Christmas {Ruple Style}

On Christmas day we headed to Granny and Grandpa Ruple's house to celebrate with the Ruple side of the family.  Bryson slept the whole way there, so we had a nice quiet trip. From the time we got there until the time we left Bryson was into everything! He really enjoyed seeing his Granny, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Here is the best shot I could get of all of the cousins together:

Granny gave Bryson TWO suckers at once! Can we say SPOILED??? :)

 Grandpa teaching Bryson to play the guitar...

 We ate an amazing dinner of fried fish and shrimp with all of the fixings, and then it was time to open gifts. The boys opened these three gifts first. If you look closely at Phillip you can see that his gum box has a knife in it. Grandpa (who is a professional knife maker) gives each of the kids a knife when they reach a certain age. Phillip was totally surprised and so excited!

 Phillip and Uncle Will

 Sheldon

 Look at all of those presents!

Granny gave Phillip and Sheldon quilts this year {she is working on quilts for each grandchild-- I can't wait until Bryson gets one!}.

 Sweet Cousins

{right after Bryson got out of the bathtub}

 Phillip with the globe that we gave him...

 Grandpa being goofy!  :)

 We had a great time seeing everyone and again stayed up way too late. It was definitely worth it, though. We enjoyed every moment.

Before we left town on Sunday we went to see Jason's grandmother {aka MeMa}. She was thrilled to see Bryson and had us walk around with her so that she could introduce us to everyone at the assisted living facility where she lives.

She also gave Bryson a sucker and has a new friend for life.

Sunday afternoon we headed back to College Station. Bryson was exhausted and slept until we got to Bastrop, at which point he was fussing so we stopped at McDonalds. He sat in the booth and {sort of} ate a happy meal, but was much more excited about the orange Hi-C drink than the food. It is so weird to think that our little baby is old enough to eat a happy meal! Anyways, we finally made it home at about 5pm. We had an amazing extended weekend celebrating Christmas with all of our family.

We are blessed beyond blessed and are so thankful for this season of celebrating the birth of our Savior.

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift."

II Corinthians 9:15 (NIV)

Christmas {Strawn Style}

Thursday after spending the day with the Shirleys we headed over to my parents' house for a quiet and relaxing evening. Bryson seemed to be feeling great and it was so nice to have nothing to do other than sit and visit with family.

He quickly found Uncle Matt's boots and worked his way into them. Wearing our shoes is one of his favorite things to do these days. The boots were almost as tall as his whole leg! It was so funny watching him walk in them.

 

We stayed up too late visiting and had a lazy morning on Christmas Eve. We enjoyed lunch at Clear Springs and then Grandma watched Bryson during nap time while Jason and I ran to Target for some last minute shopping.

Here is Bryson helping PawPaw and Uncle Matt change the oil in Aunt Shannon's car.

That evening I went to the Christmas Eve service at my parents' church while Jason and Bryson hung out at home {there was no nursery at the church}. After the service they met us at Mammacita's for dinner. It was delicious!
After dinner, we continued our tradition of Bryson getting to open one present on Christmas Eve that is a pair of Christmas pajamas and a book.

Great Grandma reading his new book to him.

New PJs! They say "I've been good... ask Mommy!"

Christmas Morning

Great Grandma and Bryson enjoying some coffee and milk before opening gifts...

Uncle Matt dragging Bryson around in a box. Still not sure why we spend so much on presents when his favorite toy is a box!

Grandma and PawPaw's Christmas tree with TOO many presents!

Even Halle was enjoying the festivities...

Uncle Matt is starting medical school in the Fall!

 I got Amy a box full of pregnancy tests! She used to make fun of me for taking them early on in our marriage, and now she takes them all the time! Zach thanked me for cutting down their expenses for the month. :) {I also gave her a Pier 1 gift card that was taped to the bottom of the box}

Family Photo Op

Bryson's 2nd Christmas!

 Grandma and PawPaw gave Bryson a Fisher Price Noah's Ark. He loved it and loved carrying around all of the animals...

 We stuffed ourselves full of waffles for breakfast...

 ...then ate {another} delicious traditional lunch complete with turkey and all of the trimmings.

 Bryson blowing a kiss for Great Grandma as she tells him goodbye.

We left shortly after lunch and headed to Pleasanton for Christmas with the Ruples.

Christmas {Shirley Style}

So, just to catch up on what was going on leading up to Christmas: Bryson had a really bad ear infection that was diagnosed on Friday, December 17th. He received a shot of antibiotics and was also started on oral antibiotics. Initially he seemed to get better, but then things took a turn for the worst. He was still fussy and acting like he felt horrible so I took him into the pediatrician on Wednesday the 22nd. The doctor said that he had a throat infection {on top of the ear infection}, and thought that it was probably viral since he was on antibiotics. I could have screamed at that point. She said that he was not contagious as long as he was not running fever, and that he should be back to "normal" within a few days. This was the day before we were supposed to head to my Aunt Kathy's and Uncle Wayne's for our Christmas celebration with the Shirley side of the family. I almost gave up at that point and said that we were just going to stay home. I even asked the doctor to write a prescription that I could send to my family with strict orders not to travel. Of course I was partially kidding, but not completely. I left the pediatrician's office, had a slight melt-down in Jenny's drive-way (so thankful for such good friends), and then headed back to work to run a meeting after Jason got home to watch Bryson. We decided just to see how Bryson did. I told my parents that we might not make it. I cried. I went to bed early and prayed that Bryson would have a good night.

He did! He seemed much better by the next morning so we loaded up and headed to Lockhart. I am so thankful that we were able to make the trip and spend time with family that we only get to see once or twice a year. Bryson had a blast at Kathy and Wayne's riding on a skateboard, crawling through the doggy door, eating TURKEY (I cannot believe it!), and of course soaked up all of the attention.

 Talking on Aunt Kathy's Phone

 Monica, Aunt Linda, and Amy

 Austin and Mandy

 Jason and Matt {pitching washers}

 Look at that form!

{too bad it didn't help him win! Love ya babe!}

 Wendy

 Loving life!

 Mr. Curiosity

Matt and Shannon

 Beth and Bella

We enjoyed an amazing meal and then enjoyed the afternoon. There was skeet to shoot, a fire to warm up by, a swing for swinging, and lots of family memories made. Couldn't have been any better...

{Thanks Aunt Kathy and Uncle Wayne! We love you guys!}