Merry Christmas from the Cottons

Here's the Christmas letter this year! I have the paper to print letters but just couldn't think of anything creative and wonderful to write. We're going simple and it's just an update on our family this go round.

The biggest change this year has been selling our house and moving. I've blogged plenty about that. Let's just say it's been an adventure. A year ago we started looking with the thought that we'd move in a year or so. In January, we looked at a house in Cedar Park that we thought would be perfect.... well except for all the remodeling we'd have to do and repairs that needed to be made. Our offer was rejected which was a huge blessing. We're loving life in the country. The kids can run and play outside which really is a change from subdivision life. Their Christmas present from Grandma & Grandpa was a playscape for the back yard. Before that, their favorite spot in the yard was a pile of rocks in the dry creek bed.

Speaking of the dry creek bed, we got an enormous amount of rain one day/night in September from Tropical Storm Hermine. Right as we were going to bed, Ken noticed that water was leaking into the house from the chimney and into the living room from outside. One bad thing about our new house is that it has some drainage issues. We knew that we needed to get some dirt away from the slab but never expected to have flooding like that. The rain was coming down so fast that the french drain in the front couldn't keep up. Some of the rocks for the landscaping kept the water from draining away from the house. Ken moved rocks & landscaping timbers and there was immediate relief. That kept the living room from getting more water. Still, we had a lot of water coming down the driveway and funneling into the front yard. Ken worked hard to make a dam. I assisted by holding the flashlight and moving some bricks to keep the dam in place. We were blessed that no more water came into the house and there was no damage. It was an exciting night, though. And, we saw that that creek bed was there for a reason and that water would run through it.

Going back a little bit, my sister & Jeff got married in April. I made my first non crib size quilt as a shower gift for them. It was a beautiful wedding. The girls wore matching dresses although Coralee was the only official flower girl. Lauramae wasn't walking at the time. The cutest thing from that was we had told Coralee to sprinkle flower petals on the sides of the aisle, not in the center. So, she got up to the front and turned around and threw petals on the other side. An Amelia Bedelia moment. Lincoln did surprisingly well and was adorable in his tux. I sang during the lighting of the unity candle. It seemed like that was THE moment when Lauramae & Lincoln were at their limit. I almost burst out laughing at them crawling all over Ken in the front row. Our evening began & ended with Coralee getting sick. Thankfully she missed her dress when we got there and everything came out easily (even red punch) from her after wedding issues. Lincoln had fun beating up on my Great Uncle Joe. I was a little mortified but he seemed to enjoy the rough housing.

Our niece & nephew came to visit with Grandma & Grandpa in July. The kids had fun as usual although Lincoln couldn't understand why he was left out from time to time. Poor little guy, he's used to all of Coralee's friends loving him as much as they love his sister. We took the bigger kids to a Round Rock Express game but honestly they were just as happy to stay at the house and play. Later in the month Keegan & Gyorgyi came to visit, too. It was a short visit but it was very nice to see them.

September was a busy month. There was that whole flood thing but that was all of two days' worth of rain. Ken's parents came up to stay with Oscar while we went to San Antonio for the kids' birthday weekend. Saturday we went to Sea World & Sunday NI had rented out Six Flags. There's no better way to do Six Flags. The kids had fun. Coralee is tall enough to ride the majority of the rides but she's still just as happy to ride the kiddie rides. While we were gone, Grandpa decided to mow along the driveway and on the outside of the fence. He got to talk to some of our neighbors we hadn't met. One offered to have their miniature horses come and graze in our front yard. I called later that week and by Sunday afternoon we had an electric fence installed and 3 miniature horses.... Rose, Buddy & Jacob (watch out, he nibbles). They're adorable and fun to have around. A few weeks ago, they got out of the electric fence and ran around like a bunch of silly boys (what their owner warned us they'd do). Ken got them back in the pen with my help and a couple of apples.

We hosted Thanksgiving again this year although it was a smaller group than usual. Our friends from church, the Davises, joined us. Their little girl Brooklynn is Lauramae's bff which means they like to give each other hugs and knock each other off their feet in the process. It's SO cute! Ken & Grandpa spent most of Thanksgiving day putting the playscape together. We did our normal Crazy Christmas Kickoff that weekend.

December has been busy with handbell performances and many other fun things like the Georgetown Christmas Stroll, Main Street Bethlehem, Breakfast with Santa at the fire station. We took a mini vacation earlier this week to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. The kids had a blast and when they have fun, we have fun. Lauramae had thrown up once before we left, Lincoln followed after he rode one of the slides at GWL and then Coralee had problems on the way back from getting Oscar from the Pearce's. Thankfully it's been a one time tummy trouble and Ken & have been spared. We'll leave on Monday to go back home for the week. Our anniversary is on Tuesday (14 years) so we'll be leaving the kids with Mom & Bubba and spending the night in a hotel. We're excited about being able to see everyone on Christmas Eve but we'll head home that afternoon to be here for Christmas day.