Winter Break Shopping with Anais

As the year came to a close, we were finally able to squeeze in a long overdue visit with Kaitlynn's bestie, Anais, during our winter break. As they were both now 15, it came as no surprise that they wanted to squeeze in some post-Christmas shopping, which we managed to accomplish at not one but TWO local malls. After conquering Katy Mills and the local Altitude trampoline park, we planned a full day outing at the Houston Galleria and shopped until we quite literally dropped! We went from store to store and floor to floor, stopping only to enjoy a nice lunch at Cheesecake Factory. It was such a fun day together, and we realized, it was likely the last time they would need an adult chaperone/driver, because they'd both be 16 by the time we could meet up again. Crazy to think! These two are quite the pair, always enjoying and never tiring of their coveted time together. I continue to feel so thankful for these girls and their special friendship, what a blessing!

Courtright Family Christmas

Back home in Katy, we had many reasons to be excited for our upcoming Morgan family Christmas. For the first time ever, the 6 of us would be spending our Christmas Day watching the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. It was a special Netflix broadcast of the game with an more exclusive concert to be played at half-time. We were so excited to have our entire Courtright crew to attend the game together, even if it did delay our gift exchange and family celebration a bit. We arrived at the tailgate and I made the kids' favorite ham and cheese sandwiches from Thanksmas (thank you cousin Nikki for the recipe!). We enjoyed the usual tailgate, and the game festivities were amped up a bit for the Christmas Day event. It was a super fun way to spend the day, cheering on our Texans!

Netflix sponsored the broadcast and had been promoting an incredible concert for the half-time performance: Beyonce! Everyone was joking that we were watching some NFL at the Beyonce concert, ha! There was so much buildup before the show, and we soon realized that none other than Beyonce herself would be entering the field directly from our tunnel, literally right underneath our seats in the lower bowl. Wow! It was so exciting to see the production of the show and to experience the thrill of Beyonce's presence. The entire stadium was freaking out, ha! We didn't know at the time, but the concert also featured Post Malone and Shaboozey, as well as Beyonce's daughter Blue Ivy. It was a great show, and we loved our front row seats to the artistry on display.

When it was finally time for our Courtright family Christmas gathering, we were excited for the gift exchange and family traditions with all 6 of us. First up, we all opened our stockings which were filled to the rim and overflowing with goodies. Kaitlynn has become an important helper in this tradition, because she is now Jeff's go-to gift suggestion box for my stocking, ha!

My new favorite family Christmas tradition is the distribution of the wrapped family gifts. I think this is the 3rd year we handed out gifts in this manner. The way the game works: Unbeknownst to anyone else, I figure out a number pattern or formula and then label each of the gifts with numbers instead of names. When it's time to pass out the gifts, everyone has to work together to figure out which gifts are for which people. The idea came from my colleague Amy, and it has been such fun entertainment (for me!) since we started the game a couple years ago. This year, I made the "formula" a little more tricky, and it took them quite a while to figure it out with some subtle hints along the way. I hope we can continue this gift game in the future, so unique and fun!

Morgan Family Christmas 2024

I say this every single year, but I could hardly believe it when the time arrived for us to celebrate the Christmas holidays. How does it sneak up on us every single year? It was so nice to have Connor home for an extended visit, and we were all excited for the Christmas fun ahead. Our first stop was the drive to White Oak for our Morgan Family celebration with my extended Morgan crew. We rented out the activity center at the church, which has worked great for such a large group every year. We all brought various dishes and desserts to enjoy, and then we played our usual games for the gift exchanges and the Left-Right-Center game. Renee was the big winner of this year's massive cash pot!

After our gathering at the Hub, the cousin crew headed out for their newest tradition: visiting local thrift stores for a gift exchange. They drew names and shopped on a low budget to find just the right gifts for each other, and then we headed to the Longview Mall to exchange gifts before they attended an evening movie. It was so fun to see their giggles at each person's gift - some were perfect and others were just weird. Ha!

While the kids watched a movie, Robin, Alli, and I went to a local coffee shop to sip and catch up. We had a nice time enjoying a long overdue visit. As we were leaving, we noticed quite the sight in the corner of the shop. A group of furries had taken up residence in the seating area. We did our best not to gawk and laugh, but we made sure to snap a selfie in just the right spot so that we could later show the kids. Needless to say, the cousins were floored that the furries had made their way into little old Longview. Goodness!

We had one more day in White Oak to spend with MeMe and Grandaddy for our immediate family gift exchange. The cousins had such a nice time together and especially loved soaking in all the cuddles and zoomies from Tux! I have no idea why, but somehow I only managed to get a single photo from our last day together. Love this photo of Michelle with her girls during the gift exchange! It was such a nice visit together and much-needed time with the Morgan family!

Spartans at Encore Championship

After winning their At Large Summit bid, the Spartans were right back to work at practice, although they now had a fun accessory to show off in their practice gear! This team was excited to hit the mat again in just 1 short week, this time at Encore Championship in Houston. 

We love this competition because it doesn't require travel and we run into so many friends, plus it's easy for us to attend as a family, especially since Connor was home from college. Kaitlynn was so excited to have us all in attendance for the Spartans performance. 

The Spartans were READY to take the stage, and they smashed their performance both days of the weekend competition! The team was working well together and just looked amazing on stage. We were so excited for Kaitlynn to take home her 2nd big win of the season! Let's hear it for our Encore National Champions!! So happy for this awesome team!