Saturday, January 5, 2013

Christmas Part 1: Houston and Ladner Family Shenanigans

This year Christmas was WAY out of the normal for us.  Typically we pack up and head north to Oklahoma for family festivities, but this year we were home for Christmas.  It was my very first Christmas away from family on Christmas Day, but also a year to start new Mayo family traditions.  So, definitely bittersweet!

Of course, that didn't stop our families from coming to us before and after the holiday :).

A few days before Christmas my family (2 parents, 3 siblings, 1 nanny, plus the 3 of us = a crazy caravan) drove in and we all headed south for Houston.  My cousin (who is just a couple of months younger than me) was getting married on the 22nd!  Now to give you some background, this is my dad's side of the family.  I cannot tell you how many  CRAZY stories I have heard over the years about the trouble he and his cousins got in to as kids.  So, if you put them all together and add a huge celebration (Matt's wedding), we knew we were in for a pretty epic weekend.  We had lots of fun activities all weekend.

Pictures from the rehearsal dinner...

Nanny with her brother, Paul, and his wife, Betsy.





B was on good behavior!  He had bypassed a good nap and was up past 9:00, but thankfully he was all smiles.  I was REALLY holding my breath during the speeches though.



The next morning we went to Uncle Paul and Aunt Betsy's house for a wedding day brunch.  They have a gorgeous front yard, so I used the opportunity wisely and got some great pictures.


I think this is the best photo we have of all of us.


Grant, the infamous Cousin John (his son is the groom), and Mom


That afternoon we hung out at the hotel for the rest of the day.  Guy had work in Houston to do, so I was kind of tied to trying to get B to take a nap, eat some decent meals, and not scream so much that the hotel manager was going to make a courtesy call on us (fun, ha!).  Traveling with a baby is kind of exhausting! But, thankfully he has great grandparents and aunts and uncles to help keep him entertained.

He loves to have phone "conversations" right now - he says "whoa (hello)" and "bye bye" and always with the phone backwards.  Always.


Saturday night was the wedding.  The hotel we stayed in also hosted the reception which was awesome.  They had a beautiful tree set up in the lobby that was just calling my name for a photo op...






The wedding was perfect.  I am so happy for Stacy and Matt.  Sadly, I have zero pictures of the new bride and groom.  

Unfortunately, B was so exhausted that the reception with him didn't last long.  Guy and I did a couple of shifts trying to get him to go to sleep back in our room, but he just absolutely wouldn't do it.   So, we did a couple of shifts and in the end Guy ended up spending the evening in the hotel room with B. 

Steph was my dance partner. 


Cousin Paul, Cousin Hughie, and my dad


This photo is priceless.  Nanny just looks confused.  


We made it back to Dallas safely and did a quick Christmas celebration before my family finished the drive back to Norman.  By the end of the weekend, Beckett had finally warmed up to everyone and wasn't quite so overwhelmed with the sudden attention of so many people.




We opened presents.  Favorites include a playhouse, stuffed snake, and horse collection for Beckett, a kindle fire for Missy, and a home theater power console for Guy.




My dad is known for his crazy gag gifts, but the sweet mullet wig was no so popular with Beckett.  Poor kid was scared!
We wrapped up with a yummy Christmas dinner - our first dinner to host in our new home!  Cooking for a crowd was seriously SO easy in my new kitchen.  


Merry Christmas to my fun and crazy family.  Christmas part 2 is coming soon.

No comments:

Post a Comment