First and Second Christmas

First Christmas - Houston December 19, 2009

Shane, Andrea, Gabe and Chase were in town this weekend and we decided to do an "Early Christmas" because we didn't know if we would get to be in McKinney at Christmas time. As it turns out it was a good move.

The boys had gone shopping at an Elf Land shopping event at school so both Vicki & I got really special gifts from both Gabe & Chase. Mamah got an angel tea light holder from Chase and a candle holder from Gabe. PeaPa got a Texas Longhorn "Things to do" pad to write down my lists from Gabe and a dozen golf balls from Chase. All appreciated gifts because of the thought and love poured out in choosing them.

Chase got a set of Legos and Gabe got a Dallas Cowboys blanket. Andrea and Shane got two loaves of Poppyseed bread. We enjoyed our early Christmas and always the visit of family.

Second Christmas - San Antonio December 25, 2009

We had talked about the 'Tour of Texas' (Houston-McKinney-San Antonio-Houston) but all the plans kept changing around us so we decided to do our "normal" Christmas - San Antonio with the Jordan clan. Was not an easy decision as Tyler, Hannah, Estee, and Coppelia actually were in McKinney for a couple of days including Christmas. But, we headed for San Antonio on Wednesday.

Got to San Antonio and were invited by Tommy to help celebrate Cortney's MBA graduation by dining at P F Changs.....great meal....great drink....and good way to start off a family centered holiday. Big Thanks to Tommy and Cindy.

Christmas was at 202 Renner....bedrock of the Jordan's. First serving was Mimosa's. Next was opening of gifts along with the traditional lineup of kids at the kitchen door. Problem is....we don't really have any "kids" anymore.....they have all grown up....but tradition rules....so the older (unmarried) kids lined up at the door before the gifts were opened. Click on this link for a look at past and present lineups.

Christmas Lineups

Gifts were handed out, gifts were opened, and for the third year in a row Dan failed to show for the Christmas gathering.

Afterwards some time was spent visiting and snacking waiting for our Christmas feast and close to 3:00 pm dinner was served. Meat was a 5 rib Standing Rib Roast with homemade noodles, gravy , green beans, jello salad and a variety of wine. We drank a lot of wine. Was an excellent meal

The next evening we all gathered at Bobby & Diana's house for the continuation of the Jordan Egg Nog Party. It was a passing of the "punch bowl" of sorts.....Bobby made the Egg Nog for the first time this year. The party began around 4:00 pm and was going strong when we made our early exit. The traditions continue.

Vicki got her wish by staying over until Monday morning and finally gave in to going back to Houston around 10:30 that morning. A quick trip to the cemetery to pray for our departed family members and then back to Houston.

Snow

Earliest snow in Houston's history.

Has snowed all day off and on.....hard freeze tonight....a few pics to complement.

Thanksgiving 2009

Okay....Thanksgiving 2009.

Where?

McKinney Texas - Andrea & Shane Collins' house

Who?

Andrea, Shane, Gabe, Chase, Tyler, Hannah, Coppelia, Estee, Lou Ann, Grandma Wanda, Vicki & Joe

To begin the Thanksgiving week Vicki & I suffered thru Monday Night Football at Reliant Stadium watching our Texans......well.....not win again.

#1 - We are thankful for.......sharing the cost of our season tickets with two other couples.

Tuesday morning we finish gathering what we need to take for our visit to McKinney. I found a recipe for cooking turkey in a dutch oven in my Louisiana Cooking magazine (Franksgiving: Turkey Roasted In a Pot) and asked Andrea if she thought we could try it. Answer......go for it....in fact you can be in charge of the turkey. So I was in charge of the turkey.

Loaded up the dutch oven, a chest full of spices, cranberry sauces, poppy seed bread, marshmallows, beans, knife and sharpener, big cutting board, and finished off with my PeaPa BBQ Buddies apron....it was full to the top. Then came the ice chest.....honey baked ham, 11 lb turkey, coffee, cream, one completely cooked PeaPa brisket, and topped off with "Janel Ice" (recycled plastic bottles full of water and frozen).

#2 - We are thankful for - owning a truck.

Next we headed west to pickup Lou Ann's mom, Wanda - better known in the family as Grandma Wanda - and headed for McKinney Texas.

Pretty uneventful trip.....couple of stops.....including Woody's in Centerville. Bought some Buffalo jerky along with some peppered beef jerky at Tyler's request, cheese bread, jalapeno bread, and if I remember correctly a pie was thrown in as well. Plus Vicki snuck a load of fudge in just as I was paying for the rest.

#3 - We are thankful for - Woody's not being our corner Valero.

We arrived at the Collins mansion in McKinney Tuesday afternoon and were greeted by our two grandsons Gabe & Chase. The twins were taking a nap at our arrival but got up soon after. Poor Shane was still trying to conduct "business" in a house full of people with his office completely stripped of any furniture other than one chair (Andrea got a DEAL on wood floors) and we all come screaming in as he retreated to the garage to complete a sale. Got to do what you got to do. As you already heard in the beginning there were a LOT of people at the Collins house....12 is the exact count.

#4 - We are thankful for - getting a real bed and not a blow-up

Wednesday was a layed back kinda visiting day. Grandma Wanda woke everyone up to the smell of bacon cooking and we started the day with a great breakfast. Big girls did some shopping. We got to play with Coppelia, Estee, Gabe and Chase making it a fun family day. The kids all went to visit Santa in the afternoon. Both Chase and Gabe had lists ready to help Santa remember what they wished for and the girls actually sat and smiled with Santa.

If I remember right, we had PeaPa's chopped brisket sandwiches for dinner. We went that night to a really neat hotel, Gaylord's Texan, and an ice sculptor display called ICE! featuring How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The hotel was decorated in Christmas season grandeur and the ice display was one of a kind. You go thru the Grinch theme and then exit with a full nativity scene including the angel Gabriel in clear ice.

Oh...and then there was the Ice Slide. Pictures don't do this justice.

#5 - We are thankful for - Bacon, Brisket, Santa, and ice.

Thanksgiving Day. Again.....awoke to the smell of bacon cooking...Grandma Wanda rules the kitchen at breakfast. She thinks everyone should eat the second their eyes open. We tempered her timing with a couple of cups of coffee first....and then opened our eyes.

One mention of Bloody Mary's sent Shane to the store on Thanksgiving morning for Bloody Mary mix. We love Shane....he delivered.

Gabe has become a very avid football fan....he was pumped all day about the Cowboys playing. I have a small problem with Gabe - he likes Peyton Manning like his cousin Mitch - Texan fans do not like Peyton Manning - he makes us look bad. With Shane's help, Gabe has become very knowledgeable about football.

The Thanksgiving meal was prepared. The turkey in a pot recipe turned out really good. Every piece of that turkey was moist. I made the gravy right in the dutch oven after removing the turkey and the flavor was great (Vicki even asked me to do another one because she didn't get her whole 'turkey fix'). Vicki make dressing, sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping (no brown sugar leads to Steens Pure Cane Syrup being used....much better I think), lots of wine, and lots of family. Good meal followed by pecan and pumpkin pies.

#6 - We are thankful for - being together at one table as a family to share God's blessing of his bounty and his gift for us of each other.

Friday sent Vicki and Hannah to brave Black Friday. PeaPa fixed whatever he could around the house without much effort (did cost Shane a trip to Home Depot), and that night ended with a game of dominoes. We found out that senior citizens apartment complex dominoes rules are quite different than Garner domino rules....but Wanda played anyway.

Tyler, Hannah and the girls left first on Saturday. Wanda rode back home with Lou Ann and Vicki and I departed soon after. Food bin and ice chest were much lighter than when we loaded them.

#7 - We are thankful for - the opportunity to be thankful.

Enjoy the pictures......

Click Here for Thanksgiving 2009 in McKinney Pictures