Meeting Santa

Meeting Santa!
William was thrilled to meet Santa. Annabel- well, she is not too comfortable
around people she does not know. Today was a great day for pictures.

NO line which allowed Santa and William to have a long conversation.

William runs up to give Santa a big hug!

Telling Santa what is on his wish list.
1. my own flashlight
2. a hippo
3. a pirate ship
My sister would like:
1. her own backpack
2. books
3. a doll
You better NOT cry...

Annabel was thrilled to meet the jolly man in a big red suit. NOT!

After pictures a treat of frozen yogurt

"Its cold!"

Running through the mall hand in hand.
So cute!
They truly LOVE each other and are the best playmates.
Makes this mommy happy!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Friday night we headed downtown for San Antonio's tree lighting.
Lets just say its NOT a small town (like Danville tree lightening) tree lighting.
They had major streets closed, police and people everywhere.
We really had no idea what to expect. We hit MAJOR traffic getting
downtown and then had to fight the crowds to make the tree lightening.
All ads stated that it was from 6-7 pm. As we quickly walked to the square,
we noticed that we were going "against" the traffic. WHAT?
We thought there would be Christmas Carols BEFORE lightening the tree.
We could NOT help but laugh once we arrived.
We arrived at the square at 6:17 and it was OVER.
The tree was beautiful!
They had street vendors selling glow lights, cotton candy and "tourists" treasures.
In the background Christmas music was playing... in SPANISH!
AND a mariachi band.
Now this was NOT was we expected.
We could not help but laugh!
It was fun just not what we anticpated!
We were glad it was cold enough to wear a jacket.
(sorry all you people that got snow around Thanksgiving. We hit 81)

Annabel and Mommy at the "Alamo" tree

Family shot

Warming up with some hot chocolate.
YUMMY!
Waiting for the Boat Parade on the Riverwalk.

Finding the Perfect tree

We live in South Texas. Hmmm.
Where do you go and cut a tree?
You DON'T... unless we wanted to drive a couple/few hours
no cute little stands
So where do you go?
HOME DEPOT or HEB (grocery store) the trees come by the truck load

The kids playing hide and seek

Putting the star on

TA DA

Thankful

So much to be Thankful for:

* our family

* our friends

* our new life in Texas (though we are sad to be far away)

* our new church

* our home

* our health

*a new baby on the way

* 2 happy, busy and energetic children

* PLUS so much more

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

New Traditions:

Group effort in making our feast.

Kids drying dishes
Getting ready for the turkey

Pat dry the turkey

Stuffing-

William is a great cook and Annabel is starting to get into it

Tie the bird up

Ta Da

The turkey is ready for the oven

William prepping the sweet potatoes

The YUMMY turkey!

SO golden

Carving time

(Annabel is always wearing her sunglasses)

William enjoying the leg

YUMMY!
Aspen looking on with a watering mouth!

Everything tastes better with gravy!

Nothing tops off Thanksgiving other than a

See's chocolate turkey for dessert and pumpkin cheesecake.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!
The kids have a little "thanks" they want to share with you!
Wishing you have full bellies, shared in laughter and thanksgiving.
We are blessed to have you as our friends!

Carving Pumpkins & Trick or Treating

Carving Pumpkins

William was so excited to carve pumpkins!
He liked everything about it but sticking his hands in and taking out the junk.
The Boys carved one and the Girls carved a second.

The boys getting to work

Top off- lets dig in
Well, Daddy can ...
I will watch
William did a FANTASTIC job carving his pumpkin.
He needed very little help.

The girls getting busy. Annabel was just in a funk this day.
She was a bit reserved about the Halloween.
The one part she did LOVE was caring her pumpkin bag.
She was curious!

Pumpkin smile
The kids and their Jack-O-Lanterns

HALLOWEEN- time to put on the costumes
A Cow, A Pirate and a couple of Jack-O-Lanterns
Annabel and her pumpkins

Annabel was less than thrilled to wear a costume.

Arr

Mommy and her trick or treaters!
Man- these kids got so much candy their bags were over flowing.
William counted his candy for about a week.
He was curious why each day there were fewer pieces.
We tried to tell him when you eat one you have one less.
He was also shocked to learn that Daddy took a bag of HIS candy to work.
Oh the lessons of sharing, math, and fun!

William's Class at the Pumpkin Patch

Today William's class went to the Pumpkin Patch which is on

school/church property.

It was fun see the eagerness of the children running to see all the

different types of pumpkins. Lots of parents came so it was nice to

meet them. Unfortunately, I did not get many pictures

(we were discouraged from taking pictures since

our "job" was to watch our group)

Top row: Franco, Brenden, Ryan, Taylor

Bottom row: Madison, Gianna, William, Reid, Katelyn,

Finja, Julianna, Megan
Missing photo: teachers Mrs. Swift and Ms. Audrey

Annabel and Madison

(Annabel thinks she goes to school as well...

wanting to fit in)

Madison and William playing with the gourds

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch with Friends
Today the kids and I met our friends Miss Elizabeth and Camden at the Pumpkin Patch
for some pumpkin fun.
The boys were really into and Annabel, well, she had just woken up for
her nap and wanted NOTHING but to be held, by the end she did warm up.

William modeling for the camera!
William and Camden
Wagon time

Sweetest pumpkin

My cuties

"What is this?!"

Playing with the wagon
Showing off ALL the pumpkins they loaded

I can chase the boys

But this is how Annabel really felt about having her picture taken

Annabel finally warming up

My sweet little one

Precious

Look two pumpkin steams

Pumpkin cheeks

SWEET