Christmas in Dallas

We made a super quick trip to Dallas for Christmas this year and, as always, had a wonderful time!  

Can you believe my sweet mother-in-law pulled off a fancy Christmas dinner (pork crown roast, turkey, dressing, and all of her traditional sides) without a working oven?  I can believe it.  She's like that.  :)  

Papaw was there when we arrived-What a great surprise!

Santa found us in Dallas (probably due to the reindeer food cousin Joan provides each year) and brought ninja costumes!

And bows for both boys, complete with a wild boar on which to hone their skills.

SK didn't quite know what to think.

But Santa knew what he was doing...

...and she was SO excited about her new basketball.

JoJo and Kate helping SK open her gifts

A jewelry box?  I'm as surprised as you (& I'm the one who added it to SK's list).  Thanks, JoJo & Pops!  :)

I have to brag on sweet L.  Uncle Jess & Aunt Susan sent each of the kids a $5 bill which instantly began burning a hole in their pockets.  We headed to the Kerrville mall to do a little shopping, bills in hand.

We browsed in several stores before we came upon a lady with a jewelry booth out in the mall.

She was so friendly, as we've noticed with K'ville peeps, and we struck up a conversation while the boys circled her display.  

L:  I want to use my money to get something for Aunt Cori.  (tap, tap, tap on my arm)  I want to use my money to get something for Aunt Cori.

Me:  Okay, let's look around.  

I had already noticed that most of the pieces were out of L's price range, but that some of the bracelets were 4 for $20.  Perfect!  I would take care of the tax.

But the small print read, or $6.50 each.  Uh, oh.  I didn't want to dash his hopes and was torn about what to do.

Me:  L, you have $5 to spend and these pieces all cost more than that.  I'm sure we can find something else.  

I was trying to be discrete as not to let the vendor know what was going on, but L was insistent he get Aunt Cori a piece of that jewelry and she overheard.  She was so sweet and said she'd take an even $5 for a bracelet and gave L several from which to choose. 

L chose a pretty red bracelet with a cross on it.  Here he is with his Aunt Cori.  :)

About 4 years ago JoJo bathed L in her sink and we got pics to mark the very last grandbaby being bathed in her sink.

But L wasn't the last!  (So we did an updated photo shoot w/ SK.)

This time it's for real; sweet SK is the last grandbaby (at least from this branch of the tree).

Rub a dub dub, super cute baby in the tub!

A few Papaw pics before we left

All of the cousins with Papaw  :)

Last stop, dropping off Gran and a little lap time for SK.  

Gran lets me play with her phone!  :)

It was a very merry Christmas, indeed, and we're thankful for time spent with family!