All Aboard The Polar Express

Last weekend we took Preston, Nana, Mimi and Papa to Palestine for a fun evening on the Polar Express. It was such a neat experience! We took a real train to the "North Pole"! We were greeted with super friendly waiters who brought us Christmas candy and hot chocolate. We read along as they read The Polar Express on the ride to the North Pole. We got to see all the elfs in action getting gifts together for the big day, and then we were surprised to have Santa himself jump on board to greet the kids. He also gave Preston the first gift of Christmas, a bell from Santa's sleigh. Santa signed Preston's book which was very cool, he signs his name "Mr. C". On our way back from the North Pole, we all sang Christmas carols and enjoyed the ride. Preston was very excited about the whole evening! He had a blast. I have to say, I think the adults enjoyed it just as much as Preston! We all heard the bell ring, so we must all still believe. What a neat little adventure, amazing to see the magic of Christmas come to life in Preston's eyes! So blessed to able to share this time with Preston and for all of us to be able to share this time during the holidays as a family!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

This year Christmas hasn't felt quite the same. We aren't in our house yet with all of our things as we'd hoped and all of our Christmas decorations are in storage. =( That hasn't stopped us from celebrating though! We went and bought a little tree at Home Dept and let PReston go pick out a bunch of ornaments to decorate it. We had fun listening to Christmas music and decorating. Kind-of makes you realize that its really about the time we spend as a family doing these festive things and not necessarily about all the big, beautiful decor. Preston didn't know any different, he LOVES his little tree. =)We've bought a few other decorations to have around the apartment, so its turning out to be a nice little Christmas season in our apartment. Another one of our holiday traditions is to do the Angel tree. Every year we adopt a child the same age as Preston, talk to Preston about children just like him who don't have the things that he has. We always enjoy shopping for our angel and truly taking a step back to thank God for all of our many blessings! I pray this little family has a Merrier Christmas with these little treats we are sending their way. We have also enjoyed "Bell", our Elf on the Shelf this month! Excited to share all of the fun our Elf has brought Preston this year. Stay tuned for another post about Santa's sweet Bell that he sent our way this year. Can't wait to see what else Bell comes up with! Looking forward to a super fun Christmas at my moms this year! She's been hard at work getting everything decorated. I know that we will feel completely emersed in the Spirit once we arrive there Christmas week. Can't wait!

Thanksgiving 2013

We spent Thanksgiving here in town this year. We went over to Steph and Gene's to cook the night before and get things ready for the big day. We all enjoyed hanging out in the kitchen all night, good family time! Thanksgiving morning, we got an early start and headed over to finish up all the cooking. We had quite the menu! We had a lot of fun doing it all together this year. I actually made all of the pies this year (pumpkin, pecan, lemon and peanut butter) along with some potatoes, corn bread and sweet potatoes. Steph and her mom covered the turkey, dressing, deviled eggs, green beans and dinner rolls. Everything came out delicious! Gene's parents were also able to join us, so it was nice catching up with them too. We cooked, ate, relaxed and ate some more, The boys got to play a little football, we watched the parade and watched some football, all in all a perfect Thanksgiving! We spent the night at Steph and Gene's to avoid heading back to the apartment on a fun holiday. Made it feel even more like the holidays. =) We all went downtown McKinney for a fun festive Dickens of a Christmas and had a delicious Mexican dinner after all that turkey. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so many things to be thankful for!

I thought it would be fun to do a month of thanks during November and everyday we all talk about the things that we are thankful for. Below is our list from this year, P=Preston, Dad=Stephen and Mom=me. Could be a neat tradition to start and see how the answers change year over year. We are truly blessed!! 2013 November days of Thanks: Day 1- P: for teachers Dad: for family Mom: for FRIDAYS Day 2- P: for picking me up early Mom: my wonderful family Dad: a wonderful son, a great wife and a new baby daughter on the way Day 3- P: the trees and the leafs and the cars Dad: fun date nights Mom: relaxing mornings with my family Day 4- P: thankful for my tball medal Dad: thankful for a great wife to be the team mom Mom: thankful to have a wonderful husband to coach my sons tball team Day 5- P: thankful for my Lego people Dad: thankful for everyone's health Mom: thankful to have time with my mom picking out stuff for my baby girls nursery Day 6- P: thankful for my train set Dad: thankful for relaxing times with my family Mom: thankful for a wonderful son who has fantastic manners! Day 7- P: thankful for my tee ball medal Dad: thankful for a beautiful wife Mom: thankful for a family fun night Day 8- P: thankful for my new gloves Dad: thankful for Weekends Mom: thankful for a healthy pregnancy Day 9- P: thankful for my treasure Dad: thankful for beautiful mornings Mom: thankful for a beautiful Fall day Day 10- P: thankful for my new gloves Dad: thankful for fun mornings at home Mom: thankful for snuggle time with my hubby Day 11- P: thankful for his Batman toy Dad: thankful that we can get Preston things other kids aren't fortunate enough to have Mom: thankful for doctors who can give me peace of mind that everything is okay with this Pregnancy Day Day 12- P: thankful for my army men Dad: thankful for nature- animals trees fishes Mom: thankful for Fall weather to make it feel like the holidays Day 13- P: thankful for my guitar Dad: thankful for God/ religion Mom: thankful for answered prayers Day 14- P: thankful to help aunt Stephie open her birthday gifts Dad: thankful for Thanksgiving Mom: thankful to have a growing family! Day 15- P: thankful for my Christmas decorations Dad: thankful to have an awesome cool wife! Even 6.5 mths pregnant Mom: thankful for some time away with my hubby! Day 16- P: thankful for Mimi and papa Dad: thankful for Christmas Mom: thankful for a great hubby that makes me proud Day 17- P: thankful for my tomahawk Dad: thankful to be back home with my family Mom: thankful to be home with my family Day 18: P- thankful for doing fun things at Mimi and papas Dad- thankful for days off with family Mom-thankful for a family that enjoys singing Christmas carols Day 19: P- thankful for the trees and the grass Dad- thankful for Thanksgiving Mom- thankful to be able to celebrate Christmas even with a little tree in a little apartment Day 20: P- thankful for new army men Dad- family fun nights Mom- snuggle time with Preston Day 21: P-thankful for my big Batman Dad-thankful that Preston is having fun at school Mom-thankful for multiple Thanksgivings and one we got to share with Preston and his class at school Day 22- P-thankful for a fun weekend at the Gaylord Dad-thankful for hanging with family at the Gaylord Mom-thankful to spend a weekend with my family Day 23- P- thankful for my new teddy bear Dad- thankful for a new house Mom- being able to bring in the holidays with family Day 24- P- thankful for a sweet Nana Dad- thankful for good fires Mom- thankful to get to snuggle by the fire with my boys Day 25- P- thankful for a good daddy Dad- thankful for cold weather Mom-thankful for good family Day 26- P thankful for my big and little Batman Dad- thankful for everyone being healthy Mom- thankful for the upcoming holiday Day 27- P thankful for my mommy picking me up early from school Dad-thankful for traditions Mom-thankful for good family Day 28: P thankful for toy snakes Dad- thankful for a perfect wife, son and soon to be daughter and thankful for laughter Mom- thankful for an amazing hubby and son that I get to share Holiday traditions with! Day 29: P: thankful for the number calendar (advent) Dad: thankful for good fires Mom: thankful for a beautiful family Day 30: P: Thankful for my castle Dad: thankful to be so blessed Mom: thankful that we have so much to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving at The Gaylord

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Gaylord Texan for a fun few days with my family. We met Mom, Drew, Shelly, Riley, Kaylin and Kinley there for a fun filled weekend! Friday night we all went to dinner at the Mexican restaraunt there for moms birthday and then got to meet Santa Clause! Saturday was a fun filled day! We started the day with breakfast with the Madagascar characters, then went to build gingerbread trees with Gingy. After that we grabbed lunch and a quick nap, then headed to the ICE exhibit, the big kids did a little sledding while Preston got a chance to meet Po (from King Fu Panda), Toothless (from How to Train a Dragon) and Shrek! He was thrilled!! After that mom and I went and got massages, which were fantastic! We ended the evening with a fun 5D experience that everyone enjoyed and then grabbed dinner before we all passed out from a long fun day! Sunday morning we caught breakfast before everyone jumped on the road to head home. It was such a nice weekend with the family! Never long enough, but so thankful we got that time together! Preston LOVES spending time with his awesome cousins! It was such a treat for us all!