Christmas: A Trilogy, Part III

(scroll down for parts I and II)

We last left you with our fabulous recount of Christmas morning and now we begin our journey through our last of three Christmas celebrations, concluding our Christmas Trilogy...

Because most Christmas mornings start earlier than normal, we made it to San Antonio before the rest of the crew was expecting us... plus, traffic on IH35 on Christmas morning is FABULOUS... it brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, "I wish it was Christmas EVERY day!" So we arrived ready for some action... and some presents of course!!

Once everyone was assembled, Josh and Caden played Santa and passed out all of the presents to their respective recipients! Caden was the lucky recipient of a brand new dude kitchen (Justin wants to BE SURE that people know it is a dude kitchen, complete with an outdoor grill) which Uncle Josh and Aunt Emily put together the night before so that Caden would be READY TO PLAY once he arrivedn Say-yo! So it was a bit hard to pry Caden away from his culinary stylings to open his additional presents! Until this one... the hammer ... the boys loves to hit things!! :) Since we've been home he hits these balls through those holes no less than 20 times a day... after Albi showed him the proper way to hold his hammer, Caden has been a PRO at this game! :) Caden also got some new stuff for his train table... a train named Molli, in honor of his favorite pooch! :)

He of course, got LOTS (too much) of stuff from KK and Albi and Aunt Emily and Uncle Josh... and I am pretty sure we opened nearly every toy he received to try it out. So in the midst of all of that, I stopped taking pictures and started having fun... with my gifts too! :) I got some fancy calling cards from Emily and Josh and my VERY first pair of TOMS!! I was SOOOO excited to see that little box. My mom didn't even know I wanted any... she's just good like that! I immediately put them on and was SHOCKED with how comfortable they were! Now I want some in every color for every outfit... AND they are a preggos' dream shoe!! LOVE THEM, love the cause too! Thanks KK!

After all of the presents were opened and we were starting on fixing lunch, Great Gram arrived fresh from Abilene. We were SO excited she came to spend the holiday with us... Caden was glad to have yet another member of his family to love on him and he them! KK OUTDID herself yet again this year with a fabulous new Christmas menu which did include an old favorite of mine... Lobster Bisque... yummy, yummy KK! After we were full to the gills we cleaned up and had a few minutes of down time before our next set of family members arrived for an afternoon/evening Evans celebration! My Aunt Kay and Uncle Roger were in town visiting other family from Abilene and my Cousin Lance and his wife Tina had come along as well (they are from Midland) and they ALL came over to KK and Albi's house for Chirstmas evening! It was SO SO SO fun to have the Evans-side of the family together... it doesn't happen too often anymore and we did miss several family members still, BUT we will always take what we can get when it comes to family! We had a traditional Mexican Christmas feast of tamales and sat around and chit-chatted the rest of the evening! I captured a few pics of the fun...

My Uncle Roger telling Justin a story... Roger Mac has LOTS of good stories!

Albi, Josh and Lance...shootin' the breeze and lookin' cool...

And my Gram, Kay and Tina at the fridge checking out all of the pics. I am sure Gram was taking the opportunity to show off all of her kids, grandkids and great-grandkids that grace the front of the fridge! :)

And a group pic... YAY for an Evans family group pic!! It was so fun seeing all of you!! We love you!!

The rest of our time in Say-yo was pretty laid back which was awesome! In fact on Sunday afternoon I took a 2.5 hour nap like it was nothing... I hadn't done that in FOREVER, not even being pregnant! I think Emily and the boys were the only ones who didn't nap... and the boys were playing golf... ha! It was great!!

One of the NEWEST things that Caden does at KK and Albi's house is look for the deer in the back yard... and this trip, Uncle Josh brought a bunch of deer corn to feed the deer with so Caden and Albi always had some work to do... and Caden LOVED it! He'd go grab his boots and his coat and take them to Albi and say "de-year" (imagine a guy from Boston saying deer and this is Caden)... so they'd bundle up and head out...

Aren't they a pair?!! Oh my, is all I can say!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! TOO MUCH!! This photo holds a beautiful hope for blackmail someday... can you see it?!!

Headin' out back...

Love this pic of Caden looking up at Albi as he opens the gate... so sweet...

Okay, Caden let's feed them deer!!

Spreadin' the corn out... come and get it!!

And let me tell you it worked!! We had no fewer than four deer around during most parts of the day... even one pretty large Buck... of course we made up stories about where the deer were from and who they were in town visiting, etc. It was a fun little anecdote we had going during our stay!!

Before taking our naps we put together Kk and Albi's Christmas train that they have circling their Christmas decorations... we put it on the floor so Caden could play with it. It did take some time but once we got it, we got it! It was a fun little project and Caden of course thought it was the coolest!! :)

That night we ate at our favorite Mexican food joint for a little post-Christmas meal... it was YUMMY! And then we came home and crashed... all tired from the busyness of the previous day! Josh and Emily had to leave early the next morning but Justin and I were able to stay a bit longer, so KK and I took the opportunity to head out for a little shopping... maternity clothes shopping to be more exact. Justin actually had a few appointments for work in Say-yo that morning, so Albi was left to entertain the Chade for a few hours and he did a GREAT job... in fact SUCH a good job that he taught Caden a few new tricks... to stick out his tongue and to blow on the back of his hand to make toot noises... OH ALBI! It's hilarious how embarrassed Caden got when he showed KK and I... it was like it was he and ALbi's little secret... oh dear! And of course now all Albi has to say is "Caden..." in a sheepish voice and Caden giggles and says, "No, No Al-di...!!" TOO FUNNY!

We had a GREAT Christmas in Say-yo with the fam and REALLY enjoyed getting to spend time with Josh and Emily... we miss not seeing them as often but on that same note were so HAPPY to see them SO HAPPY... it seems as if small town life was just the ticket for Josh and Emily... they are doing great in their new home and we couldn't be more glad for it!! Also a treat to spend Christmas with my Gram (thanks for the fun shopping trip!!) and so many other members of the Evans clan!! We love you all!! What a Merry Christmas!!

And that concludes the final part of this Cox Christmas Trilogy! Peace on Earth and Goodwill to Men! :)