Christmas Day

This morning began with Celeste bouncing excitedly at about 7:00 am, exclaiming that Santa Clause came over night and left her a bunch of presents! So, we got up to watch her open all 14 of her presents. And boy, was she excited! Here are a few photos of some of her gifts.

After having our little family Christmas this morning at our house, Eric, Celeste and I piled into Eric's truck and went to Danbury for his family Christmas. It was so much fun and there was lots of good food, of course! Celeste had a blast hanging out with her cousins (below).

Today was an amazing day. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Johnson Family Christmas

For the second (?) year in a row now, we had the Johnson family Christmas at our house. It was so much fun! I took off Thursday afternoon to get some things cleaned up around the house the day before, and was so excited about the coming festivities.

One of the awesome things that I was pumped about are my new pillows that Mom gave me for my birthday just a few weeks ago! Have I mentioned that I absolutely love ruffles? And red? They're actually a very pretty, deep red, and not the orange that they kind of appear in this photo. (cell phones)

When Friday came, I made the Buttercrunch cookies and Eric helped me roll them. The only reason I don't make these more often is because they take lots of time and you have to work fast.

During all of the baking, Celeste was getting very whiny (she wanted to eat all the deserts and I was so mean for not letting her). Finally, at just after 2:30pm, Celeste finally fell asleep. Whew!

And I was able to do some more cooking, including these yummy green beans and red potatoes, and some sweet potato casserole.

Luwannah & Landon

Alicia

Mom & Dad

Gabe & Luwannah

Celeste & Landon

Todd and Gabe

More Christmas Lights!

First of all, Merry Christmas! Things have been a little crazy around our house so I wasn't able to post these until today.

This past Thursday, December 23rd (Christmas Eve Eve), we took Celeste and drove up to Prestonwood Forest to look at their lights display. This neighborhood was amazing; the absolute best place to look at lights that I have seen in years. Nearly every house in this neighborhood was decorated, and the longer that the evening wore on, the longer the lines of cars became. Some streets had their own theme (Frosty, Texas Christmas, etc.), and man, the lights were amazing. We dove around through there for an hour and a half, and still didn't get to see everything. As you can almost see in one of the photos, one of the houses had a small band of 3 older teenagers playing Christmas carols out front. So neat! Here are some of the lights that we found interesting there.

Texas-Style Christmas Block in Prestonwood Forest:

There were so many amazing houses to see there. The residents there obviously put a lot of time and patience into the Christmas season. Man, wouldn't it be neat to live in a place like that? Of course, you'd have to get everything done for the day before 6:00pm, when the traffic begins! Lastly, here's on of my favorites:

Christmas Tidings

While going through the vast amount of files on my BlackBerry that I've accumulated over this past week, I came across this adorable recording of Celeste singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas." I just had to share it, it's so adorable. I recorded this of her exactly one year ago today, when she was 3 years old.

So, since I'm not really sure where to begin, I guess I'll just pick out a few of the photos of the things we did this past week.

The Taylor family has a tradition; we have been going to the Olive Garden every single Sunday for lunch. Why, you ask? Because their soup is amazing! On Sunday, December 12th, we went with Steven & Sara and their adorable son Dylan. Dylan and Celeste are two peas in a pod, and here are the two of them posing for the camera.

This past Saturday, we went to Crazy Alan's Swamp Shack on the water in Kemah for lunch. It was so nice, with a casual atmosphere (including a dead skunk carcass hanging from the ceiling), good food and good prices. Here are a few pics of our view and the restaurant inhabitants.

Then Celeste and I had a little fun with the camera in my room one night...she was taking crazy photos of me and then would hide when I tried to take photos of her. It's nearly impossible to see her in the photos of her, isn't it?? (Super-stealth-hiding-mode)

Then, last Wednesday, Celeste decided that she wanted to dress herself in what she just knew would match. So she found her Christmas dress from when she was 2 years old, and put it with a jean skirt, ivory socks and brown shoes. Boy, was that girl proud of her outfit!!!!

This next photo requires a bit of explanation. After succeeding with being able to wear the outfit of her choosing the day before, Celeste chose this outfit to wear to Ms. Linda's on the day they had their Christmas party. Yep, it's a dressy spring dress and casual summer sandals. But try telling her that!

The guitar and sunglasses were her gift from Ms. Linda, and Celeste said, "Mommy, I'm a Rockety-Roll Girl!" And with her wild curls coming out of her ponytail, she kind of looks the part!

Last Saturday, we received Celeste's Christmas gift from her Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Tracie, cousins Hailey and Hope. Daddy let her open the present and she loved the shiny headband and pink striped sweater. She wore them the rest of that day around the house, and had to wear the headband to church the following day (pic below).

Lastly, but not least, this past Saturday we also had our Thomasson family Christmas party. Toward the end of the party, my brother Gabe was talking on the phone. So I sat on his lap (more like abs). Then Eric sat on mine. Then Alicia and Luwannah joined. We had to see how much weight a big boy like Gabe could really take.

Family Day

Today began with us lounging around the house and running a few small errands. After washing the car, Eric took my car to get an oil change and the brakes fixed. And I took some time putting a few plants in the ground in the backyard. During all of this, Celeste came out in her pajamas and set up a little "tea party" for herself. It was too cute.

Then this evening, we went to the Friendswood Christmas in the Park celebration in Stevenson Park. They had a snow hill, Santa, a Christmas train, and more. We had such a blast!

Daddy & Celeste in the snow hill area.

Mommy & Celeste at the Christmas train.

After, we drove around through Falcon Ridge, Eagle Lakes, etc., and checked out the Christmas lights. It was very interesting.

One of my favorites that we saw tonight.

Ummmmm .... ??

I think Wal-Mart is now out of inflatables.

One of the amazing houses we saw tonight was in Falcon Ridge. So neat. Here are two small cell phone videos I took of it.

Oh, and another bonus from today - we now have our washer working again! Yay!

Christmas Cheer

Today when I picked up Celeste from Ms. Linda's, she was so excited to see me that she must have hugged me 5 or 6 times, very tightly. She is such a sweetheart and of all of the surprises that life brings, she was definitely the best. You can't imagine how incredible it feels to have someone so tiny and innocent think that you are wonderful and awesome and is so full of love for you, unless you have a child of your own. It's an amazing responsibility, one that I hope I don't fail her on.

We were smiling and taking silly pictures for Daddy on the way home. Just for fun.

When we got home, I finally pulled out the wreath I made last year from storage, and hung it on the front door. (Man, I need to get a storm door and re-stain our front door.) Celeste kept saying, "Mommy, I like your wrooth!" instead of wreath, ha ha. So cute! That's what she called it last year when she was only 3 years old, and apparently she remembers that way and thinks that is the only way you say "wreath."

I remember being so excited last year about making this wreath. I looked for the right ribbon, the right picks and pieces, and the perfect little snowman, all of it took a while to put together (a month maybe?). I even purchased a pack of battery-operated mini LED lights and strung them on here. But I don't use them, they're the extremely bright-white (almost blue) color.

Lastly, an old coworker sent me an email today with the following picture in it. I thought it was cute; it reminded me of Celeste using our stool to decorate the Christmas tree a few weeks ago. Have I mentioned that I love this time of year?