Bruce Almighty: Merry Christmas 2014

What a busy week leading up to Christmas! After taking the kids to Houston to handoff to my parents on Sunday, Dec 21st, I took a plane back to Dallas that evening to prepare for moving. Andy and I enjoyed a quiet dinner together and then woke up early to eat breakfast together at Angelas before the packers arrived around 9am. I tried to put stuff in the right room so stuff would be packed in the same box. We had some stuff going into storage and some going into the apartment. The packers stayed until 3pm. Andy and I were exhausted even though we didn't physically pack anything. It was great having professionals do it! We will probably do this again the next time we move. The movers showed up at 8am Tuesday and they moved stuff into the truck until 5pm! We were anxious to get on the road to Houston, which was a 4 hour drive. We started the day telling the movers that we needed to be finished moving into the apartment by 3pm Christmas Eve in order to get to our kids in time to celebrate the holidays since we had a 2 hour drive from Houston to Victoria. Keith, the lead mover, assured us to relax that it would be done close to that time. We sat on the couch and watched our stuff get loaded and told them whether it was storage or apartment. When they took away the couch, we moved upstairs to an empty bedroom. Andy took a nap on the floor because he was so tired. Rusty was uneasy because of all the strangers in our house. We just tried to take it easy and let the movers handle everything. We drove to Houston Tuesday night and only stopped at Whataburger on the way. What a great tasting burger! We stayed at Andy's corporate apartment and we took showers to get all the dust off our clothes and went straight to bed. On Christmas Eve, we went to the new apartment and met the movers at 9am. The first problem was the big truck couldn't fit into the loading zone near the freight elevator. The driver figured it out an hour later. The freight elevator also didn't work so we were trying to track down people to get it working so that took time as well. But by 10am, we were unloading and moving in. I stayed in the apartment and unloaded boxes as they came in. Andy went to the store for some shopping for the kids and wrapping paper. My parents offered to wrap the presents but Andy really wanted to do it. He had some delivered to my parents house and he wanted to wrap them so the kids would have a nice Christmas. The movers made everything fit within 2 storage units at the apartment complex. We were worried it wouldn't fit and at one point, Andy was considering selling his big smoker to one of the movers. It is his passion and hobby! But luckily they didn't buy it and we kept it and it afterall! Andy rented a 3rd storage unit just in case but we didn't need it. The movers setup all the beds and the furniture. The only thing broken was the couch leg. The movers did a great job. We finished around 5:30pm and then headed to Victoria. We arrived around 7:30pm stopping at a Bucees gas station for gas and a couple of stocking stuffers.
The kids were excited to see us. They helped decorate the tree and put up Christmas lights. They went to Chic-Fil-A one day at lunch and saw one of Audrey's friends from school. They also played at the park and went to a play area at a Chinese restaurant. Nana, Papa, and Michael kept them busy. They tried to find Fred, the elf on the shelf, and walked Roxy. The weather was in the 60's and windy. Matthew picked grapefruits from Papas grapefruit tree in his backyard. Daddy read the Night Before Christmas book to the kids and as soon as they went to bed, Andy was busy wrapping presents. I thought he would wake me but he let me sleep. I was exhausted! Moving during the holidays is probably the worst timing an I hope we don't have to do it again. The next morning, the kids woke up early and excited to see all the new presents from Santa. The carrots and cookies and milk had been eaten. They started tearing through the paper before everyone could join. Matthew noticed that some of the treats in his stocking were from Bucees. Daddy assured him that Santa probably stopped there to feed his reindeer since they sold reindeer feed and to use the bathroom since everyone knows they have the cleanest bathrooms! We all giggled.
Thanks to all the grandparents for sending all the wrapped gifts. The kids loved opening them all. We ate a nice Christmas dinner and Lori as Bryan joined us. Papa said the prayer and asked that all the sick people get healed, when we asked who he was referring to he said there were too many to mention and we didn't want to be waiting too long to eat. We all laughed. Andy and I were happy to just relax and enjoy the family after the stressful move. Matthew enjoyed playing Clue, scrabble, Jenga, and monopoly junior with the family. Audrey and I made chocolate chip cookies and played with Barbie dolls and Barbie doll clothes. We went to the park and relaxed the day after Christmas. We then headed to Houston on Saturday to start unpacking boxes. Through it all, we remember God's love for us in sending Christ into the world. May we always remember the true meaning of the holidays.