Thanksgiving 2011

We did lots of traveling this Thanksgiving holiday. That kept us pretty busy. Our first stop was Snyder on Sunday. Two of my Mom's sisters, my uncle, and my cousin came up for a visit from Austin. It had been just over four years since I had seen most of them, so it was very nice to get to see them again and introduce them to a Kate and Wade.

This is my pretty Aunt Joyce and Uncle Floyd. My kids call him their Crazy Uncle because he is lots of fun!!

Wade practiced his walking.

Kate fell in love with my cousin Dawn. She kept asking to go to her house.

Of course, there was some card playing.

Luke always being silly.

Above: Aunt Janice, Mom, and Dawn.

Below: Dawn figured out how to get Wade to smile!!
Then on Wednesday we went to Big Spring to my Aunt Joy's house to have lunch with my Dad's side of the family. My cousin D'Anna and her family were there.

How do you spell TROUBLE......Luke and Jacob. These boys are a month apart in age. I know they would be great buds if they lived closer together.

Rachel and Kate climbed up in the tree a little ways.

Kate and Julia playing on the swing set.

Me and D'Anna.

Kate and Julia. I think Kate is nine months older than Julia. Look at the difference in their size!! Kate is a giant compared to Julia.

On Thursday, Actual Turkey Day, we headed to Snyder to have lunch with my family at my Aunt Lorita's house. It was me and the kids, Lorita, Grandma, Dena, and my Mom and Dad. We had a great Thanksgiving meal. I think Kate ate two helpings of everything! This is the Thanksgiving meal I look forward to every year! I love the turkey and dressing, sweet potatoes, banana pudding, pumpkin pie, and lemon pie!!

After lunch we headed over to Grandnanna and Grandpa's house. The kids got to play with all their cousins from The Lake and we got to watch Dallas play football. After we nibbled on their leftovers for dinner and had a few desserts we headed home. What a great day!! Just wish Chris was there to share it with us. Also, I did not take any pictures this day :0(. I left my camera at home.

Then on Friday Debra, Cara, Beau, Ian, and Mac came to our house for Thanksgiving with Chris's family. Chris cooked steaks and twice baked potatoes for dinner and a lasagna for lunch the next day. Granny cooked a wonderful breakfast casserole and lots of yummy desserts. Wedid a lot of hanging around in our jammies, eating, and just relaxing...that was nice. Chris and Granny took the big kids to the movie on Saturday. They watched Arthur Christmas. They said it was a great movie to get in the mood for Christmas! We sure missed Daddy's Granny and Pop Pop and Aaron, Johnnie, Tenley, Miles and Sydney.

Mac loves Pillow Pets!!! He spent the whole weekend snuggling with all the Pillow Pets he could find!!

Ian and Kate watching a movie together.

"Super Froggy" Luke

Granny with the kids that were awake when she left.

Chris and his Momma.

Well that was our week. I will never try to get creative and jumble up the pictures again. That was a formatting nightmare to type the comments after I loaded the pictures....Ugh!!

Volleyball

Rachel has started her second season of volleyball at the YMCA. She is having a good time learning and has improved too.

Yay!! She hit the ball!!
She is a pretty good server. She is working on her overhand serve, but her underhand serve is working good for her now, so why change a good thing.

Happy Thanksgiving From Our Little Indian and Pilgrim

Happy Thanksgiving to You!!!

We are very thankful for these little people:

Kate has not taken her feather head band off since she got home. It is so cute that she actually enjoys wearing it!! Wade on the other hand will not leave his on...not even for a picture.

Just a few short years ago...

Baby Steps

These are some videos of Wade taking a few steps. His biggest problem is he tries to RUN rather than walk. When he slows down he does much better.

15 Months

This little man is 15 months old!!

Wade is a busy little beaver that can totally destroy a house in just a little while. He loves to clean out cabinets, drawers, and take all the pillows and blanket off the couches. It is hard to keep the house cleaned up after him.

He has started taking some steps. He averages about four or five at a time. He has taken as many as thirteen. As Luke put it, thirteen is his high score. He really does not try to walk unless I make him. I hope he will catch on soon.
He is really enjoying his little school. He is always happy to go and see the other kids and his teachers. He is also very happy to see me when I pick him up in the afternoons!!
Wade has started throwing temper tantrums. He lays on the floor screaming if he does not get what he wants. His favorite time to throw his fits is when I am cooking dinner. He is like a cat crawling around my legs and feet. Sometimes there is just nothing you can do to make him happy. Maybe when he starts talking more this will get better. Until then, we are putting him in time out in his crib until he settles down.

We are all enjoying watching him grow and learn new things. It is really fun to see the big kids notice and be so excited when he does something new.

We love you Wado the Tomato!!

Trick-or-Treating

Trick-or-Treating was so much fun this year. We started out going to Kate's school to Trick-or-Treat around Midland College. We have been enjoying this super fun tradition since Rachel was three. Memaw Linda always comes over so she can go with us. Sadly, this is our last year because Kate will be in Kindergarten next year. :0( Wade is going to a different school, so this was our farewell trip. The kids at Midland College all dressed as Dalmatians. The number of kids who attend the daycare is right at 100, so they went as 101 Dalmatians. Rachel and Wade made shirts to match, but Luke choose not to be a dalmatian....party pooper.

My Three Dalmatians.
Such a sweet little puppy dog. We took this one home with us.
Sweet Brothers.
After Midland College, we headed out to eat hamburgers and rushed home to get dressed in our real costumes.

Memaw Linda with the Trick-or-Treaters. Little Robin was not cooperating.
On our way to get LOTS of candy!!!
Kids in their costumes.
Group shot.
Robin fell asleep after about half a block. The Bat Mobile I worked so hard on did not get much use that night.
Rachel's friends out Trick-or-Treating.
We ran into more friends along the way.
Luke and his buddy. Luke said he recognized him by his shoes.
We were out Trick-or-Treating the neighborhood for about an hour and a half. Kate and Wade did not stay out that long, but the big kids were going strong when I made them stop. You would not believe the amount of candy the kids brought home. When I dropped Luke off at school in the morning he told me, "Indiana Jones is going to get him some candy tonight!" Boy he was not kidding!!