Gaylord Texan

Jim and I left for the Gaylord on Thursday morning. He was going to drop me off at North East Mall so I could meet up with my prego friend, Kristin, but she was not feeling well so she stayed home to rest. We went on up to the Gaylord. He had to do some work setting up a couple of slides on the big screen welcoming all the employees to the party. There was also a special registration place for all the employees and they had two tv's behind that played their company video. He had to get that all up and going, too. Thursday afternoon, my mom called and the boy was running a fever. Up to 103.8. I was so upset. My sister took him to the doctor on Friday morning and everything was clear. They even did a flu screen and it was negative. They said it just looked viral. He ran a fever ALL weekend. It got up to over 104. I am so thankful he was with my mom. I completely trust her and she took very good care of him.

The hotel looked beautiful! We got a room on the sixth floor with balcony looking into the big atrium.

Here is a view at night from our balcony

Here is a view from our balcony in the daylight

They had all kinds of displays that were outrageously over-the-top and beautiful with all kinds of trains. Here is me in front of one of them.

Here's Jim in front of the same display.

Here I am in front of the HUGE Christmas tree that turns around in the center of the hotel.

Jim and I




The life-size gingerbread house. It was crazy. Made from real candy and a few of the ingredients included 500 lbs of flour, 5 lbs of cinnamon, and 30 gallons of egg whites.

Thursday night, Jim and I met some of our good friends, Marc and Diane, in downtown Ft. Worth for dinner. We ate at a great Mexican food place called Cantina Laredo. We shared the fajitas and they were delicious! It was so great to see them. Diane is 35 weeks pregnant and is the cutest thing! We had a great time visiting! After dinner, we walked to Marble Slab and enjoyed some ice cream. It was really good to catch up with them. I wish I had taken my camera...

Friday morning, we got up and worked out, then headed to North East Mall in Ft. Worth to do some shopping. I needed some Express jeans and I also found a real pretty pink sweater at New York and Company. We had a good time. I love North East Mall. It is so nice, but it was really crowded that day! Friday night, we went to dinner at PF Changs with four other couples that were there for the party. It was so good and lots of fun!

Saturday night was the party and it was a blast! Collin Raye did a concert and it was great! The Wilson Sisters were also there. I had not heard of them, but they can sing! Holy Cow!!! You've got to check out their myspace and listen to the Doxology. It's beautiful! The party was great! I didn't take my camera just because I didn't want to carry it around, but I should've. Several others had theirs, though, and they are going to email the pictures they took to me. I'll post them as soon as I get them. The meal was delicious. For starters, we had tortilla soup, salad and rolls. Then, we had beef and chicken, vegetables, and some potato thing that was so good. Dessert was all kinds of chocolate, cheesecake, and other fancy things. It was great! They also had a mechanical bull to ride. Jim rode it like four times. My friend took some pictures, so they'll be up too as soon as I get them from her!

On Sunday, my sister Erin from Oklahoma City and her family drove down to Dallas. We walked around the Gaylord for a while. Then we brought Erin and her babies home with us and her husband Chaz went back home to work. He is coming on Tuesday night to spend Christmas with us. It was very nice of him to drive Erin and the babies to meet up with us so we could bring them home for some extra time! My cousin, Blair and her husband live in Dallas, so they had planned to meet us at the Gaylord on Sunday to visit and it just so happened that her sister, Lora and Lora's husband, Mat, were with them so we got to see them, which was a lot of fun! We hadn't seen them in a while!

Here's her oldest

Here is Kyle, Blair, Lora, and Mat

My sister Erin, Me, Lora, and Blair. Anna and Em...sorry you weren't there! We missed you!

In the sleigh

When we got home on Sunday, the boy was still running a fever. High fever. I looked in his throat and his left tonsil was very swollen and had puss pockets all over. I decided to take him to the medicenter since it's almost Christmas and Erin and her babies were here. The strep test was negative, but she said it was a bad case of tonsillitis. They gave him a shot of Rocephin and I know those are very painful. He screamed, but was very brave. His leg got real sore and was even sore this morning. It is better now that he's been walking on it all day. My sister that is a nurse, though, said that Rocephin injections are very, very painful and can make you pretty sore. Then we started him on a Z-pac today. He is doing much better, praise God! He's just run a low fever (100.8) today. I am so thankful and pray against any other illness or the spreading of germs to anyone else.

The girl did a very good job at her Christmas program Thursday night. My parents took her and the boy went with them even though he was feeling terrible. We watched the video tonight. She sang every word. I was very proud!

We had a great weekend! It was good to get away! I am so very, very thankful for my parents and sister for taking care of my kids while we were away.

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm looking forward to spending the morning at home with Jim and the kids and the afternoon hanging out at my parents' house with some family! My mom is making curry tomorrow night for my birthday dinner and I am very excited about that!