A different kind of Christmas Eve.

Who would've imagined we would have a white Christmas?
It was unbelievable, really. The snow just kept coming. We were thankful to be safe and warm at home.
We were also thankful that Memaw came over earlier that afternoon before the roads got so bad. The Heritage Christmas Eve service was called off because of the weather. It was a wise decision, but it was really hard to accept. Because of a friend's accident, we needed to be with our church family more than ever. A ton of work had gone into planning the service, too, and it was a shame that we'll have to wait a year before we get to celebrate it. But compared to the other events of that day, missing out on that service was just a disappointment.

We spent most of the afternoon of Dec. 24 at the hospital, praying along with hundreds of other friends for our friend Tim. When we first heard of his accident, we canceled our annual Christmas Eve family dinner. We later changed our mind, knowing we needed our family near us as we grieved. We got word that Tim had died about five minutes before our guests came over.

Brett made chili, and I made a sopapilla cheesecake. I didn't get to clean house or take care of all the other chores I wanted to before our company arrived; my heart just wasn't in it. Still, it was great to have Nana, Papa, Kelly, Chris and Memaw over for dinner!

Our guests (except for Memaw) had to eat and run because the roads were getting icy, but we knew the weather wouldn't keep Santa from visiting!
Surely Santa's an Oreo man!
We were in shock and in mourning, but we were ready—and thankful—for Christmas.

Another pet?

ChaCha sure seemed to think so.
Thank goodness, our new puppy is just a Perfect Petz Katie picked up at Sam Moon!

Decked halls.

It was fun decorating for our first Christmas in our new house.



We kept most of our traditions, like putting the kids' "first Christmas" pix by our stockings.

ChaCha and Frisco got new stockings this year! I'd been looking for matching cat/dog stockings and finally found some.

Our big tree ended up in our entryway. We'd prefer having it in our living room, but I love the way the lights reflect off the laminate floor.

I also love that we can see both our family and UT trees from the stairs. In our old house, our Christmas tree lights reflected off the sunroom windows, giving the appearance of many trees. In this house, we have room to actually put up the trees! (More pictures of this year's trees are HERE.)

Dining room

Granny's little angels

and her choirboys. These were in my grandmother's living room for years and years. The candle didn't survive storage that well, but I don't care! I have to put these guys on our piano or it just doesn't feel like Christmas.

Our nutcracker collection

These nutcrackers would say it best:
"There's no place like home!"

No business like dough business.

Some friends came over to spend the night with us Monday, so we made gingerbread people that afternoon.

Katie and Alex are both fans of the "more is more" philosophy!

The result: overloaded and tasty cookies!

I couldn't resist making cookies for our initials plus a Longhorn cookie.

We topped some with frosting and mmm, mmm, MMMMM!!!

Yummy!

While the guys watched movies upstairs, we played Twister and Twister Moves in the living room. It was wonderful that the film buffs could have their space, and we could still have fun without having to listen to their movies! (Yes, we're in LOVE with our house!)

Meanwhile,
ChaCha took it easy in our bedroom!

Family Christmas.

Wow! We just got out of school, and already it's time for Christmas at Nana and Papa's!

Uncle Mike got the party started by stripping down to his Texas shirt. Sure, it's a grinchy Texas shirt, but it counts!

Everybody has assigned seats at Christmas. Do all families do that? It's nothing mandated, of course, but every year we take our traditional spots! When Jeff joined our family, he took his place next to Cara on the couch. We're SO GLAD he and Cara (and Chris, too!) could be with us again this year and beyond blessed to have Jeff in our family!

Adam got a couple of Longhorn shirts and a headband (which he put on right away). Love it!

I remember when Amanda and Emily were babies, and now they're TEENAGERS?

I love my Texas towels and coasters! Thanks, Cara and Jeff! (And thanks to Kelly, too, for taking some of these pix!)


Kelly liked the picture of her "boochie" with Frisco!

Memaw liked her extra-soft blanket.

Ryan didn't get all "bowed" up, but he did try one on!


Chris got a copy of this season's must-have: Classic Home Video Games, 1985-1988. Since Chris is a member of the Nintendo generation, Brett knew he needed this book! Besides, the book is dedicated to him and his family. By the way, it's not too late to get your own copy! Did I mention it's also available on Kindle? End of shameless plug.

Cara and Jeff gave Nana and Papa a family portrait from their wedding.

Katie was excited to get her drawing set. Later, Chris showed Katie some art techniques.

Chris ended the traditional portion of the evening with his reading of Perry Poops, a ridiculous book that cracks us up to no end. Then it was time to watch the Cowboys upset the (previously) unbeaten Saints! We also watched Texas in the national championship volleyball match. Even though the Horns lost, that couldn't put a damper on this Christmas party! It was wonderful for us all to celebrate together.

And to all a good night!

Holiday hoops.

Just two weeks after the Big 12 championship game, we headed back to Cowboys Stadium to see another #2-ranked Longhorn team play, this time the men's basketball team.

Featuring the Horns and the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels, this was the first basketball game ever played at the new stadium.

Our seats were behind the goal and not far from the band and Texas bench.

The boys kept themselves entertained before tip-off! Gotta love the DS!

For basketball the stadium has a special scoreboard that hangs below the ginormous "Diamond Vision" screens.

This was a home game for the Horns: Texas announcers, the Longhorn Band and our UT promo. "Get your Horns up!"

It's been almost two years since I've seen the Horns play hoops, so it was nifty to see Coach Barnes and the guys up close.

Tip-off! The game was really close for most of the first half.

Our lunch break gave us a chance to ride in a private elevator (to get from the floor to the concessions) and see the game from the party pass area.

AND Katie got to make up a new song: "Seven! Seven dollar! Seven dollar footlong!"

But what a view from that end! Our seats were in the taller risers behind the goal.


During one timeout, the stadium announcer made a big deal of using the giant screens for an extra-large video game. The game of choice? Pong!

In the second half, the Horns were shooting on our end. At Texas-ou we have our "lucky endzone." Well, this must be the lucky goal because the Horns pulled away from the Tar Heels in the second half.


The Horns were hitting from everywhere! It helps to have a deep bench.

Later that night our volleyball team played for the national championship. They lost, but what a season those girls had! And what a great time to be a Longhorn: #2 in football, men's basketball, volleyball AND the preseason #1 in baseball! LOVE IT!

More than 38,000 were there for this game, which the stadium folks said was a trial run for the NBA All-Star game that will be there in February. Of course, most of the 38,000+ were Texas fans, but UNC was well-represented, too!

Horns win, 103-90! Then it was time for "The Eyes."

After the game we moved to the end of our section to watch the players head to the locker room. Damion James and the others are BIG BOYS!

We got to see Dexter Pittman and Coach Barnes go by, too.

And then there's Deloss Dodds, UT's men's athletic director. Don't you know he's riding high these days?

It was a fun afternoon at the stadium, considerably less stressful than the last time we were there! It was great to get to take the kids, too.

Hook 'em!