Thanksgiving in Ft. Worth

Thanksgiving was a fun time with family!  We spent the holiday both at my Grandparents and my mom's.  Dan and Kaye got to come too.  Friday night we went to see my Dad and then headed to Crawford to see Chris, Jacque, Matt, Laurie, and our nieces Madi, and Kylie.

1 year

1 year ago today, we made the biggest change our family had ever dreamed of making.  We decided to pack up and move nearly 300 miles away to Mitchell's home town of Lumberton.  I can't believe it has already been a year!  Although there are some things I miss about being in Ft. Worth there are even more things I love about being in Lumberton!

Things I Miss...

• My family being close by!
• The Halsteads
• The Bowmans
• The Holidays (Doc and Peaches)
• The Big Town feel of being able to drive 30 minutes to just about any big venue.  (Stockyards, Rangers Ball Park, Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor, State Fair, and other big attractions.)

Things I Love...

• The small town feel of a close community that loves small town events like Friday night football games, parades for every holiday, and seeing someone you know just about everywhere you go.  Even Santa Clause drives down EVERY street in a fire truck to visit all the kiddos each year.
• Being close to the BEACH!  A real love at summer time it has become a favorite place to make lots of memories.  This includes being able to ride the ferry to Galveston Island.  The girls LOVE being able to see the dolphins on the way.
• Eating at Tokyo (our favorite hibachi grill)
• Our new church and the many church activities the girls participate in
• The beauty of being in East Texas with all the pine trees, bayous, and always green environment (this includes all of the gorgeous places to go camping...again more memories to be made)
• Being able to go canoeing in one of the top 3 locations in the nation  (again with the great memories)
• The abundance of friends we have here
• The AWESOME school district!
• Being 10 minutes from just about anything I could ever need....except Ikea but that is still just an hour drive to Houston.

This journey has been tough at times but I wouldn't change it!  We really do love it here!

 

Deck The Halls

Ok, I know our tradition is to usually put of our tree the day after Thanksgiving I got a little antsy.  After not getting to put up my tree and decorate last year I was extra eager this year!    The girls really enjoyed listening to Christmas music and decorating are enormous tree!  I bought our tree the last year that we lived in Alvarado and wanted to get the biggest one I could.  Well, the biggest I could get in Alvarado was 10 ft tall which perfectly accommodated our 11 foot ceilings.  Well, our new house is apparently a foot shorter so the top of the tree is a bit squished.  No room for a tree topper this year but that's ok.  I just plan on buying a lot more picks for the top instead.

Well, I have definitely jumped on the Pinterest wagon and it has of course come with LOTS of "to dos" for my list.  I actually added the cute little house rules to our gigantic chalkboard in the kitchen, I spiffed up the girls art wall in the mud room, I made an outdoor chalkboard, and created a Prayer Pail.  I have tons more on the list to do but I have decided to knock out a few of the Christmas items since it obviously seems fitting.  I finished my Christmas wreath, and have been working on my advent calendar.  I'm really excited on how it is turning out.  I went with the idea of doing a different tradition/event each day for the 25 days of Christmas.  I still have to put it all in the right order but here is the list I came up with:

Unwrap a Christmas Book to Read
Have a North Pole Breakfast (this was also a Pinterest idea and I'm happy to say that Hobby Lobby had          everything I needed)
Open a New Ornament for the Tree
Do a Christmas Craft
Write Letters to Santa
Have a Christmas Movie Night with Treats
Decorate Christmas Cookies
Unwrap New Christmas Pajamas
Read the Story of Jesus
Decorate Gingerbread Houses (we are having a Gingerbread party with our friends)
Drive Around and Look at Lights
Attend the Christmas Service at Church
Visit Santa
Have a Christmas Tree Campout
Read The Night Before Christmas
Make Reindeer Food
Attend the Christmas Parade
Go to the Prairie Lights with Grandpa
Have a Happy Birthday Jesus Party
Go Ice Skating
Attend our Church Christmas Program
Do Something for Charity
Have a Christmas Party with Friends
Select a Wish from the Wish Tree for Those in Need

Along with everything on our Advent Calendar we are also going to be doing the Elf on the Shelf this year.  I'm really excited to do this!  I think the girls will get a kick out of it.  His first appearance will be at our North Pole Breakfast.

So the Holidays are off and running in our house!

All She Wants For Christmas...

Is her 2 front teeth....