Delayed Christmas Recap

The thought of filling you in on our entire Christmas holiday is a bit overwhelming, so I'll post pictures and give you the bathroom book version...

This year Gary and I flew to Kentucky to celebrate Christmas with his family. Something I have been VERY excited about for a long time!!! Of ten kids, eight and their families were able to be there so there was never a dull moment!

We flew into Vegas on Saturday December 22nd. The very day of the BYU vs. UCLA Bowl Game. We had booked our tickets long before we ever knew there would even be a bowl game and as soon as the news came out Gary, the dedicated BYU fan that he is, begged me to change our flights so we could go down to Vegas before. When this plan was kaboshed by yours truly, he went to plan "B." This kid was never going to give up. Since our flight had a 3 hour lay over in Las Vegas, as soon as we got off the plain he went up to the desk of our next departing flight to put his name down on the 'you can bump us if you need to' list. Unfortunately for him, there was no need for this! I'm pretty sure his mother was quite glad about this because she had told him that if he delayed and came in on Sunday, he'd have to take a taxi to Hopkinsville! Needless to say, we got to Nashville on a crazy hectic day. It took a VERY long time to get our luggage because they were so backed up unloading planes. Of course Gary was a little extra aggitated due to the fact that the BYU bowl game was starting in a matter of hours and he didn't want to miss one minute of it!

Little did he know, we had other plans! Since the whole family was in Nashville when we flew in, we all decided to take the opportunity to visit the Opryland Hotel. This place is a beauty!!! I wish I would have taken more pictures! It's enormous and would put any hotel in Las Vegas to shame! A must see for any of you Nashville visitors! Below is a picture of Alyssa and I in front of this beautiful tree made completely out of poinsettias.

Christmas Eve consisted of the Fears Family Dinner which was devine! Followed by the annual Nativity Program. I'm told that usually the Grandkids play the parts but considering the fact that this was Gary's FIRST Christmas with his family as a married man, the parts of Joseph and Mary apparently suited us well. There were plenty of good looking angels, wise men, and shepheards though!

Here is a good portion of the family...just waiting around ANXIOUSLY for the 'go ahead' - This was SO exciting!

A cute one of Gary and his Momma!

After all the unwrapping was complete, it was time to burn the trash. Huh? Yeah, I said BURN THE TRASH! I know, it was a new experience for me too! We did this up right too!! Gary dumped the fuel and I started it all up with the blow torch!

Here are some of the cutest little girls ever! And they are MY neices! I'm such a lucky aunt...

Next...Horseback Riding. We did this a couple times while we were there. It was, as expected, so much fun!

Meet Goldie...

This is Traveler...my favorite horse that I rode while we were there.


Then we took off and went to Louisville for a few days. While we were there, we went and toured Churchill Downs. It's the COOLEST place ever and Gary and I can't wait for May 3rd to come around! We're totally having a Kentucky Derby Party, and you're ALL invited!

Did you know that each horse that competes in the Kentucky Derby is THREE years old. No older no younger...and of course, only runs one time in his life! One chance to win the race. No pressure though!

Meet Phantom. He ran in the 1997 Kentucky Derby and took 6th place. He's HUGE and beautiful! He comes through the line of Secretariat...a horse that DID win the Kentucky Derby. In fact Secretariat still holds the record and is one of only two horses to ever have broken the 2 minute finishing time. Secretariat also had a heart that weighed 21 pounds and the everage weight of a horse heart is 7 pounds...I hope I got my numbers right. I didn't take notes on the tour.

This little statue stands about 3-4 feet tall. And after EVERY Kentucky Derby, they paint it the color of the jersey the winning jockey was wearing. Street Sense won last year, as you can see.

Gary's Dad has this HUGE garage/shed/2nd home that they call The Palace. He's got every tool and toy known to man in that place! We decided to have a little archery practice one day. I think Gary is trying to help me hit the bulls eye through telepathy or something though.

Happy New Years (at 11:00pm, or was it 10:00?) This party was actually more rockin than the REAL one at midnight. Probably because 75% of the people in the house had to go to bed early...and would you believe it if I told you that Gary was in the shower at 12:00am? Yeah, he missed the whole (real) thing! It's a good thing he got to party with the younger kids.

On New Years Eve, Gary's Dad took some of the grandkids and came home with two puppies. They are called Catahoola Leapord Dogs and are SO cute! Google it up, they'll be beautiful dogs. I really wanted to play with these puppies but couldn't bring myself to do it until they'd been bathed. So one day Gary and I bathed them, played with them, and then took them to get their shots. By the end of the day, we were pretty attached...hoping we'd find a way to stuff them in our suitcases. No option seemed to work for us very well. So, we're dog-less and missing them.

This is the home that was built for them. Back there is a dog-gloo house with wood chips in there and then the whole thing is surrounded by hay to keep the cold wind off them and help with warmth. I just wanted to snuggle down in there WITH them!

Christmas was so much fun! Thanks to Gary's parents to hosting everyone! We had a great time and are so grateful to have such wonderful family! We look forward to seeing everyone again at the Family Reunion this summer!!!