On exactly December, 1st, Nona made another attempt to fly in to give us a weekend of relief. She could tell I was really struggling to get over my sinus stuff, and Jeremie was just crazy busy at work.
She flew in on Friday, and that evening, we headed to the Polar Express in Grapevine since we already had tickets. This is the most precious event! Greyson throughly enjoyed himself this year; he was the perfect age for it!
We were able to get our annual-terrifying-picture-experience with Santa while we were there. Greyson was a hot mess the whole time we stood in line, but SOMEHOW the magician of a photographer pulled this out.
Last year, it was literally 30 degrees the day we went, but this year, the weather was more "Texas-winter", so we got to enjoy outdoor stuff too.
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| I did not wear pajamas this year because my belly pretty much pokes out of all of my own pajamas. I've resorted to Jeremie's white t's. |
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| ALL ABOARD!!!! |
The train was decorated beautifully!!!! So magical!
Much like any other "character" such as Santa or the Easter bunny, Greyson was skeptical of Mrs. Claus.
When you pull back into the station, they have "transformed" everything into the North Pole, complete with a Christmas tree stroll through the "snow".
Afterwards is a cute and brief little show that included the big man himself. Greyson shockingly sat on the stage the entire time! Santa mixes up some "Magic Snow Milk", and afterwards everyone gets a mug. (In reality it's the best chocolate milk you've ever had. Pretty sure Santa does mix up some magic in there. )
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| Greyson was chugging it like it was happy hour. |
On our way out, Nona and G hit the carousel.
This is one of my favorite Christmas events in the area; I hope that Greyson (and Taylor) love it for a long time....
Sadly the next morning, I got news that my sweet, special Grammy passed away. She had been sick for a while and was on hospice. But the news was still just so hard to take. There are no words for how special this woman was to me. We spent countless hours together and her cheerful spirit and love for her family was just incredible. I miss her so much already.
So the next few hours were spent making plans and packing up for Mississippi. Greyson ended up flying back with Nona the next day. (God just situated an available seat next to her on a flight that is usually full.) Jeremie and I drove, which is much quicker and simpler without a toddler.
Grammy's service was beautiful, but it was certainly a tough few days. After the funeral, we were able to spend some time with my family, which was good.
We finally took Greyson to see "The Star" movie, which was absolutely adorable!
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| My dad gets in full character while entertaining G. : ) |
And shockingly, the day we were supposed to head back to Texas, Mississippi was hit with a random blizzard, which has happened maybe twice in my lifetime. They got more snow than New York City that day. Since J had already headed back to Texas, my parents had planned to drive me back. We of course said the heck with it and played in the snow! Greyson LOOOOOVED it! I was so glad he got to experience it!
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| Our sad attempt at a snowman. Of course my mom just happened to have a little Texas themed cowboy hat! ; ) |
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| Snow in the country is absolutely beautiful. |
And because I didn't have the heart to cancel, and I needed a party in life that week, the next night, I hosted my Annual Girls Pajama Party and Gift Swap. (Fortunately, my mama was there to help me quickly get ready! She's the original Master Party Planner!)
This year we swapped all things "Drinkware" and we all ended up with darling mugs, cocoa, teas, and glasses. This is one of my favorite traditions!
On Tuesday, Greyson's class hosted a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party, and they sang "Away in a Manger" while they rocked "Baby Jesus". It sort melted my heart. Greyson is gonna be just fine with little sister. Just look at his perfect holding technique while all the other babies are strewn on the floor....that's my boy.
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| We decorated sugar cookies at his party. |
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| And they presented us with all of their darling Christmas crafts. |
We all exchanged Christmas gifts, and although Baby Taylor is not here yet, she is already getting spoiled. (See the darling maroon tutu in the background?)
We ALL spent ALL day in our pajamas watching Christmas movies and eating snacks. My kind of tradition.
We also made "Reindeer Food" to sprinkle in the yard on Christmas Eve. It was super simple and darling. You can find what we did here.
The next night I attended a cookie swap party. (It hit me the night before that I was supposed to bake two dozen cookies the next day.) Fortunately, I found a SUPER SIMPLE cookie recipe in my Six Sisters cook book. They were 4 ingredients and I literally whipped them up in 20 minutes. They are called Fudge Crinkle Cookies, and you can find the recipe here! I've never been to a cookie swap party, but MY OH MY, I'll never miss one again! I sure hope my friend makes a tradition out of this! Everyone brought 2 dozen cookies and we all sampled, voted on the best one (super hard to choose), and we all got to take away boxes of ALL of the flavors! We were eating cookies for days!
The next night we did our Annual Overnight Christmas date to Downtown Dallas. (We've been doing this for 5 years!) This year, we took Lil G with us and went to the ICE Exhibit at the Gaylord before heading downtown. I've been wanting to do this for years, and this year was the first time we felt like G was old enough to appreciate it.
Okay, so my official review on the ICE Exhibit is that...well folks, it's COLD. Not like "freezing point" 32 degrees cold, IT'S NINE DEGREES IN THERE. That even made our Michigan friends raise their eyebrows. They give you parkas before you go in, and don't get me wrong, the exhibit is absolutely incredible and beautiful. I really have no idea how they make all that out of ice. But it's SO COLD that we really moved fast and didn't stop to stare and enjoy too much. It's definitely something that everyone should experience once though!
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| Seriously, the WHOLE SLEIGH is ice. Everything you see! |
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| This area had actual ice slides you could go down, but G was having none of it. I was still amazed at this room and the gorgeous green ice Christmas tree. |
Afterwards, we went to the hotel side of the Gaylord and the Atrium is over-the-top in Christmas decorations. It was gorgeous. There are huge trees, gingerbread houses, a model train that goes up in the air; it's amazing!
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| This is a GINGERBREAD HOUSE! Definitely doesn't look like the Costco one that we crafted. |
Overall, we had a good experience, but it wasn't my favorite Christmas activity we've ever done. Granted, we went on a Friday afternoon/evening, so it was EXTREMELY crowded. I can't imagine what the weekends are like. If we go back next year, I'll probably just take G to eat at one of the restaurants and enjoy the decorations in the atrium.
Afterwards, we headed downtown to eat at one of my favorite areas, Trinity Groves. This time, we tried the Italian restaurant, Saint Rocco's. It was warm and delicious and hit the spot. So far, we've tried Souk, Amberjacks', and the Cake Bar there, and everything is outstanding!
It's just got a great atmosphere and beautiful views of the city.
We were totally zapped by the time we made it to the Adolphus. I love this hotel. They got our room mixed up this time, but at the end of the day, we were drinking hot cocoa and eating chocolate chip cookies, so we were happy campers.
On our way home we stopped at the Galleria to see the famous Christmas tree and ice skating rink. In our 5.5 years here in Dallas, we have NEVER been to the Galleria! How crazy is that?! We found another "BIG D" sign and made our way in!
The tree really was impressive!!! We shopped around the mall for a few minutes and headed back to the 'burbs! Our little 24 hour escape was perfect and is always my favorite Christmas tradition!
We ended the weekend with our Home Group's Christmas party! And I have no idea why this picture turned out like this, we were NOT bigger than our Christmas tree this year. Total illusion! : )
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| Little G stayed in his pj's and played with the babysitter. ; ) |
We had a great time with our sweet friends. Couldn't do life here without them.
The next week was spent preparing and traveling to Mississippi for Christmas. You can read all about our trip here. (Spoiler alert-Jeremie and the flu the whole time we were there.)
We returned to the Lone Star State the day before New Year's Eve, so we spent NYE just resting, eating, unpacking and decorating our Gingerbread house that we never got around to.....
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| I made my famous cinnamon rolls for breakfast... |
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| The gingerbread house was a fun activity, but it CERTAINLY looked NOTHING like the picture on the box. Regardless, it brought a big smile to Lil G's face. Still not sure if this will make the Christmas bucket list every year. #uncrafty #handcramps #toomanypieces |
We rang in 2018 with the Eastern Time Zone and called it a night.
I'll admit, this Christmas season held lots of heartache. It was my first Christmas in 33 years to not get a hug from my sweet Grammy. Years ago, she gave me this "Little White Church" as she called it. It had been in the attic with the rest of my Christmas decorations when the fire happened, where everything was destroyed. Everything except the "Little White Church". So I thought of her every time I passed this beautiful gift.
But as Grammy would have wanted, we found joy in a season that I know she especially loved, and made sweet memories. She was so excited to know that our little baby GIRL is on the way, and this is certainly one of my favorite gifts to look forward to this coming year!
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