Christmas Part One!

Over the weekend we had Greg's family from Oklahoma in town to celebrate Christmas a little early. Hayden had a great time with his Grammy and Grampy, and also his Aunt Jill and Dean. He was very lucky to get such fun gifts and he has been busy trying them all out!

A Visit With Santa

We did pretty well this year with Santa...went right up but then got a bit apprehensive. He was a little upset though that after he went to talk to Santa the one gift he wants was not given to him after the visit!

December This and That Around Town

Hayden had fun riding The North Pole Express in Grapevine again this year! We headed there with my mom's group, which of course included his best pal Connor-Boy! They had fun wearing matching jammies.

Getting ready to head out!

Santa strolled through each train car for a quick visit.

A few days later we headed back to Grapevine in the evening for the Main Street Christmas Days they have every weekend. If you have never gone, I highly recommend! It never fails it was chilly but luckily there are also some great shops along the route for when you get cold!!

Hanging out with the polar animals :-)

Watching the light show!

Last year we made just a gingerbread tree, so this year we went all out and tried a house. It was a bit more work than anticipated but it turned out alright! Hayden is very proud to show it off and talk about all the candy decorations on it.

ICE! at the Gaylord

We decided to take Hayden to see the ICE this year. It was Charlie Brown themed this go around. The Gaylord is also a great place to visit and walk around at the holiday time, even if you don't' go to the ICE. He looked very cute in his big parka and hat and gloves! He liked touching the ice, which you are not really supposed to do. He did mention a few times that it was cold in there...around 12 degrees or so! He also had fun walking around the resort and looking at all the trains. He could have done that all day!

Bundled and ready for the ice!

Once we were inside.

Not too bad for it being 12 degrees!

All of the characters and scenes were very accurate and cute.

The very last thing you walked through was a giant nativity scene...far to large to fit in a picture.

The End!


Busy watching all the trains!

Checking out the life size gingerbread house.

Happy Holidays!!

Thanksgiving Week

We had a super fun week back in Houston for the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a full table of 16 for turkey and sides! It is always so nice for Hayden to see aunts, uncles, and cousins he can't see regularly. We were also able to go visit some of Greg's cousins who live in the area. We had lots of fun times, and of course some good shopping!

Busy with the Thanksgiving cookies...don't try to offer help with the sprinkles. All four trays were for Hayden to decorate!

Happy Thanksgiving!

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we drove out to College Station to visit Santa's Wonderland. I highly recommend it if you live in the Houston area or are ever nearby during the holiday season. It is a huge drive through light show. There is also a village area with shops, music, animals, and food! Santa was also there, but we were not ready to visit him yet :-)

This is Texas after all!

We went on the hayride through the park instead of in the car...a must!

Lots of lights.

"Snow" in the village!

Indulging Hayden's love of petting zoos and pony rides!

The 'Elf on the Shelf' made his debut this year. While I don't' think he is fully grasping the concept, but he does like to read the book and look for the elf in the mornings. He does though fully understand the Advent calendar, especially the one after dinner with chocolate!

Football Time is Almost Over...

We spend this Saturday cheering on out TCU Horned Frogs in the last home game of the season, and the last ever game in our stadium before it is imploded and rebuilt for next year. Everyone was able to come and have a great time. Hayden had so much fun and got really into the game this time around. He was busy cheering and yelling any time the crowd did!! The weather was a great help for the weekend enjoyment, too!

We tried all season to get Hayden to wear his new jersey. Thankfully he relented for whatever reason and chose to finally wear it for the last game!




What we will call a montage of two of the cutest future Frogs! Hayden and his best gal Emerson hamming it up for the camera. I think they would have posed all afternoon if we let them!

Hayden and Uncle Pete's in their matching jerseys :-)

Bubbles in the stands.

Hayden showing his Frogs!

Picture for the season.


Since it was the last game after 80 years in this stadium, everyone was allowed on the field for one last time :-)

No celebration is complete without a fireworks show!