Christmas in Rockdale

For the Kyle family, December 24 means go to Rockdale. It is a family tradition that is repeated every Christmas Eve, no exceptions. (There was one year when we went on the 23rd, but we don't speak of that very often.)

The day starts with a hunt for a Christmas tree. We all go out and look for the perfect tree.
Some people just pose for photos instead of actually doing anything. I'm in that category.

The Kyle girls had many photo opprotunities. Aren't they beautiful?

A tree was finally selected and cut down. There was some controversy this year over the size and beauty of the tree, but most of us just wanted to get back to the house so we could start eating. It was kind of a Charlie Brown tree.

Here are most of us with the tree. It's really hard getting that many people in a picture.

I think it turned out pretty well after it was decorated. It's amazing what lights and decorations can do.

Baking and Decorating

All I've really wanted to do this month is bake. School has been very inconvenient for my baking schedule. A couple of weeks ago I gathered up a bunch of recipes that I've been wanting to try and bought all the ingredients I needed. The problem has been finding time to actually bake. I made some cake balls and raspberry filled cookies, but that's all I've been able to do. I had dreams of giving plates of beautiful cookies and candy to everyone I know. It didn't happen.

School is out now and I got up this morning and tried my hand at making kolaches. These weren't on my original baking list, but rather a spur of the moment choice.
I like to think that I could be another Pioneer Woman so I took pictures. Actually, I was kind of a pioneer woman when we lived out on the farm, but there was no internet and no blogging back then so I didn't get famous. Anyway, here are the kolaches before they went in the oven. Half were cream cheese and the others are apricot using my dad's homemade apricot jam.

This is the pan 2 minutes after coming out of the oven. They were pretty yummy. Next time, I'll try for a more uniform size, but not bad for a first try I think.

This is about all the decorating we did this year, a few little trees. I kind of like it though.

Busy, Busy, Busy

The Christmas season is very busy around here. I've put up a few decorations. Our house is decorated to be handicap accessible. Tom didn't want me blocking any pathways with something like a tree. So I didn't put up a big tree, just lots of little ones.

We've had something to do almost every night since the first of December. Salado always kicks off the season with a parade. I've taken the kids to the parade for the last 12 years. Sometimes they are in the parade and sometimes we just watch. This year Tom was supposed to march with the band, but since he has the crutches, he waited for them at the Civic Center and they played Christmas carols during the lighting of the tree. Katie had a basketball tournament that she played in that night. They ended up getting 3rd in the tournament. (I forgot to rotate the picture before posting it.)

This past Monday night, Tom was inducted into the National Honor Society and he had a band concert.

Katie had a basketball game Tuesday night. They won.

Tonight was the church youth Christmas Party. They were told to wear a tacky Christmas sweater, so my kids raided my closet to find something appropriate to wear. I'm still insulted that they think these sweaters are tacky. I took the shoulder pads out years ago.

Katie got her braces off today. Look at that gorgeous smile! Tom has beautiful teeth, too. He just never lets anyone see them.

Tomorrow night, Alan and I work at a basketball tournament and Katie plays in another tournament this weekend. I can't think about next week yet. Just get me through this one.