Our Wonderful Christmas

Sorry I have been absent from posting, but I've been spending time with the family and enjoying every minute of it.

So, here is what we've been up to since my last post (I apologize for the length, but oh well, enjoy the pictures)

Dec 23rd -

I thought it would be fun to make sugar cookies and maybe start a new tradition. All four of us got busy, Brian & I helped the boys as they measured, sifted and mixed. When it came time to make the little balls for the cookies we realized something was wrong, so we had to call Granny, the expert cookie maker. The only thing we could think that happen was that the flour was packed in the cup and was more than what it should have been, so we added a little water and softened it up. Kade was the official ball maker, and Noah would press them down to make the cookies. They were not the perfect size or shape, but they turned out yummy anyway. I think we do need to make it a tradition.

Dec 24th -
Christmas as Granny & PawPaw's - our family tradition there is that we all meet at their house around 3 or 4 and take pictures. Lots and Lots of pictures (it drives my hubby crazy).
Next we all go to Christmas Mass at 5, then back to their house for food, gifts, games - just a fun filled evening.

After we got home from Granny & PawPaw's we had to prepare for Santa to come that night. So, the boys put out the reindeer food that Kade made in school, and then we had to put the milk and cookies out

Dec 25th -

we were woke up quite early by the boys telling us that Santa had visited us during the night and they could not wait to go and see what he had brought them. It was a great morning, after wishing Jesus a happy birthday, they tore into the gifts. They were excited when they saw that they each got a new bike. Every year after we open gifts, Brooke & Beau come over to see them all and to play with the new toys, and the boys love it.

After the fun at our house, it was on to MoMo & PoPo's for Christmas there. We had another great day there. We took some pictures (at my request), opened gifts and had a great traditional meal - it was wonderful.

I just love the holidays and being with family - to me, it's the greatest time of the year!

Christmas Lights

For the past few years I have always heard people talking about the Christmas Lights in the park in Cuero and have wanted to go, but for one reason or another, never make it over there. This evening we were telling MoMo & PoPo about Kade seeing the courthouse in Hallettsville for the first time last night (which by the way is pretty amazing in itself) and they asked if we've been to Cuero yet, we said no, so we decided it was a good evening to go. It was spectacular! We were in awe of how many light displays there were, and how beautiful everything was. It probably took us 30 minutes to drive through the entire display, and there were so may others driving through there too, I think people come from all over to see this. They even do carriage rides through there, but it was way too cold for that tonight. Some of the most amazing displays were on the lake, the boys favorite was the steam boat. Of the pictures below all but the angel (1st one) were on the water. As always, pictures do not do it justice, you have to see for yourself. I think we just might have started a new tradition.

Noah's Big Adventure

This weekend Noah, Brian, Donnie & Beau had a guys weekend at the deer camp. Donnie's employer has a game manged place and they let him go and take a couple of guys, like his nephews, with him. This was Noah's first time to go hunting where he was doing the shooting. On Thursday evening Brian took him out and let him practice shooting the rifle, so when Friday came, he was ready. On Friday they got out of school and off of work at noon, so they packed the truck up and headed out. Noah called me about 4:30 that he already shot one, I could hear the pride in his voice as he was telling me all about it. He said he shot it in the neck and it dropped like a rock. I asked if he was scared shooting the gun, he said no because he shot it the day before. Brian said that after Noah shot, he looked over at him and said "I got it!".

On Saturday morning Noah shot another one, and Beau and Donnie each got one too (Brian only went to be there with Noah, he wasn't shooting).

Kade's Tree Decorating Service

Kade has really gotten in to the spirit of Christmas this year and has been a great help with decorating the trees.

He helped me get all of our ornaments out, and hang them on the tree, and he had Brian lift him up so he could be the one to put the angel on top.

He helped in decorating Granny & PawPaw's tree and MoMo & PoPo's tree.

By the time he got to the third one he figured out a fun way to get some toward the top - Katelynn was tall enough and willing to keep picking him up.

Of course we had to do a few touch-ups after him, but he did a great job.

K's Day

Katelynn's birthday is this coming Saturday, but they will be at their mom's, so we celebrated early. We went out to eat at one of our favorite places, Harley's, then had her favorite, cheesecake, and she opened gifts.

This past weekend the A team played in a basketball tournament and the won 1st place. She did an awesome job in all the games. Way to Go K!

Two Hands Full

Katarina turned 10 on Sunday - wow! 10 already, she's now officially two hands full (not that she wasn't before, it's just official now) :)

To celebrate her day we went to MoMo & PoPo's house for lunch, then had cake and ice cream and she opened her gifts.

The Story of our Christmas Tree

It seems every year we have a story to tell about getting our Christmas tree. . . . like a couple of years ago when I wanted to go to the tree farm to find the prefect tree, so my loving family obliged and off we went. After walking around for what seemed like hours looking for my prefect tree and not finding it, we to Wal-Mart and found what I was looking for.

So, this year was no exception, we went to HEB to get a few necessities and a tree. On the way there Kade fell asleep, and we only saw two trees left our front. So we discussed waiting and getting one from somewhere else. Since Kade was sleeping Brian stayed in the truck with him & Noah & I went in to get the groceries. As we were walking by the trees I told Noah that maybe we should get the trees because it was to last tree there it seemed like the Charlie Brown tree that no one wanted. After we got our things and went back to the truck we told Brian this and he agreed that we should at least look at it. This time Noah stayed in the truck with Kade and we went check it out. It was actually a beautiful tree, only it didn't have a tag on it to take off and bring in to purchase. Brian went in to asked and the manager sent the cashier out to get the bar code off the sign. I was worried that maybe someone had already purchased it or had the tag and were in the store, but neither the manager or cashier seemed to mind and they sold it to us. When he was getting the number off the sign I told Brian to go and load it up and I'd go in and pay for it - just in case. So, here it is - our big beautiful tree (so big that all my ornaments look lost in it . . .

Learning the Culture

This weekend the boys got to learn about their culture by having hands on training with making sausage and Kolache rolls with few Czech words thrown in to made keep it real.

Friday, using Brian & Beau's deer and some pork, we made sausage. It's always a family event when we do this, and we wouldn't have it any other way. . more hands to turn the sausage stuffer. :) They ground the deer and some pork up, then mixed it together and seasoned it. Lucky for me this part was done while I was still at work, but there was still plenty to do once I got there. After seasoning it, you have to test it and when it is just right, the 'fun' begins - we do keep some up for pan sausage and the rests is stuffed into casings for the sausage. This entails someone turning the old time grinder/stuffer and feeding the meat into it, someone guiding it as it comes out, someone cutting it to the right length and tying it, and putting it on the sticks to hang. We then let it hang over night, and on Saturday we gathered up old rotten wood and built a fire in a small container to smoke it, then we let it hang a little more. And on Sunday we cut all the strings off, wipe the sausage off and vacuum sealed it. We made a total of 80 links of sausage, about 22 bags of pan sausage, and 14 strips of jerky.

Also on Saturday mom & Diane decide to mix up a batch of Kolache dough to make some cream cheese and poppy seed rolls. The dough was rising when we got there, but it wasn't long before it was time to mix it down again then waited while it rose again. Mom then let the boys help her roll it out, grease the pans, taste the fillings and fill them with the yummy fillings. There was a little left with each batch, so she let the boys make their very own - they rolled it out, put the filling in, rolled it together, and put it in the pan to bake, then that evening we all got to try them.

I loved having the boys involved in these making the things that have been passed down from generations and makings memories right along with good food.

While making the sausage on Friday, my brother, sisters and I talked about when we were younger and did these things with our grandparents. . . those were the days. I can only hope that my boys get to pass on our family cultures someday.