Christmas 2024

It was a perfect Christmas for the Judds this year! Since Clara now has a part-time job, at American Eagle Outfitters, the family celebration needed to be in Houston. That was OK with me, because it meant I didn't need to put up a tree or decorate our house. (I must be getting old!) I did, however, do quite a lot of cookie-baking. Some of the French cookies went to friends here in Temple, and some traveled with us to Houston. 

On Sunday, December 22, Tim drove from Albuquerque to our house. He spent that night with us, and the next morning the three of us traveled, in two cars, to Houston. (Tim likes to have his own wheels while there, so he can be a bit more independent.) 

As is our custom, we had our big holiday dinner on Christmas Eve, and since Clara was scheduled to work that afternoon and evening, we feasted at noon. It worked out perfectly, and the meal was lovely, thanks to Kelsey's delectable side dishes - pasta salad, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, hot rolls - which accompanied the ham that I brought.

Christmas morning started with Kelsey's hot-out-of-the-oven Monkey Bread.

After breakfast, the kids opened their gifts. 

Robert with Zephyr in his Santa suit

Afterwards, I herded everyone into the family room for the gift-giving activity I had planned, which went like this: Each person was given a small plastic box with six jellybeans inside. On the floor was a "flock" of paper bags of various colors, matching the colors of the jellybeans. Everyone took turns, going around the room, eating one jellybean and then choosing and opening a bag of the same color. The presents in the bags ranged from a candy bar to a $100-bill, with many other gifts in-between, including gift cards and cash. Some gifts didn't fit in the bags, so the bag contained a number which matched a wrapped gift. A few of the bags had a Werther's candy inside, as well as the gift. When someone found a Werther's in their bag, they got to wear a Santa hat until someone else found a Werther's and took the hat away. When all the bags were gone, the person left wearing the Santa hat received an extra gift. (Robert was that lucky one.)

Chris and Kelsey's gift to all of us was a Christmas afternoon outing to the movie theater to see Wicked, along with all the popcorn, treats and drinks we wanted! Kelsey had already seen Wicked, and Clara had seen it multiple times (as well as having seen the stage performance more than once), but they both wanted to see it again. It was a good movie, and the time spent together as family was priceless. Now I'm looking forward to Part Two of Wicked, which will come out next year. 

There was a fun photo booth in the mall. We took a few pictures when the movie was over. (Tim declined getting his picture taken.)

We stayed Thursday - the day after Christmas - and then, fairly early on Friday, drove home. Tim spent one more night with us in Temple, and then left on Saturday. He made it back home, safe and sound, by about 7:00 PM. It's a gift to us that he takes the time and makes the effort to drive all this way every Christmas, to spend the holidays with family. 

Maybe the most wonderful gift was seeing Chris strong and healthy again, after his challenging months of illness, surgeries and chemotherapy. He has recovered, although still has neuropathy in his hands and feet. But he isn't letting that hold him back. He walks almost every day, usually around 5 miles. For the month of December his goal was a total of 100 miles, and he was on track to achieve that when we left on the 27th. 

Down Under Guests Come to Texas

Our friends, whom we met and got to know while on our European river cruise, in 2019, finally came to visit us here, in Texas. Lee and Joanne arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on September 26. They spent a couple nights in Fort Worth so they could go to the Fort Worth Stockyards, where they enjoyed the twice-daily cattle drive and some evening entertainment at Billy Bob's. On Saturday, September 28, Dan and I drove to Fort Worth to pick them up and bring them home to Temple. 

Joanne astride a longhorn in Fort Worth

We had lots of fun showing them the area and introducing them to typical Texas-style foods. Lee decided chicken-fried steak was his favorite. He kept comparing it to schnitzel, one of his favorites back home in Australia, but had never seen white gravy. He also had never heard of, or tasted, biscuits and gravy, which he tried a couple times before giving it a thumbs-up. But what he enjoyed most were beef steaks, from a couple different Texas steakhouses.

Lee really enjoyed his steak at Longhorn Steakhouse

Joanne seemed to like my home cooking more than the restaurant foods. New to them both were taco soup, corn chowder and macaroni and cheese. She said mac and cheese from a box/package was available and eaten only by kids as a snack in Australia. But she had never heard of homemade mac and cheese. She wrote down my recipe - along with several others - and has written since she's gotten back home to tell me that she's cooked it for her family.

Joanne prepared a baked potato bar for us one evening. 

One of the first things that Joanne asked me to do was to take her to a western wear store so she could buy a cowboy hat. She found a straw hat that she liked; and then fell in love with, and bought, some lovely white boots with rhinestones, which went well with her light-colored hat. Later in her visit her straw cowboy hat began to show signs of wear, so she wanted to get a nicer felt one. I took her back to Cavendar's, where she found a black hat that really looked good on her. But BLACK didn't really go with her white boots. So she bought a second pair of dark boots to go with the new hat. 

She had the opportunity to wear some of her western wear when we all went to Waco, to attend a rodeo at the Heart of Texas Fair. It was a great rodeo, and was a highlight of our outings.

We all enjoyed a visit to the home of our friends, Darin and Stephanie for dinner and some after-dinner fun. They live on a beautiful piece of property, and Darin, who is a hunter, made one of Lee's wishes come true by letting him shoot a couple of his rifles, a shotgun, a pistol and a bow. Joanne took a couple shots, as well, just so she could say she'd done it.

While Lee was ecstatic about his target shooting experience, Joanne probably preferred our evening out at a piano recital by Van Cliburn competition medalist and Grammy-nominated, Joyce Yang. Joanne is a talented pianist, herself, and teaches piano to a select few students. 

Lee and Joanne also took some side-trips on their own. Two of them involved driving in a rental car. They drove to San Antonio to see the Alamo, the River Walk and other sights. 

Atop the Tower of the Americas, in San Antonio

At the San Antonio Riverwalk

Their second road trip was to Galveston with a stop, on their way back, at the NASA Space Center in Houston. Driving through Houston was an experience that Lee hopes never to repeat! Part of that highway boasts 12 main lanes, 8 lanes of access roads, and 6 high-occupancy vehicle lanes! Even with that many lanes, it can get pretty congested during peak hours. Add to that the fact that Lee was, as he put it, having to "drive on the wrong side of the road!" 

Joanne in Galveston

Two other trips completed their US travels. First they flew out of Austin to Arizona, where they took a train tour around the Grand Canyon. The ride featured western musicians and cowboy characters on vintage rail cars. A gang of mounted outlaws even showed up and boarded the train, "robbing" the passengers of their spare change. 

At the Grand Canyon

Secondly, because Lee is a dedicated Elvis fan, they flew to Memphis and stayed at the Graceland Guest House Hotel. They purchased the VIP sightseeing package, which gave them some fantastic experiences. 

Graceland

Our time with them at home was relaxed - resting up between their various outings. We played lots of table games. They both fell in love with Bananagrams, and Joanne and I played Rummikub every chance we got. I got them hooked on a daily dose of Jeopardy on TV. And Lee couldn't keep himself away from the political programming regarding the upcoming presidential election. 

At the end of their visit, Chris and Kelsey came to meet them. We all went out for a farewell dinner at The Commonwealth (a pickleball club). 

Dan drove our friends to Dallas on Sunday afternoon, November 3. They spent the night at a hotel and left on Quantas Airlines the next day for their 17-1/2 hour trip across the US and the Pacific to Sydney, and an additional two hours from Sydney to Adelaide. They spent a total of 5-1/2 weeks in the US. 

We hope someday to visit them in their beautiful country, but no firm plans as of yet.