A Christmas Story I

It's 5pm, and I am in my comfy penguin flannel pajamas. It is 18 degrees outside, and it is going to be a snowy winter.

This is the beginning of our Christmas Story for 2008. We flew into Austin on a Saturday. When we left Providence, it was 30 degrees. When we landed in Austin it was around 75. I wore a sleeveless shirt to church on Sunday! We had fun Christmas tree shopping with Mom J and Bo

and decorating the Austin house.

The Winner!

In front of the tree at Shepherd of the Hills

After 2 days in Austin, Mom J let us borrow her car for our trip to Dallas to see my family. It took us quite awhile to get there because I had to stop a couple of times to do some work. We got to Dallas just in time for a lovely cold front. Luckily we had packed some of our winter sweaters! We enjoyed time with my family and got a chance to see the Dellinger boys.
Nicholas went fishing with Wade and caught many fish. Wade is a wonderful cook so we enjoyed lots of yummy food, especially the fresh fish!
My youngest sister, Kendall, got her main Christmas present a week before Christmas. She is now the proud parent of a ferret ("Oreo"). Kendall still had a few days of school before Christmas break, so Oreo spent her first night in the hallway outside Kendall's door because she made too much noise!

My cousin was able to get super cheap Dallas Stars tickets off CraigsList, so we attended our very first professional hockey game. It was amazing. Despite the fact that the Stars have had a terrible season, the game was filled with every possible scenario. There were about 10 fights (2 sets of back-to-back fights); it was very high scoring in the first two periods. The game went into overtime when Columbus tied with 1:30 left in the 3rd period. Within the first 15 seconds of overtime, Columbus scored, but didn't get the point because the shooters skate was in the goalie's area. With no more scoring in overtime, we saw a shootout and were perfectly placed to see Dallas shoot. Dallas made their first and third shots to win. The final shot was something that the movies would love to copy for the big screen. Our first pro hockey experience was top notch!

We drove to Sulphur Springs to see my Grandpa. He is 79 years old, can barely hear and amazes me every time I see him. He is definitely a fighter!

Grandpa and his dog, Pedro

We had "Christmas" with my family on December 22nd and drove back to Austin on Christmas Eve. We had delicious home cooked Texas brisket for our Dallas Christmas dinner. On our way back to Austin we had brunch with my best friend, Brenna, and her boyfriend, David. It was great to see everyone, and it was sad to leave before Christmas. It's really hard to share holidays and family time when you are married!