Thanksgiving with Family

Of course on Thanksgiving Day, we headed to our awesome cousin's house in the Galleria. Jacob discovered this train track in one of the front rooms and was in heaven! These two were so cute to watch!

I loved watching Uncle Brad put the train tracks together for him and help him push the trains along! 

 Getting ready to load our plates! Maren, Alex, Matthew, Jacob, Bex and Aunt Amy

 The adult table: Jake and Daddy, Katie, Alex, Uncle Brad, Brady's mom Sue, Amy and Brady

Brad and I were awesome labeling our drinking cups "M-Dawg and B-Dawg" 

Dessert was super yummy and we were so grateful to be with our family that day! After dinner was over, we all headed across the street to the park for some pickup basketball games and playing on the playground of the elementary school. The kids had fun watching movies in the theater room upstairs and the adults got to play some games. We are so blessed so live so close to family and love spending time with them! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Pre-Thanksgiving Day

We were blessed with 2 Thanksgiving celebrations this year! 

 Our first was with Keith and Carol as they stopped for dinner on their way to their daughter's home for the weekend. I surprised Keith with his favorite dessert - banana pudding pie!

 We don't get to see Carol much as she is getting around slower and slower these days following her stroke a few years back. So it was great to have her in our home to celebrate today! And the kids of course loved having their dog Lucky visiting also!

We were also babysitting Meaty this weekend for our friends. Jacob has a definite friend here! 

It was so peaceful when we locked our kids in the cage! Just kidding - they would climb in often and play around acting like they were dogs. It was so funny to watch!

Turkey Trot Time!

We had our annual Turkey Trot at Ellisor Elementary school today! Mom and Jake came ready to run with Matthew first thing in the morning.

 Matthew was way too fast!

Goofing off with his buddies  

Round #2 of Turkey Trot had us meet Rebecca on the back playground for her grade level running! Bex even snuck in a couple sleeper laps on the stroller while mom pushed!

 

  Mom and Jake were ready to run with Bex!

I LOVE GIRLS!!!

Running hand in hand is too adorable! Bex with Beau Fox

Meeting in the gym afterwards for our cool down! Love this quirky girl!

Everyone wanted in on the selfie! Crazy kids!!! We had a ton of fun! 

Found these two together often during the trot! Super cute buddies!

Bex and Hudson hanging out! 

Young Women in Excellence

The theme was "Pattern for Life" which I absolutely loved! This is a great group of young ladies that have the opportunity to set their pattern together right now that will help them throughout their lifetime!

So here is a little skit that my Katie and Katie Clark did together. It was hilarious! 

My Katie was the "bad" example of not following the pattern and had fun chomping on her gum and acting really messy, not put together at all! She was hilarious trying to sew something without her pattern. Then "perfect" Katie had a much easier time sewing with the pattern and doing everything in order, measuring first, etc. She was so silly and we definitely got the message!

After sloppy Katie did her skit, she did a quick change of clothes and played the piano for her talent to display. She did great and it was a wonderful night!

Emily's Volleyball Tournament

For PE class, Emily has been doing their unit on volleyball 

 So this weekend they divided the girls up into 8 different teams and had a tournament at the junior high school. Here Emily is doing her underhand serve.

She was aggressive at the net! 

And during her first game of the morning, she is serving the ball towards us here! She did excellent on her serves and got the ball over the net often! She really surprised me at how well she did as I have not seen her play volleyball before! Her team won two games and lost their final one! Such a great experience for her! Definitely fun to watch!

Broadway Night

 Emily has been taking theater acting classes for Highlight Theater Company for the past 6 months and her teacher needed a little help for their upcoming Broadway musical show at the stake center in Spring. She was cast in two songs as part of the background entertainment. Here she is backup for "Loathing" from Wicked.

She was also a fish in the background while this lady sang "Part of Your World" from the Little Mermaid

It was fun to listen to all these famous songs from Les Miserables to Wicked and Phantom of the Opera! Everyone did a great job performing!

What a wonderful night at Broadway!

Shakespeare in Action

 Katie started taking theater arts in school this year. Her first play was a bunch of small plays with 2-5 actors in each.

 Katie is William Shakespeare and it is a funny play because he is trying to write a play and needs some helpful tips from his friend.

 There were many famous Shakespeare quotes used throughout

And the audience came alive with Katie's dramatic flare! 

 This play was done right before the Renaissance Festival began here in Magnolia - it fit perfectly when their class got to go to Ren Fest and hear all the other schools along with their performances!

Their play was about 7 minutes long 

I think Katie has definitely found her forte! Loved watching her first school performance!

Twin Day

Today was Twin Day at BB6 for Emily and I took this picture right when Emily got home from school because she doesn't straighten her hair very often - she took time to straighten today as her twin was her good friend Lanie, who has straight hair! So they wore matching shirts and sweatshirts (not shown here) with jeans and their hair down. I think they looked pretty good! And I'm glad Emily is having fun with their spirit week at school! 

Way to go Emily and Lanie!

Presents and Cake

Jacob loved his Paw Patrol themed presents for his 2nd birthday!

After playing at Chuck E. Cheese all afternoon, he had a great time opening presents with the family that night!

This Paw Patrol ball pit was a big hit!

Mario and Luigi birthday cake was awesome!

He had to test drive first

And sneak a taste

Happy Birthday Big Boy!!! I cannot believe you are already 2 years old and definitely a handful! You love trucks, trains, and Paw Patrol is your favorite show! I love your curly hair and thick thighs and of course that adorable furrow in your brow when you are upset or don't get your way. You bring so much joy and laughter to our home! Happy Birthday!!!

Toddler Time

 My little guy turned 2 years old today! Miss Braedy and I took him to Chuck E. Cheese while the kids were in school to begin the celebration!

Mesmerized by the mouse 

 Excellent horsemanship pulling on those reigns!

This is as close as he would get to the mouse with mommy's help 

Cheese sticks and French fries loaded with parmesan cheese which was just too fun to shake! We even bought him a birthday Chuck E. Cheese cup and he took home an awesome medal! This kid was in heaven!

 Cruisin'

 Does this ride go any faster? He had so much fun running from game to game and ride to ride! So much different being here without his older siblings!

Skee ball was a favorite! 

 Back in the saddle again

 There was no turning back once he discovered the basketball game!

And yes the mouse is here just for your birthday big boy! 

Roller coaster riding with mom 

Braedy and I had such a fun time cruising around with little man today! Jacob loved all the attention!

There was a new Fun House that was put in with 2 stories of goofy obstacles to maneuver through! Here we are at the spinning tunnel at the beginning of the fun house. Hope Jacob had and great time celebrating with us today!

Happy Birthday Jacob! Can't believe you are 2 years old all ready!!!