Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Stocking Fun
Grant and I had a little fun with the stockings today before I packed them away. I mean, I had to, right? You're only little enough to actually fit IN your Christmas stocking for a very limited time. :)
Christmas Date Night
Every year Jason and I get each other a small gift for Christmas because our real gift to each other is a night out. This year my parents graciously offered to keep Grant over night (God bless the inventor of the breast pump) and let us have the whole night to ourselves last Friday. It was glorious! I am definitely not one of those moms who has any kind of separation anxiety when leaving my child (should I feel guilty about this?). Mind you, Grant was in very capable hands. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's actually better off at my parent's house seeing how they've raised 2 kids and we've only managed to keep a dog alive for a year and a half.
Anyway, we had a great time. We started off with margaritas at the new Ritz Carlton in Dallas. That is my new favorite margarita! Oh my gosh, I could have sucked down at least 2 more but restrained myself. They also have a "guacomologist" on site and let me just say, I did not have high hopes for guac at the Ritz (come on...it's not even a Mexican food place) but it was delish!! We contemplated licking the bowl it was so good. Again, restrained myself as we were in public....at the Ritz Carlton of all places. I'm pretty sure they'd frown on bowl licking. :)
After our happy hour we headed over to Cafe R & D in Dallas which is owned by the same people who own Houston's (one of our favorite restaurants). The food was excellent. We had sushi appetizers (which were very, very good) and Em, your name always seems to come up when we eat sushi as our visit to MD a few years ago over my birthday was when Jason decided he actually liked sushi. :) And then Jason had their famous meatloaf. Now, I don't like meatloaf, never have, but I could eat this meatloaf once a week. If you go there, order the meatloaf! Not kidding!
We had high hopes to make it over to Kathleen's Art Cafe for coffee and dessert but alas, we were too full and too tired. I guess over 2 months of not sleeping through the night tends to run one down a bit. :) It was still a great night, though. I LOVE spending time just the 2 of us, hon! Thanks for making that possible Mom and Dad!
Anyway, we had a great time. We started off with margaritas at the new Ritz Carlton in Dallas. That is my new favorite margarita! Oh my gosh, I could have sucked down at least 2 more but restrained myself. They also have a "guacomologist" on site and let me just say, I did not have high hopes for guac at the Ritz (come on...it's not even a Mexican food place) but it was delish!! We contemplated licking the bowl it was so good. Again, restrained myself as we were in public....at the Ritz Carlton of all places. I'm pretty sure they'd frown on bowl licking. :)
After our happy hour we headed over to Cafe R & D in Dallas which is owned by the same people who own Houston's (one of our favorite restaurants). The food was excellent. We had sushi appetizers (which were very, very good) and Em, your name always seems to come up when we eat sushi as our visit to MD a few years ago over my birthday was when Jason decided he actually liked sushi. :) And then Jason had their famous meatloaf. Now, I don't like meatloaf, never have, but I could eat this meatloaf once a week. If you go there, order the meatloaf! Not kidding!
We had high hopes to make it over to Kathleen's Art Cafe for coffee and dessert but alas, we were too full and too tired. I guess over 2 months of not sleeping through the night tends to run one down a bit. :) It was still a great night, though. I LOVE spending time just the 2 of us, hon! Thanks for making that possible Mom and Dad!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas
What a GREAT, relaxing Christmas we had.....and we got to celebrate twice. :) We had Christmas with my brother and sister-in-law the weekend before Christmas as they were headed to California to be with her family on Christmas day. It was good food, good fun, and lots of presents. Our new favorite game is Apples to Apples. If you haven't played it, you need to get it! And, Jess, Gipson girls obviously think alike! :)
We were so happy to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas with family at church both Christmas Eve eve and Christmas Eve itself. I LOVE singing Christmas carols and lighting candles and my parents church actually had real snow falling from the rafters as we sang at the end of the service. The kids went nuts! It was so fun to see. :) Grant did not go nuts, thankfully, and instead slept peacefully through both services thereby missing the whole point of Christmas. We'll have to work on that in the coming years. :)
Christmas day was full of more good food and present opening. Grant got 10 times more presents than anyone and he didn't even wake up to see what he got. :) Grandpa Safran sent Grant what is now probably considered "vintage" train engines that Grandpa got in 1954 for his first Christmas. The engines came with a display case and a small plaque commemorating Grandpa's first Christmas 1954 and Grant's first Christmas 2008. What a special gift. Thanks Grandpa!
Dakota wearing her reindeer ears.....she hated them
Don't you love how the new mom is the only one still in her pj's on Christmas morning?! :) At least they were "Christmas-y" right! :)
Sleeping and holding on to the new doggy Auntie Jill sent......Thanks Aunt Jill!
Grandaddy wearing Dakota's reindeer ears.....she didn't want to wear them and was confused as to why he would want to! :)
We were so happy to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas with family at church both Christmas Eve eve and Christmas Eve itself. I LOVE singing Christmas carols and lighting candles and my parents church actually had real snow falling from the rafters as we sang at the end of the service. The kids went nuts! It was so fun to see. :) Grant did not go nuts, thankfully, and instead slept peacefully through both services thereby missing the whole point of Christmas. We'll have to work on that in the coming years. :)
Christmas day was full of more good food and present opening. Grant got 10 times more presents than anyone and he didn't even wake up to see what he got. :) Grandpa Safran sent Grant what is now probably considered "vintage" train engines that Grandpa got in 1954 for his first Christmas. The engines came with a display case and a small plaque commemorating Grandpa's first Christmas 1954 and Grant's first Christmas 2008. What a special gift. Thanks Grandpa!
Dakota wearing her reindeer ears.....she hated them
Don't you love how the new mom is the only one still in her pj's on Christmas morning?! :) At least they were "Christmas-y" right! :)
Sleeping and holding on to the new doggy Auntie Jill sent......Thanks Aunt Jill!
Grandaddy wearing Dakota's reindeer ears.....she didn't want to wear them and was confused as to why he would want to! :)
Monday, December 22, 2008
Happy Birthday Grampa!
Today is Grampa Safran's birthday. He sent us this picture of the big celebration....
Hehe! Only kidding! A BIG Texas Happy Birthday to Grampa today from his grandkids......Grant and Dakota (and me and Jason, too). :)
Hehe! Only kidding! A BIG Texas Happy Birthday to Grampa today from his grandkids......Grant and Dakota (and me and Jason, too). :)
Fun Visits
Snuggles with Aunt Jessie
Having lunch with our sweet friends Kari, Rylie, and baby on the way!
Hanging with Gippy in the recliner
Having lunch with our sweet friends Kari, Rylie, and baby on the way!
Hanging with Gippy in the recliner
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Meeting Santa
So every year around Christmas, Mom and I head to downtown Dallas to the original Neiman Marcus to see what kind of unique tree they put in the window and to get our favorite tortilla soup at the Neiman's cafe next door. Of course there's some shopping or at least "looking" involved as well. And this year Grant got involved in the action too.
Two of mommy's very favorite things......sweet Grant and shoes glorious shoes!
The tree this year was unusual.....as usual! :) Neiman's had kids from Scottish Rite Hospital draw unique trees using unique elements and then Neiman's picked their favorite 6 drawings and brought them to life. One tree was featured in their famous window while the other 5 were built on a smaller scale but they were all so creative. There was one built out of wheelchairs, crutches, and prosthetic limbs, and the winning tree was made out of clear plastic orbs with a mother nature/recycling theme. You'd have to see it as my description is sorely lacking. Many of the other drawings submitted were displayed on one of the floors and they were so creative. There were trees made out of footballs, pop-up books, angels, stuffed animals, diamonds (wonder why Neiman's didn't pick that one to make 15 feet tall??!!), and so many others. It was fun to look at all the drawings and read why the kids decided on the tree theme they picked.
But the highlight of our outing was meeting Santa. The Neiman's Santa is always so pretty. No fake beards here folks! And the best part is there was NO ONE there to see Santa but us so we got to tell Santa our entire Christmas list without rushing. Just kidding, just kidding. But it was nice to have a calm, quiet Santa experience. :)
Two of mommy's very favorite things......sweet Grant and shoes glorious shoes!
The tree this year was unusual.....as usual! :) Neiman's had kids from Scottish Rite Hospital draw unique trees using unique elements and then Neiman's picked their favorite 6 drawings and brought them to life. One tree was featured in their famous window while the other 5 were built on a smaller scale but they were all so creative. There was one built out of wheelchairs, crutches, and prosthetic limbs, and the winning tree was made out of clear plastic orbs with a mother nature/recycling theme. You'd have to see it as my description is sorely lacking. Many of the other drawings submitted were displayed on one of the floors and they were so creative. There were trees made out of footballs, pop-up books, angels, stuffed animals, diamonds (wonder why Neiman's didn't pick that one to make 15 feet tall??!!), and so many others. It was fun to look at all the drawings and read why the kids decided on the tree theme they picked.
But the highlight of our outing was meeting Santa. The Neiman's Santa is always so pretty. No fake beards here folks! And the best part is there was NO ONE there to see Santa but us so we got to tell Santa our entire Christmas list without rushing. Just kidding, just kidding. But it was nice to have a calm, quiet Santa experience. :)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Christmas Party
So we had 3 Christmas parties tonight but only made it to one......an "ugly Christmas sweater" party. And yes, there were some very ugly sweaters in attendance. We had great time with our sweet friends from our Sunday school class. Good friends, good food, and fun games! Thanks so much for hosting such a great party Sam and Mandy!
The little man was living it up with Gigi and Gippy while we partied with the grown ups. Jason took a few pictures of the munchkin today. Thanks for keeping him and giving us a night out Mom and Dad!
The little man was living it up with Gigi and Gippy while we partied with the grown ups. Jason took a few pictures of the munchkin today. Thanks for keeping him and giving us a night out Mom and Dad!
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