Christmas

We've been back in town for almost a week, so I'm determined to post today before the freshness of the memory is gone! We traveled to Louisiana this year to spend Christmas with my 2 grandmothers, and other family. We had a wonderful wonderful time! We had not spent Christmas in Louisiana for a few years now, probably since the last Christmas that my grandfather popoo was alive. My grandmothers have made the trip to Texas a few times, but it was nice to be able to get out of the craziness of this big city and relax in a much smaller setting. I love getting away...sitting on the porch at Mimi's, letting the kids just run and run at Maw Maw's, totally refreshing. Unfortunately, it rained for 2 straight days (a typical Louisiana Christmas), but we survived.

The trip down (which often is the biggest challenge) was awesome! Mark planned the trip so that we would be arriving in Natchitoches at dinner time. Natchitoches is called the "city of lights". When I lived in Louisiana, we would drive up there every year to see the lights, but it's been a long time. The girls loved walking along the river, drinking hot chocolate, and looking at "about a hundred" lights. There were much more than "a hundred" lights, but that's the number they thought of. We ate at a wonderful restaurant called "Merci beaucoup", and we feasted on meat pies, lots of fried stuff, and a crab cake covered in crawfish etouffee. YUM!

On Saturday night, Mark decided we would have a bonfire (that's the Aggie in him!). He bought the makings for smores and taught the kids how to roast marshmallows for the first time. Taylor, Annika, and Mason and burning marshmallows could have been a dangerous combination, but no injuries were reported. My uncle played his guitar, and we just huddled around the fire and enjoyed the beautiful evening.

The other big highlights are these....Angela's gumbo, the Christmas lunch (oh my gosh so good), Uncle Robin's reindeer food, fudge, bread, cookies...as I'm typing this, I now understand why my jeans are so tight!

One very special gift I received was from my grandmother...I was so blessed that I was able to know my great-grandmother Rubye Dear. She died about 11 years ago, I was in Bangkok, Thailand at the time. She had given my grandmother her big diamond ring, it had 4 diamonds in it. Well Maw Maw has worn this ring for many years and always said that me, my sister, my brother, and my other cousin would each get a diamond when she died. Well she decided to give us the the gift a little early, and she had a beautiful necklace made for each of us, so that we could enjoy it while she is still alive. This is so special to me, and I get to think of both my grandmother and great-grandmother when I wear it.

Well anyway, Christmas was great! And something that really struck me was that eventhough the girls got lots of nice things, when we talk about Christmas, the girls have memories of the people and the experiences...they talk about Maw Maw's house and Mimi's house, roasting marshmallows, the little chihuahuas Max & Chico, and those are the memories they are going to hold in thier hearts for years to come. They are enjoying their new Ariel beauty Salon, but the gifts are just one of the things we do at Christmas out of love, and not the meaning of Christmas. Worshiping baby Jesus, being with family, singing carols, those are the things that last (and maybe the extra 5 pounds that I put on, he he he).

So I'm putting down Christmas 2006 as one of the best ever! Thank you God for your son Jesus, and that because he lives in my heart, I can experience true joy. Our family truly enjoyed worshipping him this Christmas season, and we hope to know him and be more like him in 2007.