Planes, Trains and Automobiles

This Thanksgiving, we made the trek to Uvalde, Texas for my cousin Merrill's wedding. We left Thursday morning at 6 a.m. and landed in San Antonio at 11. We then got in a rental car and started the drive towards Uvalde. We stopped in a little town at a restaurant called Sammie's and had "Thanksgiving Dinner" Mom, Dad and I had the traditional turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, etc. while Chris celebrated with a bacon cheeseburger. After lunch we finished our 2 hour drive to Uvalde and took a nap before going to see family and friends.

Friday, we helped decorate the hall where the reception was held. We also went to a small Mexican restaurant for lunch. It was a neat experience! Later in the day, Joe and Kendra arrived and that night, we went to Concan for the rehearsal dinner.

We started Saturday by going to HEB (the Texas Hy-vee) to stock up on all kinds of South West Texas goodies. The ladies then went to the Bride's luncheon while the guys went to the Groom's luncheon. It was a good time! The wedding took place at 4:00 and it was beautiful. The reception was also beautiful, it's amazing how fast you can transform an empty morton building into a beautiful reception hall! Dinner was delicious, I don't think I've ever had fajitas that amazing!

On Sunday morning we had breakfast with Joe and Kendra, and started our long trek home.

All in all, it was a beautiful weekend full of family and friends. I think Chris had a great time, and fell in love with South West Texas.

This morning Chris had to get back on a plane (about 12 hours after he got off the plane), to go to Jacksonville, Florida for work. I'm sure he will be completely worn out by the time he gets home on Wednesday! The girls and I wish he was able to spend more time at home before having to leave.

Week 17

I meant to upload the blog last weekend, but it was a busy weekend. Mom and Dad had last Friday the 6th off due to conferences and ultimately the Toy Show, so they came down to visit. Friday, Mom and I did a little bit of shopping for clothes for Dad, maternity clothes for me and shoes for Mom.

On Saturday, Mom and I along with Chris' mom Marcia, went to the Ankeny craft shows (at the grade school and high school, we didn't make it to the middle school) we also went to Treasure House in Ankeny, where Mom bought a present for the baby. Its first tackle box. It comes complete with a stuffed fishing pole, bobber, bait bucket, worm, and fish! So cute, I think Grandma Tomas would have even enjoyed it!

When we were finished shopping, we went back to the house to find Chris and Bob cleaning the garage! It's amazing to have a three car garage, that looks like it is a three car garage! Plus now the snow-blower is easily accessible; although, I really hope we don't need it any time soon!

Saturday night, all 6 of us went out for dinner at Bandana's BBQ. After dinner, we took Mom and Dad to Sam's club to get some new luggage for our trip to Texas over Thanksgiving. I still can't believe we are almost to the holidays already!

Sunday after church, we went to Jade Garden for lunch, then Mom and Dad took off for home. It was a very busy weekend with lots of shopping and good company!

Happy Halloween!

Friday night was "Beggars Night". In preparation, Chris and I carved pumpkins. Chris carved the rottweiler and I carved the bullldog.

We also handed out candy to the neighborhood kids. Chris had me stop for candy on my way home from work one night, and I came home with 8 bags (needless to say, don't send the pregnant woman to the store to buy Halloween candy). It was rainy and cold here, so we were worried that we wouldn't have any kids. I think we had about 30 kids, so we have plenty of left over candy.

Chris and I enjoyed looking at all of their kids in their costumes, Mercedes enjoyed watching the kids (and trying to sneak out to play with them) and Lexi thought the kids were exciting until she figured out that they were "dinosaurs and scary monsters".

16 weeks

On Monday, October 26th, we were 16 weeks along, so we figured it was a good time to take our first belly picture. For us it was fun to see that I am actually starting to look a little pregnant and it will be fun to watch the baby grow over the next 24 weeks!