Christmas Hayride

The annual hayride through the neighborhood was a go last weekend with the T family.
The Tobias Family once again organized a great night. The plan was to start with a Rosary this year in Linda's honor.
It was so wonderful sitting around a fire pit outside as the darkness came over us while we all prayed a sincere pray of love. One thing that I really love about this group of people is that we get together and pray.
We thank God for each other, our families and even our sufferings.
It is always so moving to watch the next generation join in.
This is not a false sense of faith with these young people. It is real, it is strong and it is beautiful.
Often I am very humbled to pray with such wonderful people.
Once again Mr. T has the ride all set up. Karaoke style Christmas Carols with a stereo, speakers and TV set up for those in the trailer. Lights everywhere and even treats to pass out to viewers.
We knew it would be cold and that is always a good thing. If it is too hot it just wouldn't work. We are always blessed with a little nip in the air.
These are memories that none of us will ever forget.

We always love time with the B and D families.
So many friends.
Bear is always acting up, I can't remember why he put the mic to his ear but I do remember laughing pretty hard at the time.
Sugar and Kat are still the best of buddies.
We were told to pass this out to viewers. We had to restrict the little ones from throwing them. I was afraid that they were so big that they might actually break a car window.
Jumba loved the attention he got when he held the microphone.
I love my boys.
And the other boys.
This one is my cuddle buddy. Lots of laughing, singing and cuddling.
Memories were made by all.
I still can not believe that this is the second Christmas without our friend, Linda T. She would be so proud of her family. Kat is a strong young woman, T-Man is a happy young boy and Larry is a kind a loving family man. They all miss her but have adjusted so well.
Once again fun fun fun. Thanks to all that joined in.

A Little Ice Break

Dad took me out for a little break. We tried to sneak in a little shopping before the upcoming Christmas Holiday! Before the shopping we took a few hours for a very special treat. We went to the Gaylord Texan and took a tour of the Ice show. They have taken the convention room and attached a tent. The tent is kept at 9 degrees (which can be a real task when the outside temp is at 75.) Sculptures are brought in from China and huge display is created.

We watched a short show and then put on our Parkas.

We had a hard time believing it would be that cold considering it was so warm outside. Texas just isn't known for it's winter weather.

It was that cold and J and I felt like children as we passed through each aspect of the display.

The 2010 display was picked to be based on the Peanuts Christmas Movie. The artists did a fantastic job. Their creations were so festive and fun. They really did bring out the child in me.
It was so exciting to actually need the parkas.

The snoopy ice creations were fantastic.

Mom in the dog house.

J in the dog house.

Everything was so beautiful and cold.

We were so surprised by all the colors, then we passed the corner to a real treat.

First an angel to tell us the great news.

A child was born. God became Man! And here it was in ice. It was so moving to see the Holy Family shinning in a way that only Clear Ice can. It was so beautiful.

Then for the second part of the treat. The Snow . . .
It was a snow slide, oh so much fun.


Here comes J.
Now Neen.


This really was such a treat. This fun "cold" time helped to bring out our winter sides even though it was in the 70's and 80's outside still. The wonderment and surprise were fantastic. The only thing we would have changed is to have had the kiddos with us. We are already trying to plan a trip next year to show the entire Texas T Clan this special treat and get away from a Texas Heat.

Real Tree vs Artificial

Real Tree verses Artificial and Artificial Wins.

For 2010 we attempted something that we have not tried since the year the living creature came out of the tree. Way back before we even moved to Houston we purchased a live tree. It was one we picked and chopped down ourselves. We brought it home and put it right up thinking nothing of it. When I had taken everything off the tree and was pulling it out of the house something jumped over my hands from inside the tree and ran off into the night. I don't know what it was but it scared me to death. The dogs had never liked that tree and I wonder if there wasn't something small in there the entire 3 weeks it was up in our home. I went out and purchased a nice artificial tree then and there (they were one sale big time because the season was over) and we have used that one until this year.

So many complained to me about wanting a real tree and I kept bringing up the fact that allergies are a big problem in our home. Everyone assured me they would be fine and that I was being silly. Our adventure gave us a beautiful tree with lots of sneezes and itchy skin. Pretty sure we will end up with the artificial tree again but for this season we loved the smell of a real live every green in the house.

Neighborhood St. Nick

The tradition continues. We woke up early last weekend, grabbed some can goods, and headed to the golf house to meet up old Santa himself.
Jumba was nervous but excited just the same. I didn't hear him ask for anything special but sat on his lap without any fear.

Our neighborhood is wonderful and I am so glad that these silly family traditions mean so much.

Nice ride

Some friends gave us some of their furtinure. They wanted a change after moving into a new home and we can always use more places to sit.
Sugar was banished to the ground.

While Bear made the most of the situation.

The RenFest

The Texas Renaissance Festival has been an on going local tradition for 35 years.
If you ever watched the Gilmore Girls and got hooked on Luke you would know that his sister ended up working Renfest. They even visited 'visited' Renfest. Basically you get in with an expensive ticket (ours were free - thank you Mr. Larry)and you enter into the Renaissance time period. Everything is created to look like that time period with many people in costume. The rides are simple and time fitting along with most of the entertainment.

The looks are great but the cost is very high. We went to the festival with Kat and Troy Man and their Dad Mr. Larry. All of our kiddos were excited.We really did not do much other than walk around and look at the sites. We enjoyed visiting the vendors and were curious if they really had ATM's back in the day?

The food was greasy carnival food that cost a fortune. The kids had a few bites to eat here and there. We waited until we got home and ate several pizzas.

We waited until the very last day of the festival, so the weather wasn't too warm at all. In fact jeans were perfect.

The old time rides were so much fun. Bagel and Jumba had a blast.

My little riders. So cute!

Jumba was in heaven.






We all enjoyed the jousting contest. They were very staged but still fun to watch.






Another fun show was the mud beggars or something like that.

Goofy men playing in mud.





As you can tell everyone had a blast.

In the end I must say that I had avoided this event for two reasons one being the cost and the other was based on the rumors of inappropriate dress. Yes there some out there costumes but we didn't feel that is a real reason to avoid the festival.

We went the last weekend because the theme was "Celtic Christmas". So here is my crowd. All my kiddos plus a few.

Father Christmas was my favorite part.