Still Giving Thanks...

...for my 3 favorite people and a great holiday. It sure was hard to get out of bed to go back to work today. We are counting the days until Christmas break!

I am making a pre-New Year's Resolution to actually enjoy December and all the festivities the holidays bring. Usually I get so caught up in the stress of decorating and Christmas shopping and class parties and packing to visit family that I don't even enjoy it. So this year, my plan is to keep the true meaning of Christmas at the center of all that we do. God has truly blessed us!

Giving Thanks

We spent our Thankgiving at Granny's and PaPa's house. Spending time with family is such a blessing.

Austin is a very patient guitar teacher.

The catfish were biting, which made Jake and Daddy very happy.

Granny's bread got sacrificed to feed the geese and ducks.


Thanks Granny and PaPa for a wonderful holiday!

Fightin' Texas Aggie Bonfire

Last night, we took the kids to the student Bonfire. We figured the brain-washing process needed to be continued, so we invited ourselves to go along with Ashly and Brant. We all piled in my fairly-new car and headed out to drive to the burn site. This site, according to the navigation system, was out in the middle of nowhere between Bryan and Hearne. Traffic was bad; we expected that, so we patiently and slowly made the trek.

What we didn't expect was the pasture parking lot, made messy by a morning rain. We knew it was a bad sign when the number of cars and trucks that were stuck couldn't be counted on one hand. We managed to park without too much trouble, all the while wishing we would have brought Cody's not-so-new, 4-wheel drive truck.

Waiting for the fire to be lit.

Quote from Jake: "Light that sucker up!" (Light pronounced Wight)

Cody and I had not been to a student-led Bonfire since before the tragedy 10 years ago when 12 Aggies were killed. The last time we went, it was still on campus. The band was there. The yell leaders were there. The football players were there. We weren't really sure what to expect of an off-campus Bonfire. We weren't disappointed. Although all of the elements of the old days werent' there, the kids experienced yell practice, singing the War Hymn and the Spirit of Aggieland, "humping it" and "The Last Corp Trip."

The kids also got to experience sitting in the car in a pasture for over an hour watching people get stuck while trying to get back to the road.

Can you tell how stuck this guy was?

Going to the Chapel...

Go here to see more pictures of this cute Aggie couple.

Yesterday, I got to spend some time back on campus at Texas A&M...whoop! It has probably been almost 15 years since I had walked around campus, other than just going to Kyle Field for a game. What a treat to get to take pictures of my two favorite Aggies and see places that brought back lots of fun memories. College days do not seem that far away until you realize that the current students were in elementary school when you were there.

I didn't take these photos, but these are a few places we went yesterday to take engagement pictures.

New Look

Josie got her new glasses today. They came with a very cute case and a charm bracelet. She thought it was a great deal.

For the Hunter in Your Life

It's Christmas list time!

Have you seen this? It's our latest time waster. Every household needs one. You just plug it straight in to the tv, and it's ready to play.

Cody thinks we should just go ahead and buy one for everyone on our list. Family and friends, just pretend to be surprised when you open it on Christmas Day.

Halloween in the 'hood

We look forward to Halloween in our neighborhood. We typically have lots of trick-or-treaters, and we sit with our neighbors in the driveway and hand out candy. Thankfully we have high school friends that take the kids trick-or-treating. I'm getting pretty spoiled!

Jake dressed as spider man (without the mask-he didn't like it), wore his camo jacket and carried his new cap gun. Josie decided to dress as a cheerleader since she wore her witch costume to school all day on Friday.

Carving Pumpkins

We carve pumpkins each year, just as I did growing up. Jake really thought he could be the one to wield the knife, but thankfully Gamma and Daddy kept him from carving himself. We roasted the seeds when we were done, and they turned out pretty good this year.

To roast the seeds, just rinse them and get all the "guts" off. Dry them on a towel and then drizzle with vegetable oil and toss with salt. Bake on a cookie sheet at 300* for 30-40 minutes.

Character Dress-Up Day

I love Character Dress-Up Day, and the kids at school love it too. Josie was Mitzi from Hoodwinked. I was Stephanie from Stephanie's Ponytail, but I managed to escape with no pictures.

The Birthday Extravaganza

Jake's birthday party was a success!

Mrs. Smith

My high school English teacher passed away on Friday. I credit Mrs. Smith with my ability to write this post. She was a phenomenal teacher and a great lady. She coached me to state in UIL Headline Writing which led to a 4-year scholarship in college. She taught us to write a resarch paper, diagram a sentence, and to do your homework or have to stay in for lunch. From her I learned that "pictures are hung, and people are hanged." Also, "corn is raised, children are reared." She taught my brother and sister as well as several of my cousins and hundreds of other Happy High School students. I can only pray that my children will have at least one teacher like her.