Good evening, boys and girls! Pretend you're one of the Wilkinson quintuplets and sit back and take a look at some of my pictures of what I've been up to the last few weeks. By the way, I did squeeze in a short visit to the Wilkinson's house December. They'll be 18 months old in January and will be old enough to go in the nursery at church on Sundays. What a fun place that's going to be!
Okay, here's a picture of me taken one night in December at about 3 or 4 am, as you can see the red blood shot eyes, from lack of sleep, trying to get everything squeezed in that I wanted to do. Like most everyone, I probably didn't come close to all the grand visions of goodness that danced in my head, but did what I could to enjoy the season and Christmas cheer.
For some of my relatives, I treated them to new Christmas stockings and had their names embroidered on them, choosing styles that matched their tastes. Valerie loved their stockings.
My dad is known as Grandad to my kids and the rest of the cousins. That's what we called his dad, so it seemed appropriate by the time he became a grandfather.
These turned out pretty. Penni especially loved them, so I was delighted.
My friend, Michael, hosted a party and we attended it. He is quite the entertainer and his home was very cozy and festive. We went to another party afterwards to Nalie and Monte's, but I didn't get a picture of them. (She said she'd email it to me...so please do, Nalie!)
I made more than a dozen batches of caramel corn snack mix, probably twenty, but I lost track. Funny thing, one of Kelly's coworkers, Jennifer, and her family came by to see us a few days before Christmas and brought us some tasty caramel corn from Neiman Marcus.
Jennifer is an engineer who works with Kelly and she and her husband, Thomas, dropped by with their three lovely daughters.
That same evening, I baked and delivered a pie for my friend, Adele, for her birthday, which we'd celebrated during that week. She loves buttermilk pie with fresh strawberries, so I gave this recipe a shot. I have never baked it before and it looked tasty. On a side note, I think I'm the only person I know who actually likes to drink buttermilk. Most people I know think it's disgusting. I just love it. It's better than cottage cheese.
These are the new stockings I got for our family. Notice how each of the stocking varieties I got have different fonts and threads? That's the nice thing about getting a custom-made embroidery job and having it done just how you want it. This local place called Flying Threads does excellent work.
On Christmas Eve, I was so tired of gift wrapping, that I got lazy and just left the clothing items I'd bought for our family in the Macy's bags, and added a little pizzazz with nametags. I'm usually a stickler for gift-wrapped things, but I was burned out at this point and put several things inside each bag, so it saved me a lot of wrapping energy.
Kelly and I were so happy to get the new pool this year, plus I've gotten some new furniture throughout the year including this chair, so we really didn't get much else for each other for Christmas, and neither of us felt deprived. That pool ought to cover several more holidays, in my opinion! It really has been a big hit for 2008.
On Christmas Eve, Lindsey's friend, Sam, came by to exchange gifts with her, and he brought her a few little trinkets that she's been enjoying. He wasn't very happy that we were leaving for Colorado for six days and asked Lindsey if we'd mind if he flew out there to join us for New Year's Eve. We both got a good laugh out of that one. Um, NO! I don't THINK so, Sam! But it was sweet, I suppose, that he thought we'd even seriously consider it. Come back in about five or ten years and we might.
Kelly doesn't appear to be very amused by Sam being smitten by his daughter.
But at least we all have new matching pajamas! I never did have anyone take a picture of me in mine. Mine happen to be green, in case you're wondering.
Christopher got some little helicopters from Santa that kept him entertained on Christmas morning.
Lindsey got a new cell phone. They both got new monitors for their computers.
Three days after Christmas, we finally squeezed in time to get a family photo for Christmas. If you want one of our Christmas cards that I made, please reply in the comments! I basically mailed one to anyone who sent us a card, as I didn't even have time to open most of my cards until I was in Colorado, and it was a treat! I used them as my address list! I've sent out several, but have several left to send. The actual photo that I selected with all four of us is much better than this one above.
Kelly took a few pictures of Lindsey afterwards with my camera. I loved this one of her cracking up.
RuthAnn's husband, Gustavo, is home from Kuwait for about two weeks, from active duty in the Air Force. He'll be home permanently in April. They gave us a ride to the airport (three days after Christmas) for our six-day trip.
We showed some Longhorn spirit by flying in burnt orange to Denver. Be sure to tune in to the Fiesta Bowl game on Monday, January 5, and cheer for the University of Texas football team as they face the Ohio State University Buckeyes. My friend, Gordon, the president of OSU, will be at the game and I'm jealous! I emailed him to tell him I'll be thinking of him and wish we could be there with him. I'd even wear a red Buckeyes shirt to sit in his section if I could be at the game! I'm guessing he'd prefer to share any spare seats with those who like to make massive donations to the university.
Christopher loves riding the train at DIA to get to the baggage claim area. He loves the moving walkways too. I wonder how much longer he'll stop getting a big thrill out of these things. My little boy will be turning into a young man before I know it, so I just let him be silly and ride them a few extra times just for entertainment. Lindsey thinks it's ridiculous and childish.
Tuesday night, we went to the movies with Brenda and Joel to see Adam Sandler in Bedtime Stories. It was a pretty good movie that I enjoyed. (I give it a 4 out of 5 on my own scale.)
His parents, Terry and Gloria, joined us at the movies before they headed back to New Orleans. They visit often the same time as we do, so it's always fun to see them. He's got great parents.
On New Year's Eve, we went to the Jester's theater again to see Joel sing and act in Mame. Last year, he was in Forever Plaid in a much bigger role. It was nice to be there again to show our support, and have a chance to visit Teresa and Steve, Kelly's cousin, and his wife.
Weeee! Happy new year!
Here's Joel, still in costume, coming out for the toast. He did a nice job during the show and we had a good time.
The last day before heading home, which was yesterday, we went skiing. Here's Grandpa helping Christopher get his boots on, and Kelly and Courtney, ready to head to the shuttle bus to the main ski lifts.
We joined up with Mindi's family for the adventure. We skied at Copper Mountain and the weather was sunny, not too cold, and a great day for skiing.
It's not as hot as it may look here, but Lindsey had just hiked a ways carrying all her equipment and was toasty for a moment. Here she is with Courtney and Christopher, all ready for a big day of skiing.
Mindi prefers to snowboard and she and Lindsey never got a chance to take a run together because we all got split up in the morning and it was too much of a zoo to try to meet back up, being on opposite side of the mountain. There's always spring break. Or next Christmastime.
Lindsey has been skiing since she was about two year old, but since we left Colorado, she only gets to ski about once a year. She improves each time and is doing really well. It's really a family tradition for Kelly's side of the family. They're all incredible skiers.
Here we are riding up on the chair lift at Lumberjack, just after Kokomo, and American Eagle.
I took this from the chair lift behind them, with Christopher by my side. It was such a gorgeous day for skiing and we're glad it wasn't snowing or windy. Adult discount tickets were $75. They've gone up a lot since we moved.
But it was worth it!
Okay, here's a picture of me taken one night in December at about 3 or 4 am, as you can see the red blood shot eyes, from lack of sleep, trying to get everything squeezed in that I wanted to do. Like most everyone, I probably didn't come close to all the grand visions of goodness that danced in my head, but did what I could to enjoy the season and Christmas cheer.
For some of my relatives, I treated them to new Christmas stockings and had their names embroidered on them, choosing styles that matched their tastes. Valerie loved their stockings.
My dad is known as Grandad to my kids and the rest of the cousins. That's what we called his dad, so it seemed appropriate by the time he became a grandfather.
These turned out pretty. Penni especially loved them, so I was delighted.
My friend, Michael, hosted a party and we attended it. He is quite the entertainer and his home was very cozy and festive. We went to another party afterwards to Nalie and Monte's, but I didn't get a picture of them. (She said she'd email it to me...so please do, Nalie!)
I made more than a dozen batches of caramel corn snack mix, probably twenty, but I lost track. Funny thing, one of Kelly's coworkers, Jennifer, and her family came by to see us a few days before Christmas and brought us some tasty caramel corn from Neiman Marcus.
Jennifer is an engineer who works with Kelly and she and her husband, Thomas, dropped by with their three lovely daughters.
That same evening, I baked and delivered a pie for my friend, Adele, for her birthday, which we'd celebrated during that week. She loves buttermilk pie with fresh strawberries, so I gave this recipe a shot. I have never baked it before and it looked tasty. On a side note, I think I'm the only person I know who actually likes to drink buttermilk. Most people I know think it's disgusting. I just love it. It's better than cottage cheese.
These are the new stockings I got for our family. Notice how each of the stocking varieties I got have different fonts and threads? That's the nice thing about getting a custom-made embroidery job and having it done just how you want it. This local place called Flying Threads does excellent work.
On Christmas Eve, I was so tired of gift wrapping, that I got lazy and just left the clothing items I'd bought for our family in the Macy's bags, and added a little pizzazz with nametags. I'm usually a stickler for gift-wrapped things, but I was burned out at this point and put several things inside each bag, so it saved me a lot of wrapping energy.
Kelly and I were so happy to get the new pool this year, plus I've gotten some new furniture throughout the year including this chair, so we really didn't get much else for each other for Christmas, and neither of us felt deprived. That pool ought to cover several more holidays, in my opinion! It really has been a big hit for 2008.
On Christmas Eve, Lindsey's friend, Sam, came by to exchange gifts with her, and he brought her a few little trinkets that she's been enjoying. He wasn't very happy that we were leaving for Colorado for six days and asked Lindsey if we'd mind if he flew out there to join us for New Year's Eve. We both got a good laugh out of that one. Um, NO! I don't THINK so, Sam! But it was sweet, I suppose, that he thought we'd even seriously consider it. Come back in about five or ten years and we might.
Kelly doesn't appear to be very amused by Sam being smitten by his daughter.
But at least we all have new matching pajamas! I never did have anyone take a picture of me in mine. Mine happen to be green, in case you're wondering.
Christopher got some little helicopters from Santa that kept him entertained on Christmas morning.
Lindsey got a new cell phone. They both got new monitors for their computers.
Three days after Christmas, we finally squeezed in time to get a family photo for Christmas. If you want one of our Christmas cards that I made, please reply in the comments! I basically mailed one to anyone who sent us a card, as I didn't even have time to open most of my cards until I was in Colorado, and it was a treat! I used them as my address list! I've sent out several, but have several left to send. The actual photo that I selected with all four of us is much better than this one above.
Kelly took a few pictures of Lindsey afterwards with my camera. I loved this one of her cracking up.
RuthAnn's husband, Gustavo, is home from Kuwait for about two weeks, from active duty in the Air Force. He'll be home permanently in April. They gave us a ride to the airport (three days after Christmas) for our six-day trip.
We showed some Longhorn spirit by flying in burnt orange to Denver. Be sure to tune in to the Fiesta Bowl game on Monday, January 5, and cheer for the University of Texas football team as they face the Ohio State University Buckeyes. My friend, Gordon, the president of OSU, will be at the game and I'm jealous! I emailed him to tell him I'll be thinking of him and wish we could be there with him. I'd even wear a red Buckeyes shirt to sit in his section if I could be at the game! I'm guessing he'd prefer to share any spare seats with those who like to make massive donations to the university.
Christopher loves riding the train at DIA to get to the baggage claim area. He loves the moving walkways too. I wonder how much longer he'll stop getting a big thrill out of these things. My little boy will be turning into a young man before I know it, so I just let him be silly and ride them a few extra times just for entertainment. Lindsey thinks it's ridiculous and childish.
Tuesday night, we went to the movies with Brenda and Joel to see Adam Sandler in Bedtime Stories. It was a pretty good movie that I enjoyed. (I give it a 4 out of 5 on my own scale.)
His parents, Terry and Gloria, joined us at the movies before they headed back to New Orleans. They visit often the same time as we do, so it's always fun to see them. He's got great parents.
On New Year's Eve, we went to the Jester's theater again to see Joel sing and act in Mame. Last year, he was in Forever Plaid in a much bigger role. It was nice to be there again to show our support, and have a chance to visit Teresa and Steve, Kelly's cousin, and his wife.
Weeee! Happy new year!
Here's Joel, still in costume, coming out for the toast. He did a nice job during the show and we had a good time.
The last day before heading home, which was yesterday, we went skiing. Here's Grandpa helping Christopher get his boots on, and Kelly and Courtney, ready to head to the shuttle bus to the main ski lifts.
We joined up with Mindi's family for the adventure. We skied at Copper Mountain and the weather was sunny, not too cold, and a great day for skiing.
It's not as hot as it may look here, but Lindsey had just hiked a ways carrying all her equipment and was toasty for a moment. Here she is with Courtney and Christopher, all ready for a big day of skiing.
Mindi prefers to snowboard and she and Lindsey never got a chance to take a run together because we all got split up in the morning and it was too much of a zoo to try to meet back up, being on opposite side of the mountain. There's always spring break. Or next Christmastime.
Lindsey has been skiing since she was about two year old, but since we left Colorado, she only gets to ski about once a year. She improves each time and is doing really well. It's really a family tradition for Kelly's side of the family. They're all incredible skiers.
Here we are riding up on the chair lift at Lumberjack, just after Kokomo, and American Eagle.
I took this from the chair lift behind them, with Christopher by my side. It was such a gorgeous day for skiing and we're glad it wasn't snowing or windy. Adult discount tickets were $75. They've gone up a lot since we moved.
But it was worth it!
Comments
I love the "stuff a lot of presents in one gift bag" technique. I am stealing that idea for next Christmas.
I totally used the "stuff a lot of presents into one gift bag" idea while wrapping this year. I had a bunch of things for everyone that I'd bought in China, so I just wound up stuffing everyone's gifts into their own "China bag" and called it good.
I'm working on your other pictures (sorry, the holiday kinda got in my way!), and I'll send them to you shortly.
BTW, Sam is cute. I would be scared. Very, very scared.
As for your Christmas card, we didn't send any out this year mostly because I feel like I'm in touch with most everyone through facebook, blogs or whatever. For this reason, since I follow your blog, I don't need a card from you (though you can send one if you want). After receiving the many, and realizing that there are so many people that I'm not in touch with electronically, I am going to have to get something out. Mostly because we moved and nobody has our new address.
The skiing looks great, my parents took us a few times as a family (we were a big family) and I love those memories. I'd like to be able to do the same for my family some day. I'd be happy for some sledding snow here in VA, the kids and I always have a blast just with the simplicity (and zero cost factor) of that.
Great post though. Next year I'm going to ask my wife for a pool for Christmas...
Nobody can party, or throw a party quite like you. You have a lucky family.
Looks like your Christmas and New years was so much fun! The stockings were darling as well. You are always doing something creative.
soon I'll get to read about your time with your old friend!
ta ta!