Thanksgiving fun

My parents have a tractor, this leads to tons of time outside with the kids driving the tractor around the yard. This year, Lexie was old enough to be able to drive it with dad, and boy did she ever love it!

They drove around and around the yard, and she was as happy as could be...then it was time to get off, and this was what she looked like.

Poor girl, Kevin had pity on her and picked her up to ride again.

Before we came out to california, my sister and brother decided that on thanksgiving day we should have a tractor race. You'd think this would be more common in Texas, but we had to come way out to california to do it. This is the whole gang following my dad around to learn the course, which included chopping some wood, and picking an apple and taking a bite.

Kevin was the first to go, and he did pretty well, until he ran over the bush, but hey, it was WAY better than me! I have never driven the tractor before, so frankly, I'm just glad I didn't die. But I did lose pretty bad I think, Halli even did better than me. I think my dad was the winner, but he's kinda got the upper hand, you know, owning the tractor and all.

My nephew Tyler, ready to start the race.

My other nephew, Chase. This was the fun face I got when I told him to smile at me. He's a cutie, gotta love that crazy personality! We love seeing these boys a couple times a year.

I love this happy girl, she loved having all her uncles to play with and throw her around.

We had a great thanksgiving with the family, although my mom votes for it to be at my house next year so she doesn't have to cook...we'll see if that ever happens:)

Fun in the leaves

I am beyond thankful for all that our Heavenly Father has given us, and the ability we have to find joy in the little things.

I am so thankful for the chance I had today to watch our girls build a leaf pile and spend the better part of the morning playing in it, (something we don't get to do in Houston, cause as far as trees go, we've only got itty bitty oak trees that have almost no leaves).

They were able to enjoy Gods creations without even thinking twice about it, but as their mother, I will make it a point to think twice about all that we have been given, and hopefully pass that on to them.

Be prepared for an onslaught of photos, they were having too much fun, and I took too many pictures!:)

By far, my favorite photo of the day, they're just happy, and beautiful and I love it!

Enjoying the harvest in my parents yard. Can I just say that if you like pomegranates, let me know, they have a tree that's bursting with them!

Sorry for the excessive amount of photos, but what can I say, I've got the most beautiful subjects a person could wish for!

Fall!!!

We've made it to california for thanksgiving, and it's chilly. Kevin is loving it, I'm a little cold, (yes, I'm a wimp). But I am LOVING all the fall colors! My parents have some huge trees with such beautiful colors, something you just don't get much of in Houston. So I had to head out and get some pictures of it, cause I have to be able to remember all these colors when I go home and they're gone.

Sometimes it's easy to skip over thanksgiving and move right on to Christmas, I know I do it plenty. But being out here in this great fall weather, with the family for thanksgiving, I'm sure it'll be easier to sit down and really appreciate this holiday.

So hopefully I'll be diligent and do this, but I just wanted to post every day this week about all of the things I'm so thankful for and blessed to have in my life. I'm so thankful for my family and the fact that my whole family gets to be together this year, for the first time in over 3 years, it's gonna be great!

All these pictures were just taken in my parent's back yard, I miss having a big yard that isn't surrounded by a fence and other peoples houses.

I had to get some photos of the resident cutie in the house too, we sure do love this spunky little girl!

Fall Market

In an effort to promote Taffy Apple Designs, and get the word out about my cards, I am going to be a vendor at a fall market this saturday at the Lakewood Grove Clubhouse. I am a little nervous, seeing as how I've never done one before, but it should be fun! Come if you can, there are going to be a ton of vendors there, and it's a great place to start, (or if your way ahead of the game, end), your Christmas shopping.

Click on the flyer to make it larger and you can read the list of vendors that will be there. There's also going to be food, and raffles with some amazing prizes. If you're in the area, hope you can make it. If anything it'll be fun to see some familiar faces while I'm hanging out all day!

Halloween!

Halloween was a perfect and relaxing day at our house, just what you need to be energized and ready for a night out trick-or-treating! In the morning I took Halli and Peyton to a photography class, and it was SO great! I learned some stuff about lighting that I think will really help. Anywho, here are some of my favorite pics from the morning, cause I know you all think it's so fun to look at them!:)

Halli, looking great! All the kids there were toddlers, so Halli had to be the subject for the majority of the time, cause she'd do what she was told to do.


The rest of the photos are all backlit, cause I LOVE that effect! Peyton didn't want to take pictures at first, so I'm glad that when she finally warmed up to the idea I got a couple decent photos.

My adorable niece Kylie, I love how her curls look in that light.

My other niece, Savannah, this is when we were almost done, and she just leaned against her mom and kept smiling at me, so cute!

This little guy is Lincoln, he's in my ward, and he's adorable! Just playing with his horse on the bridge, in the perfect light.

Now, on to Halloween night. The girls were beyond excited to dress up and head out for the evening. First stop was my sister-in-laws house for pizza, and lots of yummy drinks. The kids played and enjoyed hanging out with all their cousins.

I got a few pictures of the girls, but to be honest, they were much more interested in trick-or-treating, so ya take what you can get!

Halli was princess Erika from a Barbie movie, she looked beautiful in her blue dress, and she loved being able to wear make-up!

Peyton was princess Annaliese from the same Barbie movie, the only difference is that she wears a pink dress.

Here's our little 50's girl. She did NOT want to be in any pictures and prefered to be held all night. Although she would let us put her down as long as there was candy in her hand. :)

Another shot of our princesses

A group shot of all the kiddos there. Talk about a big group! Halli was the oldest, and the rest, all 14 of them, were 4 and under.

Out trick-or-treating, they couldn't get to the next house fast enough.

I have no idea why I even took this last photo, but seriously Jamie, you couldn't even wait till you got home to ransack the kids candy? :)

We had a great evening with some great people, and have WAY too much candy in our house now. The only thing that could have made anything better would have been if my girls understood daylight savings time. Really, you'd think they'd be so tired they'd sleep in a little bit!