A Time for Thanks...Ready for the Holidays

We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year with the family this year.  On Thursday, we celebrated Owen's birthday with lunch at Mom's house and we waited to celebrate Thanksgiving until Friday since Melanie was coming in that morning.  Jocelyn was her adorable self as usual.  Grandma Pam brought her a Barbie RV that she found at a Second Blessings shop and Jocelyn is in love with that thing.  What a deal too! 

 

Despite the recent loss of my Aunt Katherine, there was still lots to be thankful for this year...because John and I are expecting...TWINS!  Yikes.  We are very excited and so is Jocelyn. I'm only 13 weeks along but showing like I'm 5 months already.  I didn't hesitate to bust out the maternity pants and I've been wearing them for a month now, they are so comfy!  The nausea has been pretty bad, but it will all be worth it come June (maybe sooner) when we hold our two new bundles of joy!  Since this is a multiples pregnancy, my OB/GYN is having me also see a specialist to make sure it all goes smoothly, which means that I'll have twice the doctor appointments but also twice the ultrasounds and I love seeing pictures of the precious babies.

As usual, we put up the Christmas decorations right after we put away the stuffing and the pie.  Christmas is my all time favorite holiday and I love decorating.  I start listening to Christmas music in the car and I think it even helps me deal with the frustrations of traffic! This year Jocelyn got her own Christmas tree to put in her room with her own ornaments...mostly from Ya Ya...and of course she wanted her tree to be pink, her favorite color. 

 

 

 

 

A Week Away

Last Sunday (Nov. 11) I headed west to California for a work conference in San Diego.  The conference lasted until Wednesday just before lunch and there was no way I could get that close to Disneyland and not go and check it out for a few days.  I took the Amtrak north to Anaheim on Wednesday, arriving at around 1pm, and stayed until Saturday morning (and when I say Saturday morning, I mean my shuttle picked me up from my hotel at 3:30am to make my 6:30am flight out of LAX).   I wish John and Jocelyn would have been able to come with me but the price of airfare was pretty steep and I just couldn't justify it.   She got to spend a few days with Grandpa and Grandma Cherri in San Antonio while I was gone and John was at work and she had a great time.  So glad she got to spend the time with her grandparents.  I missed her like crazy and was so excited to be home!

 

San Diego was beautiful and I stayed at a hotel right on the bay.  The time change hit me pretty hard my arrival day and I was asleep by 8pm (California time) on Sunday night.  The conference was really good and I felt like I brought a lot of good information and a great big 'To-Do" list back with me. 

 

Disneyland was really neat and I'm glad I went and experienced it for the first time.  It is a very different feel than Walt Disney World, but not much beats the holiday season at a Disney park.  The castle was much smaller than the one in the Magic Kingdom in Disney World, but there are a few things that I thought Disneyland did better than Disney World (It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion).  

 

The parks were decorated beautifully and the Christmas parade was awesome.  Totally got me in the holiday spirit.  It was a little odd eating at restaurants all by myself, but the cast members were really nice and helpful and never made me feel out of place.  There were so many rides and activities that I know Jocelyn would have loved (that are not at Disney World) and there were some that I know she would not like because they'd be "too dark" as she would say.  I stayed at a "good neighbor hotel" just a few blocks from the parks.  In the mornings the walk wasn't too bad at all, but by the end of the day my feet were tired and I didn't want to make the trek.  Luckily there was a parking lot right across the street from the hotel that had a shuttle straight to the entrance of Disneyland (the Toy Story Lot), so I'd take the bus in the evenings and make the short walk across the street.  So glad Disney was lenient on who used the buses and didn't require proof of parking in the lot...thank you Disney!   Here are some pictures from my trip.  I'd love to go back...and take my family with me now that I know the lay of the land.

 

 

Aunt Katherine

This has been a sad week for our family as we have endured the loss of another family member.  On Tuesday, my Aunt Katherine went to be with the Lord.  She took an unfortunate and unexpected turn during a surgery to repair her hip.  It is a tough loss as we have also lost my Grandmother (my Mom and Katherine's mother) and Uncle David (Katherine's husband) in less than 2 years, but we know she is in good company and a better place.

 

I'd like to say just a few words about Aunt Katherine.  Growing up, no matter what, Aunt Katherine was in attendance at all of our graduations, birthday parties, Christmases, Thanksgivings, and school events. Aunt Katherine didn't have children of her own, but she treated us like her own.  She was always proud of our accomplishments, shared the joy in our triumphs and the sorrow in our losses.  She always had a story to tell and an opinion to share, and I loved that.  If you needed to know where to find a specialty item, she could track it down on ebay.  If you were having a garage sale, she was there to offer her expertise.  She loved all things Coach and I knew I could never go wrong with a little something from that store for her birthday or Christmas.  She loved coming to my Improv shows and I'll miss having her in the audience (it's always nice when someone laughs at your puns no matter how cheesey)!  Aunt Katherine was full or life and laughter and it was infectious.  We will miss her greatly.   With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I give thanks for the time we had with her and even though her seat will be empty at the table this year she will be there in spirit.

 

 

Pumpkin Patch

I'm usually not that much of a procrastinator, but I waited until Halloween to take Jocelyn to the Pumpkin Patch to take some quick pictures.  She wanted to sit on every single one of the pumpkins and she's in that phase where she doesn't want to actually look at the camera.  We got a couple of decent ones.  She kept saying cheese, but wouldn't look at the camera.  Silly kiddo.  Maybe next year she'll be more interested in posing. 

We didn't go out Trick or Treating, but we did let the kids come to us.  We didn't have too terribly many Trick or Treaters, but Jocelyn had fun handing over the candy and seeing all the kids dressed in costumes.