Christmas Day 2007

We had such a blast!  Happy birthday Jesus!!!  Check out the video and post comments. . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT

South Louisiana fun

Sorry that we've been out of pocket lately.  Once again we took a whirlwind tour of the South the week before Christmas.  We left the morning of December 19th (Michelle's bday) and made it to Lafayette that evening.  We ate gumbo and boudin :) opened presents, and hung out with my family and then left for New Orleans early Friday morning.  That night we hit Chuck E. Cheese with Paw-Paw Duke and Avuela.  Saturday night was the famous Gogreve Christmas party.  The best crawfish etoufee and crab dip the world has ever scene along with the most fun and crazy family in the South sums it up.  We played dirty Santa, ate way too much, and enjoyed catching up with family we don't see enough.  Early the next morning we headed back to Lafayette to see my brother and his girlfriend who drove in from Austin.  He cooked an incredible soup with crab and potatoes and made this incredible sauce for the shredded chicken sandwiches (ca c'est bon!!!!)

Anyway, we left that night for Memphis, got in bed by 12:30am.  I was at work at 8:30 on Christmas Eve (ok more like 8:45) and helped to lead the family Christmas eve candlelight service that night.  We listened to children's choirs (this time we kept Ethan with us in the congregation), sang carols, watched a children's pageant, and lit candles as we sang Silent Night and Joy to the World.  It was such an exciting thing to see about 700 children and 500 adults gather to anticipate Christ's birth!  We got home and put the kids to bed only to stay up late wrapping presents and playing St. Nick.

Needless to say, we're exhausted and at least I have gained 5 pounds!!!!  But it's all worth it.  Check out the video on the next post for what all of this family, food, and fun has been anticipating and building up to. . .

(sorry for lack of photos, I can't find my card reader after the trip)

pre-Christmas fun

This night Daddy was with the kids and tried to take a group Christmas photo to send to you all. After 63 attempts I gave up (2 of my favorites pictured here)

Another night we went to the "Alpine Village" at a local church. It was so much fun! There was a ton of artificial snow (which helped get into the winter mood with our 70+ temperatures) and plenty of fun - but the Ethan-angel can be misleading. . .

And finally was the Children's choir presentation tonight. Ethan was worried about stage fright, which didn't end up being a problem. . .but he didn't foresee the inability to stay still. . . Check out the video, it's classic:

He was trying to pull his shirt over his neighbor's head at the end (on case you missed it)

Christmas Deco

Merry Crooked Christmas

We had lots of fun decorating our tree this year.  It has taken Michelle a couple of years to figure out and accept that it is going to be pure chaos.  Everyone wants to put ornaments on at the same time,  Everyone wants to put on the SAME ornament and there will be at least 5 broken ornaments.  So, knowing this Michelle took a big breath and had a good time.  Jamey has a similar issue, except it is about getting the silly tree to stand up straight.  About 15 minutes into Jamey trying to do everything to get this tree up, Ethan put it all in perspective.  He said, " Dad it doesn't have to be perfect... none of us are perfect and the tree doesn't have to be either."  Jamey agreed and the decorating of the crooked tree continued.  Merry Crooked Christmas.