Adventures of Clay and Pam

Here it is Christmas Eve, 2008, and we have done all our Christmas. Jeff stayed out here from his apartment in town, Scott and Sandy flew in, and we had a long conversation with Shelley and Beaux by phone. Downside of the phone call, Shelley described how she liked each of her presents while Sandy, who was about to open her presents and they were the same, was there listening. Then I asked how Beaux liked his new driver and oops! It had not arrived yet. Surprise! So sorry.

Clay and I enjoyed having at least three of our five home with us for the holidays. We had a formal dinner, as you can guess by seeing the beautiful table. I like the way Clay's beautiful crystal blended with my china and flatware. We had a recipe from Shelley to make sure she was included. It was wonderful.

We all went to Pedernales Falls State Park for a great day climbing on the rocks. I know I had my camera, but I don't see any pictures now, so I don't know.....I know somebody was taking pictures, so I will have to get some to put here. It is a 45 minute trip out to the park. We stopped back by a great mexican food restaurant, Verde's, and then back home to play pool all evening.


One day for lunch Clay and I took Scott and Sandy to Casa de Luz to make sure they got the true hippy dippy idea of Austin. Macrobiotic food. It is delicious. It is delicious if you only eat it once a year. It is vegan and we did it just for the experience for Scott and Sandy. I have to get those pictures from Scott, too. Let's just say Sandy is not all that experimental with eating. It was Borscht as the soup, kale, black beans, brown rice, and mixed veggies. There was some seaweed concoction to go with the salad. The kale and the rice had yummy toppings or dressing. It is amazing that with only veggies we stayed full the rest of the day. Oh wait, we went from there to Whole Foods flagship store and found delicious desserts to take home. Later that evening we feasted on bbq'd ribs and brisket. Oh, one of the pictures is of a flock of wild parrots that inhabit the area.


After opening Christmas presents (I got a watch!) we played Scattergories and laughed ourselves silly. The top laughable answers were Clay's answer to the "things that have tails" where he declared he never thought of animals having tails - he went with tux, airplane, kites, etc. We laughed so hard - the way he said it was hilarious. Then there was Scott's alliteration attempts "Things found in a souvenier shop" beginning with L: Little Lyle Lovett Lithographs. And on another, hobbies or something, it was Making M&M Mosaics. Sooo funny. OH - and Jeff trying to convince us Libya works for Tropical Location. Sandy and I had reasonable, well thought out answers of course.


We drove up to Garland to visit all the relatives. Myrt is getting older and a bit slower, but she still put on the traditional banquet, although a night short of Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful gathering of loved ones. Todd and Randa's girls are just so cute - Bailey is 2 years 8 months, and Kylee just 8 months. Scott and Sandy had a wonderful time playing baby and deciding they aren't quite ready for any. Spit up and dirty diapers were just part of it - the endless energy was the other part.

So, here we are back in Austin, Scott and Sandy flew back home, Shelley and Beaux are still in Germany, but Clay and I have Jeff and Bogey here, a fire roaring, a football game in one room and Christmas carols in the other. Life is good. Life is very, very good.


These formal pictures are from the Men's Golf Association Christmas Banquet. Don't we look great! If we are both in the picture, Clay is taking the shot with his outstretched arm. We had to practice to get these few good ones...