When life throws you lemons....

....make Thanksgiving dinner!

Early Wednesday morning, it became apparent that our plans for Thanksgiving were going to change- no travel for us. Hunter woke up in the middle of the night sick to his stomach and we knew we couldn't risk passing it on. So, on Wednesday morning, I decided to make the best of our situation. Even with my family in town and an invitation to join them for lunch, I knew we needed to stay home just in case. So I set out for HEB after lunch on Wednesday and shopped for a full Thanksgiving meal- my first to ever make!

That afternoon, I busied myself in the kitchen and had so much fun preparing a special meal for my family. Today was wonderful in it's own special way. It's always so fun to be with extended family, but the sweetness of today was being with my own little crew. We sat at the table after a morning of preparation, play and just being together and said what we were thankful for. Chris said a precious and heartfelt blessing that summed up my feelings exactly and we enjoyed full plates and full tummies. This year has been like so many- full of tremendous blessings and I do not want to ever take them for granted. Today was another lesson of plans changed- sometimes our best laid plans are not to be. Thankfully, we are one step ahead in decorating for Christmas, we have delicious leftovers in the fridge and a memory that will not fade of one of my most special Thanksgivings.

Our family of 5 (pardon Chris' stache- he is still growing it for charity this month)

My first turkey

My nearly 5 month old turkey (she weighed as much as the turkey I bought- 13 lbs!)

Waiting for the big meal

All dressed up with nowhere to go (literally)

Had to add this... yesterday, Emily had her first taste of rice cereal and loved it!


Speaking for our family I can say that we are so thankful for all of the people who make our lives so incredibly special and wonderful. Today was a special and precious day for our family and we loved being together just the five of us. I can't think of anything I would have loved more.

All about Fall

We are loving fall around here... the pumpkin patches, the anticipation of Halloween, cooler temperatures, soccer practice and Saturday morning games, jeans, ranch weekends, lake weekends, soup for dinner, playing outside again finally....
My three in the their Halloween duds.

Hunter had an awesome game on Saturday and scored 4 goals. It was so exciting and he had a great time. The funny thing about it was that Chris had jokingly told him, "You're going to score 10 goals, right?" Hunter's honest reply was, "How 'bout 5?" Well, he was close!

We spent this weekend at the lake enjoying the cooler weather, throwing the football, lounging in the hammock, going for boat rides and wave runner rides, eating and relaxing, making smores by the fire and watching football. It was a great weekend! Emily had her first rides on the boat this weekend. We've been the lake several times since she was born, but she's always seemed too small to take on the boat. She seemed to enjoy it and was lulled to sleep each time we went.
Emily and I on her first boat ride.

Hunter waiting to do smores. He is in the middle of one of his "stories." :)

My pretty lady! Emily is still doing great... sleeping through the night, rolling over like a maniac, playing in the bumbo, loving her playmat and the most recent addition to her assortment of activities is the Exersaucer. She loves it- she is propped up with blankets but to be upright is a thrill to Emily.