Still Here…

Been a couple of months since I’ve written anything here.  We’ve made a couple more trips to Houston since I last wrote.  Walker has been doing great with his chemo, until today.  He started running 104 fever and his bilirubin (I think that’s the one) levels are high…which has to do with his liver.  The good news is that the doctors don’t think it’s from VOD….which is what happened to him last time when his liver shut down.  They think it’s just a virus this time…praying they are right and that he is well soon.  He just recently got out of the hospital from his seven day stay for his chemo treatment.  He is now halfway through with his chemo treatments.  I will be so glad when this is over for them.

Christmas was good…just went by too fast.  I love having the Christmas tree up and the lights on the house.  We just had two of our kids here for Christmas Eve and morning.  The two older ones were with their families.  Christmas Eve we first went to my dad and stepmom’s house to eat.  Daddy and Lynn always buy gifts for the younger grandkids and they give the older, unmarried, grandkids each $100.  The adults do not exchange gifts or draw names like we use to.  I do, however, exchange gifts with my two sisters.  After we left there we went to the inlaw’s house.  We do draw names there so we ate again and then exchanged gifts.  My mother in law got me a pink cross necklace and my SIL got me a very soft blanket and a Scentsy wax burner.   On Christmas Eve my mother in law makes turkey tamales and bean tamales, which are my favorite.  Then we went home and after the kids went to bed I set up all the gifts and put out their Santa gifts.  We thought one of Landon’s gifts wasn’t going to come in on time…his Guitar Hero.  It didn’t come on the Saturday before Christmas Eve and I didn’t think the mail would run on Sunday Christmas Eve so we went and got him a drone as a replacement gift and then surprise surprise the mail ran on Sunday and the Guitar Hero did come in.  So, Landon had a very good Christmas morning.  Kinley’s Santa gifts were some Birkenstock sandals, New Balance tennis shoes and a security light for her house.

We got up Christmas morning around 6:00 and opened our gifts.  We take turns opening them one at a time so we can enjoy it more.  Jose’ got me a necklace with our kids’ four birthstones on it, a foot massager, some house shoes and a phone cover.  Kinley got me a purse and two puzzles.  After we opened gifts we ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then Jose’ and I cooked dinner.  He fried a turkey and made the dressing.  I made broccoli rice and cheese casserole and some homemade Mac and cheese.  Jose’ also made two strawberry pies and I made two pumpkin pies.  My daddy and stepmother and my sister and her husband came to eat with us.  My sister, Lori, brought a sweet potato casserole and my stepmother, Lynn,  brought banana pudding.  After they all left Kinley and I played a game I got them and another game we already had while we watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.  Around 4:00 we did our stockings…we always save them for later in the day because it gives us something to look forward to all day.  Then Kinley had to leave because she had work the day after Christmas.  I hated to see her go.

We left on the 29th to go to Houston to spend New Years with Stephen and his family.  We stayed five nights.  Kinley and her boyfriend came too and stayed four nights and Landon brought his cousin with him.    On New Years Eve we cooked a ham with black eye peas and cabbage and some rolls.  We all, except for Beau, stayed up until midnight to see all the fireworks in their neighborhood….there were SO many.  It was loud and lasted for a couple of hours…I didn’t stay up to watch all of them.  It was a good visit except that we didn’t get to see Walker since he was in the hospital for his chemo and liver medicine.  We came home on the 3rd.

I took down our tree and all other Christmas things today.  I hated to…wasn’t tired of it yet but it was time.  Jose’ took the lights off the house yesterday and today he put up his new flag pole that I got him for Christmas.

Sorry this got so long…just wanted to get it all down so I would have it.  Now I’m going to read some of my favorites and then I may go take a nap :-). Happy Saturday to all.

Vicki