Traveling Home for Christmas

In 2020, it was never a given that we'd be able to celebrate the Christmas holiday with our extended or immediate family members. We were SO thankful to be given the opportunity to hang out with the Morgan clan at my parents' home in East Texas. On Christmas Eve, we loaded the car with all of our Christmas goodies and set out on the drive. After a couple of hours, I noticed the kids were especially quiet. When I turned to look, I had to laugh. They had gotten super comfortable and snuggly in the backseat, ha!

We arrived at MeMe and Grandaddy's house to begin the fun family holiday together. Over the years, we've gotten to used to the fact that the Courtrights are always the first of the cousins to arrive for any of the family gatherings. Connor and Kaitlynn always feel so antsy and bored waiting for everyone else, and this year was no different. They settled for games and snuggles with the rest of us in the meantime, but they couldn't wait for their cousins to show up and begin the holiday fun.

Finally the rest of the gang showed up and the Christmas fun was on. Gifts, food, and lots of cousin fun was on the agenda. MeMe was the gift-giving winner this year: Connor was pumped about it Cheez-it t-shirt and Kaitlynn was enamored with her zebra blanket. The most suitable gifts for those 2!

I didn't manage to capture many photos of our Morgan family Christmas, but we were so thankful for the wonderful time with our cousins and extended family. If we had learned anything in 2020, it was that we would never take for granted again the time we all have together.

First Christmas Gifts

Once the Christmas holiday was finally upon us, we were SO excited to be able to celebrate with our Texas family. Our extended family Christmas celebrations were going to keep us from having our Courtright Christmas until days after the actual holiday, and the kids were bummed about having to wait for DAYS to open gifts. Jeff and I decided that we'd let them open their big gifts before we headed to my parents' home in east Texas, but we didn't want to just hand the gifts over. Ever the creative gift-giver, Jeff wanted to do something special for Connor and Kaitlynn's first Christmas gifts this year. Using extra cardboard from the garage and strategically placed beach towels, he set up an elaborate game of hangman to let the kids guess what their gifts might be.

Connor went first, and I don't even think he had officially guessed a letter before he realized that the 2-word gift ended with the word "basketball." From there, it was a quick jump and he realized the first word - "Pool" as in a basketball goal for the pool. He was super excited!

Next, it was Kaitlynn's turn. Her gift was 1 word, 10 letters. She guessed letters over and over, slowly but surely filling in the complete word.

After about the 5th or 6th letter in, Kaitlynn was really studying and pondering the word. It was almost like she thought she knew what it was but didn't really believe her eyes. After all, this particular word was on the all-time "NO" list from her Sweet Daddy. As in, NO way. NO how. NO chance that she'd ever be given a gift like this.

As the word was slowly filled in - _ _ A M P O_ I _ E - Kaitlynn's hopes grew and the realization dawned on her. She finally guessed the word and got it exactly right the first time. Sure enough, it was a TRAMPOLINE! The hugs were immediate and lasted several minutes. And yes there were some tears, followed by a Sweet Daddy's emotional voice saying, "I don't always say 'No!'" Nothing gives him more pleasure than making his kiddos' dreams come true. (OK, yes, a bit dramatic but this girl has wanted a trampoline forever!) 

It was a wonderful morning of fun Christmas surprises for both kids - definitely a success in the gift-giving department! Connor was so pumped about heating the pool over the holidays and trying out his new pool basketball goal, and Kaitlynn was over the moon for having her long-awaited wish of owning a trampoline come true.

Now, about that OTHER lifelong wish of hers... HA!

Random Fall Updates

It's time for a post with some random photos and updates from Fall 2020. 

I loved this photo of Kaitlynn and her neighborhood friends sitting outside across the street. On any given evening, theses girls can be found outside doing all number of activities like playing tag, biking, roller-blading, riding scooters, playing volleyball or basketball, performing cheer stunts, and any other creative activities that they come up with on the fly. We love our neighbors and are so thankful for them daily!

Traveling and working out of town lately continues to be a struggle. I always miss Jeff and the kids so much! One day I was talking with a coworker about her incredible zebra-themed outfit and accessories. I snapped a photo of her to send to Kaitlynn, and Kaitlynn snapped her own photo and sent it right back to me. I was admiring their commitment to the zebra stripes, many states apart!

I posted a while back that I had started Invisalign to straighten my teeth and try to prevent future issues with my dental work. At the 15-week mark, the results were already evident. I admit I'm feeling a little more confident about my smile in various photos and selfies.

One of my favorite things after Thanksgiving was a neat activity that my sister-in-law Allison put together for the cousins. She had us all write encouraging notes for each other and put them into individual envelopes, and then she sent them home with us after the Thanksgiving holiday to string up on some cute fairy lights. Jeff hung them up in the kids' bedrooms and they were able to read sweet messages from each other for several weeks leading up to Christmas. Such a wonderful way to lift their spirits leading up to the Christmas season!

Basketball and Bloody Noses

As Connor approached mid-season with his Katy Tiger freshman basketball team, he was really learning a TON about the game. Compared to many of his fellow teammates, Connor has so much to learn about game strategy and ball handling in basketball. Many days after practice, he would come home feeling overwhelmed as he struggled to absorb the offense and even little things like game etiquette. He enjoyed a ton of playing time as teams were still being formed, and once the teams were set, we were able to see the offense come together and start making plays as designed. With my travel schedule, I was only able to see about half of his games but I never tired of seeing my big kid #21 in action on the court.

There were several of the games this season where Connor took an accidental hit to the face and ended up with a nosebleed. He would always ignore the blood and continue playing until the coaches or refs called time-out to send him for medical attention from the athletic trainers. Of course, in today's culture of Covid awareness, everyone is much more careful about bodily fluids and they won't even let a player back on the court until any fluids are cleaned from the boys' jerseys. During one home game in particular, the refs had to stop the game to send Connor to the bench for medical treatment followed by another 8-10 minutes of time that they took to clean up all the blood Connor had shed from one end of the court to the other. Connor's teammates and those of us in the bleachers got quite a kick out of that! (Connor was fine, just very bloody!) He has made quite the name for himself with those bloody noses. That darn broken nose has become such an ongoing nuisance for him!