Aunt Beka's Christmas Party

Last night we packed the kids up and headed to Dallas for Aunt Beka's Family Christmas Party at her office.  They had face painting, balloon artist, santa, food and lots of fun.
Petting the polar bear in the lobby


Harper our Christmas Fairy

Meeting Santa in the hallway.  First time I've seen Harper speechless in a long time!


Not so sure what to think about this.




It was a little late by now so the kids were done.

Fun times!

Tucson Marathon with Heather

This weekend I had the privilege of traveling to Tucson, AZ with my friend Heather so she could run he Tucson Marathon.  Her hubby couldn't go at the last minute so I was able to be the stand in support crew and cheerleader. It took me back to my Team In Training days of managing my teams at different events around the country.  I had it easy this time because I just had one athlete to keep up with.  We stayed in the beautiful Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Resort.

This pool was her (our) reward after the race on Sunday! The resort had 6 pools and they were all heated.

On Saturday afternoon we drove the marathon course and came across the Biosphere 2.  Heather was supposed to be staying off of her feet but it was a very cool place to tour. The Biosphere 2 was built back in the early 90's when they sealed 8 Biospherians (Scientists & Doctors) inside the glass enclosure to measure survivability.  During this 2 years they conducted many science experiments in the 6 different ecosystems that the recreated inside the Biosphere.  Sounds a little strange - but it was very cool to tour.  The University of Arizona owns it now and uses it for many different research projects.


Inside the jungle ecosystem


We enjoyed a nice pre race dinner on Saturday night then headed to bed early to get ready for her big day.  I had the rental car during the race and followed her along the course.  I was able to see her about 7-8 times along the course.  It was a downhill course out in the dessert and the weather was perfect for running.
Mile 7

I wore this silly Christmas Tree headband so she could easily spot me along the course.  I also made noise makers with empty water bottles and rocks so she couldn't miss me.

Mile 17 looking strong.


Notice the mountains in the background.  It made for pretty landscape to look at.

She did it!!


We spent Sunday afternoon at the pool. It was strange being in a pool in December.



Thanks for letting me tag along for a fun weekend!

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

It's hard to put up Christmas decorations when it's 80 degrees outside but that is Texas for you.  We pulled out the Christmas tree yesterday along with all of the other decorations.

 

 

Checking out the ornaments that he made in mother's day out last year.

 

 

The kids love seeing houses with the big inflatables in the front yard....so.....I'm THAT neighbor now with the annoying big red Santa inflatable in the front yard. Ha! The kids LOVE it!!

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving day we headed out to Granbury to have lunch with Jeff's family.  His Aunt & Uncle live out there along the Brazos River.  It's beautiful and the kids enjoyed being outside.


Harper and her 2nd cousin Austin.

Grandad Sherman supervising the kids table.

After lunch in Granbury, we packed up and headed to Paris for the rest of the weekend. The weather was perfect all weekend to play outside on Papa & Mimi's land.

A little afternoon baseball

Harper made it to first base.


Papa had several outside projects for the kids to help him with. Once included picking up all of the crab apples that have fallen from the trees.  They would fill the wheel barrow with a load and then hop on top and ride over to the burn pile. They did this over and over and over.



Friday afternoon we did family photos and then afterwards went to downtown Paris to walk around and see the decorations.

This same sled has been around since I was little because we have family pics in here also.


Over 102 years separates these two but they have such a sweet bond.  Grandma Jane is reading him his animal book and they are practicing all of the animal sounds.


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with lots of family and yummy food. We have so much to be thankful for this year.