Trimmin' the Tree in Texas!

So...this year we ventured to Texas to spend Christmas with Kyle, Darrell and their three little ones. It's the first time I haven't had an extended family Christmas at my house since...well... since I can remember! Actually, it's the first time I haven't had an extended family since I can remember... but that's a story for another day.

The Trip

Don and I met Zeke and Jason at Hartsfield to board the plane. Jason was late, of course. Don, Jason and Zeke were just loping along...while I was having a mini-anxiety attack. (I hate being late especially when I think I'm going to miss a flight). After we went through security Zeke started walking ahead of us. I grabbed his arm and told him that he needed to stay close to us...that there were a lot of people around and he could get hurt or lost. His reply..."I've seen Home Alone 2 - I know what could happen." Well...that set the tone for the trip if you know what I mean.

We boarded the plane. Jason and Zeke were in the seats behind us. We buckled up...and then I turned around to make sure the kids were strapped in. That's when I noticed Jason's face...it wasn't white...it was gray! I hadn't seen anyone (living) that ashen before. Due to the rain and flight delays we had to sit for an hour before the plane could taxi to the runway....all the time Jason kept getting paler and paler. Zeke hadn't flown since he was six months old...and was excited from the moment he arrived at the airport.... and, although Jason has flown several times - he was petrified! Zeke broke the ice by saying, "Hey Dad, do you know what happens to people when a plane crashes?" I thought Jason was going to literally throw up.

Zeke was having fun, although he said the hour wait was more like twelve hours, and played PSP, ate the $6 can of Pringles that he bought on the plane and occasionally tried to look out the window to see the clouds. He would raise the shade and press his nose up against the window and would get about 6 seconds of viewing time before Jason slammed the shade shut. We agreed...Zeke would sit next to me on the way home!

Arrival
Regardless of Jason's fears...we landed safely in San Antonio (flights were much cheaper than flying into Austin) and Aunt Kyle picked us up from the airport. She wanted to stop at Lulu's to get a couple of cinnamon rolls so that's where we ate lunch. They had the largest chicken-fried steak we'd ever seen (covered an entire plate - Jason and Don were in heaven)...and the cinnamon rolls were 3 lbs. each! Yes...everything is bigger in Texas!!!

Jason's holding the cinnamon roll - it was bigger than Zeke's HEAD!

We drove the hour plus ride to Kyle and Darrell's house on the interstate...with Kyle pointing out things for us to notice on the way. Jason only thought he was nervous and scared on the plane. He and I were in the back seat and after about thirty minutes of Kyle's driving he leaned over and said to me, "that plane ride was nothing compared to this...I'm gonna have to get out and walk." I guess she's used to multi-tasking; talking on the cell, text messaging, swerving around cars, slamming on the breaks two seconds before she rear-ends another car...but it took US a few minutes to get used to!

Presents
We arrived and Hailey, Zach, and Hayden met us at the door. We had shipped our presents to them earlier and they were anxiously awaiting the opening of the gifts! Darrell said they had to wait until after dinner. Kyle showed us around the house and where we would sleep for the next few days. They have a beautiful home (it was our first time seeing it) and even with my opinionated self...I wouldn't have changed one piece of decor. Seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...everything was to perfection! I still want sofa's like they have in their family room...and the comfortor set they have in the downstairs guest room...and the armoire, lol.

After Darrell cooked burgers (the kid's weren't really hungry...just running on adrenaline from the anticipation) we started opening gifts. I had numbered their gifts (1-6) versus putting names on them...to keep the kids from sneaking a peak. So Hayden and Zeke selected the numbers from a cup of who would open first. As Hayden was the most anxious...of course I had to make sure he was the last to open!

Hopefully everyone got what they wanted from Santa! Hayden got his Viking's football helmet and pads...and wore them for three days straight!

What to do.........?

Roasting marshamallows and hot chocolate was an evening staple. Zeke and Hayden and Hailey played long and hard each day. We went to an authentic Tex-Mex restaurant (Don and Jason LOVED it...I'm kind of a Moe's gal myself) and afterwards took the kids bowling. (I say 'kids'...but it was Darrell who played the longest). We went to Celebration Church (my new favorite church) and Darrell cooked a roast and me and Kyle and Kaja and Hayden and Zeke went and played in the park that afternoon. Kyle and Jason took the older kids shopping while Hayden, Zeke, Kaja, Mia and I just chilled in the backyard on the swingset and trampoline. We just spent time with the kids and the family playing games on the Wii and just enjoying our time in Texas!

Going Home

The time went so quickly and suddenly it was time for us to head back to Georgia. Kyle's driving back to the airport didn't bother me at all. This time I wasn't paying attention to the surroundings...I was hanging on to every word she spoke. I knew it would be awhile before I got to see her again.

We had to make a bathroom stop and went into CVS. I wanted a crossword puzzle book and saw they had Zhu Zhu pets so I bought another one of those for Zeke. As I was standing at the counter waiting to pay for the items Kyle walked up beside me and simply touched a display rack of Chapstick. She reminds me of that "skittle's" commercial..the one where if the man touches anything the object turns into a billion skittles and they skatter all over the floor. That's Kyle...and sure enough...those fifty some-odd tubes of Chapstick went spiraling all over the floor. That's my girl!

We arrived at the airport, unloaded our bags, and gave Kyle a hug goodbye. Everything was fine until Zeke started crying and said to Kyle, "I'm gonna miss you." Then Kyle started crying...then I started crying. I HATE GOODBYES! Zeke cried from the time we left until the pilot announced he could turn on his portable device (PSP)...then everything was right with the world again. And, because he sat next to me, he got to look out the window on the way home...and see "all of the lego houses" that were thousands of miles below us.

By the time we arrived at Hartsfield we'd been on the road for seven hours and Zeke had played his heart out the days before. He was exhausted. We had made our way to baggage claim and all of a sudden I felt Zeke leaning on my leg. I put my hand on his head and in the next second I felt him slide down. I grabbed him before he hit the floor. At first I thought he'd fainted or something...but he had simply fallen asleep. Jason put his jacket underneath Zeke's head and he slept that way (with all of the noise and people around him) until our bags arrived and we had to wake him up.

Yes...this Christmas was a great Christmas. Like I said...they do it "bigger and better in Texas!"