Huntsville 2009

December 25th-31st we visited Dad and Teddy in Huntsvegas. Wendy drove down from Charleston and stayed for 4 days, too. We had fun opening presents and, of course, Teddy had made the most fabulous breakfast for us.

We gave Dad a calendar with pictures of us from throughout the year.

Wendy got a Flip camcorder. She liked it - she got to use it lots and lots to post videos to YouTube about our family reunion and fun things around Huntsville. Her boyfriend wrote her back and said "My favorite clip was the school bus farm. How do they grow them so big, bright, and yellow?"

Tennessee Reunion

Saturday after Christmas - that's what Mom (Linda French) said is always the day of the reunion. So, Dec. 26th we drove up to Huntland to meet at Deana's church for the Stewart Reunion. All of Vickie's family were there: Chris, Amber, and Mike - and Emma Jean Stewart came as well. She is witty and spunky as ever, even though she pointed out she and Raymond were the oldest ones there. Papa turned 81 this past May 18th. He's holding up well, too. Thanks for all the hard work Deana. We appreciate you!

Then we had the Christmas gift swap at Papa's house. It was loud and rowdy as ever - and always fun. Notice Nolan's 'blue steel' smile (Zoolander movie reference). Maybe modeling is in his future.

Christmas Day 2009

We spent the morning at home and then left for the airport to go to Huntsville around 2pm. It was a nice relaxing morning. Dave got a new camcorder and I got a new 'big-girl' slr camera. So exciting! Mackenzie got mermaid flippers and a remote-controlled dino and a horse set. Madison got a train set and a mermaid Dora and lots of crafty things. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2009

Brady and Natalie Anderton invited us over to their Christmas Eve breakfast for dinner gathering. We sang carols, ate waffles, bacon, and eggs, had a visit from Santa AND recreated the Nativity scene. How's that for one night? Madison and Ava

Nat and Abe

Sister hugs!

Santa brought pjs for every child there. Then the girls helped re-enact the nativity scene. Somehow, they ended up being barn owls, even though we were in need of shepherds and wisemen. Of course,animal masks AREjust more fun.

Christmastime 2009

December is always a busy month. Lots of parties, shopping, recitals, etc. Here are some of the things we did: Decorating for Christmas with Grandma Cooper and opening her presents. So fun!

Winter Wonderland at Cypress Elementary had Santa come visit! Next, Mackenzie played her piano recital piece at the Lakeline Mall with Ms. Cynthia and all her pupils. Then on December 13th, she played her 2 pieces at the recital. She did a great job and has come a long way since she started a year ago. Madison is in the last picture with all her loot from her school class party.

Speaking of which, it's class party time all around. I got to help out with Mackenzie's class party. Madison's preschool put on a cute program and they all got to wear Christmas pajamas.

December 21st we met the Broughs at Shady Grove and had dinner and then walked to Zilker Park to see the Trail of Lights. Because of the recession they didn't have a corporate sponsor this year and things were scaled down. It was still beautiful though. And they even had more food vendors with better selections.

We made a trip up to Dallas and I got to spend time with Camille and Dean's new twins, Alivia and Zaria. So precious. I miss Camille so much. I'm just glad she's only 3 hours away and we still get to see each other. Dave took our girls to see ICE at the Gaylord Texas Resort. It was a huge layout of ice sculptures from The Grinch. It had all of Who-ville and even had a huge ice slide the girls got to go on. I wish I had pictures to post from ICE, but Dave accidentally deleted them from his phone. Maybe next year!