New Year's Eve and Time w/ the Inlaws

Jeremy and I spent our 3rd NYE together with Stacey and Morgan. When I was a junior in college, my friends and I started an annual NYE get-together celebration. I have spent the last five NYE w/ mostly the same people, but Stacey and I are always the common thread. We have been at the last six together! Here is a short recap:

2002-San Antonio, ate dinner downtown, walked around a bit and almost got pushed in the river by some crazy folks (drunk people + River Walk = accident waiting to happen), toasted the NY at a cute little wine bar. We spent the night at my friend Crystal's house after that so her mom could wake us up and make breakfast for us. Her mom talks to everyone (including grownups) like they are 5yrs. old, so we love her. We watched the Tournament of Roses Parade and laughed at the night before.

2003-San Antonio downtown at a fun hotel w/ dinner, drinks and dancing. We spent the night at Crystal's parents' house again. The highlight of this night was when Ellie's date started taking drinks off of other people's tables when they would go dance. Yeah, she didn't marry that one.

2004-Crystal, Stacey and I went to NYC for the holidays. We stayed w/ our generous friend Phil who shared his tiny efficiency apt. with three girls for a few days. We ate dinner at a nice little Italian place in Brooklyn Heights and then headed downtown to hang out w/ one of Phil's friends. Crystal was obsessed w/ seeing the ball drop and since she didn't get to see it up close and personal this year, she ditched us the next year to go back to NYC, stand in the cold for eight hours and see the ball drop with a million other people. Love ya Crys! :)

2005-A small group of us spent NYE in Houston and had a great dinner at the Rainbow Lodge. The food was pretty "gamey" but great!

2006-Stacey and Morgan's house in Clear Lake, Morgan prepared an excellent dinner and Stacey and I made an awesome tiramisu w/ raspberry coulis. Jeremy gave us all a lesson on how to give a sobriety test...that was ironic.

2007-Brad's house in Austin, we broke a lot of dishes and there might have been some yelling. We played Guitar Hero and Jeremy and I had a double celebration since we had closed on our first home earlier that day.

2008-Stacey and Morgan's cute new house in Houston, Morgan and Stephen made an awesome dinner and they even prepared the pheasant that Jeremy had shot a few weeks prior on his hunting trip. I am a pheasant fan. We played a rousing game of Spades and toasted the NY w/ some amazing prosecco.

Spades...my team totally won!

There ya go...the last six NYE in a few short words. It's crazy how much changes in five years. God has blessed me in so many ways and I can't wait to see what 2009 brings. Anyway...after NYE we spent the next few days w/ Jeremy's family in Houston/Livingston. Here are some highlights:

Dinner at sis-in-law Shawni's-My mother-in-law Renae made a great dinner (Jeremy's favorite: fried chicken and mashed potatoes) for us and she was happy to have all her kids in one place at one time. It was also fun to see our nephews, Jaden and Kameron, and give them their Christmas gifts. After dinner we played my new favorite game: Snorta! This might be a kids' game, but it's the most fun I have had in a while. It's basically a game of memory where you have to remember what animal the other people have and make their animal's noise before they do. You have to try it, especially if you have kids! You would be amazed at the noises that come out of your mouth when you are competing to remember an animal and its sound.

Renae's kids/grandkids

Hanging w/ Renae-Since we don't get to see Jeremy's mom very much, it was nice to spend some time with her. We went to a movie, had dinner at Chuy's (our favorite restaurant, collectively), took the dogs to the dog park, rented a movie and just hung out. Ella and Lexi got to play w/ their aunt Pixie (Renae's dog) and they were spoiled w/ Milk-Bones. I learned some fun new things about my new family, and Renae made us laugh a few times with her East Texas/Houston accent. She called an escalator an "esceeeelator" and Febreze, "Feeebreeze." I love it!

Ella and Pixie...I think Renae needs to reset the camera's calendar!

A Day in Livinston-Jeremy grew up in Livingston and Houston. (Time w/ Mom and Dad) His Dad is Native American and he lives on the Alabama-Coushatta reservation just outside Livingston. Jeremy's grandfather, Smiley, is actually the Chief of the tribe! Anyway, we went to the reservation on Saturday to see my father-in-law, Rick, his wife and my sister-in-law, Tylia. We had a great time visiting with them, eating at Florida's Kitchen (recently featured in Texas Monthly), hanging out at home and going to visit Smiley. It was really good to see Smiley. He has been in the hospital a lot recently and Jeremy has been wanting to see him. He can't get out of bed right now so that was sad to see. Right before we left his house, he asked Jeremy and me to pray for him so we said we would. But, he reached out and said "right now." It was so sweet and Jeremy and I held his hand and prayed for his health and his upcoming surgeries. It's always a unique experience going to the Reservation since it's so foreign to me. That's what makes new families so special...new experiences and views on life that I never would have seen otherwise. After we left the Reservation we headed into town to see Jeremy's cousin Rachel, to whom he is the closest. She recently had a baby boy named Briley and he was a doll. He had more hair than most grown men!

Baby Briley

So there it is...Jeremy and I survived another holiday season w/ our crazy families. When the movie Four Christmases came out, we wondered if someone had written a story about our holidays! But, the couple in the movie didn't want to see their families. Jeremy and I love our families and, despite their dysfunction, we will continue to drive across Texas (both ways) to see them. When we have kids, it might be a different story...stay tuned for that. Stay tuned for a while actually!