Christmas 2011 Day Two

Friday was filled with happy moments all day long.  KW, Julie and Lauren flew up for the day.  How special this was for us that we could all be together.  Thank you KW, Julie and Lauren for a long day.  The girls had a spa morning, wished it could have lasted longer.  We all enjoyed our special treatments.  Afterwards we met up with the guys and kids for lunch and enjoy each others company for a couple of hours.  This was very special for me.  The Best Christmas!

Pierce and Anna.

Grandpas favorite picture of Anna with her bow....

Aunt JuJu is in haven with Pierce and Anna and they too look to enjoy being loved on by her.

Sweet picture (wished it wasn't fuzzy) of Elysse and Lauren.

Later in the day the family divided and conquered to visit Vicki and Tim and attend a hockey game.  KW, Julie and Lauren returned with Anna so she could go to bed and stay on schedule.  We did pretty good with the schedule.  KW treated us to a little champagne while getting ready for dinner.

Christmas 2011 Day One

Christmas was filled with so many memories this year. We started the gathering of family on Thursday evening with Chris & Melissa arriving from Atlanta and Blake, Camille and Pierce from Singapore / Houston.  Keith, Elysse and Anna joining us at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Casa Milagro.  I just realized Pierce is missing from this picture.....where is Pierce?

CCPC 2nd Annual Ladies Dinner

This is becoming one of my favorite evenings of the Christmas season.  It's a very special time put aside for us moms, daughters, daughter-in-laws, grandmothers, sisters, women of God to share a meal together.  The tables are all decorated so festive and look beautiful.  This year Susan took on the task of decorating our beautiful table and I was proud to be there.   I think there were close to 160 women attending this year.  Need to ask Susan, she will know the exact head count.

 Our table.

Some of the men from church served our meal, drinks and dessert.  We felt so very special.

 Susan's boss, Wendy, was our speaker for the evening.  She was great.  She spoke on the "Wonders" of the season and all the special memories that our brought to mind.  Wendy has taken a Call at First Presbyterian downtown Dallas and Susan will be taking over responsibilities of the Faith Hospice Grief outreach.  Wendy spoke briefly on grief and we all cried a little thinking of all those who we love so dearly that are no longer in our lives here on earth and how much we miss them. 

 Our table group consisted of Carolyn and Susan

 Mollie's daughter Tara and Sueanne

 Lindsey and Gayle

 Elysse and me

 We have a beautiful tree in the center of the Atrium, so we all had our pictures taken in front of the tree.  Not our best after the crying.

 I think this is such a sweet picture of John and Susan.  Thanks for for taking such great care of the girls.

Babysitting Anna

We had the joy of keeping Anna while Keith and Elysse went to Costa Rica to celebrate Elysse's birthday.  Boy did we have fun!  I just couldn't decide which picture I liked most so I put them all up!

Elysse Turns 30

This is Elysse's year to turn the Big 30.  We had a family dinner (the usual surf and turf) to celebrate.  It just so happened that Melissa was in town to celebrate with us.  Keith and Elysse left for Costa Rica on Friday to continue the celebration.  I think it was a bitter sweet trip as she had to leave Anna, the sweet part was that we got to keep her for a while.  Look at that sweet family.

Thanksgiving at the Williams

We had a delightful Thanksgiving this year.  Rode to College Station with Keith, Elysse and Anna.  Oh what fun!  Anna is such a good little traveler.  KW, Julie and Lauren met up with us at the apartment and we all hung out and watch the Cowboy game.  Soon everyone except Anna and me left for the last A&M vs Texas game.  I was thrilled that I got to stay in the warmth and in front of a huge screen TV with Anna and some good wine while the others had to endure the weather and the awful outcome of the game.  After the game, we rode on to Houston (1 hr...thanks to KW's driving skills).  Whether it's the Suburban or BMW he still drives like he's in the Aston Martin.
Since the game was on Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday.  Julie out did herself as usual.  The food, table setting and company were all outstanding.  It was a joy to meet Jill, Denny and Ralene, Jana's family.  A joy to hang out with Kendell, Blake and Janalee.  Also a joy to be with the newly engaged couple, John and Lauren.  Oh how our families are blessed and we are so thankful.

Even the kids table is beautifully decorated.

We took these pictures before we placed the beautiful flower arrangements on the table.  Julie is so creative and has such a talent working with flowers and many other things.

Not my best picture, but then it's all about Anna and she is adorable.

KW even helped with making his famous mac and cheese. 

Look at all the food just waiting for us to dive into....YUM YUM!

Janalee is at the age that she is always on the move.  I ran behind her, beside her and in front of her to try to get pictures of her.  Success!!!!

Kelly's daughter, Kelsey is a great little helper with kids. She entertained Janalee all day long.

Saturday was a lazy rainy day and we all took advantage of the day.  Some of us napped while others watched the many football games while others started the madness of working on a puzzle.

The players change but there are still pieces missing.

Some enjoyed the madness more than others....KW not so much!

Maybe margaritas will help???

I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the final product.  They were all successful even with a couple of pieces missing....Good Job!

Beaujolais 2011

Once again Liz out did herself hosting the 2011 Beaujolais party.  The evening is always such a treat and gets you in the mood for the Christmas holiday.  Enjoy!

 I always look forward to finding out what Liz has found for us during her world wide travels.