a thanksgiving break

this year, we did not travel for thanksgiving...since we just traveled to both families earlier in november and are going back for christmas.  so, for the first time...we. stayed. home.

the break to rest, to clean, to hang out, to cook yummy meals, to visit with GJ, to hang out with friends, to shop, to prepare for the Christmas season was simply wonderful.

we cannot wait to see family again and share the holidays with each of them, but a week to relax and spend time together was much needed.

GJ came to stay for a couple of days before thanksgiving, and we took him to the japanese gardens for the first time.  i have said this before, but we love this little gem in houston and it is such a great setting for a photo-op.  so, of course i snapped a few pictures.

 

 

 

 

thursday, we did thanksgiving with our fellow friends with family out of state.  we had a nice spread for all of us and the kiddos had a good time playing and napping the day away.  dayna decided (or i convinced her) to go black friday shopping with me thursday night so we met up at target.  target was super crowded but overall a great experience, and we followed that up with best buy and then an eternity at kohl's.  we got some great deals, even if we had to stand in line to check out for forever.

 

once i caught up on a little sleep, i used the rest of the weekend to finish up most of my christmas shopping, watch football, and enjoy breakfast at le peep as a family, a mommy/son date, lee teaching another small group lesson, and the last few moments together as a family.

roll tide and gig 'em

we took off friday and flew into alabama thursday night for a fun weekend of family, friends, and football.  my dad was awesome enough to get us tickets to the alabama/texas a&m game, and we planned to tailgate on campus with my brother and sister and their friends.

before football, we spent all of friday with family at my parents' house.  aunt beth, uncle john, wesley, hannah, and maw came to visit and play with brendan (and us, but we all know the real pull ;) ).  lee got his zaxby's fix and brendan got lots of undivided attention from the family.  my aunt was also awesome enough to bake me a birthday cake and extended that celebrating a little longer.  lots of laughs and fun catching up with all of them friday night.  maw even stayed the night to extend her playtime with brendan a little bit longer!

saturday, we woke up to finish making the food for the tailgate, loaded up the car, and headed to one of my favorite places.  the weather was gorgeous (although a tad bit too warm) and atmosphere was just as i remembered it.  after a 3-year lapse since my last football game, i was ready to be inside bryant-denny.  we got to visit with rachel and tyler which was great, as well as meet some of their friends who stopped by.  i also got to catch up with a couple of my old friends from college and some of our friends from our first married small group.

then, game time came.  i loved the pregrame hype, videos, and tradition that comes with that, but i should have known sitting next to the aggie section was a bad sign for what was to come.  you all know the results of the game so i will not dwell on those.  i would have obviously enjoyed a win more, but it was kind of cool watching lee and the other aggies celebrate such a huge victory.  we met back up with the rest of the family, grabbed a quick bite to eat, loaded up the tailgate and headed back to prattville after a long, fun day.

we have taken it easy this morning, recovering from the past few days, but brendan did create a new game to entertain himself this morning.  he got tickled closing himself into the pantry and playing peek-a-boo with us.

 can't wait for a week-long visit at christmas!  love you all!

sweet baby luke

we started our back-to-back travel weekends with a trip to louisiana to see the most handsome edition to the pilgreen family.

little benjamin luke allen is the most laid-back baby with the sweetest face and deep blue eyes.  in times when he acknowledged him, brendan was very sweet with luke, cooing at him and wanting to control his swing.

we also got in some good play time with the other kiddos...picking up some treats at social bites, playing in the front yard, time with GJ, and jumping on the trampoline.  no visit is ever long enough, but we enjoyed all of the time we did get.

jonah's birthday week

we just may have started a trend with birthdays for our nieces and nephews this year.  for jonah's tenth birthday, we presented him with the offer of spending a week in houston with us.  without hesitation, he jumped at the idea, and the plans were made.  following brendan's birthday party weekend, we picked up jonah on our way out of town, and the fun began.

we packed as much as we could into his stay with us, covering much of houston and much of jonah's interests.  jonah and lee kicked things off with a trip to museum of natural science and the butterfly exhibit on monday.  the museum of natural science had climbed atop his list of favorite places here after his first visit a year or so ago, but they have since added some new features to make it an even better experience.  the butterfly exhibit was a first for both of them, and from the descriptions, it is definitely a place i want to check out in the future...butterflies, insects, and reptiles.  the day would not have been complete without lunch at pappa's burgers so the guys capped off the day with a burger and shake as well.

tuesday, the guys hit the greens.  the heat stopped them after nine holes, but jonah was still able to wow uncle lee with his 170 yard drive that landed on the green.  in case you are not aware, that is amazing...especially for a 10 year old.  brendan and i then met them for lunch at freebirds, another food request.  we made a trip to the neighborhood pool after some afternoon rest time.  jonah and lee played for a while, and brendan and i mostly watched from the side after he quickly tired of his float.  jonah helped me make dinner that night and then we all treated ourselves to baskin robbins for dessert.

wednesday, we all hung out together and visited the waterwall and galleria.  with jonah's help, i was able to capture some cute shots of brendan on the lawn.  we packed a picnic and the frisbee for our time outside.  thankfully, the water wall was the perfect refresher when the heat got to be unbearable.  just as we were about to head into the galleria, the guys noticed the little condominium office building that has resided across from the water wall for the past few years was being torn down.  at that moment.  so we stood (in the shade, thankfully) and watched as a bulldozer took out an entire side of the building, one chunk at a time.  now, you may think the day was plenty full of activity by this point, and you would be right, but the guys still had one more event:  the astros game.  lee was glad he was able to take jonah to his first major league baseball game, even if it was the astros ;)

 

thursday, jonah's last request was to see lots of big animals....so off to the zoo they went!  as a farewell dinner, we drove to cafe express in the woodlands for dinner.  we went to the grassy area in market square (does it have an official name?) for the guys to throw the football and discovered free entertainment in the form of a music school recital...and free snow cones & popcorn were an even better bonus!

jonah, we are so proud of the young man you are becoming.  thank you for being an example for brendan to look up to.  we had a great week with you, and we hope you did too.

san francisco summer

to cap off  a fantastic summer, we packed up for one last big trip...san francisco.  we have grown to love this city for so many reasons but a five-way tie for the best reason to visit goes to the west coast pilgreen family.

we jumped right into their daily plans the first couple of days and soaked up some amazing weather in the city.  i even took in my first giants game (finally)!

and then the bug hit.  for the next few days, we passed around a not-so-fun stomach bug while we tried to disinfect the entire house before it claimed any more victims.  once those of us who had been under the weather were finally ready to get out of the house again, we quickly made up for lost time.  ben and lee made a trip out to napa valley for dinner.  shauna and i drove over to hayes valley and pacific heights...two little pockets of the city i had never visited...and explored cute little shops, boutiques, bookstores, and more.  and of course, the boys caught up on baseball with uncle lee in the garage.

saturday, all eight of us made the trek to lunch and the farmer's market in noe valley and then onto dolores park to play.  we followed that up with a bus ride to get ice cream and then a loooong, steady incline of a walk back to their house.

i'm sorry.  i thought i had a baby boy, not a grown-up big boy!

sunday, we were blessed with another sunday at epic.  God is doing amazing things in and through that church, and we are so thankful to follow this journey with them.

this was perhaps the best weather we have ever experienced in the city.  brendan played legos and watched videos on the ipod with his cousins.  we left refreshed and ready for the upcoming year and all that God has in store for us.

asher giving brendan baseball advice, i'm sure

i couldn't resist

sam and brendan bonded over snacks and the ipod