Stephens' Stories: Christmas Week 2015

Our first family Christmas was on Sunday December 20th at the Terrell's house. We celebrated with Stacy's family - the Terrells, Bells, Hamiltons, Ricki & Stephen and of course DiDi and Grandad. The kids had a blast because we were at Ryan, Brooke, Rhett, and Brynnley's house. They have a TON of toys, including a complete drum set - that was a favorite - good thing it was upstairs in the playroom away from the festivities. :). They had the bounce house set up in the backyard right by their brand new pool (with fence of course). We can't wait to go swimming there this summer. We had a traditional meal with ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, etc, etc, and lots of desserts like pecan pie, brownies, cookies, ice cream. The kids opened their gifts first - Austin received a new basketball and some Lightening McQueen cars from Rhett and a keyboard piano from Marilyn and Rick. Campbell got a policeman costume from Lucas and a shopping cart from Marilyn and Rick. The kids watched a movie in the playroom while the adults exchanged white elephant gifts. Yeti were the popular gifts this year, along with wine and alcohol. Fun night!

On Tuesday morning, friends came over to play and decorate cookies. Peyton and Sadie and Sara, Savanna, and Barrett, and Mallory all came! It was fun, and chaos all at the same time with lots of sprinkle spills and icing galore. I was able to join my mom, Ellen & Lizzie, Mary Carol & Caroline, Carrie & Christina and Ricki for lunch at Ouisie's Table, thanks to Mary being willing to babysit. That night, we joined Stephen and Ricki and DiDi and Grandad at Benihana for a fun dinner celebrating Stephen's birthday! The boys had fun watching the chefs cook our dinner at our table - complete with jokes. The knife tricks and flaming onion tower were entertainment for all. They even had ice cream to go with the cookie cake DiDi brought.

On Wednesday afternoon/evening we got to see Ryan, Kelly, and Audrey at the Puckett's house. It was hilarious (aka stressful) watching our boys almost break everything in the Puckett's house while Audrey (16 months) just watched and watched. We had dinner at La Ha with MiMi and Big Deal since we were not going to have that annual dinner on Christmas Eve. After that, we went to Peyton's house for her family's open house. It was a nice party but we didn't last long - the boys managed to put chalk in the water fountain outside and bang on the large wind chimes within 30 minutes of being there. ;)

On Christmas Eve morning, we baked and decorated cookies for Santa, and for us. After nap time, we went to DiDi and Grandad's house for gifts and dinner with them and also Annabelle, Allison and David and Ricki and Stephen. Austin and Annabelle got EZ rollers from Didi & Grandad and Campbell got a YBike, amongst other stocking stuffers. We had a yummy dinner of beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes and autumn salad. After dinner, we went to our church service at City Centre- outside on the grassy spot. It was a hot and humid evening - certainly not Christmas feeling but it was very cool to have the service in the middle of the commercial area of City Centre. Hopefully some random people of Houston heard the story of Jesus our Savior that night. It was difficult to contain Campbell and try to keep him quiet (I tucked away under the patio at Ruggles Green's door) during the message -but that is the irony - the message was about the "silent night" that Jesus was born. It was sweet. We went home - put cookies and milk out for Santa, and said goodnight to the kids. Then Santa's elves worked hard and long into the hot and humid Houston night to build something special - to be revealed in the morning.

The next morning, Santa had come! We spent time as a family finding out what he brought. Buzz Lightyear puzzle, bubbles for Campbell, 50 states puzzle, new water bottles for both boys, new running shoes for mommy and a pooper scooper for Daddy (ha!), and more. Last, we opened the window shades and let the boys see the new contraption in the backyard- a trampoline!! They tested it out and loved it - but Austin really has come to love bouncing this past week. Hopefully it continues! Soon after, we headed to MiMi and Big Deal's house for presents and lunch. The boys got lots of fun things - Campbell- a plasma balance bike and helmet, a tool set, crayons and more. Austin - a new swing for the yard, a remote Dinosaur, a Monsters Inc puzzle, markers, M&Ms, a tinker toy building set, and more. Austin had so much fun playing with Ben and Summer, as did Campbell who tried to keep up and wanted to play outside with them too! We went home for naps and then drove to Mary Carol's house for Christmas with the Cumbie family. The boys brought their EZ roller and plasma bike to ride in the cul de sac - which is much safer than being inside Mary Carol's house which is full of beautiful, breakable things. :) We had spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, frozen cranberry salad, etc. There was chocolate pecan pie and coconut cake for dessert - yummy! We exchanged gifts - Kendra Scott earrings for me from Ricki and golf balls for David from Trey. The boys got a UT hat for Austin and play doh for Campbell. Fun night with family!

Phew! That was a whirlwind week of Christmas celebrations. Austin really understood the true meaning of Christmas - Jesus, as well as put together the Santa story - that he rides on his sleigh and comes down the chimney to bring presents and eat cookies. He also tells everyone that the elves built the trampoline. :) :) We are blessed and thankful.

The next day we drove to Austin for a Hendrix Christmas at Westminster where BB lives. She had hip replacement surgery a few weeks before and couldn't travel so we all went to see her. It was a fun evening but unfortunately Campbell had a 103 fever so we decided to make it a "day" trip. We drove back after dinner and the kids slept in the car. It was fun to see the Hendrix family and have BBQ even if it was a short trip. BB is recovering well and know she was thankful for the gathering.