Thanksgiving

Home again and ready to be back on a routine for a bit....after enjoying a great 4 full days at home with the whole family. Lots of pictures taken, Scrabble games played, and Emily giggles. Here are some photos to recap.

Grandpa and Emily make bread on Friday.....it is a new tradition that he started last year and will do every year with grandkids.....it was YUMMY too!!!

Emily and Pearlie (and two dollies) play in a box!

Emily rearranges the dollies' rocking chairs....over and over and over!

and sets them in their chairs in a somewhat uncomfortable looking position! but is SO proud of herself!

Emily was a good helper in decorating the Christmas tree ..... and (so far) has been very gentle with the ornaments!

and finally, a trip to Harold's Barbeque.....you can see that Emily loved it!!

My girls

This past weekend my home was flooded with friends. My best girls from college came in and we spent a fantastic weekend ..... eating, laughing, praying, crying, singing, creating ..... it was so so fun.

A tiny sampling of the fullness of my kitchen:

Mollie and Dara:

Mollie and Sarah making some YUMMY cake balls.......

Sara, Mollie & Sarah at Bueno (a request of Dara, our California girl)

Sarah had a great idea for us to have a creative project to enjoy while visiting, so I dragged out my scrapbook supplies and we went to town!

Saturday afternoon we ventured out to the Etsy Jingle Bash. Lots of fun, handmade treasures displayed in a funky old building down in Deep Ellum.

One of my favorite things about these weekends is our late night singing & praying. This year we spent almost 5 hours in worship together, rejoicing and mourning with each other and bearing each other's burdens. These girls are such a blessing to me!

Sadly, it all had to come to an end. Monday afternoon, I did loads of sheets and towels and began to deck the halls of my little home for Christmas. Now, off to visit with my little Emily for the next several days!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Colorado Springs weekend

En route to a conference in Denver, I spent the weekend in Colorado Springs with my friend Sara and her family.

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and headed up to the Air Force Academy to experience ESPN shooting College Game Day. Unfortunately for us civilians, they had a great spot for the Army/Air Force folks, but we were relegated to kinda far back. Lots of folks brought their signs and flags supporting their own teams to try and get on TV. It was a fun experience.....something I doubt I will have a reason to do again!

View from the security checkpoint of the plaza:




















For my Army Ranger friend Ovi:




















a view of the back of the set and the cadets





















Kevin and Jenna

























Sara and I
























but the coolest part by far, in my opinion, was the F-16 flyover.....here's a little video that in no way adequately captures the feeling of those planes flying over so close and so LOUD






Sara and I enjoyed a yummy lunch with Rebecca and Kate and then headed to a craft fair in support of a local high school band. I picked up a few things that I didn't really need, but found to be quite unique. I like buying handmade items. It was a full day, but very fun.

After church this morning, we drove towards Pike's Peak and enjoyed brunch at The Pantry in Green Mountain Falls. I had a delicious cinnamon roll french toast, with eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. Yummmmmm!