Austin Family Christmas 2012 - Part 1

For Christmas this year, I am the luckiest guy on the planet.  I get to have all of my children, and their awesome spouses, under my roof on Christmas morning. You have to understand that since my divorce from my older kids' mother, I haven't had them at my house on Christmas morning.  Ever.  It's been over 15 years, and I am so excited to have the older kids and the younger kids together.  Having a 5 year-old and a nearly 2 year-old on Christmas morning is always fun.  The magic of Santa Claus is infectious and something to hang onto, as long as you can.  Soon, my older kids will have children of their own, and will spend Christmas by themselves.  I'm lucky, lucky, lucky. But let's get to the pictures, shall we?

The kids arrived a few days before Christmas.  My oldest daughter (A) and her husband arrived first.  They wanted to go downtown and experience the famous food trailers.  We headed right for South Congress St. and had a great meal.

No trip to South Congress St. is complete without a visit to Big Top Candy.  As a diabetic, I have to be really careful there...so many great things to satisfy my sweet tooth ; )  At least I can dream...

My oldest son (C) arrived with his wife.  For this trip, they brought their small dog, Toby.  You have to understand a couple of things.  I don't allow pets into my house.  There are a few reasons - my wife is allergic to cats and dogs, and I generally don't like the smell of animals in my house.  I know that I sound pretty heartless...which I am.  I have enough people to pick-up after...I don't need more.  However, my son didn't want to put his dog in a kennel, while visiting Austin.  This is where love comes into play.  I love my son and his wife...so what could I do?  In addition, both of my youngest kids LOVE animals.  Yeah, I'm heartless.  It was pretty fun to watch little L go nuts over this dog.  Here she is, trying to play with Toby, but putting her toy animals on top of him:

Here's a fun video clip of L when Toby first arrived...it was like this the entire time...

With the kids in the house, I loved watching everyone work together and have fun.  Cooking was a real treat to watch.  My wife put together a couple of outstanding meals for all of us:

A couple of cuties...

We played games...including an intense round of Boggle ; )

I took the kids to see Christmas lights...there is a fun neighborhood downtown that decorates the entire block for fun.

When in Texas....you have to expect a cowboy Santa, right?

Taking advantage of the fact that I live with an incredible photographer, the kids asked her to shoot a portrait that they could use to give my ex-wife as a Christmas present.  The bonus is that I get to snag a copy of the picture, too ; )

G-Man was feeling sick over the holidays, but one day he was doing well and we headed out of the house to Mt. Bonnell.  This is a small peak that overlooks the lake system around Austin.  From the top, you can look down on a beautiful view, including some of the wealthier homes in Austin.

Best buddies...when these brothers get together, I love, love it!

Back at the house, Christmas fun was in full effect.  G-Man loves to make Christmas cookies, and he's been waiting for my daughter-in-law (H) to come and help him.  She is an elementary school teacher, and has the patience of a saint.  Last year, they made gingerbread houses...and I'm always grateful for the way she encourages G-Man:

A and L got into the act.  I don't know how much actual decorating took place.  Little L was mostly removing decorations from the cookies....

I also loved watching my oldest daughter bond with her younger siblings.  L seemed to respond to A and we watched them enjoy some of the Christmas music playing in the house:

It came time for Christmas Eve, and we decided to have a special meal.  The older kids are used to a big meal on Christmas day...but with little kids, we wanted to enjoy them playing with their presents.  My wife whipped-up another awesome meal.  We borrowed a tradition from the Canadians and British and gave everyone a cracker (like a firecracker) which pops when you open it.  Inside, you'll find a toy, a joke and a paper crown:

That night, we had the entire family re-enact the Nativity story.  They made the mistake of letting me be a Wise Man ; )

Toby was one of the sheep in the stable ; )

Late into the night, Santa's elves had wrapped all the gifts, and placed them under one of the trees.  I should never forget just how much work is required.  It was SO nice to have extra elves this year.  Large gifts were assembled and made ready.

Everyone in the house finally had a chance to sleep ; )  Since this post is getting rather long, I'm going to split it into two - the next post will cover all the fun of Christmas Day.

Thanks so much for reading!  Merry Christmas!!!