This year we were so happy to have my brother Joe visit. He flew in Tuesday morning. Unfortunately it wasn't as warm as I had hoped it would be. Then again, he was coming from single digit temperatures, still considerably warmer. We brought him to the house and relaxed for a bit before deciding to head out to the Gaylord Texan to see their holiday "ICE" exhibit. ICE is a 14,000-square-foot display featuring a variety of magical holiday scenes and sculptures hand carved by 40 visiting artisans from Harbin, China. We had to bundle up in parkas as they kept the exhibit of 2 million pounds of ice at a wintry nine degrees. The rest of the week would lend itself to the irony in this, the same day Joe arrives in the South from the frigid midwest, we drag him to an ICE exhibit.
Wednesday we got an early start and did some last minute Christmas shopping. Joe and I had been planning on cooking mom's lasagna for some time. Seeing as Clay was flying in later that evening and Susan, Gary and Laura were right down the road, we decided to have everyone over. This also gave me the perfect chance to use my mom's china for the first time since Chad and I picked it up in Wisconsin. Chad, Joe and I were busy that afternoon preparing the pan of lasagna and garlic bread, setting the table and getting the house ready. It was actually alot of fun. Susan brought over a very tasty salad. Everything turned out wonderfully.
Here's a picture of the house on Christmas:
The next morning, Christmas Day, we headed over to Susan and Gary's. We exchanged gifts sitting around the beautiful flocked Christmas tree. We received so many gifts, including many for Baby Blockley. We are very blessed to have so much support from our family. Later that afternoon we headed over to Mike and Tammy's house for Christmas dinner. They had a house full, with 24 of us total. Even though Joe didn't know anyone, I think he really enjoyed himself. Later that evening we went to see the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was a very nice Christmas overall.
Friday was Joe's last day. Finally, a warm day in Dallas. Although it was very windy, Joe didn't mind since it got as warm as 83 degrees! We took him into Dallas and started out at the Sixth Floor Museum. This was an obvious stop considering Joe's love of history.
We spent the rest of the day giving Joe a tour of Dallas, Uptown and Highland Park. We headed home, ordered Pizza and watched a movie. Saturday morning I had to get up very early to bring Joe to the airport. I was so sad to see him leave. His visit went way too fast. I hope he'll come back and visit soon, maybe this summer so he can meet the baby.
Christmas 2008 was very special. Next year will be even better with our baby's 1st Christmas!
1 comment:
So glad that your Christmas was a good one. I am so surprised at all the things that you and Chad have accomplished with the house and everything else. Only one thing, Where is a picture of the baby's nursery? It was also nice to see a picture of Joe.
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