Family Holidays

We basically spent the month of December (Dec. 6 – Jan. 6) in north Texas. Aubrey to be exact. We wanted to stay closer to Oklahoma and Missouri for our trip to see family for the Christmas holidays.

When we arrived in Aubrey, I knew that I needed some much needed time for myself. We had just spent a little over 9 weeks in the STL area with my dad after my mom passed Aug. 23rd. Then we spent a week in Springfield visiting Jack’s family. Next, we spent a month having fun with Mike, Jenn, and the grandkids in Edmond, OK. Needless to say, I kind of “crashed” when we arrived in Aubrey. I was way more exhausted than I thought, as I slept in most days until 9:30 a.m. or later!

I also needed some time to privately grieve. Jack was patient with my mood swings and my need to just be “lazy” and take care of myself. We still had some Christmas shopping we needed to do, and we even made time to see a movie. When the time came to head out for our Christmas trip, I felt refreshed, invigorated, and ready to go.

First stop was Edmond, OK. Our oldest son, Jeff, drove up from Florida and met us at Mike and family’s house for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We went to the Christmas Eve service at Mike’s church. After the service, we took a family photo.

Back row (L-R): Jack, Jackson, Mike, Jeff. Front Row (L-R): Betty, Jade, Kylee, Jennifer.

After church we went back to Mike’s to have our Christmas and open presents. Here are just a few pics.

Finn and Zoey really do like each other and get along great, even though Zoey has this funny look on her face.

The day after Christmas we drove to Springfield (Huffman family) and then on to St. Louis (LaTurno family) to have Christmas with the rest of our families. Here are a few of those pics.

All in all, it was a busy but great Christmas!

We headed back to Aubrey, TX, after the New Year, spent a day or two getting the RV ready to travel, and then headed to our next destination.

So, for now ….. “On the Road Again!”

Betty

I’m Dreaming of a White ELEPHANT — Ummm — Christmas! aka: CHRISTMAS CHAOS Round #1

Our Christmases are always pretty crazy.  My husband and I live in southeast Missouri, our oldest son lives in Florida, and our youngest son and his family live in Oklahoma.  Most of my husband’s family live in southwest and central Missouri, and I have family in St. Louis and Indiana.  Therefore, you can logically conclude that we spend a lot of time during the holidays traveling to see family, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Our first Christmas gathering was the weekend before Christmas Day with my husband’s family in southwest Missouri.  We all gathered at my husband’s sister’s house just outside of Springfield.  Words cannot express how thankful we are for her and her husband’s willingness to have us all over.  We stuffed ourselves on all the wonderful food everyone brought and exchanged gifts.  This year we decided to exchange WHITE ELEPHANT gifts instead of purchasing gifts, and, of course, we played the “stealing Santa” game thing.  For those of you who don’t know what a white elephant gift is, it is an item you already have around the house that you either don’t want any more, never used, or simply just didn’t like/want (YES! Legal re-gifting!).  There were some pretty interesting white elephants in the room that day along with much laughter!

Later the guys went downstairs to play some pool and watch the Mizzou basketball game.  The ladies stayed upstairs, entertained Owen (the newest member of our family) with funny faces and “baby talk” (which I’m positive he understood every single word!), visited, and played Catch Phrase.  Of course, we all went back to the kitchen and dining room numerous time to do some more munching on all that delicious food!

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This last picture is my favorite picture of them all!  (L to R: my husband, his sister, mom, and brother)

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We really had a wonderful time that weekend, and we all truly missed those family members who couldn’t be there.  Hopefully we will all be able to get together for a visit very soon.

NEXT:  On to Round #2 of Christmas Chaos! 

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