Our Christmas So Far...This is for YOU Amy!

Well, we headed out on Friday...Beau, Asher, Dusty, and me. Dusty's family is in Livingston, so he rode with us - which was a great entertainment to Asher! We arrived around 8:30 or so that night and had fun watching Asher get used to his Grammie and Grandad's house again. We were here four months ago, but it generally takes him just a little bit to warm up.

Saturday I talked about taking a shower all day and finally did late in the afternoon. It was nice lounging around in our pjs all day long. However, we did play outside a little bit - before it got really chilly. It's SO pretty here - with Lake Livingston out back and tall pine trees everywhere. I love it! Asher and Grammie went on a walk like they always do, but this time Asher actually walked - as opposed to riding in the stroller. They went down and looked at the water and saw lots of birds...and Cooper (the dog - not the cousin) went along too. And Asher loves Cooper! =) He likes to make dog sounds - and they sound more like Tim the Tool-Man Taylor than barks. He's pretty cute...if I do say so myself. Saturday evening, Barbara and I had a girls' movie night and left the boys here to do their own thing...watch football I think. We went to Livingston's very unique and small-town Fain Theater and watched the 2nd "National Treasure". It was really good - just as good as the first one, which I was surprised about. The theater has made lots of improvements over the past few years as I understand it, but it was pretty funny as we had to wait outside until the movie before ours let out (there's only one theater), then our 7:00 movie didn't start until about 7:15. It was fun.

Yesterday morning Tyler came in to see us for a couple of hours before he had to fly out of Houston. It was great to see him! We love him so much and wish we could see him more!!! Asher likes his Uncle Tyler, and he just might grow up to love airplanes just like he does! Tyler gave him a little WWII style bomber jacket, and it is SO CUTE!!! I LOVE it! But I will say that it's QUITE funny, because what Tyler thought looked just the right size for Asher will probably actually fit him when he's five or six. He looks like ET right now when he's walking away from us with it on...it goes down to the floor, and the arms go just about as far. It's hilarious! Anyway, we loved seeing Tyler, and we look forward to seeing him on the 26th when he's finished with his holiday flights. (He's a pilot for Continental Express for those of you who don't know.) Then yesterday afternoon we all made a trip to Nacogdoches to see Beau's Mom's side of the family. It's also SUCH a GORGEOUS place!!! They have lots of land with tons of tall pine trees and ponds. It just SMELLS good there! Beau and I took Asher on a ride on the Mule (a heavy-duty "golf-cart" type vehicle just in case you don't know). He LOVED it! And we got out and looked at a couple of ducks who have made their land their home for a long time now. And he loves ducks, so that was really fun. =) And we had a GREAT Christmas meal...I think THE BEST mashed potatoes I've EVER had. They were DELICIOUS!!! Granny's secret? A stick of butter and PET milk. Yum!!! Asher even got to enjoy a lot of the good food! And PawPaw fried a turkey - which was equally as yummy! We loved seeing everyone there - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even a little 2nd cousin for Asher who is six months younger than he is. We enjoyed meeting little Rafi! He's a sweety! We drove home last night, and Asher slept the whole way. Yea! I love it when that happens! And we even drove through a neighborhood in Lufkin to look at Christmas lights. The most creative home we saw...or maybe I should say "unique" was one with a large picture window in front FILLED with DOLLS looking out at us. It was kind of creepy looking. =)

Today, Asher chose to make his appearance at an ungodly hour once again! I don't know what his deal is, but he got up at 5:00 or so and wouldn't go back to sleep - the little turkey! So Beau was up with him for a while, but he started saying, "Mamom, Mamom!" (which is new, by the way - and I love it!)...so we've all been up since way too early in my opinion. But now he's sleeping. Barbara fixed french toast and bacon, which was delightful! =) I love french toast ("which was created in England", Beau says)! Tonight we will go to the Christmas Eve service then to show Asher a park in town that has great lights. And those are our big plans for the day. It's been very relaxing so far, and I'm glad we're here for a few more days!!!

I hope you're all having a very MERRY Christmas!!! Lots of love to you my family and friends!!!