Toy Soldiers

This Christmas, I got to experience some different traditions other than my own. One of them was Chris' Nativity Calendar from his childhood. There is a Christmas tree with 25 little gold rings attached to it. For each day from December 1st to Christmas Day, the child gets to take that particular day's present off of its ring. I have seen these calendars before, but I have only seen ones that had pockets where the gifts were hidden until you got to open that day's present.

Chris used this as a kid, and now he filled it with presents for TJ. So cool!

TJ had a great time with his Nana and Grandpa that were in town from Tennessee...

Two of the funniest presents that TJ got from Santa on Christmas morning were a bottle of ketchup and a bottle of ranch dressing! He loves both of them and always gets excited when he gets his very own bottle of each. So easy to please at that age!!

He got some really cool toys, including this PlayDoh kitchen set. He also got a crayon maker, where you throw your old whittled down crayons and they get mashed into new crayons! I want to be a kid again!!!

TJ got a police set for Christmas, so he and Chris were playing 'cops' and doing some SWAT team 'missions' - just like on my favorite show '24'!! Here are some outtakes from their police adventures - I have to wonder which one is the kid!

Lookin' tough......

Is TJ throwing gang signs?!

Wow - that's a hot look, Chris!

Tough guys......

And here's Maggie, playing with a new toy from my Mom.....

Kharma trying to play (and lick) TJ and Chris' Mom!

A White Christmas.......in TEXAS?!

This Christmas was pretty crazy - we had a 'big' snowstorm that came through Dallas/Fort Worth (it wasn't big compared to Minnesota snowstorms, but it was a big deal down here!).

Normally this would not be a blogg-able event, but down here, they really don't invest in the equipment or salt to treat the roads, so everyone freaks out when snow and ice happen. I, for one, thought it was magnificent to have a white Christmas! It was a little piece of home!

It looked like the beginnings of a regular blizzard! However, it was all melted by the next day. But still - it made Christmas Eve special and all of the kids in north Texas got to play in the snow!

One of Chris' traditions is to have steak on Christmas Eve, so we planned on doing that after church. So when we got home to his house, he went to fire up the grill.....so weird that in Texas, he had to battle the snow in order to cook dinner!

It's going to be so weird to look at a picture like this next summer when it's 110 degrees and imagine the snow we saw on Christmas Eve!

And then Chris told me to look to the right.......and I found this! Awwww - what a sweet guy. :)

Fuzzy Wuzzy Was a Bear

I've got to plug a great business that Chris and I visited recently....Fuzzy's Taco Shop! Our pastor, Joe, has talked about this place before, so Chris suggested that we try it.

It's a bright, fun place - kind of Chipotle-style, where you order up at the counter. It's nothing fancy, but the food tasted SO GOOD!

I got a shredded beef sandwich (I know, I should've tried a TACO since that's what the place is called!) and Chris got a shredded pork burrito.

Chris also ordered chips and salsa and the salsa was served warm - so good! Here's Chris eating away....

Here's me, playing around with the camera, waiting for Chris to pick up the food.....

I thought this was funny - the sign that says "Beer Only Line!!!" Is there enough of a demand for beer that you have a line just for ordering it?!

One of the first advertisements that shows the NEW Cowboys stadium in Arlington....

They had decorations all over the restaurant that said "Eat Me" - funny!

And this label on the hot sauce cracked me up!!!

If you are in the DFW area, definitely try Fuzzy's Taco Shop!

Candles In The Wind

On Christmas Eve, we went to church at Community of Hope United Methodist Church (the church that Chris and I go to). Like most churches, they were doing a candlelight service to celebrate Jesus' birth.

Growing up, I always loved the candlelight service - singing Silent Night with the glow of the candles. Well, this year was no different - and I loved it!

The church was all decorated and beautiful for Christmas - they did a nice job!

We sang a few Christmas songs, Pastor Joe spoke, and then the moment I was waiting for happened. They started lighting the candles of the front row people......

And as the congregation sang Silent Night, the candlelight spread......

And spread.......

Here is Chris' Mom and TJ, snuggling during Silent Night (TJ slept through the whole service!) - so cute.

And to top it off, we had a 'white' Christmas in Texas that night! About 2 inches of snow in Dallas/Fort Worth - it reminded me of home (although I could've done without the crazy strong winds!).

Christmas Traditions

I'm a pretty nostalgic person who likes traditions and routines, so it's no shocker that I like to reminisce about past Christmases and all the fun traditions I grew up with.

Here are some of them that I look back fondly on:

-Church on Christmas Eve at Pilgrim Church in Plymouth, MN

-Christmas morning - presents and gifts in our stockings

-Aunt Carolyn's in the afternoon on Christmas Day (and they had dogs, so we got to pet the dogs, a big deal since we never had a dog of our own!)

-We would always drive through same neighborhoods in Minnetonka each year on the way to Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Larry's house

-Mom made cranberry jello salad, turkey, punch, cookies and all the stuff we loved

-Every year we would put out our stockings that Grandma Larsen hand-made.

-We got to decorate our tree with all of the ornaments that we made at school, girl scouts, etc.

-We got to 'pull the string' on an old wood music box that always hung in hallway and it played Jingle Bells. I still have it and put it up in my bedroom. Whenever I pull the string now, it brings me back to our New Hope house and all of those years growing up where that hung in the exact same place. It's amazing how many memories it can bring back with that silly little song!

-It seems to be a lost art these days, but in our neighborhood growing up, most people put up outdoor Christmas lights and I LOVE THEM!

Cowtown Wraaaastlin'

Last weekend, I went to Fort Worth with Chris and TJ to watch Chris compete in the North American Grappling Association's Championship Tournament at the Will Rogers Center.

I know NOTHING about grappling or wrestling or UFC or any of those things, but I wanted to go and see what it is he does at the gym all week and I also wanted to go and support him at this competition!

Here's Chris, scoping out the place.....

And here's TJ, following Daddy with his Arlington MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) shirt - "I'm a Lover AND a Fighter." lol

Ummmm....I would be more scared of the camera man behind Chris than the other competitors! haha

And I got a free chiropractic adjustment when I was there - they had a chiropractic clinic there the whole day, working on people's backs. I thought it was just for the competitors, but it was for everyone, so I hopped on a table and got a free adjustment! YAY!

Actin' silly while we waited around for his division......We got there at 10am and he didn't get on the mats until almost 3pm!

Lots of guys in their underwear, weighing in!

Try keeping a 4-year-old entertained for 5 hours while waiting to compete.......it was tough!

Checkin' out the competition!

Me being silly for the camera as TJ tried his hand at being the photographer for a change! A little blurry, but pretty well centered.....

And this one is a great shot - TJ took it of his Daddy getting ready to compete!

This was on a guy's shirt - love it! www.dropya.com

At least there were several guys from Chris' gym that all went together, so he could talk to his friends while they waited all day. The red shirts are from the Arlington Fight Team.

Gotta love the Tapout logo on his butt! When we first met, he had to explain to me what 'tapping out' meant - I had no idea!

I was so glad that I brought some fun Christmas cookies to entertain and feed TJ with - I would've brought more toys or snacks if I had known I would need to keep him busy for so long....but he did great.

Chris fought in Ring 9 but we moved around a few times - they were watching all of the kids go before the adult divisions.

Gettin' ready for the Ring!

By the time Chris finally competed, TJ had fallen asleep underneath the judges table!

Here we go - bring it!

Chris won 1st place - 6 to 2! He got a pretty cool medal!

He looks pretty tough in this pic - accepting his award!

And then he had to wake TJ up after it was all over - he missed all the action!

Here is his medal - it was really well done and very heavy!

Congratulations - he did a great job! I was really proud of him!