Courtright Family Christmas

Back in Katy, the kids were itching to get to our Courtright Family Christmas celebration. We had to wait a few days for Kevin to join us, so we appeased the kids by letting them open one gift each on Christmas Eve. They played a quick game of Rock Paper Scissors to determine who would get to open first.

Kaitlynn won fair and square, so we picked the gift we wanted her to open. For her gift, Jeff and I had managed to pull off quite a big surprise and we couldn't wait to see her reaction. It definitely did not disappoint!

Kaitlynn was obviously surprised and excited to receive her very own Macbook laptop for Christmas. It was something she had spent months saving for, and we had been able to find a great deal on Black Friday. Of course, this gift came with the expectation that she would contribute most of the cost from her own bank account, but she was so excited and surprised that we had been able to get her the laptop sooner than excited. It was so much fun to see her reaction and gratefulness!

When it was Connor's turn for his gift, he was happy but maybe not as happy as Kaitlynn had been, ha! We gave him a professional tee and net so that he could practice his baseball skills at home. He seemed genuinely excited and immediately took it outside to test it out.

The kids managed to keep themselves occupied for the few days of Christmas, but they were thrilled when Kevin was finally able to join us so that we could finish the rest of our Courtright Christmas celebration. This year was super low key at our house with very few Christmas decorations. We managed to get a new Christmas tree but it only had lights without a single ornament. It still looked festive for our family celebration.

When it was finally time to exchange gifts, we started with the stockings that were not-so-secretly disguised in the living room. As usual, we opened stockings from youngest to oldest.

After our stockings, we opened gifts from family members and then exchanged gifts ourselves. The biggest hits were the $100 bills from Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Jerry as well as the Red Rider BB gun from the boys to Connor. Kaitlynn's favorite may have been her new zebra-patterned roller skates. And Kevin got a real kick out of the gun-shaped drink holder.

When it was all over, the living room was a complete disaster - which is always the sign of a successful Christmas! We were so thankful to have had a wonderful Christmas with family members near and far, but I was ready to clean up the mess and get back to a normal routine.

More Family Christmas Fun

After the extended family gathering, our immediate family members all returned to Meme and Grand Daddy's home for more family Christmas fun. We enjoyed more food and games, and then we had a few more gifts to open on the following morning before some of the crew had to return home.

We soaked in as much family time as possible with our crew. The guys enjoyed a beautiful day of golf out on Grand Daddy's favorite course, and the girls did some shopping and enjoyed spending more time together. It was a very relaxed holiday break for us and such a nice time with family.

Morgan Family Christmas 2019

I feel like I blinked and the Christmas holidays were here. It definitely snuck up on us this year. Compared to the prior 2 years in Dubai, we weren't thrilled to be navigating the crazy traffic and shopping frenzy that consumes everyone here (including us). But one thing we were beyond thrilled about was being able to celebrate the holidays with my family again!

When we arrived to my parents' house in White Oak, it was the first time the family was seeing Connor since his big growth spurt in the fall. He didn't quite have Grand Daddy beat in height yet, but thank goodness Grand Daddy held off on building the new set of golf clubs. Connor was now going to need a full-size adult set!

As the cousins arrived for the holiday festivities, the games were well underway. Chicken-foot dominoes is a family favorite.

On the Sunday before Christmas, our entire extended family went to church together. It was quite the reunion with our beloved home church, many of whom I hadn't seen for years and years. Our fam took up the better portion of 2 church pews! It was wonderful to see so many faces from the church family I spent 20+ years with.

After church, we headed back to my parents' house for some quick snack preparation and then we were back up to the church building for our extended family celebration. We rented the recreation room at the church in order to have enough room for everyone, which was a new tradition started last year while we were away. It turned out to be a great spot for our Morgan Family Christmas, and we were so excited to be reunited for some great holiday snacks and fun.

An added bonus of our new family tradition is that Santa himself comes to visit with the younger kiddos. Kaitlynn was feeling a bit odd about this but tried to play along. We had some family friends in our group this year and it was nice to enjoy the excitement of the little ones' when they were able to visit with Santa.

Afterwards, we made sure to get tons of photos of our cousin group. It's so hard to believe how grown up these kids are now. I think most of us still picture them in our mind's eye as little toddlers, which is quite silly when you realize that half of them are taller than the adults.

After our photo session, we all went back inside to begin the gift exchanges and games. We drew numbers for a large group gag gift exchange as well as our traditional guy/girl gift exchange, and the cousins held their own gift exchange. There are always tons of laughs and steals during these games. Robin also arranged some fun cousin games including the Saran Wrap toy/candy prizes that the kids always enjoy.

When the games concluded, the fun wasn't over for the cousins. There were lots of new toys to be played with, and then Grand Daddy had a lesson in politics for them. I have no idea what was discussed but there was some learning and quite a few laughs from that direction.

It was so nice to have the afternoon of quality family time with our extended Morgan family. We all said our goodbyes and wished everyone a safe trip home, but the Christmas fun was far from over!