November 2014

These are turning into monthly blogs- sorry for the infrequency!  Nevertheless, here is November in pictures!

We started the month off with a trip to Daingerfield with the family.

This was Hank's preferred seat in the car (all while Eli slept!):

The trees were turning the weekend that we were there, and it was gorgeous!

The boys did plenty of fishing...

There was lots of soccer and football playing...

This was my view, cuddled up on a blanket with my mom and my puppy, watching a gorgeous sunset while my family played football in the distance.  PERFECT!!!

My sweet Eli.

Campfires at night are some of my favorite camping memories.

Eli and Hank and I got to see a really pretty sunrise together one morning.

Beautiful!

I LOVE these three boys!  And they LOVE each other.

Of course, the boys boated.

And played more soccer...

And I got to hike around the lake lots of times, which is one of my favorite activities in the world.

More pretty scenery...

A rare picture of the two of us!

And a family picture, complete with our newest canine member.  :)

Eli's class put on a Thanksgiving program, which was adorable.

 My little Indian.

And Thanksgiving Day...

Our Thankfulness tree!

Last weekend we took our annual trip to the Christmas Tree Farm.

I love my family.

The end!  :)  Now on to December!!

October

It's been way to long since I've posted!  And so I present way too many photographs of our October....  It was full, and it was fun!

Apple pie making...  The only way to make a proper crumble topping is with your hands!

The big news of October is that we got a puppy!  Eric and Eli drove up to Oklahoma early in the month to pick up our new puppy, Hank.  He's a Hungarian Vizsla, and we love him!  

This is on their drive home...  :)

First day at home with Hank:

Cute, eh?

Eric took him to work with him, which didn't turn out so well.  :)

Enough puppy pictures!  On the the fair...  We went to the State Fair this year with our dear friends the Ninos.  Here are Ethan and Eli, ready to ride rides!

Plenty of rides to be ridden...

And food to be eaten...

And obligatory ferris wheel photos to be taken...

And hanging out to be done...

And parades to be watched...

And cars to be sat in...

And fireworks to be seen...

And shows to be taken in...

And more rides to be ridden!

I love this one.  He's looking out the sky cab at the ferris wheel at night.

Our town always puts on a little fall fest close to our house.  They had tons of games, food, etc. for the kids.  Eli loved it!

More games...

Eli and Timothy bouncing in the bounce house...

The Awana program at our church has a little fall fest, too, with more games.  

And Eli's school had Rodeo Day, which was adorable.

I love his tongue out.  :)

Waiting to ride the horses.

Eli on "Lady Gaga," which the kids thought was a hilarious name.  :)

His whole class.  We love his little schooL!

Eric and Eli and the rest of the boys of the family went camping this month, and this is the only picture that came back from the trip.  :)  They had a great time, though!!

Last week Eli's class took a field trip to Yesterland Farms, which was a blast, too.

Tractor ride!

He thinks "selfies" are hilarious.  :)

His sweet little class.

And finally, Halloween!  Pumpkin carving...

And our little cowboy:

The gang of three.  :)

And this is what happens every single time I attempt to take a picture of Eli and Hank.  :)

And with that, bring on November!!

Destin!

Last week we got to spend a few days in Destin with Uncle Albert and Aunt Kathy, and it was perfect!  The beach in Destin is insanely pretty- clear blue,warm water, white powder sand, and blue skies for miles.  We love it, and we spent every second of our three days there right on the beach.  It's a good thing our trip was only a few days, though- our sunburned skin couldn't stand another minute, I don't think!  :)  Some pictures...

Day one on the beach.  See how pretty??  

Eric and Eli spent lots of time building sand castles of various sorts.

We walked around the Harbor Walk in the evenings.  They had a bunch of cool stuff there for kids to do, including this "pan for treasure" activity.  Eli found a bunch of arrowheads, which of course made his day!

He also did this bungee/trampoline thing a couple times.  It scared Eric and me way way more than it did him, I think.  :)

After sunset you can take a flashlight out to the water's edge and find hundreds of tiny white crabs called "ghost crabs."  It's such a fun activity to catch (and release!) a whole bucket of them- we all love it.  

He spent hours and hours and hours jumping waves.  I love how safe this beach is for kids, and I love watching Eli enjoy himself so thoroughly!

Harbor Walk evening.

The Back Porch is a restaurant right on the beach, and we love it!

I took a long walk on the beach one morning at sunrise, and I took about 100 pictures because it was just so perfectly beautiful!  I'll spare you all of them, but here are a couple.  :)  

That's a crane in the water- I love that it looks like he's admiring the view too.  :)

Creation sings God's praises!

My boys.

Looking out the window toward the beach at the Back Porch Restaurant.

On the last night we were there, a big storm rolled in over the water.  It was SO pretty to watch it from the balcony of the condo, and I loved walking from the restaurant to the condo as the storm moved in.  

Destin in a nutshell!  :)  We loved our time there, our time with Albert and Kathy, being together, being in God's beautiful creation, and Albert and Kathy's hospitality and generosity in sharing their vacation with us.  We can't wait to go back!

Back to School

 

I'm a week late in posting this, but here it is.  

Eli went back to school last week- first grade!  He had a great week.  The first thing he said when he hopped in the car on the first day of school was, "I made a new friend, and I can't wait to go back!"  

We can't ask for more than that!