I'm dreaming of an Oklahoma Christmas...

We arrived home safely from a wonderful time visiting family in Oklahoma for the holidays. We began our trip with a lesiurely drive to the Tulsa-area on Monday morning. We stopped for lunch in McCalister (one of the larger towns in OK), and arrived at my aunt Judy and uncle Tom's house in Owasso around 4pm. My cousin Laura (their daughter) met us and we drove to my aunt Jackie's house around the corner, spent several hours with her, and headed back to Tom and Judy's for dinner. The next day, we lounged around the house, enjoyed the cold weather, went out to lunch, and later Aunt Judy offered to watch Maggie for a little while, so Aron and I did some shopping and enjoyed getting out sans-Maggie. It was wonderful! That night, my other cousin, Alycia, (Tom and Judy's other daughter) and her husband and kiddos came over and we ate dinner and enjoyed more family time. Cameron, 11, especially enjoyed playing with Maggie. After Maggie went to bed, we played cards with the boys until about 9pm, then the two of us went to a movie. We vacilated on what to see, but ended up in "The Tale of Despereaux" which was a well-made cartoon, with a unique story (though not one I think needs to be seen in theaters). On Christmas Eve morning we ate breakfast at a local restaurant with more of the Tulsa family. Afterwards, we headed out and made the 2 hour drive into Oklahoma City to stay with Aunt Peggy and Uncle Bill. We went to a Christmas Eve service and Maggie sat through the entire hour like a pro! We were so proud of her. On Christmas morning, we lounged around the house, and later, I made Christmas lunch for everyone. The food was good, the company even better. We opened gifts afterwards and it was great fun to watch Maggie tear into her goodies. My aunt and I did some after-Christmas shopping the next day, then a good friend of hers babysat Maggie while the 4 of us went to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which was outstanding--well-acted, filmed beautiful, and encompassing all the themes of a great film (love, loss, redemption). After a yummy breakfast at a local restaurant on Saturday morning, Aron, Maggie, and I headed back to Dallas. We throughly enjoyed our last trip as a family of 3. :) Maggie traveled fantastically and was such a blessing to all we saw; it brought us much joy to see her interact with family. Thanks for hosting us and loving on us!

Maggie with her new Radio Flyer tricycle from Pops and Mema (Aron's folks)

Grandma opening gifts

Uncle Bill contemplating if he will make breakfast the next morning

Aunt Peggy genuinely surprised at the uniquness of a gift from Uncle Bill--a box full of money! :)

My Grandpa and I

Plastic food from GAP (Maggie's name for my aunt--Great-Aunt Peggy)

Hanging out with cousin Cameron

My cousins (all siblings) from L to R: Heather, Bethany, and Samuel. I haven't seen them all together since I was really young and still living in OK. Fun to have a mini-family reunion over breakfast!

Uncle Tom, Aunt Judy, and Aunt Jackie (my dad's 2 sisters)

Scott and Alycia and their 2 boys, Chapman (who Maggie affectionately called "Chapstick" once! hehe) and Cameron

Cousin Laura and I

Bethany and her boyfriend, K, and Heather and her husband, Brian

Beverly and Don (my dad's 1st cousin)

The boys posing for the camera