Merry Christmas to all . . .

. . . . and to all, it's over for another year!

We had a great time here at the Crosslands. Mom and Michael were here, and we enjoyed spending the holiday together. This is us before mass on Christmas Eve.

It was a great year because Christopher really understood the Santa part of the holiday this year for the first time. He was so excited all week long and wanted Christmas to come so badly.

His favorite gift was a Nerf gun (that he calls a "gum") from Santa. Funny thing, Santa also brought Dad a Nerf gum too. He loves that thing so much - he reminds me of Ralphie from A Christmas Story, as you see him here sleeping with the thing. So far, he has not shot his or anyone else's eye out.

For Mallory, it was a Fisher Price Dvd player. She is a maniac about that thing, and if you try to touch it, say, to help her with it? She swats at you like a pesky mosquito. Nice. So far, we have all experienced that wrath.

I hope you all enjoyed the holidays with your families, and here is to a wonderful 2009!

Snow? For real?

So this week, we have enjoyed true unpredictable Texas weather. As if Hurricane Ike wasn't enough . . . . .

Warm front Monday and Tuesday - high on Tuesday is over 70.

Big thunderstorm rolls in.

Temperatures drop.

Wednesday morning - in the 30's. High of 46.

Temps drop again Wednesday afternoon. It starts to snow.

Snow accumulates to at least 1/4 inch (enough to go play in).

Tomorrow? In the 60's. 76 by Sunday. God Bless Texas.

Fuzzy Santa Pic

If you can find it in your heart to forgive the horrible resolution on this scanned photo, this is our Santa picture from this year, as mentioned below. I didn't order the electronic file of it, so this is scanned and cropped. If you click on the photo, it will get bigger. Their faces are a little fuzzy, but you can sense the fright in Mallory's face, which is really the priceless part.

I can't help it - I don't want a Christmas to go by without a Santa pic, if I have anything to say about it.

Hope everyone's holiday preparations are bringing them lots of joy and little stress!