WOW! What a whirlwind of joy these days have been. We managed to squeeze in so many memories, that even I was impressed. The most important thing was making sure we also had time to just sit and enjoy each others company. It was the perfect mix of relaxation and chaos. When we first arrived, we conquered Costco and HEB for the weekly meal plan, Starbucks, and then hanging out at the house for the evening. We had tickets to Peppermint Parkway for the evening, but harsh rains kept us all cozy at home and catching up for the night. The cousins stayed together at Nana's for the week, although we missed Kennybug for the first few nights as she battled an illness.
Christmas Eve morning was a relaxing one with the candlelight service at The Bridge. God reminded us once again of the blessing of life when Caelin was able to take her first communion. It was a beautiful service walking through Luke chapter 2 and allowed time for self reflection during the busy season of celebrations. Once we got home, everyone enjoyed decorating cookies and a shrimp boil for dinner. Growing up, Grandma Parks loved to do shrimp boils on special occasions, so it made me smile to think of her sitting at an outside table at the Papalote Estate home digging into a shrimp boil. Shrimp was also one of Grandma Watts' favorite, although she enjoyed buying it fresh and eating lbs of it when we were in Port Aransas during family vacations growing up. Corn on the cob was one of Daddy's favorite foods and he and Grandpa Parks could both clean an ear of corn with their teeth like no one else I have ever met. I think Daddy had a pile of at least 4-6 ears of corn cleaned at every shrimp boil. Such great memories and the perfect choice for a Christmas Eve meal. After dinner, we opened countless gifts reminding us just how loved and spoiled we all are. The boys made us laugh with their "PSD" underwear the most. Cade was excited to get a statue of Liberty Lego set, an external hard drive for the PS4, several knives, Baylor hat, UA pants, and other goodies. Caelin's loot included a monogrammed Bible cover, monogrammed pajamas, travel backpack, bike basket, infusion water bottle, clothes, and the famous Mac-n-cheese socks. The evening concluded with Charles reading "T'was the Night Before Christmas" just like Mumps and Grumps used to when he was growing up. After an eventful day, the kids stayed up late while the adults played cards/dominoes.
Welcome CHRISTmas morning! Santa came bringing joy to all including our fur babies. Santa surprised Cade with Nike Air Force 1 shoes (want), socks/Old Spice gift set (need), and a Ted Dekker novel (something to read). Caelin was most excited to see the travel sewing machine (want), socks/bath scrubs (need), and a Percy Jackson book (something to read). Santa also had lots of smaller goodies to enjoy. The rest of Christmas day was spent playing outside, chatting with the neighbors, eating good food, playing games, watching football, and hearing sounds of laughter. A perfect day of family as we celebrated Christ.
The next few days flew by and were packed with games, sleepovers, Peppermint Parkway, late night cousin trips to WalMart, piano music and more. Tomorrow will bring new adventures as we celebrate Mendy's birthday and our final day in Round Rock.
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