Paul and My Christmas celebration

Paul and I will be traveling for most of our Christmas vacation. So, we decided to celebrate Christmas just the two of us a bit early. We exchanged gifts this past Saturday morning. It was fun waking up excited to see what we had picked out for each other; even though I knew most of my presents, because I had given very specific hints. Still Paul was able to surprise me and I think I even surprised him on a few. Below I have posted pictures of a few of our favorites.

I am so not a morning person.

He is

Have to include little Dasher...although he did not know what was going on.

It took him a while to understand that
 even though he got yelled at for 2 weeks to not rip open presents that now it was ok.

He got a flying penguin ball...
that was destroyed in less than an hour...
good thing all his toys come from the dollar section at Target.

good fake surprise reaction...he was with me when I bought it on black friday sale.

My iHome for the bathroom...
I even told Paul where to get this one on super sale at...
I would have been very disapointed if I hadn't gotten it.

Surprise...now instead of losing him to Med School I can lose him to video games.
(can you tell Dasher loved all the wrapping paper)

My big surprise was a clock for my room. It says:
Speech Therapy
Making a difference one word at a time.

After we opened our presents and went out shopping to exchange a few things and enjoy a nice dinner, we came home and constructed a ginger bread house. We were a little nervous because Paul's cousin, Staci, had told us that when she and her husband tried to construct the exact same gingerbread house it fell apart. In the beginning it wasn't going well, so we had to use mini candy canes for extra support for the roof and that seemed to do the trick. It may not look the best, but it is still standing and we had fun making it.

preparing the icing

so far so good

Oh no Paul...what happened!?!

Looking good....for now

Ta Da!

Finished product...and to my amazement it was still standing the next morning.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and has safe travels if they are traveling.

Imagine Christmas

Friday was both Paul and my last day of school for the semester. To celebrate we went to a dinner theater show at Moody Gardens in Galveston. The show was called Imagine Christmas. It was really good. Dinner was buffet style and there were lots of yummy choices. It was a little weird sitting at a table with a group of strangers though. A family with two elementary age kids sat with us and two adult sisters brought their mom and dad and also sat at our table. The family with the kids were very sweet and Paul hit it off with the little boy right away. They ended up talking about some space video they had both seen in a science class once before the whole time.

After dinner was over the show began. The show was based on the nativity story, and was directed by a local high school drama teacher. It had everything from aerial acrobatics to electric guitar solos along with a comedy routine. I had never heard the Christmas story told mainly through music before. It really helped to get us into the Christmas spirit.

These guys were hillarious.
They were angels that told the Christmas story from their perspective in between songs.

We had a great time. It was nice to have a night out with nothing looming over us for the weeks to come.

Paul's 24th Birthday and End of Block 2 and First semester of Medical School.

Paul's 24th birthday was last Sunday and he spent it studying for his Muscles, Cells and Tissues final. I guess medical students are too busy for birthdays. 

He took a few minutes after church to open presents.
Of course Dasher thought they were for him.

Go Pokes...grown up style



Representing the new school with a coffee mug



UTMB stops for no storm...take that hurricane Ike

Dasher there really isn't anything in there for you.




and this his how he spent the rest of the day.

 
Paul is finally finished with his 2nd block and 1st semester of Medical School!!  He worked so hard...and I know this, because he didn't even watch all of the Dallas Cowboy football games this season due to having to study. I know all his hard work will pay off in a few years. He continues to get great reviews from his professors and is doing well in all his classes. I don't think I could be more proud of him if I tried. Not to mention that he somehow finds quality time to spend with me and continues to help me around the house. I feel very blessed to be his wife. To help relieve some stress and to remind him of where he started, Paul has decided to write a blog himself about his journey through medical school. You can read his blog at: storyofawhitecoat.wordpress.com

He now tells me that he is Paul McGaha 1/8md (the letters have to be lowercase until he graduates).

Festival of Lights!

The Christmas season is a little different down here by the Gulf. For starters when the temperature reaches 60 degrees apparently we are experiencing a cold front. It has been hard to get in the Christmas spirit with the weather being so nice. I hate to complain about 75 degree weather, but I also really love wearing my sweaters, coats and jackets and that just hasn't been very practical lately. It is also odd to see palm trees mixed in with Christmas decorations.

This past weekend Paul's cousing Staci and her husband Michael came over from Beaumont to join in Galveston's Christmas festivities by going to the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens. Now for those of  you who don't know there is a semi-little town in OK called Chickasha that puts on a festival of lights. Paul, Staci, Michael and I have all been to the festival of lights in Chickasha and we were anticipating something similar in Galveston. Much to our surprise there were a few added Christmas exhibits in Galveston that left us wondering who would think to make an eagle catching a fish out of Christmas lights? Below are a few pictures of our time at Galveston's Festival of Lights.  We had a great time and were so glad Michael and Staci could join us for the fun.



They had characters like at Disney world or Six Flags





Waiting for the nativity story.





a Santa Snake





They had their own lighted zoo




as promised the eagle



Paul and Michael stealing the pirates treasure...not sure this is very Christmasy...but I suppose if you put it in Christmas lights it is

Santa Beavers

They wrapped all the lights in the trees around baked potatoes



Nothing says Christmas like a giant parrot




Cinderella was set in Christmas time right?




I think this was the only lighted santa they had...of course he is tubing across the ocean




making kettle corn




They gave out free samples and it was delicious




In front of the big tree




Group Shot




At the end of the walk through they had a fire juggler...again not really Christmasy, but very cool.


Of course a visit to our house is not complete unless you learn something about medical school:



Paul taught Michael how to take blood pressure.
Yes the door is open and yes we are wearing shorts and t-shirts...I believe it was 75 that day.



And now for an update in the great spruce tree growing competition:

I am growing a little forest

Paul's are looking a little sickly