Christmastime

We celebrated Christmas this past weekend...all across Texas!  Since Brad and I got married in November, I wouldn't say we've had any fights, but two of our "heated discussions" have been about the holidays.  First up - Thanksgiving - I thought it was important to see my dad's side of the family (and my grandma had been emailing about Thanksgiving since before the wedding), while Brad usually spends that weekend in Hearne (where his grandma is) since he and his dad and brother hunt there.  I had this grand scheme for going to both places in one day, and we butted heads over that for awhile :)  When it came down to it, we woke up in Hearne on Thanksgiving day, drove to Georgetown for a late lunch with my family that afternoon, then came back to Hearne in the evening so he could hunt Friday! 

Now, Christmas...Brad basically doesn't like driving all over the place when the holidays should be a relaxing time...but for this one, we had fewer days and more families to visit!  My dad is currently in Korea for work, so we did our Christmas meal with him a week early.  That left my mom and Sean in Round Rock, his family in Hearne, and his family in Tyler to go see...in three days!  Again, we clashed about it and for awhile it sounded like he was just going to see his family without me...which I'm not okay with since it's our first married Christmas!...but I guess he was just picking on me, because he came along in the end :)  We started out in Round Rock, where we saw Mom, Sean, and my brothers along with Matt's girlfriend Tess.  Mom made her traditional tenderloin with moutarde sauce, and I brought sooo many cookies I had been making in Temple.

Holiday Hats

On Saturday we made our way to Hearne, and we woke up there on Christmas morning.  I had a stocking!  Felt like part of the family :)

Showing off our new texting gloves!

Family Pic

And after all the Christmas festivities in Hearne, we drove up to Tyler to see Brad's mom's side of the family.  (Teri got a family shot on her camera but I didn't, so here's an action shot of present-opening!)

Papaw gave us a heated blanket (a wedding registry item we had never received!) and I'm sure it'll come in handy in NY.  Teri gave us the new Baylor cowboy boots!  Brad will be wearing his tomorrow...

...at the Alamo Bowl!  We're so excited to go watch the final football game.  Ready to see our Bears achieve 10 wins for this season!  It's a little bittersweet, since we'll be in New York next year when football starts up again, and I'm not sure when we'll be able to personally attend another game!  Maybe we'll fly down in the fall sometime...just can't imagine a fall without football!

Sic 'em, Bears!!