Christmas Decorating!

Our first bit of Christmas decorating for the year was at my parents' house...we went and helped them decorate their tree. Belton really enjoyed it and was excited the next day when it was time to decorate our tree!

 TREE!!

 He was very careful and gentle with the ornaments and helped hang them on the tree.

 And he LOVED this Christmas Tree music box that I got in Austria on a high school choir trip.

 Then he and Matt had a blast putting up Christmas lights. Not that we did much- but we used what we had!

 It's all fun and games until it's time to go inside.

 We're working on that!

Thanksgiving

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Tovars this year! After Pie Night- I had to make a pie...even though our oven was broken. So I made a fudge pie in the toaster oven!  It turned out pretty good, I think! 

We went around the circle and counted off to see how many people were there before the prayer. There were 65 Tovars! Wow!

 Papaw and Belton

Our family.

 Belton enjoyed his first ever Capri Sun.

 He loved it so much that he gave everyone at the table two thumbs up!

 Papaw and Grandma taking a stroll in the backyard.

 They certainly love their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

 Belton, Abuela, Matt, Abuelo

 Emma and Belton

 Blake, Riley and Belton- the three great grandkids! These three had a lot of fun chasing each other around the house!

Happy Thanksgiving! We are very, very blessed!!

Pie Night!

 So...I have this amazing friend named Liz. Her husband's family decided that pie is the most important part of Thanksgiving...but by the time you're done eating Thanksgiving dinner you're too full to enjoy it! So, they have Pie Night on the day before Thanksgiving every year. Liz has carried on this tradition since they moved to Texas and we were lucky enough to be invited this year!

 I believe she made 17 pies. Yes you read that right. 17. All from scratch. Crusts from scratch. Everything. And they were delicious!

Flavored whipped creams, ice cream that won't melt on you, and small milks and waters. This girl knows how to  throw a party!

 We had a blast and voted for our favorites! I loved the brownie pie! YUM!

 And the Peppermint Ice Cream pie was my second favorite.

Back Row: Laura, Liz, Jessica, Leandra and Ellie, and Kim. Front Row: Ellie and Jen, and Chelsey

What an awesome tradition. And a fun night!

Double Date with The Riches

Our sweet friends, the Riches moved to Utah a few weeks after we moved out of our apartment. 

We had all moved into the area around the same time, childrenless, young married couples. Danielle and I were Visiting Teaching partners, she was my Visiting Teacher for a while, and at one point Jesse was our Home Teacher. They had twin boys about six months after we had Belton and we just really enjoy them! So we made time for a double date before they moved and we never wanted it to end! We had a great dinner and then headed to IHOP for some hot chocolate.

 Jesse and Danielle - I love that they're cracking up!

 Me and Matt

We will definitely miss these sweet friends of ours!

Baby Ezra

We have been spoiled while Chrystal has been on maternity leave to get to spend so much time with her and baby Ezra!

I loved taking some pictures of this sweet little guy!

Belton has loved getting attention from Chrystal while I was tending to Ezra. So fun!

 Almost every day lately, Belton says "baby house!" asking to go to Ezra's house.

 He has been so sweet and gentle with this little guy. Love it!

 <3