December

 What a fun, packed, crazy busy month.  We arrive back home from our family vacation and Thanksgiving in Beaumont and the month of December is off with a bang, on Dec. 1 was Lydia & Gloria's church choir performances.  They both did beautifully and we enjoyed Nana & Grandpa coming and burgers after.

 That weekend we had Lydia's party (see next post) and that evening set up our tree and Christmas decorations, later in the month including outdoor lights!

 At church we had a special prayer wall for all the people of the world so the girls and I dressed up in international clothes.  That afternoon we made gingerbread (graham cracker) houses at UT with Janine.

 Friendship International's Christmas party, Mom & Dad came and we did a pj skit of a typical family Christmas morning.  It was super fun

 Then we all went to see Santa at the mall, not too bad a line and sweet girls.  And celebrated Grandpa's birthday at Matt's El Rancho.

 Rasmia, Gloria and I took a trip to San Antonio and this is the tree in front of the Alamo.  It was a cold drizzly day so we meet Julie and baby Jude at their home before horrible traffic all the way home.

 Our Sunday school Christmas party.  Over 30 kids and their parents packed out the house, performed a wonderful nativity play, ate a potluck and decorated cookies.

 Gloria and I had lots of fun visiting friends including sweet baby Sara who was matching in purple this time!

 To make December even more festive, it is the month that our Bradford Pear tree's leaves turn beautiful colors and fall off.  So we had several afternoons of fun, raking and jumping!

 Gloria's Pre-K had a Christmas musical.

 The class

 A group from Friendship went to Mozart's coffeeshop to watch their Christmas light show.  We had a great time chatting and enjoying it.  3 ladies came from Morocco, two from Iran and me and Roxane.

 Texas Parks & Wildlife had a big Christmas party with Santa, division potluck, tons of crafts and activities, and Caleb got off at noon to go to….

Lydia's class party.  Gloria is about the same size so she slips right now.  They consumed as much sugar as they could in one hour of fun.  Her teacher LOVES Christmas, they had learned about it in various countries, did Santa problem solving and more.  We got to take her home to begin the Christmas break.  That evening we walked around the neighborhood enjoying Christmas lights (easier than going to Zilker)
As I write this it is New Year's Eve and I felt a little behind the whole month.  Now I know if we plan another family vacation for Thanksgiving week, I need to think ahead a little.  We didn't do our advent candles or advent activities.  I hope overall it was a good mix of fun cultural activities, friends and still focusing on Jesus!  Merry December to all!   And next to blog Christmas in Salado (though I did stay up to date with FB pics)

Lydia's Party

 Would you like winter to finally come to Texas?  Well just have us schedule Lydia's party and its done :)  Almost every year its seems the weekends are beautiful until her day, we had a pony scheduled but this Saturday was cold and potentially icy and windy, so Mom/Nana planned some more indoor craft/game fun and we partied inside.  Here is making hat bands for cowboy hats.

 The moms had a good time hanging out too.

 Girl pic:  Mia & Amber from school, Lydia, Maddie, Abby, Summer, Lucy, Rachel, Gloria, Nita and Flower.

 You can see the pin the tail on the pony behind Lydia with her desert mountain horse cake.  She was dressed like Saige.  We also played with sugar cubes and had hot chocolate as well as snacks.

Fun time with fun friends!

Thanksgiving

 We arrived home on Wednesday night, Thursday morning, Thanksgiving, we were back in the car, heading to the other side of Texas:  Beaumont.  We arrived for a light lunch and then helped a little with dinner prep.  Linda had knee surgery so Christy did most of the work.  The weather was warm and the sun was out so the kids played outside a lot.

 Family Thanksgiving Dinner!!

 Friday we went to the park to play.  Christy and family had to leave so we had some quiet time with Linda.

Thankful for these blessings

ANM trip, Day 4 part2

 We came back into the city and had a picnic outside the Aquarium and Botanical Gardens.

 The Aquarium was warm!  There was a mantra ray tank...

 and a big shark tank with turtles and divers feeding the animals.  There was also a coral reef tunnel, jellyfish and more.

 Then to the outside Botanical Gardens which were preparing for their Christmas lights show.  There was a fairy garden with huge watering can, and this pumpkin.  The girls loved running around pretending to be fairies!

 There was also a Japanese garden with coy, some of the fountains still had ice in them.

 It was a little cold so Gloria and I went back to the Aquarium to warm up for a few minutes while Lydia and Caleb played in the fairy garden and hid from each other.  One time she hid too long and he was afraid he lost her, but they found each other!

 Gloria and I joined them because they had turned the lights on.

 The Sandia mountains, were named (maybe) because they looked like a watermelon with the setting sun on them.

From there we went to UNM to pick up Maryam who took us to an Arabic restaurant.  We proceeded to stay for four hours talking about culture, classes, Oman, family and 'hanging out.'  We ate too much, had hot tea with mint and the girls played wonderfully and had the run of the dining room.  We dropped Maryam off at student housing and said Goodbye until inshallah next time in Texas, and back to the hotel for our last night and packing up.
Day 5-we drove and drove and drove.  12 hours, only two stops, gassing up, bathroom breaks and making of meals, yay we had enough leftovers not to have to buy anything!  The girls watched the Barbie movie, played with silly putty, snacked and sang Christmas music.

ANM trip, Day 4 part 1

 Finally it was on! On the city side of the mountains the snow was gone, but as we passed through them it got colder and icier and snowier.  I drove on ice and got stuck right in front of the stables.  Caleb and Donald, the owner, pushed us onto the driveway, but as we were getting all ready to ride, four other cars got stuck including a van with two guys who got all and were all dressed in orange.  We were told they were monks and up the mountain there was an monastery…Cedar Crest Stables is family owned and there were 16 horses.  

 Where the snow was melting it was turning MUDDY, Gloria enjoyed getting stuck.  She fell and we had to quote Ms Frizzle from Magic School bus-Take chances, make mistakes and get messy!

 After the safety lesson, Lydia got to get on Kip...

 Caleb got Snoopy.  Gloria got to pet all of them so that made her happy.  Gloria and I played around the grounds while they were on their ride.  Their backyard was beautiful snow and we messed it up with lots of muddy footprints.  Gloria did get a little tired and the cats would run away from her but it was good when we got to stand a pet a pretty blue eyed horse for a long time.

 The three riders headed out into the mountains, they didn't get to go out as far because some of the ice was still slippery in places.  Lydia learned how to direct the horse and would have to kick her to start because she enjoyed eating anything green.

 Gloria and I ended our time with snacks in a comfy chair.

 Donald took a couple of family pictures and Lydia was so happy!  Yes we are all wearing blue jeans.  Mine and Gloria's were super muddy so we changed back to 'regular' pants.

ANM, Day 3 part 2

 We had daylight left after coming down from the tramway so we wanted to see the Rio Grande River. We went to Tingley beach and chased tons of birds….

 walked through the brush to the actual river...

 and saw a hot air balloon!  Saige designed and rode it one but that wasn't on our agenda this time.  The mountain covered with the cloud was where we were at the peak, still covered in cloud!

 The girls and I had watched a kid video about the Southwest and it featured Route 66, several places where we drove through town were part of the old road and I enjoyed pointing it out, the girls would groan!  We left the beach at sunset and drove through downtown to find a place to eat, ended up at a hamburger tavern….

then back to the hotel for hot chocolate, horse art and hot baths!