Ava's Thanksgiving Tree

I am the least crafty person that I know but I came across this thankful tree online and it looked so easy and I had everything needed on hand so I thought we would give it a try.  Ninety-nine percent of Ava's prayers are thank-you prayers right now so I thought this would be fun for her.  We traced and cut out her little hands and she told me what to write on each little leaf on her tree. 

We are working on our Operation Christmas Child boxes for kids in third world countries so we've talked a lot about things that we have that we forget to be thankful for.  After she used the potty before bed a couple of weeks ago I told her that not all kids had running water and indoor potties at their home. Her prayers have included 'thank you for my potty' every night since!  I laughed the other night when I told Jeff that Mommy and Daddy fell between her potty and all the pretty rocks.  Ha!  I love this girl!

Halloween 2011

This year we took Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse out for Halloween!  We tried to fit as much fun into three hours as possible and I think these two really enjoyed their night out :-)

Ready for Candy!

Two Minnies and a Mickey :-)

Fun at our Church Fall Festival

Then on to trick or treating.  This was our first year to go door to door and Ava LOVED it!  There was not a shy bone in her body as she held up her pumpkin to say 'trick or treat!'  I think she would have danced for candy if she had to!  She strutted up and down our street as happy as could be.  She prefers m&ms and suckers so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when a nice man on our street put skittles in her pumpkin and she took them out, handed them back and said 'I don't like these.'  I was mortified!  He kindly gave her a kit kat and I kindly gave her a lesson in etiquette!  In her defense she was a first timer :-)

Ava and her favorite neighbor Mr. Mike

Neighbors Cori, Brandon, Laci & Justin....We truly live on the best street!  Our neighbors are some of our best friends and we are so thankful to live here among them.

Ava & Daddy worked on their pumpkins Saturday night at Uncle Adam and Aunt Kara's house.  Daddy carved a Minnie Mouse pumpkin for our Minnie this year and Aunt Kara carved an awesome Elmo pumpkin upon request.  We had such a fun Halloween this year!

San Antonio Vacation 2011

Last week we took our second annual Fall San Antonio trip.  It was our first vacation as a family of four.  We did as much as we could in four days and I think it was the perfect time to be away.  We drove in late Saturday night and stayed in our pajamas all day on Sunday trying to recover!  It was so much fun and we were so proud of our little guy.  He was so great especially when we were out and about.  The drive home was the toughest part.  He was not having his car seat for 6 hours so we had to stop a few times.  But driving down there we only stopped once at Sonic for a quick snack and a potty break.  I guess everyone is always in a better mood driving to a vacation than on the drive back home.

Keegan took a car seat break to hang out with Daddy up front.

We took a chance on Priceline Tuesday night and searched for a hotel in the Downtown Riverwalk area for Wednesday night.  We weren't going to leave until Thursday but we were all so ready to go Tuesday night!  Pricleline selected the Emily Morgan Hotel downtown for less than half of its normal rate.  It was a great hotel next to the Alamo and we were so glad that we headed down a day early.  We took our time and arrived right at sundown.  This is a view from our room. There were rows of horses for carriage rides on the other side of the street.  Ava loved it!  She loves the city like her Mommy :-)

We took off after checking in and walked around downtown for a quick Alamo visit and ice cream.

Thursday Morning....Ready for a day on the town!

 Lunch on the river at Casa Rio

Ava loves this place because she can feed the ducks the whole time

The Children's Museum was great!  There were so many things to explore.  This is a photo from the post office/bank area.

Inside an airplane.....

And Ava's favorite part.....the grocery store!  We spent most of our time in this area as she shopped, checked out and cooked her 'food' for us in the cafe next door.

Keegan woke up for a little fun before we left :-)

I didn't pack his infant bath so Keegan took his first 'big boy bath' in San Antonio.  He's been sitting up for over a month now so it was time anyway.  He splashed around like I thought he would.  This is just one of about 20 pictures I took.  I think baby bath tub photos are adorable!

Friday Morning.....Ready for Sea World!  Ava picked up a brochure in the hotel lobby and studied it well before we left :-)

Sea World San Antonio 2011 (Our 5 year Wedding Anniversary)

The weather was absolutely perfect!  We headed for the new Sesame Street Bay of Play first.  It was a great new addition and Ava loved everything about it except the giant sesame street characters.  We tried her picture with Burt, Ernie and Big Bird and she ran every time.  I guess we only like them inside the television?

Dolphin Cove

At the Sea Lion Show

This was Ava's first time seeing Shamu because last year's show was at night.  Even Keegan sat still and watched the whole time.  It was an awesome show!

Ava, Keegan and her new penguin

On Saturday morning we headed for Bandera about 30 miles outside of San Antonio to meet our new baby cousin Kaylee Grace.  She is beautiful!  And so tiny.  She made Keegan seem like a toddler!

My cousin Lauren and our girls 

Lauren's dad (my Uncle Paul) said he could remember us playing dolls together like it was yesterday and now we are really mommies!  It makes me sad that we live so far away.  We grew up seeing each other several times a week and now only a couple of times a year.  But it was such a great time getting to see family and meet her precious new addition.

This is a view from their back deck overlooking the hill country.  It was a great visit and a great few days of vacation.  We are already excited about next year.  On the way home we talked about how Keegan will be running around Sea World with his big sister.  And it will be here way too soon!

5 years!

 Today we celebrate 5 years of marriage!  Wow, five years!  I would say that it has gone by so fast but I'm not sure that it has.  So much has happened! Five years ago tonight we were two young, care-free kids dancing the evening away with our friends and family.  We had jobs and an apartment and that was extent of our responsibilites.  Today we have a home, a yard, two young kids and a fish.  Well, the fish pretty much takes care of himself....but five years later we are in charge of two human beings!  Our lives are completely different and we are so grateful to God for the plans He had for us.   And we are excited about the plans He has in store for us.

We always say that the fastest night of our lives was the night of our wedding.  Those five hours were like a flash and it was over too soon.  We often say if we could re-live any evening it would be this one.  A room filled with all of our loved ones.....celebrating us!  It was beautiful and amazing. But most of all, so much fun!

 I thought that moving to Denton nine years ago was only about completing my journalism degree but it was about so much more.  It was about finding you, chasing you and eventually marrying you :-)  I can't imagine spending life with anyone else. 

Happy 5 years my love!

Trip to the Dallas Arboretum

On Thursday morning we ventured out of the suburbs to the Dallas Arboretum.  It was a perfect autumn day, cool in the shade and warm in the sun.  This was my first visit to the arboretum and I was really excited to see all the different areas for wedding ceremonies.  I coordinated so many wedding receptions for brides who had their ceremonies at one of these gardens and it was so great to get to see it all. 

There must have been thousands of pumpkins.  And I could not believe the size of some of them!  It was absolutely beautiful and I'm so glad that good friends Amy & Carla had the idea of going.  Ava had a blast and she is still talking about the 'pumpkin garden.'

This is one of the pumpkin houses we walked through. 

There were also several castles from different fairy tales throughout the park.  This one was 'Beauty and the Beast.'  The kids enjoyed playing in all of them. 

Ava & Garrett in Cinderella's carriage

The kids were more excited about the horses than the carriage.

Abigail & Ava in the pumpkin patch

 This guy couldn't get enough of the hay again.  This photo was taken right after he went for a mouthful as you can tell by the evidence on his chin.

Beautiful view of White Rock Lake.  This place is so gorgeous. Now I know why so many get married here. 

 There were so many open fields for the kids to run and play....and that's what they did! 

There may have been some flower picking......

It was a great day with great friends! Keegan passed out just minutes before we left and Ava lasted only a few minutes once we were in the car. I'm so glad we went and I hope to go back in the Spring to see the Spring blooms.