Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007
We had such a great Christmas this year. Our first family party was at my family’s house in McKinney on Saturday night. We partied so much that we didn’t get finished opening gifts until almost midnight.
That normally would have been fine except we had to pack and leave for Little Rock that next morning.

We got to McKinney at about 4pm and went to take several items to a family in Melissa who really needed help this year. That made us feel so good to help out and to see the gratitude on their faces when we brought stuff in the house to them was awesome. They were really appreciative. Next we started the party right at Mom and Dad’’s with food, drink and a cake walk. Yep, that’s right. Instead of exchanging gifts with everyone, each person brought a bakery item with a gift card attached to it. FUN! Alan got a VISA gift card and I got a World Market one that Kylie really won for me. Then the kids and Beady opened gifts and by then it was pretty late. Finally we got to have our family Christmas which is always my favorite part because my mom always knows just what to get me. The kids got a kitchen and lots of great stuff from the aunts and uncles. Riley opened all of his presents by himself and wanted to stop, open, and play with each one. Kylie loved all of her gifts and was a little sad that we had to go home and go to bed rather than play with everything.

We set out for LR the next day around noon and were so happy to see Meemaw, Peepaw, and Aunt Essie. Essie has been campaigning for Governor Huckabee but she was able to have a couple of days off to come home for Christmas. We really enjoyed spending time with them. The kids had so much fun and Riley didn’t really miss his schedule all that much.

Christmas morning was so much fun for the kids. Alan and I were pretty tired but the looks on their faces made it so worthwhile. Kylie was really impressed that Santa remembered all the things she ‘“ordered’’” and Riley loved his dinosaurs. By the end of the day he had brought in one of the dining room chairs to stand on so that he could dunk his basketball into the goal. Kylie had a great time playing with it as well. She really loved her Barbie Dream House and her American Girl Doll.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Salado seeing all Alan’s Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Second Cousins, and Granny. We got to see people that we haven’t seen in a while and most of them remarked on how much Riley had changed. We are really proud when other people notice how much he is doing because he has really worked hard for where he is right now.

Most of the time we spent in Arkansas was really relaxing. We needed a break from the busy semester that we endured. We also got to enjoy a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. That really meant a lot and we loved that Kylie loved it as well.

Now we are back at home, safe and sound, and downloading pictures to save those memories that we made at Christmas 2007!