Thanksgiving in Texas

Every year I bring several coats and make the kids pack for what looks like a trip to Alaska when we make our Thanksgiving trip to Texas.  Every year, we end up leaving all of our winter gear in the car because the temperature never gets below 60 or 70.  We usually have to end up borrowing tee shirts to replace the turtle necks and sweaters that are just too hot to wear.  Not this year!  I think Texas decided it was tired of missing out on all of our winter fun.  It was so STINKING cold there and this would be the year that I decided to NOT pack a coat or make the kids pack warm clothes.  We packed for spring.  This was not my best example of planning for a trip.  I don't ever remember a year that I've seen Ben's mom have to turn on her furnace.  I didn't even know they HAD furnaces in Texas!  This year I found out that yes, they indeed DO have furnaces in Texas:)

We couldn't wait to get there this time.  All of us (Danielle included - for a change) missed the warmness and love that Ben's mom and grandma show us.  I've probably mentioned this before but it always amazes me that they care so much about us.  I mean, I know they want to see Ben and Savannah but they show my kids and I the same kind of excitement and love.  They act as thouh we've always been there and that my kids are actually their's by blood. 

Katherine thanksgiving

We had a new reason for wanting to be there too.  We have a new niece and cousin named Salah Katherine.  She's only 7 weeks old and born to a family with 3 boys!  That makes her pretty special, I think:)  Of course, I'm a little prejudice to baby girls because they're what I know.  I've not been around too many baby boys.  Not that they're not pretty cute too, I just feel more comfortable with girls.  Lisa, Ben's sister, was so good to let me bond with Salah as much as I wanted too.  Some mom's don't like for people to hold their new babies.  It felt so right snuggling with her and feeding her and even holding her when she cried. 

Salah yawning

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As always, I looked forward to seeing Netta, Ben's cousin (and kind of a new vox member).  She's a friend to me, not just Ben's cousin.  Netta and her oldest son Josh took Danielle and I Christmas shopping near Dallas at a mall that had an ice skating rink inside.  It was so cool to watch the ice skaters!  The crowds were NOT cool!  It was black Friday!  What did I expect?  lol  I'm not sure either of us found any good bargains but it was fun to get out and relax, just being ourselves - which is WAY different than we get to be at Ben's mom's house.  I have to be nice there!  lol  Nice is NOT usually what I am and definitely not what Netta is EVER! lol  Anyway, I took Netta out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory while we were at the mall.  SOOOOO good!  We celebrated her 40th birthday...  I'm not the only one in my 40's now!  HA! 

Netta thanksgiving

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Danielle spent most of the time over at Netta and Bobby's house playing Guitar Hero with Josh.  She's discovered that she's really good at it and is now addicted!  Thanks Josh!  It's funny because every time we go to Texas, Danielle ends up being more Netta's kid than mine.  I don't see my kid much at all if they're at home.  I'm probably going to have to start paying child support to them if we keep it up! hehehe

Granny-1

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Granny (my hero) turned 88 while we were down there too!  She says she's so blessed that the Lord let her live so long and still be in such good shape.  I'm more thankful for her than she'll ever know.  Such a strong but quiet woman!  Granny surprised me with a quilt that she made for me.  It's called a "Bow-Tie" pattern.  She also gave me a lap quilt that I'd helped her work on during our visit in the summer.  She presented Ben with a quilt that she made out of scraps taken from his dad's shirts.  She started making all of the kids quilts made out of these shirts after he died a year and a half ago.  It was so sad to see his mom and grandma give him this special quilt.  Everyone was crying.  I just don't do well in these kinds of situations.  I never know what to say or do so I usually end up making an ass out of myself.  As usual, it was hard to leave Granny.  I'm always afraid that I won't see her again.  She gave me a big bear hug for the road though - so maybe it'll last til the next time we get there.

Sackett helping with lights

Christmas in Texas hasn't been the same since Ben's dad died.  It's been a sad time.  This year, I asked Katherine if we could put up her Christmas decorations and tree Saturday, the day before we came home.  She wasn't going to put up Christmas this year (except for the tree) so she was happy to let us do it.  The house looked so good when we got done with it and the kids had a good time helping.  Ben and I went to pick up his sister's boys so that all of the kids (minus Salah) could contribute.  It's so much fun to see them start out being grumpy because they have to work and end up being filled with Christmas spirit by the time they get it all done!  Even Sackett, our 3 year old nephew, helped put the lights on the tree!  He was so proud!

Kids putting up tree

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Ben's mom had decorations for the tree that she'd made when she was pregnant with Ben in 1967!  It's always cool for me to see the different traditions and hear about the different customs from other peoples families.  Granny told me that when she was growing up, she didn't have a Christmas tree.  She'd never even seen one until her own kids were growing up.  She thinks that trees used to be for rich people.  I'd never heard of this!  Another custom was that when her eight brothers and sisters used to be visited from Santa...   but Santa didn't put the gifts in stockings, he left a few gifts in shoe boxes marked with all the kids names.  Granny's dad used to save the shoe boxes from when he bought the kids shoes once a year just for Christmas.  She said that they all used to have such a good time fighting over the boxes just trying to find the one marked with their name!  The boxes were usually filled with oranges, bananas and apples or nuts.  Maybe a very small doll or wooden truck, only if they were lucky.  They were happy to get the fruit because they didn't have fresh fruit on a regular basis or hardly at all.  My mom's family was the same way so I had heard this story before.  Just not the shoe boxes or having no tree.  I'd like to see what would happen if Santa ever brought MY kids fruit and nuts - only - for Christmas!  I'm thinking we all have some pretty lucky little kiddos these days! lol

Me

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 And this is the state of mind I stayed in and the dress code while I was down there!  lol  I did remember to pack my warm and fuzzy robe and I think I wore it every single day just to keep the ice from forming!  I did a lot of cooking and cleaning so I was able to dress the part:)  It was a great time and I always hate to leave.  We're only able to get to Texas maybe twice a year.  It's only an 8 hour trip and we keep saying that we're going to make it more often but never do.  THIS summer, I think Netta and her family are coming to visit Missouri for the first time!  I can't wait.  Even Lisa and her family are talking about it, IF they're able to get a dependable vehicle that will fit the 3 boys and 1 baby girl (lots of room needed for car seats!).

I can't wait to catch up with what all of you are up to these days!  I've missed all my Vox buddies SO MUCH!  I feel like I've been severed from my life line!  It's good to be back:)