Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in 2014 and much to be grateful for over the year.  We spent most of the week in Alabama with the Kirkhams enjoying some wide open spaces.  The kids and Casey begged to take long walks every day and I was happy to oblige when the weather permitted.  It's interesting to note that the trees in this picture were planted in 2001 during my first Christmas there and now I can't remember what it looked like before them.

 

 Casey was hesitant to leave the cover of the pines and go out into the pasture after she heard a hawk there.  I guess she knows she's small enough to be a meal to other animals!

We climbed all over, under, and through everything we could find and our four-legged friend was right there with us.

Someone had some serious hat hair!

We took the kids to the deer stand for the first time to watch the deer in the oat fields.  They loved it!   Especially since we took Hershey's kisses.

 

We always take some four wheeler rides to check on land and look at the timber and we got one particularly beautiful afternoon in the fall leaves.

 

We drove back home on Thanksgiving day and finally stopped at the Tiger station in Baton Rouge.  Turned out to be a great time because the tiger Tony who lives there was getting his Thanksgiving turkey and we got to hear him bite right through the bones.

Next, we headed to Grammy and Grumpy's house to spend time with Aunt Stacey and Uncle Jason and their kids as well.  We got the first picture of the whole gang together at the neighborhood park.

Grumpy and all of his grandsons!

Our little family of four (plus one)

The French family, who definitely dressed for the occasion.  We didn't get the memo in time.  I love Carter's smile in this one!

 It was fun watching all four boys enjoy the playground.  Casey got to have some fun there as well.

 One sweet picture from the ride home :)  This boy loves his dog.

Wedding Weekend

We were excited to get the opportunity to attend my cousin Elizabeth's wedding in Weatherford, Texas.  The kids were thrilled because it meant we got to spend time with Grammy and Grumpy and Uncle Lindy and Aunt Nell, and also because we got to spend the night in a hotel.  They were a little less interested in the actual wedding but they were great and really enjoyed the ceremony.

The ceremony and reception were in a unique and fascinating little museum and the guests got to tour all of the exhibits while the wedding party took their photos.   It was a great experience for all of us.

 

 The lovely bride Elizabeth and her new husband Sam cutting their cake together...

...while someone else watched and asked how many pieces he would get to eat!  (The answer was two)

It was a wonderful weekend and we were so happy to get to celebrate with Sam and Elizabeth!

Halloween

Our Halloween was a fun, costume-filled day!  First I walked an Angry Bird, a cowboy, and Charlotte (from Charlotte's Web) to school with a very nervous hot dog.  It was the first time the kids got to dress up at school, as long as it was a character from a book.  Thank you, Amazon, for carrying angry bird books so Alex could wear his costume!

Then I got to see the kids again as they paraded through the gym.  I wasn't thrilled to go to the story book character parade, but it turned out to be a lot of fun seeing all the kids in costume.  Ben was a blur, but here's proof he was there.

Alex stopped to make sure I got his picture :)

Next up were the classroom parties, as though the kids weren't going to get enough candy at home!

I'm pretty sure most calories consumed all day were various forms of sugar.  Alex shed the angry bird for the rest of school, which was probably wise.

Then back home, the costume was back on and this guy was dying to go trick or treating.  He completed the cul-de-sac and outside circle in record time and was the first kid done this year!

Ben, aka Lightning Larry, aka Benjamin Westin, aka Clint Eastwood (the name changed as the day went on) was excited to carry his pistol for trick or treating.  I'm pretty sure that's the whole reason he wanted to be a cowboy.

22 kids this year!  And a few that didn't make the picture.  The gang all started out together but soon split up because not everyone could maintain the speed of an angry bird.  It was a really fun time watching the kids have fun and enjoying time with our neighbors.

Milestones

Our baby is missing a baby tooth!  The first visit from the tooth fairy was such an exciting night for him that he could hardly wait to go to bed.  Ben, on the other hand, slept in Alex's room completely blocking the door to "make sure Mom and Dad couldn't sneak in".  Luckily for Alex, the tooth fairy found a way!

 

Casey turned one!  She had a lovely birthday party with dog bones and plush toys to destroy.  What more could a dog want?  (except maybe to skip the hat picture next year)