We arrived in San Antonio for Christmas on the 22nd. We had quite the adventure. First we flew from Lexington, KY to Memphis, TN in a tiny plane with only 11 rows. (We ended up in the 11th row.) Then when we got off the plane, which had been delayed, we had to exit the plane on the tarmac in the pouring rain and run (literally run) to the next terminal to catch the flight to San Antonio. Needless to say the lady at the desk was not very happy to have such latecomers. When we finally arrived in San Antonio we couldn't get off the plane because at the gate in front of us there was a deceased solider who had been brought back from Iraq that was being unloaded. (In the meantime Jed had been circling the airport for over an hour and a half.) So after the gate was free we were finally able to unload only to find that our luggage was still in Memphis! It seems we made the flight, but none of our bags did. So as a lovely parting gifts we were given ..."survival" bags. They contained a lovely sky team t-shirt, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a plastic comb, a mini deodorant, a disposable razor, a packet of detergent (to wash the t-shirt?), and of course a lovely carrying case. Below is a picture of the deodorant. We took a picture of it beside a salt shaker so you could see just how tiny it was. We thought that was hilarious. The important thing is we made it and now we can celebrate Christmas together.
Here's the gang and with our "survival" bags.
Christmas was a blast! We had such a fun time watching the kids open presents. Both Noah and Chloe' were pleasantly surpirised with their presents. Noah asked for "socks and stocks" and Chloe' asked for a digital camera, make-up, and clothes. They were troopers and took turns opening all of Nolan's presents for him. Nolan pretty much slept through the whole thing. He was awake for his first few presents. Nolan was our Christmas elf and Jed played Santa.
As you can see Nolan hit the jackpot this year. A lot of the toys he got are for later (way later), but that's okay, they'll be waiting for him when he's ready. It was just way to much fun shopping for him, Rae and I had a hard time controlling ourselves. Everyone got Hallmark keepsake ornaments. (Danl/golf cart, Dedra/Chocolate moose, Noah/Lionel trains, Chloe'/cell phone tree.) As tradition continues, Nolan also got an ornament from Auntie Dedra and Uncle Ban-dell.
Nolan also got Noah and Chloe' two of their favorite gifts an illuminated make-up mirror for Chloe' and he got Noah Guitar Hero III for Wii. (There will be a whole other post dedicated to the Guitar Hero III because it has been just too funny.)
One of the things we love about opening presents at Christmas is the massive amount of wrapping paper and torn boxes laying around. So here is our after pile of paper and boxes.
