Thanksgiving 2011

We were, thankfully still close enough to visit Matt's brother for Thanksgiving this year. Getting together with family is definitely the highlight of the holidays!

The Thanksgiving feast was exceptionally delicious. It was also very fun to spend the day cooking with my sisters in law. Here are some pics of "the Feast."








In the evening we skyped with Jefferson and his family over in Africa and Bart, Wendy and Katie in Colorado. How wonderful to see everyone even if we can't all be in one place at the same time!



The kids had fun playing games, especially Twister.



The next day I went Black Friday shopping with Taralie and Sandee, her friend. The stores were so much less crazy since many of the stores started promotions the night before. I think we got some deals.

In the afternoon we went to Chaney's dairy farm. We all got primo ice cream cones and had some fun. The weather was warm and sunny most of the weekend.






In the evening we played a dance game on the Wii that was so fun to watch and participate in. It was a hit with all the kids and even some of the adults! My kids were in heaven the whole weekend just being with their cousins. This weekend was a nice break from the busyness of everyday life.

Saturday we enjoyed games, pie (we had 10 kinds of pies and plenty to last all weekend), and a trip to the park. (The guys and older boys played football throughout the weekend.)





Mike and Taralie made us feel so comfortable and welcome. It was truly a delight to be with them and the Sanchez family. Thanks everyone for a wonderful time!

Sunday we headed back to Illinois. We took a little detour up to Kristen's mom's house so that the kids could ride her horses. The weather turned cold and rainy on us but we still enjoyed the rides.




Sterling was more than happy to wrap his arms around sweet Courtney.





Thank you to our horse whisperer! You are the best!

We enjoyed a late afternoon lunch and enjoyed spending the afternoon with Kristen's mom who was very generous to let us descend upon her. :)

We arrived home before too late. My husband is the best! I appreciate his help with everything this weekend and especially his patience with me.




In summation, I am thankful for my abundant life. My family and friends are treasures to me.

House Hunt & Children's Museum

Last weekend we headed to Omaha to narrow our search for a home. We have decided on one or two favorites and are preparing to make an offer soon. We haven't had any offers on our Illinois home, but we anticipate a decent buy out option in the first part of December. And so, onward we go. The kids were pretty patient, but one can only sit in a car for so long without getting stir crazy. We decided to check out the Children's Museum. In fact we got a family pass for a year, since it will pay for itself if we go just once more. I am sure we will go again because the kids had so much fun. There was so much to do. Here are just a few of the activities.


The Fire House and engine







The Con Agra Foods Little Market (With many of their favorite brands)







The Farmhouse









The Science Center - very cool! Even Matt was into it.




There are series of tubes and pathways for the balls to eventually make their way the top for an eventual shower of balls. The kids had a great time with all the different pathways.








The Dinosaur exhibit






The final area had an animal playground and a carosel.









The best part of the whole weekend can be summed up in this next photo -
Being with Matt was so wonderful! We got to talk and play and he even arranged for a babysitter so that we could go out on a date together. What a man! What a great dad! What a wonderful husband!

Autumn Beauty

We picked Matt up from the airport on Saturday Oct 30th, and while we waited for another open house to finish at our house, we took a pretty walk on a path in our area. I wanted to share some of the autumn beauty of the day with my little family.