An Almost Perfect Christmas

We had plans to travel to Houston to celebrate Christmas with our dear friends Rex, Jim, and Fabene'. On the morning we were to depart, Todd received a call and had to go into work. Yuk! He was not going to be able to drive with us but was hoping to leave a couple hours later. Sadly, he did not make it.

We had a wonderful Mexican dinner and then exchanged gifts. As you can see in the pictures, a good time was had by all. Eva love, love, loves her new American Girl, Felicity! El has introduced her new Chrissa to all of her other girls. What a wonderful way to start off the best Christmas ever!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, another year has flown by. I finally know what my Mom meant when she would tell me she still felt 16. I thought, "How on earth?". But it is true. I still feel so young. Much younger than that number that keeps creeping up.

Miss Eva has a new 'do! She LOVES her bangs. When she first looked at herself she grinned, jumped up and down, and then said, "I'm just like Issy!".

Friends for Thanksgiving

Eva made a new friend on Thanksgiving. Gary and Leslie have a granddaughter, Lilly, who is one month older than Eva. The girls met and quickly became buddies. Here are some pictures that El took. Check back later for a cute video.

Buster

We have a houseguest this week... Buster! He is the teenage boy living next door. He is of the canine type of kid. Our neighbors, Leslie and Gary, took a little trip to London so we invited Buster to stay with us. He has been a good boy. He and Lelly get on well. They are definitely Mutt and Jeff! Lelly is 5 lbs. and Buster is about 75 lbs. Now Lelly had a little brawn to back up her bark. The cutest was the day I handed out treats (which Buster LOVES!) and he finished his and decided to try and take Lelly's. Let me tell you there was 5 pounds of fury! The funniest part was how quickly Buster backed off!!! He could have just as easily had Lelly for a treat.

Thanksgiving Feast!

Thanksgiving was a very fun event! However, I had several stressful moments just before the big day. First the windows in the front of the house are leaking... again. Second, and worst, I was sitting in the living room and I heard drip, drip, drip. I wander to the kitchen to find a pond in front of my dishwasher! I start calling to get it repaired... 1) can't come until after TG 2) scheduled a time the next day, confirmed time, then cancelled my saying they were overbooked 3) came out that afternoon but unable to get the part. Long story longer... I have dishpan hands!

In the picture with Eva, I am helping her with her sticker art book that Fabene' gave her. Then there is a photo of Jim. The lovely pilgrim is our new neighbor Leslie. They let us deep fry our turkey in their cooker. Everyone tells me it was delicious! Then you will see Chef Todd being watched by Fabene' as he attempts to fry the turkey without frying himself! Lastly but not least is Rex enjoying some spirits.

Rex, Jim, and Fabene' are our neighbors from our first house in Houston. We have certainly been blessed with great neighbors and that trend is continuing. Among the many things I am thankful for this season is for the wonderful Texas family we have in Rex, Jim, and Fabene', our great neighbors on Stanmore, the kind and artful Gadbois family and the fun Rice family, and our new neighbors Leslie, Gary, and Buster!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm so busy, busy, busy!

Well, I know it has been awhile but I will try to catch up. El won 3rd place in the Science Fair!!! Great job!! She did an experiment to find out which hand cleaning method is most effective: hand sanitizer with alcohol, hand sanitizer without alcohol, or anti-bacterial soap. To find out the results you will have to visit her blog.