So Many Blessings

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving has now come and gone. It was a great time to reflect on all that the Lord has blessed us with. Our blessings are too many to count. We enjoyed celebrating with both of our families. We were especially thankful that my brother Jay and his wife Stephanie, along with 2 of their 4 dogs, Righteous and Moses, drove all the way from Crested Butte Colorado to spend 5 days with us. Yes, they DROVE 32 hours each way, with 2 huge dogs! I can't even imagine. They are troopers! They drove into Greenville last Friday morning and were able to stay until Tuesday evening. The kids and I drove to Greenville last Saturday and Russ joined us on Monday evening. Jay and Steph are such a fun couple to be around, with a lot of energy. They love Caleb and Kathryn and they spent a lot of time playing with them. Kathryn was absolutely in love with Jay and it was so sweet to see them together! We all got to eat some great food together (thanks to mom), we celebrated Christmas with Jay and Steph (they won't be here again until next summer), and even went bowling as a family. Caleb really suprised us at bowling when he scored over 30 points with no bumpers - he almost beat my dad :) We were just very very thankful to be all together as a family. The time always goes by so fast, but we can always look forward to our next visit. We thank God that Jay and Steph made it here and back home very safely!

On Thanksgiving day, we went over to Russ' parents house to celebrate with them. Greg and Amanda were there as well as Brad, Anna, Roane and Flynn. My in-laws cooked a great meal as well as some delicious desserts! We enjoyed watching the kids run around and play together. We especially loved getting to know our little 4 month old neice, Flynn a little better. She is such a sweetheart!

A Showman, 2 Cooks and a Couple of Bouncers

Sorry it has been almost a month since I have done an update! We have had a lot going on and I just haven't taken the time to upload all the pictures! I am finally sitting down to get it done now (or at least part of it!).

A Showman:

On Tuesday, November 18 Caleb had his first ever singing performance with his preschool class. It was family night at Carmel and all the 3 and 4 year old classes had to sing a song as a class. Caleb's class sang a fun song called "God is Number 1" and they did great. Caleb really surprised us and did a great job. He was a hoot and was definitely a big showman! He sang really loud, danced, jumped, spun around and even threw in a final pose at the end of the song. He does like to make people laugh, and he sure did that. Russ and I were very proud of him and we were just glad that he didn't resort to taking his clothes off to get more laughs!

Here is Caleb's 3 year old class. He is the last one on the left.

Here he is doing some sort of dance move

One of his spins...

Sweet Kathryn sitting with Nana and enjoying the show

2 Cooks:

Last Friday, Caroline and Roy Austin came over for a little while so thier mom could go have her hair done. While the babies slept, Caleb and Caroline made some turkey sugar cookies. They put on their aprons, mixed up the batter, helped roll out the dough, cut out the turkey shapes and watched them bake. They had a lot of fun and I had fun cleaning up all the mess (cracked eggs and tons of flour on the floor)!

Preparing

Stirring

More stirring

Watching

Eating

A Couple of Bouncers:

On Saturday, Russ had the idea to take Caleb and Kathryn to Monkey Joe's to get out of the house. Monkey Joe's is a big inflatable place where the kids can run, jump, slide and get out lots of energy! Caleb absolutely loves to go and this was Kathryn's first time. She didn't know what to think about it at first, but she quickly warmed up. We all had a great time and we went home exhausted!

Ride 'm Cowboy!

Caleb and Kathryn had a great time last night Trick or Treating. They were the cutest little cowboy and cowgirl you ever saw! Caleb rode a horse, and Kathryn pranced around in her pink cowboy boots. We trick or treated around our neighborhood for a while and then headed over to Nana and Papa's house. After that we stopped by the Curtis' (some good family friends) to visit and get some treats. Caleb and Kathryn got a bag full of candy and loved being the center of attention!

Headin' out to trick or treat



Waitin' at the door

Is anyone coming?

Trick or Treat!

Ride 'm cowboy!

Caleb shows off his new candy teeth from the Curtis'

Cleaning Those Pearly Whites

Caleb had his first trip to the dentist this past Wednesday. He was really excited to go and get a new toothbrush - it HAD to be dark blue. Oh the things that excite a 3 year old! The hygienist came out to meet us and take him back to get the cleaning. They wanted Kathryn and I to stay in the waiting room until they were finished. They said that kids do better a lot of times when the parents aren't back there with them. When they came to get me, they were just laughing. They said that Caleb did a GREAT job and that he just cracked them up. He got an x-ray and he wanted to see all his bones. Then he wanted them to listen to his heart with that little thing and then let him hear it! They had to explain to him that they only helped his teeth, not the rest of his body. The dentist said that Caleb's teeth look great and he was very pleased. He said he wished all of his patients were as good as Caleb. We walked out of there with a hand full of treats - a t-shirt, a big red balloon, a new dark blue toothbrush with Lightening McQueen on it, a matchbox car and a ring. Needless to say, Caleb's first experience at the dentist was very positive. The dentist was great and they obviously work hard at making it fun for the patients. I only hope that trips to the dentist will go just as well for many years to come. We'll have to see about that :)

Caleb with the hygienist

Open wide!