Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas Highlights in Texarkana

We have really enjoyed being with our family in Texarkana for nearly a week now. We have shopped, cooked, eaten, celebrated Christmas, and played with all of our new toys. I am so thankful for our time off that we can come here and relax and enjoy our family. Eric has really sacrificed to drive back & forth to Malakoff a few times for church on Christmas Eve & yesterday for church. I think he secretly enjoys the time alone but it does tire him out a bit. He really is the best husband...he spoils me so much!

We didn't get snow on Christmas Eve in Texarkana like they did in Malakoff, but I here that there might be a chance tomorrow...Come on SNOW!!! I love the cold weather!

Here are a few pictures from our McCarty Family Christmas...

My silly boys...



Eric & PawPaw are getting ready to drive to Malakoff for the Christmas Eve service. I thought it was funny that they dressed alike. They said that Nathan had a very similar red sweater on as well. :)

Ethan & Evan got matching pajamas on Christmas Eve...a tradition we had even when I was little!
Waiting to open the gifts from Santa...Evan woke up at 6:30 but Ethan did NOT want to wake up...it took him a while to get excited. He's definitely not the morning person that Evan is.
Santa brought Evan a real drum/bell kit! It's time to start the lessons!

Ethan took some time to read his new books.

Eric made a tea ring recipe that he got from his high school choir teacher. It turned out really pretty & yummy!

"Could this be the present I've been waiting for?"

I think Evan was just a little bit excited when he got his PSP Go from Grammy & PawPaw! He was also THRILLED to surprise me with a Wii for our family. He decided over a month ago that he needed to get me a Wii for Christmas. He talked to Grammy & PawPaw and even helped pay for it! He was so proud! He has a lot to teach me...I'm not very good at it at all! But it is a fun way to spend time with my boys. Eric even stayed up on Christmas night until after midnight playing bowling and golf! Then he was SORE the next few days!
Our annual picture with the grandkids before we open presents...they always like to stack the presents as high as they can get them and then take a picture.

Ethan is such a poser...he did this all on his own...I promise! :)
Ethan wanted to wear as many bows on his head as he could! PawPaw kept trying to make them stick but they kept falling off...this did not make Ethan very happy!


Our pretty table before Christmas dinner...PawPaw always sets the table and makes it look so nice.

One new recipe that we tried this year was Green Bean Bundles...thank you, Allison for the recipe! They were SO YUMMY!
Grammy and the dogs...so we have FIVE dogs living with us this week as well. Grammy & PawPaw's 2 dogs, our puppy, Eli, and Kevin & Ami's 2 dogs (because they are in Maryland). (By the way, Kevin emailed Mom today and said that he hoped they got home on Wednesday because there is a threat of snow. She replied that if he doesn't, she's going to ship 2 dogs to him...or maybe all 5! She really enjoys the dogs...it's just that Eli is so HYPER that he can drive us all crazy at times!)

Ethan enjoying playing with his new toys.
Eric's tea rings...take 2. He decided he didn't do too well on the first ones so he made some more this morning. I love that he loves to cook! But he is a little bit obsessive/compulsive about it and will NOT let me help him!
My favorite Christmas gift...a CRICUT machine with a few cartridges. I'm so excited about learning how to create with my new machine. I've been playing with it every day. This should help speed up my scrapbooking endeavors, right? Well, it will make them more fun!
Today, Eric, Evan, PawPaw, Mauri, Caleb, and David went to Shreveport to watch the Independence Bowl because Texas A&M was playing. (Eric is NOT an A&M fan but the rest of the family is, so he went along for the fun & fellowship.) Ethan started getting sick yesterday after church...his fever was above 102 most of the night & today, so we took him to the night clinic this evening. And guess what? He has strep throat AND RSV. Poor thing! He has been saying, "I'm sick," and "I don't feel well," and "I need to go to Dr. Shaw so I can feel better." Well, we didn't see Dr. Shaw (that would have been a 3 hour drive), but we did see a really nice doctor that tested him for everything and found out what he had. He seems to get strep every winter. Although I hate that we've exposed our whole family to his sickness, I'm kind of glad we're here to have my Mom help me with him. It's a whole lot less stressful with her around. Hopefully, his medicine will kick in and make him feel better quickly. Dear Jesus, please help Ethan feel better soon. Amen

2 comments:

  1. I hope Ethan gets well soon too!

    You did a great job recapping this past week. I've got to blog more often.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks all red & green and fun! I have NO idea what that machine of yours if for.... you'll have to show me what it does! - Flo

    ReplyDelete

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