Cruisin' at Christmas Day One

This year instead of having a traditional Christmas gathering, the Johnson branch of our family went on a cruise. Clay's dad and step mom took 13 of us on a cruise out of Galveston. We left on 12/28 and returned on 1/4. It was a fun way to spend our Christmas break. Especially since it was so cold here the day we left.

Day one was spent waiting in line to board the ship, exploring our stateroom, having a the muster drill in case of emergency, and enjoying our first night at dinner.

Abby spent alot of time in front of this window in our room. I think she enjoyed having a stage in the room. Isn't the Port of Galveston just beautiful behind her there!?!
Aren't they cute?

Muster Drill. This was only somewhat fun for about 4 minutes. Then it just become cranky time. It was SO cold out on the deck that day when we left Gavleston. Abby was done with the whole thing.
This is the first of many pictures take of Abby on her Uncle Ryan's shoulders. She spent alot of time up there throughout the week. She wants to be with Ryan all the time.

First night at dinner.

Our waiter's name was Oswin and he totally catered to the kids at every meal. If they wanted spaghetti and it wasn't on the menu he made it happen. Our kids are big shrimp eaters. One night he even brought them about 5 shrimp cocktails to share. He brought Abby pink ice cream with strawberries whenever he wanted it and on the last night he made Nathan a little mouse made out of his napkin. We still have the mouse and his name is Mr. Cheese!

Checkin' out the bunk beds. The bunk beds for the kids came down out of the ceiling over our beds. They had a great time climbing up and down the ladders and playing during the week. The first night when we came in after dinner and the beds were all turned down, Abby climbed up on her bunk bed and said, "They left butter on our beds!!!" Of course she was referring to the chocolates they had left on her pillow.

Christmas at Paw-Paw and Dee's 2008

Christmas Eve night we drove to my mom and dad's to have the Etheridge Family Christmas. We had a great time and it was so fun to celebrate Mallory's first Christmas with everyone. Christmas morning we woke up and enjoyed our traditional breakfast casserole, opened stockings, & then opened gifts! We took our Wii with us and after all the Christmas festivities we had a blast with the whole family playing the Wii at various times. Boxing, tennis, & golf are some of our favs.

It's really hard to get a picture of all 3!
Dee got these Disney Princess tissues for Abby. She loves them!

Nathan got these new sheets for his bed. They have baseball team logos all over them. He is wanting to get new stuff for his room with a baseball theme.

Abby feeding her new baby. She named her Baby Caroline. For some reason Abby names all her babies Caroline. Who can figure her out?

Mallory enjoyed getting into small spaces. She had a great time with the dust pan of Abby's new sweeper set.

I sure love these two!

"I'm working!"

Abby got some great washable coloring books from Parsh, Maf, & Mal. She really enjoys them.

The girls tackling Uncle Matthew.

As you can see Mallory has a consistant pose for all her pictures. She's very in to the open mouth smile. Some shots you can see the back of her throat!

This is Abby's mermaid pose in the tub. She likes to swirl all around in the tub and pretend she is a mermaid.

Cousin Bath!

We're Back!

I have alot of blogging to catch up on, but here are some photo highlights from the last 10 days. Laundry is calling right now. There will be more to come! I've got a ton of pictures to go through!

Christmas Eve Morning at Our House

We made special arrangements with Santa this year to come to our house the night before Christmas Eve. So we woke up early Christmas Eve morning to a living room full of presents. Nathan and Abby have been super excited about Christmas this year. So we put a wrapping paper barricade at the top of the stairs. This way they couldn't come down until we were armed with cameras to catch their reactions. They were both totally blown away when they got down stairs. The Barbie Jeep and the Wii are definitely favorites. We have all had a blast with the Wii. I definitely need to practice more!

'Twas the night before Christmas.

Waiting behind the barricade.

High Five for the Princess Castle!

"It's a Wii!"

This is one of their very favorite shows to watch together!

Phineas and Ferb-They are almost part of our family.

Abby loaded all her loot up into her Barbie Jeep as she opened each gift.

Nathan got a new Bible from us.
Barbie Guitar

"A Coffee Machine!"

Everyone enjoying some Wii time!

The kids and I gave Clay a Craftsman tool chest. He has wanted this for a long time to get his tools organized. We were so excited to give it to him. I think he was pretty excited about it!


First ride in the Barbie Jeep. Abby kept yelling the entire time she was driving it. She kept saying, "Oh yeah, Baby. That's what I'm talking about!" It was the funniest thing ever. She keeps us laughing all the time!
She was even sweet enough to give Nathan a ride.



Merry Christmas 2008!!!