HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Ginny and Grandma went to see The Nutcracker. Ginny said she liked it all and couldn’t possibly pick a favorite scene.





The kids enjoyed making gingerbread houses and they especially enjoyed eating them the following day….no wonder they were wired and couldn’t sleep that night.



Christmas Eve we saw snow flurries! We attended a Christmas service at our church. It was a wonderful reminder that Jesus is the light of the world. When we got home the kids opened their stockings and then we watched the movie UP.



Christmas Day the kids ripped into their gifts with huge smiles. After the train tracks were put together, the electronics were working, game instructions were read and Uncle Steve arrived (with more gifts), it was time to eat a wonderful ham lunch. The rest of the afternoon and into the evening was spent playing with the new toys.

All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

FISHING TRIP

Click here to check out the fishing our kids did in November.

HAPPY 8th BIRTHDAY GINNY!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

It was a great day. This morning Ginny sang 2 Christmas songs in the church childrens choir. She really enjoys singing and has a pretty voice.



Ginny had requested crepes for her birthday breakfast, but I knew it would be a rush to cook them before heading to church, so instead we went to IHOP for lunch where she ordered crepes with chocolate filling.



In the afternoon we played putt-putt golf, rode go carts and bumper boats. It was the first time for the kids to do any of those things and they had a blast.









For dinner Ginny had requested shrimp, so Jeff grilled kabobs. We ate her animal cupcakes and then she opened her gifts. She received her first 18” doll complete with clothes, shoes and a horse. Ginny was very blessed today. As parents, it is such a blessing to be able to bless our children.



Ginny with her new doll. She made the decorations above.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!

December 8, 2009

Being gone from the states during this time for the past 4 years, I had forgotten how BIG American celebrates Christmas! Wow! Lights, decorated houses and lawns, toy and electronic advertisements, Christmas TV specials…….it is overwhelming, but it is also very fun to be a part of every now and then.

Our kids are enjoying this season. Saturday after Thanksgiving we picked out our Christmas tree. I love having a real tree (to me, our plastic tree in Paraguay is just not the same). The kids had fun decorating it with lights and ornaments.

I have all my Christmas shopping done! In Paraguay we only do stocking gifts but this year we will put gifts under the tree. It has been nice to actually be able to buy the kids things they want.










This past weekend we stayed in Dallas. Friday night we were with my college room-mate, Holly and her family. We had lost touch over the years, so it was good to be able to catch up. Saturday we stayed with Jeff’s aunt and uncle. Jeff did a wonderful job speaking at their Sunday school class.

Saturday we took the kids to the Galleria to see the big Christmas tree. As soon as they saw the ice rink, Ryan, Ginny and Tyler decided that they wanted to try it. Tyler never could find (or cared to find) his center of gravity. He wanted me to push him around the rink the entire time. He was dead weight and I got very tired. Ginny said she loved it, even though there were few times both her hands left the railing. Ryan got the hang of it and although he fell a lot, he was able to skate in the center of the rink.

TIME with the GIRLS

November 23-25, 2009

It's always nice to get away from "the real world" and your everyday responsibilities. It is even nicer when you can get away and spend it with your best friends.

Monday I picked Lauren up in Dallas and we headed to Naomi’s house in Denison for 3 days.

Monday: Lunch at Taco Bueno (a real treat for Lauren and I since we don’t have TB in our towns)
Hang-out
Dinner at Olive Garden
Movie at the theater

Tuesday:
We were looking forward to sleeping in. How pathetic that we all woke up at 7:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep!
All day shopping at the Allen Outlet Mall
Dinner a Mexican restaurant
Video at Naomi's house

Curious George!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Joshua has had a three year obsessive love for Curious George. It started when Grandma brought a Curious George book down for the kids. Joshua (3 years old at the time) claimed the book for himself. Since then, Grandma has “fed” his love by buying many Curious George dolls and items for him. For his 5th birthday we had a Curious George themed party which he loved. When I asked him last week what he wants for Christmas, he responded, “anything monkey George.” Out of all the kids, Joshua (even before he knew who CG was) acted most like him. You can imagine his delight when Curious George came to the mall! The kids had a blast snuggling next to him (except Micah who screamed!), having their face painted, doing a couple monkey themed crafts and getting monkey-in-a-tree shaped balloons.

it doesn't get any more "monkey" than this - monkey shirts, money shaped balloons, Curious George stuffed animal, monkeys painted on their face, and a hug from the big guy himself...

DONUTS!

Since being in the states, we have started a new tradition - donuts every Monday morning! YUM!

PUMPKIN FUN

Ginny designed and carved her own.

ANIMALS in GLEN ROSE

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Today we drove to Glen Rose (almost 2 hours from here) – the Dinosaur Capital of Texas - to see dinosaur tracks, but the river was up and apparently the tracks were not visible. We were all disappointed and we quickly had to make a plan b.

First we visited Dinosaur World (in Glen Rose) and saw 100 life size dinosaurs. The kids thought this was pretty cool. They participated in a fossil dig and found teeth and bone fragments (that night Ginny put those teeth under her pillow and was disappointed that tooth fairy didn’t bring her cash!).







Next we went to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center and went on a drive through safari. 1,100 animals (giraffe, zebra, ostrich, etc) roam freely in large pastures. They were pretty friendly!

The goat petting area was a hit for most of my kids. Ryan said, “Ug! Ginny could stay here forever but not me. It reminds me of doing work with our animals in Paraguay.” Ginny does love animals and was in heaven seeing them all up close. At the end of the day Ginny announced that it was the best day ever. When I asked which animal she enjoyed the most she said, “That cute turtle we almost ran over in the road.” It doesn’t take much to impress her!

DRESSING UP

October 30, 2009

My kids don’t need an excuse to dress-up and have fun. At home in Paraguay they have so much fun with their friends digging through their costumes. Thanks to a fun loving Grandma, they now have a big box of costumes they can dig through here too.