the counter is.  Check out the drinking fountain at the end of the counter:

I'll get back to the house later.   Doesn't Jasper look just like his daddy?

Bennett looks very much like his mommy :)

Talking Larry was a big hit with both boys just as it was with Rachel's boys.  I think of the four boys, Ethan and Jasper got the most joy from it.  I didn't have my big camera handy but I took a couple of photos with my phone.

Jasper's favorite thing to do was the "lightning" button.

I had a great day with the boys on Saturday.  They are both so affectionate and I received many hugs.  One of their favorite toys is a large train set with about 5-6 battery powered engines.  Michael helps them build a huge track and then the action begins.  We all had a station at the bridge or several of the switches to make sure none of the engines collide.  It was a lot of fun.

 Saturday evening we went to Jennifer's  grandmother's house to celebrate with her dad's side of the family.  I had already met his brother and sister and Jennifer's cousins.  We had a great chili and tamale dinner and dessert potluck.   I had a really nice time and they surprised me with gifts from Mike and Ellen and two other "Driggers".  Since I wasn't exactly sure who to thank for the other two gifts, I said,  "since everyone here is a Driggers, and these two gifts are from "The Driggers",  thank you very much".  It was so sweet of them and the gifts were so thoughtful.

Sunday morning was Christmas and we went to Jennifer's parents house for breakfast.  Stockings are first and the boys went right for them.  Michael's stocking had the cutest little finger lights!  The were fairly bright and each one fastened using velcro to his fingers.

I was again taken by surprise to find a gift filled stocking with my name on it!   The boys handed out all of the gifts and then everyone took turns opening presents.

Michael had replaced the counter top on the island in their kitchen for Jennifer's Christmas present.  He decided to wrap up a piece of the same piece of wood he had used for the counter for her to open on Christmas morning.

Bennett got an "Angry Bird" which he really liked.

Jasper wears daddy new hat and gets a ride.

After presents we went to church and then back to the cottage.  The boys went down for their naps and not long after,  Jennifer's moms side of the family came over to celebrate.  They all brought food, gifts, and a good time.  We exchanged gifts, played table games, ate, then went outside for kickball until dark.  I would say that a good time was had by all.

This room is one of the cottage living room areas.  It has a table set up for the potluck that day.  It is much larger than this picture shows.

This is another living room area which is also much larger than it looks in the picture.

This is a double table that looks like a very long table.  It's an open area with a counter space that separates it from the kitchen.

 

Jasper is delivering a gift to his great-grandparents.

Bennett is listening intently to something that his Uncle Joe is telling him.

Shortly after dark,  everyone left except Mike and Ellen.  They stayed and we played poker.  I learned a new game called Gut.  It's my new favorite poker game.

The next day, Dan arrived in the early afternoon.  The boys were both excited to see him.  I had gone with Michael to pick up Cheyenne at the bus station after her family visit.  Some of the girls are dropped off by their guardian and some are not.  We had fun with the boys for several hours and then we went out to eat at a place called Ghengis Grill.  It was great food and a fun place to eat.  The four of us played poker that night and introduced Dan to the game, Gut.

The next morning we met Michael and the boys for breakfast and then went back to the cottage.  Two more girls came back from their family visits that day.  The three girls we met are very sweet and I am very glad I got to meet them.  This was our last day with the boys.  As on previous days, we played with the trains a lot. We both got lots of hugs. :)  When it was their bedtime, we said our good-byes.

We spent our evening playing poker again.  I think Dan likes the new poker game as much as I do.

Christmas in Birmingham

The best part of Christmas is spending time with family and we drove to Birmingham for a few days for an early Christmas with Rachel, Marcus, and the kids.  It was a shorter stay than usual but I enjoyed every minute. 

We arrived in town about 1:30 PM and not long after we checked in to our hotel, Rachel brought the kids over for a swim.  The boys are amazing swimmers!  They are both able to swim on their own in the big pool as long as an adult is keeping an eye on them.  They both know how to dive but the pool is only about 5 feet at the deep end and doesn't allow diving.  Rachel and Dan enjoyed the hot tub while I enjoyed holding Lydia :).    Dan spent a lot of time playing in the big pool with the boys too.  I never actually got in the water this time :)  

Marcus was working so he met us afterward at Jason's Deli for dinner.   Jason's Deli has become of favorite of ours.  Caleb tasted Papa's toasted garlic bread and he loved it!  He kept saying, "I like this kind of bread" and asking for more.  We all enjoyed ourselves as usual.

We all went back to their house for our Christmas Eve.  Rachel had all the kids dressed in matching pajamas.  For some reason, I only got a picture of Ethan.  I wish I had photographed all three of them because they looked adorable.

That evening, we all watched a video together.  It was a Veggie Tale about the origins of Santa Claus and the spirit of giving which the kids loved.  The kids were already ready for bed and very excited because the next morning was their Christmas.  I don't remember who asked Caleb if he was hoping to see Santa Claus but this was his response:  "I don't just want to see Santa Claus, I want to see him in his sleigh flying through the sky".  The kids went to bed and we had our traditional game of poker.  For the first time that I can remember, I came out ahead.  I always enjoy poker, win or lose but it was fun to win!

The next morning was so much fun watching the kids open their presents.  The boys handed out presents to everyone and took turns opening presents.  Ethan loves costumes and had been hoping for western boots for months.

Caleb was hoping for a Discovery toys marble maze.   He also got a beginner Erector Set.  I'll be interested to see how he likes it after he tries it out.  They were my favorite thing to play with as a kid.

I discovered after looking back over my photos that I didn't get as many of Lydia as I'd hoped.  I guess that's because I spent more time holding and playing with her than using my camera.

After we had our Christmas, Marcus had to go to work.  We spent the day playing with kids and I took a few more pictures.   Rachel took the boys to the hotel again to swim with Papa.  I stayed at the house with Lydia :)

That evening, Rachel got a sitter for the kids and the adults went to a fantastic restaurant  I had never eaten French food before.  I ordered a fish entree and it was delicious!  When it came time for dessert, Dan and Marcus declined so Rachel and I split one.  I don't remember what it was called but it had chocolate and raspberries and was a very light but rich dessert.  Our server brought four spoons and between the four of us, it quickly disappeared.

We had to head home the next day so this was our only full day there.  We were all pretty tired so Dan and I headed back to our hotel.  We made plans to return in the morning to play with the kids for a few hours before heading home.  

I'm so happy that I will be able to visit more often.  My next visit will be in March :)

The Ambien Adventure?

I should really call it the Ambien nightmare and let me begin by saying that I  quit taking it altogether about three months ago.  I am just now getting around to posting about it. 

Looking back, there were clues that I did not notice at the time.  Dan kept telling me that I was talking loudly in my sleep all night.  He mentioned other things that I KNEW were not true but there did seem to be "mystery" evidence around our home. Things like an empty bag of chips that HE had not eaten and I'm the only other person living in the house.  The same thing had been occurring repeatedly with half eaten pies.  I kept wondering what was going on because neither of us had any reason to deny eating food.  I also had a very strange experience at Michael and Jen's home that I thought was due to my migraine medication and now it's clear that it was also due to the Ambien.

The deciding factor occurred one night when I got up repeatedly and kept falling hard on the floor and on the wooden parts of furniture.  Dan kept trying to persuade me to go back to bed and I kept getting back up and "seeing" things.  He was convinced I was going to break an arm, leg, or hip because I fell so many times.

The next morning, he told me what happened.  I didn't have any recollection, but I was sore all over!  That evening he came home with pages of research he had done about people taking Ambien that had begun sleep-eating, sleep-drinking, sleep-driving, and many other things.  I had already made up my mind to stop taking it, but I could tell that he needed to express himself fully because of the scare I gave him the night before.

No more Ambien for me.  I will say that although the migraine medication can cause hallucinations, it does not cause them for me.  I have continued to take it with no side effects.

Thanksgiving

Marcus and Rachel came for Thanksgiving again this year and we had a great time!  This was the first year that I was well rested before a visit so it was WONDERFUL!!   The kids had seen me a few weeks before but it had been a while since they had seen Papa so they were excited!!

The boys had been learning about traditional Thanksgiving food at school so they were excited to see the familiar turkey day foods on the table.  Dan did all of the cooking but I don't know if the boys noticed.  I hope so, because boys need to learn the kitchen is for dads too.

We had purchased a table set for the kids and I bought them activity books which they loved.  I have seen them color and draw for hours at their house but Dan had never seen it.  I think he was impressed.  Ethan loves to color by number and Caleb enjoys word searches and hidden pictures as well as color by number.

Lydia was the charmer she has been every time I have seen her.  The boys remain very protective of her.  I wondered if that might wear off as she got a bit older but it has not.  Lydia always had a ready smile for everyone.  I loved giving her a bottle and putting her down to bed.  She let me feed her (most of the time)

There was one time that she wanted her momma to feed her and when I sat at the table with the jar of baby food, she let out a wail and threw her head back. To be fair, she wasn't feeling well that day.  I got up and Rachel sat down.  Lydia stared at me as I walked into the living room at sat in my recliner.  It was so funny after that.  Rachel fed her and she kept her eyes on me the whole time,  making sure that I was going to stay in my seat.

Grandparent's Day

I meant to publish this post before my retirement post but here it is now.  On the Monday of my last week of work was Grandparent's day at Caleb's school.  When Rachel invited us, I remembered all the years that she and Michael had no grandparent to attend at their school year after year and I was determined that either Dan or I would be there!

Dan already had business appointments scheduled out of town for that week.  We worked it out so that I could fly down from Saturday and back Tuesday.

I loved seeing Caleb's school and it turned out that Ethan had school that day too.  I spent most of my time in Caleb's class but made a short visit to Ethan's class before I left.  The building is quite spread out so I needed to use a wheel chair that day.  Part of the day's activities was in the auditorium which was quite a distance and Caleb "pushed" my chair all the way while helped wheel myself.  He was so proud of himself.

The auditorium is where they had a very emotional and patriotic ceremony honoring all veterans and their families.   First they asked all veterans from the Gulf War, Iraq War, Korean War, Vietnam War, WWI, WWII, and then they added family members of any veteran that was not present.  Pretty soon the entire stage was overflowing into the aisles.  Before that, they asked men that served in each branch of the service to stand while the band played the song for that branch.  I LOVED IT!!