Christmas in Oklahoma

This year was our fourth married Christmas and we were able to spend it in Norman with my family.  I had two days off work (plus the holiday on Monday) and it was such a wonderful, long holiday weekend.  I drove down to Norman early on Thursday the 22nd and was there by late morning.  I was so thankful to have the time off work and to be able to spend some extended time with my family, see my husband after a loooong 11 days, eat tons of good food and celebrate Christ's birth with people I dearly love.  

Thursday it was just Dad, Mom, Jay and me.  Mom and Dad graciously allowed me to bring Dash, and just for the fun of it I bought him some bootie socks in case his nails were too tough for the hardwood floors.  We took this video of him after we tried them on.  Cute stuff:

We went shopping, Mom and I did some baking, and then after a long day we went to dinner and a movie!  We saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and it was really good! 

Friday morning Mom and I went to a Zumba class at the YMCA and Dad went to pick up Leslie at the airport.  We made more cookies, hung out and then Chris and Allison and the kids arrived around 4 o'clock.  We all had dinner together and then headed out for a light show in southeast Norman!

Uncle Jay and Stewart

Parked and waiting for the light show to start!

It was at this family's home - they have a huge field where people can park and watch their light show!

Family fun - enjoying the show!

Nana and Amelia (she's obviously mesmerized)

The light show was really impressive and we all enjoyed it very much!

Saturday we hung out at the house, my grandparents came in from Lebanon, and then we all went to the Christmas Eve service at Wildwood.  After the church service, we came back home for some dessert and the acting out of the nativity story!  A Stewart family tradition that still goes strong!  Chris and Allison also bought the kids Christmas pajamas that they got to open Christmas Eve.  

Relaxing!  Probably watching some football, too.

Here we are before the Christmas Eve service.

Mom's nativity scene.  The actors are poised, ready to go.

Dad getting ready to read the story from the Gospel.

Everyone helping out, probably at the climax of the story.

Chris preparing the kids for opening presents...

Amelia with her cute Christmas nightgown.

Uncle Jay, Dash and Lucy in her cute PJ set!

Here is one of many attempts to get all three kids smiling in their cute pajamas.  Well, that's pretty good.

Chris and Jay putting together Amelia's doll house.  Nothing like Christmas Eve fun.

Speaking of fun - here's Mom and Dad preparing to go hide all the clues for our Christmas Day Scavenger Hunt!

Finally everything comes together!  

Stocking stuffers galore!

Dash is hoping he can join in on the fun, too.

Christmas Day came all too soon but we were all so excited!  We woke up (not too early), brewed our cups of coffee, gathered around the fire in the living room and thus began the Christmas day fun!  We opened stocking stuffers first...

Grandmother and Lucy :)

A good candid shot.

After stocking stuffers we headed out for our Christmas Day Scavenger Hunt!  Mom came up with this brilliant idea for a scavenger hunt around the town with prizes and all.  We had such a fun time guessing the clues, finding where they were hidden, laughing all the while and making memories!

After the scavenger hunt, we were famished and Mom and Dad had made a breakfast feast for us back home.  Cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, hash, bacon, fruit and of course, more coffee!  After brunch, we opened presents.  We had such a good time watching the kids get so excited and enjoying our generous blessings as well.

Lucy and Amelia wanted to play Christmas dress-up.

Stewart on his new rocket!

Jay is outfitted for more than one team!

We got Mom and Dad a hand-painted "Sooner Pride" ornament.

Dash got a present, too... A Christmas squeaker elf that he is still enjoying at home.

After everyone settled down from the present-opening craziness and were finally "ready for the day", we all pitched in to put together the most wonderfully delicious Christmas feast.  It was a meal to die for, that's for sure.  

Did you notice the hair color change?  Yep, back to brunette after a fun bout of blonde.

Kids are ready to eat!

Pork tenderloin, corn casserole, cranberry salad, green beans, sweet potatoes, rolls and more!

Mom's table setting was beautiful.

After dinner, Dad and Mom had one last surprise for the grandkids... A shiny new Cadillac Escalade!

After the ride in the neighborhood and feeding the one lone duck, we came back in to play some Christmas carols and enjoy our last evening together.  :)  Once the kids were in bed, we got to participate in Mom's creative "Dirty Santa" Scavenger Hunt Christmas Gift Exchange.  We were blown away with the prizes and creativity that she and Dad came up with.  What fun and what blessings!

After all that eating and lounging, we thought it'd be a good thing to go to one more Zumba class.  So Monday morning, we all got up, put on our work-out clothes and headed to the Y for some calorie-burning!  It was fun to do that all together.

OK, so we pretty much ruined our work-out by going out to eat at Ted's Cafe Escondido, but it was worth it!  After Ted's, Leslie and I packed up our car to the brim and headed back to KC.  It was a long ride home but we made it safely and got some good time together in the car. :)  What a wonderful holiday vacation!