Christmas 2008 Continued

Where to begin with our festivities this year? I guess Jason and I started the season off by participating at church in our Christmas program that was held on December 21. Jason and I were both a part of our ward choir singing "Silent Night Medley." Jason was also a member of a men's quartet, singing "Guard Him Joseph." To top it off and my favorite of the bunch was Jason and I doing a musical number together, "The First Noel." Jason sang, and I signed it. This is the second time that we have done something like this together, and I love it! I was so nervous going into it. The Lord definitely blessed me in remembering my signs. My last day of work was on December 23. I went back to work on January 5. The break was so great. Jason had to work half day on Christmas Eve. I picked him up work and then we headed to my sister's in the Tulsa area. That evening we went to one of my sister's friend's home for homemade Chinese and the reading/acting of the Christmas story. It was so yummy. The next morning I believe started in the late 7 o'clock hour. We opened gifts and ate breakfast. The kids played with their toys and I just hung out. Andrew got this cool kid's tool set.

Madilyn got a huge doll house with elevator and all. It was a very relaxing day. My poor sister thought she bought just a turkey breast (no bones, etc) wanting to make it easy and to cook a nice juicy turkey in the crockpot. When she opened it, she discovered it was a normal turkey, just on the small side. Dinner was very tasty. For dessert we had something nontraditional, BTS Cake (My dad told me years ago that I was not allowed to use its actual name). For those of you who do not know what this is, it is a chocolate cake with hot caramel syrup over it, then cool whip, topped with crushed Heath or Skor bar. Jason, my sister, and I stayed up late that night playing Nurts (sp?). Super fun, but fast card game.

The next morning Jason and I headed down to Texas to visit his family. We are grateful that we live close enough to them to visit for many short weekend trips. Heather (Jason's cousin) and her husband, Delvin, were so gracious to let us stay with them. Delvin decided to do some cooking since we were coming. Delvin is amazing with the grill. He cooked crab, lobster, tuna steaks, and I cannot remember what else. After dinner, the guys did their thing and the girls ended up watching episode after episode of Operation Repo, Dirty Jobs, and Ruby. The next morning we finally ventured out of the house around noon. Jason and I have been to the Ft. Worth/Dallas area many times and we always seem to just hang out. Now, do not get me wrong, I love hanging out with Jason's family, but we are in the DFW area and I want to do something fun. We decided to go to the Dallas World Aquarium. We thought it was $5 to get in. After standing in a long line and paying $5 for parking, we discovered it was about $20 to get in. Heather asked what we thought. I told her I did not feel like spending $20 each for an aquarium. We then decided on plan B, plan B did not work out. We then decided to go shopping! Heather introduced me to Sam Moon, it is a store with tons of purses and jewelry. I got 3 sets of jewelry for $18. I cannot wait to go back. The guys even scored with covers for their phones and clothes from Haggar for way cheap.

We also purchased a wall decoration that unfortunately fits Jason and I too well. We can clean a house, I promise. We just cannot seem to keep it clean.

We had so much fun. Heather and Delvin felt so bad because they felt like they drove us around for 1/2 the day, but we had a ball. To top it off, we also got to see The Grassy Null, where JFK was killed, the old Dallas Courthouse, which I particularly loved. For those of you who do not know, I love to look at neat buildings. I have a fascination with architecture.

We (Heather, Delvin, Hunter, Jason, and I) then meet up with another cousin and his wife, Cory and Lisa, for dinner.

I had homemade tortillas that were scrumptious (okay, you guys have probably heard enough about me and my Mexican food, but I just have not had enough. I love Mexican so much).

Cory and Lisa then mentioned that they were going with the friends that evening to go skating right by their house. We all decided to go. It brought back so many childhood memories.

I do not think I have rollerbladed in over 10 years. Jason and I ended up getting rollerskates. Good thing we did. It was hard! My upper legs were killing me and Jason's calves were killing him. I guess if you don't use it, you loss it. We never fell, but maybe I have discovered an new workout I could pick back up. We will see. We had such an amazing time.

That pretty much sums up our holiday festivities. Hope your holidays found you safe and were filled with family and friends and the true spirit of CHRISTmas.