A day to give thanks

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a fun day.

The kids had school but they had a special Thanksgiving lunch for the children and families to participate in. The blue building here is the school, with children who attend from ages 6 months (daycare) up through 10th grade.

That night we hosted 24 people for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a crowd but we had fun visiting and spending time with our "family" here, mostly missionaries and American members of the branch. Everyone's tummy's were filled and there was plenty of food to go around.

There's nothing you want to do more after a couple of 10,000 calorie meals than go out to the pool and show off your figure. That's the reason I stayed behind the camera.

Sugar and spice and everything nice....

that's what this little boy is made of! If you know Damon you know what I mean.

Are you serious?

Somebody in this household taught the baby how to play games on the computer.

It should be a snow day

It is a cold, wintry day today. I'm guessing the temp dropped below 70, we may be sitting at 68 degrees right now! It is dark and cloudy and stormy and rainy. Makes you want to spend the day curled up watching a movie, eating pop corn and drinking hot chocolate. This may be the closest to a "snow day" we're going to get for a while.

You get suspicious....

and begin to investigate when 20 minutes of silence goes by with a 5 and 2-year-old playing together.

Hilton Head

We had a grand time in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for the week. Adrian and I spent some much needed time alone together and I spent some much needed time alone while he was in meetings. I got my hair done, did a little shopping and picked up a few things for Halloween and Christmas and kids birthdays next April and May. We had a really nice room at the Grand Ocean Marriott Timeshare Hotel. I was able to work out and shower without coordinating around naps, etc. We walked and rode bikes on the beach, had some nice dinners out, and completely relaxed. We saw dolphins, alligators, beautiful sunsets, and enjoyed some cool weather.

Since we’ve never done this before, I didn’t know how great it can be to get away. But now that I know, my unsolicited advice is this, if you can do it, plan a small trip away without kids every so often. It can do wonders for your spirit. You’ll realize that there are things you would like to think about that you haven’t had time to think about, with all the thoughts of diapers, carpools, homework, meals, cleaning, laundry, etc. taking up all the space in your brain.

An 18-hour layover; a blessing or a curse?

I spent last week in South Carolina with Adrian. He was gone for 2 weeks on business, and I flew in for the second week. We’re so thankful that we have willing and trustworthy friends in St. Kitts who will agree to stay at our place and take care of 3 extra kids for a week! Actually, Adrian and I have never gone anywhere together without kids for longer than a few hours, so this was really a big deal.

It was a day and a half of traveling to get there, which included an 18-hour layover in Dallas. Normally, that would be a nightmare, but lucky me, Lexy drove up from Austin and picked me up and we had a great time every moment, so it wasn't bad at all.

More details about Hilton Head, South Carolina in the next post.

(Apparently) "It's the most wonderful time of the year" (now)

We had a fun Halloween. Even though they don't really participate in this holiday, the kids had fun activities all week at the American Prep School, and there is a neighborhood that invites us to come trick-or-treating if we donate the candy. We showed off a ninja, a zoo-keeper, and a race-car driver.

After trick-or-treating we ate pizza, sorted and taste-tested candy, took showers, and the kids climbed into bed. We then saw a Christmas commercial on T.V. and were forced with the realization that Christmas is right around the corner (at least that's what the retailers would have us believe.) I suppose it's time to start preparing for "the most wonderful time of the year." Already. We just got through with Halloween an hour ago....