Happy Thanksgiving!!!

11.24

We all went to Aunt Karen's house for Thanksgiving lunch and I really enjoyed catching up with relatives I don't see very often. Nanny's sister, Virginia, was there with her husband Larry and they brought their family. Their daughter Kay Lynn was there along with their son, Doug and his wife Crissy from Wisconsin. They brought their daughter Katelin who has fractures in her femur so she had to be pulled out of college this semester but hopes to return next semester. Cole announced that he's moving in with Larry and Virginia in January. I know they will enjoy having him around. Last but not least, Devin showed off his beautiful new bride, Sierra! All very exciting news!

As always, it was a pleasure catching up with Laura and Rachel. I know that these two beautiful, talented and very smart girls will go far in life. I just can't wait to see what happens next with them.

Let's talk about the delicious food...Larry handed over carving the turkey to Doug and Katelin made the cutest turkey dessert I've ever seen! There was SO much food to eat!

I love taking pictures so I hope you enjoy seeing what I captured and I used a different (fixed) lens today and love the results!

Wendy is in baby heaven again...

Somebody has a full belly...

I tried to get a picture of the kids but it was hard to get all of them to sit next to each other...oh well...

I saved the best for last and I apologize for Picasa cutting off the sides (the original is awesome!)...The Gilmer Girls!

We spent the rest of the Thanksgiving weekend at Kiki's house watching football and watching the kids play. What would have made this the perfect holiday? A visit from my mom would have been nice but I'm praying her house will sell soon so she can move back to Texas. I am thankful for many things but mostly my husband, my kids, my in-laws, my sister, my mom, for being able to spend the past year at home with the kids, my friends and for being able to move back to East Texas.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanksgiving Eve

11.23

It was the night before Thanksgiving and the house was filled with laughter and yummy food! It's so much fun getting the family together.

Pops carved the turkey and Katherine made her oh-so-yummy banana pudding...

Wendy was in heaven because she got to hold Otto all night...

There's so much love within this family...I'm a lucky girl to be with this family!

Cake balls are a very popular item these days but I must admit that Jill's are the BEST cake balls EVER! Wish you could have been here but we'll see you next month!

The kids loved, loved, loved dressing up...

We also had a dance off and it's undetermined as to who the winner is but I'm voting for Kiki! I believe that dancing keeps a body young so I plan on dancing until I die!

This was a rare moment to see the kids sitting quietly playing with some toys.

This was Jennifer's year to put the bow on top of the Christmas tree...

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!!

Decorating Kiki's Christmas Tree

Oh, the joy that fills my heart seeing Beck get excited about Christmas! I wish I had captured this photo a little earlier because it was so cute seeing Beck and Noah laying on the floor helping Pops separate the Christmas lights for the tree. So sweet!

Kinsey was finishing up dinner...look at that face!

Brent is about to add bubble lights to the tree...yeah!

Kinsey having fun in her favorite chair!

Pops stepped in to help Brent with the lights...

Oh boy, TINSEL!!!

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree...how lovely are your branches...

I'm so glad these balls are not made of glass!

Lunch at the Corral

Before the left the hotel, we changed into comfy clothes and headed to Golden Corral. I normally refuse to eat at buffets but I like them now because Beck and Kinsey have a wide selection of food which makes me very happy. And the other reason I enjoyed this place is because they have a chocolate fountain...can you say yummy? Oh my goodness, I was in heaven! I got chocolate covered pineapple, chocolate covered marshmallow, chocolate covered macaroon and a chocolate covered rice crispy treat! Too bad there's not a Golden Corral in Longview.

As we were eating, Kinsey decided to make herself comfortable and propped her foot up on the table. I know you shouldn't allow your child to do this but sometimes it's fun to break a rule. Plus, she has super cute toes!

This was a whirl wind weekend trip but so worth it! Good-bye Dallas and we'll see you in two weeks for the Krueger Christmas!

Christmas Family Pictures (continued)

Not only did they have a huge train set up in the entrance of the hotel but they also had one near the gingerbread house so we spent a lot of time watching these trains as well.

But as we were walking to the parking garage, I noticed how beautiful the landscaping was and wanted one more picture. A lady stopped and asked if we wanted a picture together and this happens to be my favorite picture!

Between parking and the three small gingerbread cookies, we spent a total of $18 for these Christmas pictures and I think it was worth it! Even though my kids make funny faces, I love them and would do it again! Do you think Brent will be up for this again next year? We'll see...

Christmas Family Pictures

11.20

Last year, we took Beck to see the Charlie Brown ice sculpture at the Gaylord Hotel and it was decorated so beautifully that I wanted to take family pictures there. Since we were in Dallas for Addison's birthday party, we decided to get dressed up and take pictures at the Gaylord Hotel for our Christmas cards.

Unfortunately for us, it was warm outside so we worked up a sweat loading up for our road trip to Grapevine but quickly cooled off once the ac in Brent's work truck started blowing on us. Normally, hotels are at a comfortable temperature but not at the Gaylord. We are assuming it was warm and humid because of all the plants inside the hotel. So, we are all dressed up in our warm winter clothes, I'm carrying a purse and camera on one shoulder and Kinsey on the other hip...and, I'm profusely sweating!!!

Not only am I sweating but the kids are not cooperating and we are trying every trick in the book to get them to smile. Beck has three faces these days...mean face, kissy face or the cheesy smile.

The hotel is truly a sight to see! Beck was so mesmerized by all of the trains that we had to pull him away promising him that we would come back to see the trains again before we left. He loved seeing all of it!

Kinsey likes to walk but for the most part she loves for mommy to carry her. At one point, I kept walking to see if she would follow me but she had a different idea...she laid down on the walkway! Didn't cry, kick or scream...just laid there so I took pictures of her refusing to walk.

The hotel had a life-size gingerbread house and I wish I could document how many cookies were made for this house but I forgot to capture a picture of that information. By this time, it was noon and the kids are starting to get hungry. Beck wanted a cookie so we went inside the gingerbread house and it was filled with lots of goodies. I found a small carton (smaller than the milk carton you get in school) that had three tiny gingerbread cookies in it for $4.95! I bought it thinking Beck would dislike the taste of the cookies but surprisingly, he loved them! In fact, he loved them so much that he wanted more! That's when we decided it was time to eat lunch.