Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we ventured up to Goldthwaite, where Steven's Uncle Charlie & Aunt Linda live. Goldthwaite is a tiny little town situated up on north 183. I hadn't been up that piece of road since oh, late 2000 when I would drive 8 long hours up to Amarillo to visit Steven while he was in pharmacy school. Looking back I can't believe how often I used to make that trip. But, I would do it again and again, because being with Steven is that awesome. :)

Aunt Pam, this open mouth pie shot is just for you! We had a lovely visit with everyone...Ken & Joyce were there too, as well as cousin Zach. Matt & Will had a blast running all over Charlie & Linda's new home. The stairs were especially fascinating. We had a lovely meal, some pie, and an overall relaxed & enjoyable day.

We made it back to Austin in time to join Nicole and some other friends over at her house for some post-Thanksgiving treats and football viewing. Matt & Ava were more than excited to see each other.

Like the season or not, we still cheer on our Horns. I for one am glad to put an end to the pain for the year. We will just look ahead to what 2011 has in store!

Since Steven was at work for most of the day on Friday, the kids and I along with Nicole, drove to Wimberley to visit with the Brown family. Matt was overjoyed to see Josh. All the boys had a blast playing together. Watching them play is so entertaining.

There was a large pile of gravel in the driveway that proved to be great fun for all of them. Will enjoyed climbing to the top like he was king of the mountain. We all--and by all I mean myself and the kids, Nicole, Chris, Alison, Josh, Mr. & Mrs. Brown, Hershey the dog, and Tim and his ladyfriend all piled into Chris's truck and drove down to the river. It was so, so beautiful. There was skipping of rocks and throwing of rocks and lots of running around. The Browns were so hospitable and generous enough to share their Thanksgiving leftovers with us for lunch. Matt was so worn out he actually took a nap there and ended up sleeping longer than Will did. We had a great time spending the day with our good friends who we feel are an extension of our family. Thanks, Browns!

Saturday morning while Steven & Zach were back in Goldthwaite on a deer hunt, Joy & I took the kids downtown to see the Chuy's Giving to Children Parade.

I was so, so nervous about how Will would do. Perhaps all my fretting had the opposite effect because he really was quite good for the duration of the parade. I was expecting to be chasing him all over the place and preventing him from joining in with the parade, but he surprised me.

My heavy arsenal of snacks helped quite a bit, and there was plenty for him to look at. Henry kept pulling his hat off and Will really wanted him to keep it on so he thought he'd help him out.

I love this one because Will is right up front with the big kids as close to the line as possible. So cute.

Lately, Will has been attached to Matt's sunglasses. He enjoys wearing them around the house with a red baseball cap. They were great entertainment at the parade, too. After the parade we all had a nice lunch at Chick-fil-A. The special treat for the day is that our friends Bret & Sara Oliver stopped by for dinner that night on their way back to Houston. We finally got to meet sweet little Anna Teresa--she is so precious! Matt really enjoyed Isa's company because she would sit on the floor and spell words with him with his magnetic letters. True love! We had a wonderful visit with them. It was a really great Thanksgiving weekend...and here we are tomorrow is the first day of December! What??