Flowers and Family

 Aren't these nice hydrangeas?  Pop Pop has beautiful hydrangeas outside of his home.  I was impressed at how large his plants were, not just because of their beauty but also because I accidently killed some hydrangeas before in our heat and know they can be needy.

 These are in my parents' front yard.

 

 Awe lillies, how I love thee!

 A few weeks back we were able to visit with a ton of family.  We hadn't seen Papa Mark since before Christmas, so Eliana got a special Christmas present.  She has been carrying around her bear and dog around since then.

We hadn't visited this park in our hometown in a number of years.  It was great to have time with family visiting!  Aunt Marcie and Uncle Michael moved back.  We are looking forward to seeing them more often.  Aunt Dacra and Korin were able to make it too!  Eliana and Kallie enjoyed the swings and reminded Aunt Marcie of when Sean and Kyle were little.

Visiting Family

Laughing with Aunt Tara

Dancing with Aunt Trisha

Me, Eliana, and Trisha

 Me, Dad, Pop Pop, Mom, Aunt Donna, Trisha, Eliana, Taylor, Kyle, Tara, Donald, and Rob

Eliana's Great Grandma Sue

First Card Game and Other Fun

Eliana was very intent on helping me win!

Trisha, Taylor, and me

Eliana with her Nanny

Pop Pop, Nanny, and Eliana

Eliana with her Aunt Trisha

Eliana recently gained the hand eye coordination to look at a toy, grab it, and stuff as much of it as possible into her mouth.

Do you like the earings that GramE loaned Eliana?

Soon she will be sitting up on her own!

Thankful Day 8: Family

Pop Pop, Nanny, and Eliana

Sometimes it is really hard to be 2 hours away from most of my family. Today was SUPER SPECIAL because a bunch of my family came to see Eliana and me. Nanny, Pop Pop, my mom, Tara, Trisha, and Ashlee all came. We enjoyed a yummy lunch at Cheesecake Factory and a little bit of shopping too. A bonus to their visit is that they wanted to dote on my wee one. While I went to get the stroller, Eliana got a hat. Santa apparently comes quite early to the mall, and my family really wanted to see her meet him. I double checked with Kyle if he minded that they meet without him, and he was fine with that. I mentioned that she wasn't really dressed to meet Santa, and my sister's response was that we could fix that. So off we ventured to the land of baby clothes. We found a very cute dress. My mom also found a darling outfit and bib. She ended up being too fussy for a picture with Santa, but I'll post pictures of Eliana and her cute clothes and hat soon. Eliana did great for being out and about for hours. My family had come right after she ate, so she was delighted to have company. She took a good nap while we were at the restaurant. She ate again while my family shopped, and then was happy as a clam to go shopping. She is now sleeping. Today I am thankful for family visits! It made my day!

Eliana was enjoying the car ride playing with her Aunt Trisha.

Thanksgiving Football

Today my parents flew into DFW. We all went on a short tour while in route to Crackerbarrel. While we were checking out the gift shop it started snowing. We stopped by the hotel to check in and drop off the luggage before coming back to Troy's apartment. The room is nice and big.

Once we got back to the apartment we turned on the Dallas game. Our buddy Paul is there with his wife Kristen. He called Troy earlier to say that they got field passes to go down before the game started. My mom is very jealous because she's a big cowboys fan.

Mom and my "bonus" brother, Paul

Troy, Perry, and I went outside to throw the football around. Troy put on ski goggles and gloves. I put on a nose/ear wrap thingy. Perry had mittens. It is hard to throw a ball when it’s wet. It is hard for me to throw a ball period but at least now I had an actual excuse. :) We came in once our mittens and socks were soaked through.

Troy and me showing off our football attire

This has been a great Thanksgiving. I miss my brother and Aimee lots. It is so good to be here with them. It is also good to spend a few days with Perry and Sherry. We all bonded so much on our trip to India last summer that it’s been hard not to see them so much. I've never played football in the snow with my brother, but I got to this Thanksgiving.

Ama and Apa

What are you thankful for?

Last weekend Tasha and I played a game. I said, "I'll start by saying three things that I am thankful for then it will be your turn. We'll keep going until we run out of things." She said, "And no repeats." We played for quite a while. You try it and see how long you can go.

Thanksgiving Texas

Tasha and I are off to Texas to see Troy and Aimee. Perry and Sherry will be there too. We'll be coming back Sunday morning very early. As I type this my head bobs while looking at the time. 4am.

Photo Post

Golden Clovis sunset


Nanny and Minnie (Madison)


Thomas and Caitlyn


Kyle, Tasha, Grace, Tim at Avila Valley Barn in San Luis Obispo, Ca.