All the Christmas Festivities!

Ok, so I know I'm a slacker for letting it take this long to post about Christmas, but I guess better late than never! Sorry, but get comfy...this is gonna be long!
Let's start with Christmas Eve: I took the day off work to make some Christmas goodies and Ryan played golf with his dad in the morning (he had the whole week off! lucky duck...). Then we both got cleaned up and went out to play Santa as we delivered some of our goodies to family and friends. We went to Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, had dinner with my parents, and went to their house to open presents! Aimee really had a blast this year...she and mom baked cookies for Santa, sprinkled reindeer food in the yard, and she's really starting to get the hang of opening presents on her own and showing how excited she is about the presents. We all exchanged gifts then watched Aimee open a few of hers, then we set out a few homemade snacks and watched Christmas Vacation until we could barely keep our eyes open (it's one of our traditions). It was so nice to have such a relaxed and enjoyable Christmas Eve! We're so happy that we also didn't have to drive 3 hours into town this time and barely get here in time for church. Yay for moving back to Dallas! It was really a great time.
On Christmas Day, Ryan and I got up and gave the dogs and cat their presents, then let them dig into the treats in their stockings. The dogs, like the little brats they are, decided that they liked each other's gifts more than their own, so they ended up switching. Picture this...my little Goosey dragging around a rawhide bone so big that she can't even pick it up or get her mouth completely around it while 90-pound Mav has one of those tiny Loofah dog toys in his mouth so that you can barely see the toy! He had the whole thing in his mouth walking around the apartment squeaking it...what a crack-up they both are! Tigger (aka Fatty) was perfectly content digging into his treats and smelling the cat-nip all over his new toys. After we watched them play for a while, we got ready and the whole gang (except Tigger) headed over to Ryan's parents' house. We munched on more Christmas goodies while we visited with Ryan's parents, his sister Jessica, and Jessica's boyfriend Will. Then what else...more presents! It's always fun with them because you really never know what to expect. Ryan and I have been together for almost 5 years now and I can't remember a single time that his mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas, but she always comes up with neat stuff! The presents ranged from travel coffee mugs (a joke between Ryan and his mom) to a Dooney and Bourke purse for Sue. We open presents (or "prizes" as Sue calls them...haha, I love it!) one at a time and this year we got to record the whole sha-bang on our new video camera. It's so funny to watch!
After presents we all sat down for a nice, traditional Christmas dinner with turkey, dressing, and all the fixin's! This was the first year that Sue asked for my help, and well...I'm afraid it might have also been the last! Here's the story...their family really likes canned cranberries, but I personally am not a fan of cranberries, so I've never really paid any attention to how they are served. I always ask Sue if I can help with anything, and this year she gives in and says "sure, why don't you get the cranberries out." So I open the can, loosen the cranberry gel-stuff from the can, and pour it into the bowl that she gave me. Well, as most of you know, I'm domestically challenged and Sue is always cracking jokes and being the life of the party...well that wasn't a good mix in her kitchen. When the cranberries came out of the can, they maintained the shape of the can, which I thought was hilarious. She says "oh my goodness! you got them out in one piece...I can never do that!" which I thought was one of her jokes since let's be honest, cranberry-goo in the shape of a can is not necessarily what I picture when I hear the word "cranberries." So I proceed to slice and dice the goo into what resembled (to me at least...) some type of cranberry salad that would have contained real cranberries and jello or something of the sort. When I go to place the bowl on the table, Sue says "oh no! what happened?" As it turns out, she was quite amused with the can-shaped cranberry goo and wanted me to leave it that way! That's what she tries to do every year, but she really can never get it out in one piece! And here we have it...I've smothered the daylights out of the can-shaped cranberries! Oops! Well everyone got a kick out of it and let's all just be thankful that she didn't ask for my help with the turkey! We had such a nice time and feel so blessed that we got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with such wonderful people.
Since we were having such a good time, why stop there? Let the festivities continue! Friday we packed the dogs up and took them over to Ryan's parents' house then we headed out to Austin to spend the weekend with friends. We got into town and I took a nap while Ryan went to Golfsmith to buy a few toys, then we hit up the Round Rock Outlets for some good shopping! Then we got all cleaned up and dressed up for a fantastic dinner and night out in downtown. We met Andrew and Kelly for dinner at Fleming's Steakhouse, which was so yummy. It was great to see them again and get to catch up! The next day, the boys tore up the golf course while Kelly and I hit the Domain for more shopping and a good visit and ring-cleaning with Nick at Ben Bridge's. Nick is our go-to guy for any and all jewelry. He got all of our wedding jewelry, my graduation ring, and he is currently working with Andrew and Kelly on their wedding jewelry. He and our friend Annette (who recently left us for Tiffany's, but that's ok...more jewelry to play with!) always hook us up with freebies during the holidays, great deals, and they let us play with the really expensive stuff! Kelly and I have tried on everything from fabulous ruby necklaces to $60K Mikimoto pearls and huge rings at the annual diamond show. It's always one of the first places Kelly and I head to when we're in town. With all this activity, we decided to have a relaxing evening with dinner at Olive Garden and a movie. We went to our favorite hole-in-the-wall (the amazing Juan in a Million!) for breakfast the next morning before we headed back home and Andrew and Kelly had to go to work. We had the best time and are so lucky to have such great friends! It really would have been a lot more enjoyable had I not been fighting allergies (cedar in particular) and a nasty cold that turned into an upper respiratory infection which royally kicked my butt. I fought the cold for 2 weeks and have been fighting the infection for about a week. Thank goodness I can finally see a light at the end of the "feeling crappy" tunnel! But there was no way that a head-cold was going to ruin our Christmas festivities-there was way too much to enjoy during this holiday!
Sorry, I know that was a lot to take in at once, but I hope you enjoyed it. We hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas, too! Some video of our festivities will be posted as well as some pictures, so check back soon!