Christmas in Houston

Ryan and I spent 6 days in Houston. It was very relaxing and we ate LOTS and LOTS of food! Bev was cooking for weeks (maybe months) before we arrived to have no-bake cookies, peanut butter blossoms, and seasoned oyster crackers on hand. I'm not even sure I could recall all of the meals. They were amazing. She even won a giant Williams-Sonoma turkey that we carved up for Christmas morning. Granted, we were all drinking ginger ale and popping Tums after every meal, but it was still really good. (it was the first time I ever had to look up "chest pain" and "angina" on WebMD.)

Bev also decorated for Christmas like no other house I've ever seen. They do things up right in Texas! Everything's bigger (and sparklier) there!



Pretty tree - covered in red balls and candy canes:


This was Christmas morning. Stockings were full and the tree had exploded presents all the way out in to the living room. Oh, Santa. You're the best:


Bev gets a new digital camera! It's red!


Chad gets a new printer/scanner/fax machine for all of the business he conducts:


Bev and Wayne went to Burberry in Chicago and brought me back a little something:


MY VERY OWN BURBERRY UMBRELLA!!!!!!!


Ryan gets Rock Band...let the rocking begin:


Wayne gets a little Broncos helmet, signed by (former coach) Mike Shanahan and Champ Bailey:


Time for everyone to take shots of Hot Damn (I'm not kidding):


Everyone gets matching KU slippers!


Bev gets a new coach wallet:


Bev and I have been trading these "santa pants" back and forth with fun little goodies inside. This year, I got a cashmere scarf. Nice:


This is Chad's face when he knows he's opening clothes. See how excited he is?


Woo hoo! Work pants!


Woo hoo! My Gil Elvgren calendar:


This is Chad's face when he's just unwrapped a shirt:


This is Ryan's face when he's just unwrapped a shirt:


This is Bev's face when she's just unwrapped Mama Mia!:


My new diamond earrings and my new cashmere scarf. (I was a very good girl this year):


Ryan gets several new books. Because he's smart. And he likes to read:


Chad also likes to read and he's very smart. But we gave him a book full of DC comic book memorabilia (because it looked really awesome):


See? Batman mask, wonderwoman button, some sort of decoder ring...awesome:


Chad is pleased:


Ryan is officially ready to rock:


The boys all "watched football" while Bev and I played "Who Wants to be a Millionare" at the kitchen table (on her laptop):


This is the start of the "Bev decorated the house for Christmas" tour. It's pretty incredible:


Christmas tree at the top of the stairs (Santa tree topper):


Santas half-way down the stairs:


Santas going up the stairs:


Santas that sing:


Santas that live in the kitchen:


The oldest Santas in the house (and the very start of her collection):


Christmas tree (one of two) in the living room to display the ornaments I worked on last year (I got my own tree!):


Hall table - the silver collection:


Dining room table - set for a very special meal:


Saying goodbye to Houston and all of the Christmas cheer:


Oh, wait...one more Santa - the one who looks out the window to watch for danger (Wayne probably armed him with a pistol):