My family is well aware of my love of cowboys and western-themed experiences, and I had the fun privilege of enjoying three different cowboy Christmas happenings over the holidays.
The Old West Cafe
My first western experience came during a surprise trip to Fort Worth a few days before Christmas. My husband surprised me with a trip to a Pentatonix Christmas concert in Dallas with all my kids. I was completely shocked! My son and his new wife live in Euless (Fort Worth area), and we got to spend extra time with them as a bonus. The morning after the concert, they took us to one of their favorite brunch places, and one they knew I would love. The Old West Cafe. They were right. I loved it!
This place had tons of chuckwagon decor, a menu where every dish was named for something you’d see in a western movie, and food fit for a Texas-sized appetite. The pancakes were about 12 inches in diameter, and my side of biscuit and gravy came in its own iron skillet!
Everything was delicious, and I definitely plan to visit again the next time we go to Euless to visit Peter and Katy!
Run, Cowboy, Run
The next cowboy Christmas happening came in a box under the tree. I found this cute new game and couldn’t resist buying it for my husband. It’s a quick game of cards, cowboys, and shenanigans. First cowboy to the end, wins. But better watch out for cactus, dynamite, and rogue stampedes!
If you’re interested, you can find the game here.
High Noon at Dead Man’s Saloon
Our final cowboy Christmas happening came from another box under the tree. This one was a gift from my hubby to me. A dinner mystery game for up to 20 people. We played it with a mere seven, and we were too lazy to plan a meal or come up with costumes, though we did have fun role-playing the characters with the appropriate twangy accents. My newest daughter-in-law Katy really got into the act and would have won the prize for best role playing, had there been a prize to give. My son Peter, had to play the role of One-Eyed Pete, of course, and we all laughed when different eyes were covered each time he had a line to read.
Poor Deputy Drinkwater ended up dead, and guess who was the murderer? Yep. With my limited experience killing folks in novels, I ended up as the murderer in our game as well. Tinny Musick – the saloon piano player with dreams of playing Broadway.
There were clues to deduce, roles to play, and plenty of laughter to go around.
Did you have any Cowboy Christmas Happenings at your house?
Reading a western novel counts. 😉
For those who love to smile as they read, bestselling author Karen Witemeyer offers warmhearted historical romance with a flair for humor, feisty heroines, and swoon-worthy Texas heroes. Karen is a firm believer in the power of happy endings. . . and ice cream. She is an avid cross-stitcher, and makes her home in Abilene, TX with her husband and three children. Learn more about Karen and her books at: www.karenwitemeyer.com.
There were no cowboy happenings at my house, except for me reading and writing about them, but I enjoyed reading about your experiences, and I put the first game on my wish list for next Christmas.
Fun, Janice. Reading about cowboys definitely counts!
No cowboy shenanigans at our house. But my Eagles beat the Cowboys.
Ha! Dallas has defintely had a rough year. Glad you could cheer you team on to victory.
Hey Karen! What fun! No cowboy happenings here. Here it is mostly football. And this year it’s the college playoffs. I guess the closest I will come to that is pulling for the Texas Longhorns! Since Georgia lost. We are SEC all the way. We can choose our neighbors to maybe win!
Thanks for the horseplay this morning Karen! I enjoyed it!
Many blessings!
Love the neighborly support, Tracy! And we all need a little horseplay every now and then. 🙂
No Cowboy happening at Christmas. We do have a day of games, or an afternoon of games at my cousin’s house at Christmas, but I could not attend this year. Hopefully next year.
Board game marathons have become a Christmas tradition in the Witemeyer household. We still have a few we haven’t tackled yet from our stack of new games. We’ve had some sick days slow us down as well as having to go back to work, but hopefully we’ll find the time to try out the rest of the new games soon.
Y’all come. CA expats lovin and livin in TX. Come on down and we’ll show you our Alamo, Riverwalk, and Austin.
I’m a CA transplant too, Deb. 🙂 After 35 years, Texas is definitely home now.
No cowboy happenings here. So glad you were able to have such a wonderful cowboy christmas. that game looks like a lot of fun. Happy New Year to you all.
Thanks, Lori. Happy New Year to you, too!
No cowboys for us. Instead we had robots and minecraft.
Ah – we have dragons and spaceships that give our cowboys a run for their money, too.
I was in Amarillo, Texas for Christmas, so that was great for me!!
YeeHaw! Sounds fun, Trudy!
My daughter Aubrey collects snow globes and loves westerns so this year I found her one with a horse in it and the music is the theme to Bonanza. I watched The Shadow Riders after Christmas a Louis L’Amour western.
What a perfect gift, Naomi! I bet she loved it! 🙂
That game sounds so fun!
It is quick and easy and has great western flavor!
The games sound like fun. I watched a John Wayne movie over the holidays.
It doens’t get more cowboy than John Wayne. 🙂
Good morning, no cowboy happenings at my house, but your boardgame sure sounds like fun! I just might get it soon. Thank you for sharing about it. Sure sounds like you all had alot of fun, there is Nothing like spending quality time with family. Have a great rest of the week.
Family is the best!
What a wonderful Christmas you had. I am making a note of the Old West Cafe to look for if we get out that way. We are always looking for good places to eat when we travel. I checked on the Run, Cowboy, Run. game It is pretty easy to learn and looks like fun. It is perfect for groups that include a variety of ages. I know a few middle schoolers who can easily out maneuver most adults.
It is nice to see a family that is so close and makes the effort to make a celebration so perfectly tailored to someone.
I’m glad to give you a few ideas, Patricia. And yes, family is the best gift of all. I am exceedingly blessed by mine.
No but we sure do like a good Clint Eastwood or John Wayne western when we can watch them.
That counts!
No special Cowboy happenings here at Christmas. Spurs jingle, boot heels click, cattle bawl, feed is hauled, ice on water tanks gets broken as temps drop into the single digits and below. Cowboy happenings are 24/7/365 when one lives on a ranch.
So true, Carol. You live it out every day. The authentic cowgirl life.
No can’t think of any cowboy shenanigans per se just read a lot of cowboy books might have some cowboys in my ancestry
Getting lost in a fun cowboy story is one of my favorites. 🙂
My husband and I both got new cowboy boots for Christmas. We are traveling to Texas the first week in April where I will be teaching at a ladies’ conference and I hope to add a trip to Fort Worth. We have never been to the stock yards.
How fun, Elaine! I need a new pair of boots one of these days. You’ll have a great time at the stockyards. Lots of interesting history there as well as longhorn drives down the main street. Enjoy!
Wow! Your cowboy games & etc. sound like a lot of fun!!!! No, we didn’t do any cowboy stuff this year. Our great-grandchildren are still babies. When they get older….we will see. However, when I was a child we did have a cowboy Christmas. We got play cap guns, a holsters, sheriff stars & cowboy hats. We had a ball for a number of months much to our parents relief.
What fun memories!