christmas o8, round one. *ding ding ding!*

holy smokes. my christmas blend and I have just gotten caught up with my friends' blogs, and am so glad to see everyone having such a wonderful holiday! we got in last night from a whirlwind christmas bonanza, if you will. I left last tuesday night to go work in Dallas, M joined me later in the week, and we drove to my parent's house from there. as soon as I was outta the studio, I popped the Vince Guaraldi Trio in the cd player and we scooted through Ft. Worth traffic listening to A Charlie Brown Christmas. which I love... then the new Mates of State album, then This American Life. perhaps as you peruse the rest of the post, you would like to partake of some soothing sounds:




we celebrated YaYa's Christmas saturday night. this was the first year we hosted it at our house, and everything went really well... dinner was baked potatoes with the fixin's and chili, plus my aunt's awesome homemade buns, ham, dessert, and cranberry relish thing that we were flipping over and my grandma's homemade fudge and candy. my grandparents on my father's side are living in a health care facility now, which is a pretty major change for them. this holiday gathering has always been at their house, and these huge life events all transpired pretty suddenly the past few months. I know my grandparents - especially my YaYa - really struggle with loss of freedom and identity, but the facility is nice, the people there are very good to them, and it really is a burden lifted regarding daily living and health care for my PaPa. here are some pics snapped that night:


ME WITH MORGAN AND MY COUSIN M's PRECIOUS TWINS, RHETT AND TRITON:



MY COUSIN J'S AWESOME GIRLS... LAUREN & TAYLOR AND THEIR BIG SISTER, ALYSSA:



J & 'LYSSA:



MARMEE & MOMO:



DADDY & I:



MO TOOK THIS SUPAHFLY PIC OF HER MAMA AND AUNT LULU:



SANTA HATS AND DIGITAL CAMERAS ABOUND:



YAYA & L WITH THE REINDEER BABIES:




soooo good to see all of these people (and the ones not pictured here), and we missed those who couldn't be with us. we hope next year to get started earlier in the day, because the truth is we want more time with everyone. life is so nutty that it's easy to go a year and not really talk, and when you've got quality people like this in your life, you start wanting for more of their company.

it got COLD that night, and with the fire ROARING (sis-in-law!) in the fireplace, we started to wind down:




sunday after church we headed to Stephenville to do a little more shopping, and had a good round of Nertz that night in front of the fire. before I go further, here's a pic of my brother, his wife, and my niece that I just love, totally stolen from their camera (we got all the grandparents digital photo frames this year, and my mac was the lucky recipient of all the pics to upload):



christmas morning 1.0 dawned with hot coffee, L's monkey bread, and cheese and sausage quesadillas... plus fun things under the tree for Mo:



she got all sorts of fun things from Santa... a Little Mermaid tricyle-thing that blows bubbles and makes all sorts of sounds, an Elmo backpack, a cabbage patch baby wrapped in an afghan G'ma made for her (G'ma also crocheted her a larger one to match), a Sesame Street dinnerware set, an Elmo dvd, and a bath puppet. this pic cracks me up... check out PAWPAW IN THE BACKGROUND HOLDING HER BABY:



SHE GOT COWGIRL GEAR:



AND SOME CLASSIC CONVERSE FROM HER AUNT L & UNCLE M (you can also see her first necklace w/ a kitty and her name engraved on it, given to her by Marmee, in this pic):



this girl got all sorts of cool stuff, and she loved all of her toys. in fact, she liked them so much that to have to abandon one to open another was kind of a bummer. eventually, SHE LEFT THE ROOM FOR A MID-MORNING NAP, SO THE ADULTS TOOK TEN, TOO:



MY HUSBIN COULDN'T WAIT TO PERUSE THE GRAPHIC NOVEL I GOT HIM:



HE ACTUALLY GOT TONS OF COOL READING AND WAS VERY VERY HAPPY... THIS GORY-LOOKING JOKER NOVEL WAS A PRETTY BIG HIT. THE LOOK ON DADDY'S FACE WHEN HE ACCIDENTALLY OPENED IT WAS HILARIOUS:



FINALLY, DADDY WENT TO WAKE UP MO FROM HER NAP... HERE THEY ARE WRAPPED IN THE AFGHAN G'MA MADE HER:



AND THE PARTY PICKED UP AGAIN...



THE BELLS HAD A LOVELY FIRST MARRIED CHRISTMAS IN HICO:



AND WE LOVE THESE PEOPLE SO MUCH.




********************

CS posted the fourth photo in the fourth file on her computer, so I went to see which one mine would be... this was from some gathering I went to near Brenham years ago:



and I got tagged by JT (loved your holiday post, girl!), so here's my 8 THINGS:

8 things I did today:

1. woke up in my own bed!
2. drank coffee
3. caught up w/ friends' blogs
4. blogged about the holidays
IT'S EARLY IN THE DAY, SO STILL TO COME IS:
5. narrating for a few hours
6. going to see M's folks and pick up the pets
7. putting away Christmas gifts
8. relaxing w/ the hubby

8 Favorite restaurants
1. Mambo
2. Pho Tan Loc on Bellaire
3. Niko-Niko's
4. Kam's
5. Michaelangelo's
6. Cafe Express
7. The Dot Shop
8. Backstreet Cafe

8 Shows I watch
1. The Office (word, JT)
2. Biggest Loser (double word!)
3. Top Chef
4. Morning Express w/ Robin Meade
5. Intervention
6. the BBC channel
7. various shows on TLC
8. Food Network

8 things I wish for
1. health and safety for us and people we care about.
2. to be debt-free (we're on our way)
3. to have a bigger kitchen
4. in the house we own.
5. to have a baby Bell.
6. a shift in my work life.
7. spiritual strengthening.
8. a bullet train to Dallas.

8 things I look forward to
1. being debt-free and the freedoms that will afford us to live and give.
2. being a mom
3. fewer commutes to Dallas
4. Christmas w/ the Bells
5. dinners w/ my husbin
6. being w/ family
7. this next year
8. change

8 new people I tag: B2, Tricia, Chels, Boy's Mom, Whit, Ellery's Mom, and whomever else would like to play. ;)


********************

time to go read - must go throw on some going-out-into-the-world clothes and a hat to cover my uncombed hair. that's the lovely thing about studio work... you'd never know that authoritative, warm, educated voice is wearing sweat pants and a toboggan. I'll be back in a few days with christmas o8 round two!