Our whole family came together, at our house, to celebrate Christmas! It was wall-to-wall people when it came to sleeping. Chris and Kelsey had the guest room, with beds; Clara and Robert were on inflatable mattresses on my office floor; and Tim was on another inflatable mattress on Dan's office floor! And let's not forget the four-legged family member, Thor, who slept in his crate in the living room. It was crowded, and everyone had to schedule turns for the bathroom, but those are the kinds of Christmases that make great memories.
The comings and goings were staggered throughout Christmas week. Tim, who drove all the way from Albuquerque, was the first to arrive, on Wednesday the 22nd. (Thank you, Tim, for making such a grand effort to be with us this Christmas!) The next day Chris and Thor arrived. This was Thor's first visit to our house, and he settled in quite well. He really enjoyed his outdoor time in our backyard.
Kelsey and the kids spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with her family, in Pecos, then drove to our house on Christmas Day. All the packages under the tree had to wait until Christmas evening to be opened, but it was every bit as fun as the usual Christmas morning festivities.
Robert's gift from his parents was beyond his expectations. He got a Nintendo "Switch," and some games to play on it. He had dreamed of owning one, but he confided in me that he never really expected to get it. He was overjoyed.
Clara, however, stole the show with her reaction to her parents' gift - tickets to the Broadway show, Hamilton, which is coming to Houston. She is in love with the story, and especially with the music, of this spectacle. She has tickets enough to invite two friends to come along, and for Kelsey, who will chaperone the girls. Clara's reaction to this amazing gift ended in tears of joy.
Clara and Chris provided the great entertainment on Sunday afternoon. They did a lot of planning, shopping and artistic designing to prepare for their version of the "Taskmaster" TV game show. Chris took on the persona of Greg Davies (The Taskmaster), and Clara did an outstanding job of playing the Alex Horne character. The rest of us - the contestants - met the challenges they presented with vigor and laughter. Great fun! And I don't mind memorializing here that I was the winner of the game! I hope we'll have another round of Taskmaster challenges next year.
In the same randomness that people arrived, so did they leave. Tim left Monday morning, the 27th; Chris, Clara and Thor left Tuesday around noon; and Kelsey and Robert stayed on another day, leaving on Wednesday. It was nice, for Grandma and Grandpa's sake, that they didn't all leave at once. I won't lie: I was pretty worn out by Wednesday, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was a glorious Christmas!
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| A nice photo of the Houston Judds |
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