Christmas in the Panhandle

We were so blessed to be able to spend Christmas with both of our families this year. It took a little extra planning {and traveling} to work it all out, but we wouldn't have it any other way! We joked though that if anyone wants to see us next year, they are coming to Fort Worth! Haha.

Our Christmas in Amarillo with the Bonjours was wonderful; we loved every minute we were able to spend with Papa, Grammy, Joseph, and Quentin.

The picture below is of our Christmas dinner, and it was amazing! I got to spend the afternoon in the kitchen with Gay Lynn to help out and to learn a few of her secrets. I learned a lot, but I'm sure it will take a lot of trial and error for me to perfect it like Gay Lynn has.



Quentin ready to dig in!



Darrell's barbecue baked beans are legendary. Once, he made them for a family whose grandmother had just passed away; when the family tasted the beans, one of the family members {a sweet old black woman} went up to Darrell and said, "Those beans are pretty good for a white boy!" And she wasn't lying. They. are. so. good! Our Christmas dinner wouldn't have been complete without them. Noah was a big fan of the beans too. He kept wanting Papa to feed them to him.



Quentin called Josh a couple of days before Christmas asking him what we got him, and without hesitation {because Josh loves to pick on him}, he told him, "a mouse."

Side note: Quentin got a laptop for Christmas from his parents, so we thought a wireless mouse would be the perfect gift to go along with his computer.

So anyway, Quentin thinks Josh is talking about a live mouse, and Quentin quickly tells Josh that he does not want it. And Josh responds, "Well, it's too late Quentin. We already bought it." And no, we hadn't really bought it, but you can bet once we got to Amarillo there was a little mouse {excuse me, rat} purchased.

Quentin had three gifts from us {he just didn't know it}. Here he is opening up gift #1. And it was so funny when he pulled out the cage. He just held it in front of his face and stared at it repeatedly saying, "No you didn't."



Um yes, yes they did. Josh, Darrell, and Noah made a quick trip to Petco while Gay Lynn and I were cooking dinner. Quentin got a lovely white rat with pink eyes.



"Ok, Quentin, here is your real gift from us." Here he is opening up gift #2.

Side note: Before Josh and Darrell made plans to buy a rat, Josh and I were shopping at Target one evening and we came across this little beauty. Let's just say we know how to push Quentin's buttons, and we knew this would do the trick.



Gift #3: a wireless mouse. We told you we got you a mouse!



Noah opening up his stocking. He got a lot of fun things, but his favorite...



...were the apples & oranges. Of course they would be, they are round like balls!



Noah and his Grammy snuggling while we open up presents.



Noah loved playing with the Zany Zoo learning center toy he got from Papa & Grammy. I'm not lying, this toy can entertain little Noah for hours. He loves playing with it.



Josh & his new grill he got from his parents for Christmas! Noah had a pretty excited Daddy.

Noah eating lunch after he got his first haircut. He looks so grown up {sad face}!

It's kind of hard to see the chair, but Noah found a chair just his size. It was almost exactly like the one my mom had in Oklahoma.

Papa tickling Noah. They were having so much fun.

Noah loves his Uncle Joseph {and the beard}. I mean what kid wouldn't love a beard like that? One time when Noah was just learning to grab things, he grabbed Joseph's beard and ended up with a handful of beard hairs. Ouch!

Happy little Noah!

I adore this picture of Noah & Papa. So so sweet!

This one is one of my favorites too.

I love Noah's expression in this one. Haha. This picture would be perfect for a "Name that Photo" contest.



Noah trying to take Daddy's hat off. It is so funny how the little things make Noah laugh. He is a lot like his Momma in that way.



Noah riding the horse {Papa's leg}. Darrell sang a cute little tune as he bounced Noah up and down, and once he started, there was no stopping. Noah loved it. He wanted to do it again and again.



We had a wonderful time. Thank you Darrell & Gay Lynn for everything!