NorthPark

 Barrett, along with our school Honor Choir performed at NorthPark Center.

NorthPark is decorated so festive this time of year.  It was a special time listening to Barrett and the choir sing Christmas songs.

Barrett rode the school bus with the choir to the mall.  After the concert, Barrett, Gram, and I all ate lunch together and walked around the mall.  We visited the Lego Store, Disney Store, and Tesla Store. After we browsed the shops, we signed Barrett out from his teacher and he rode back home with us. We had the best time!

 Barrett bought himself a Stitch mug in the Disney Store and has enjoyed drinking milk and hot chocolate out of it.

Today was truly a special day we will always remember!

Welcoming the Season

We have officially welcomed the Christmas season over here!

After an evening of babysitting our cute little niece and nephews, we had an impromptu idea to take the golf cart to look at Christmas lights in our neighborhood before they went back home.

 Brynn and I kicked off the season by watching the classic White Christmas together.

 An afternoon spent with Gram brought some fun leaf piles and jumping!

 We went out to dinner to celebrate Kaleb's 3 year Adoption Day and Brynn's 8 year Gotcha Day.

 Brynn chose a sewing machine charm this year for her special charm bracelet.

We are so thankful for the family God has blessed us with and the upcoming Christmas season!

Thanksgiving

We started Thanksgiving morning over at the Gillespie house.

Mom, Dad, Auntie, and the Gillespies were all enjoying homemade cinnamon rolls and the parade, so we went over to join in.

When we got back home, Brynn and I got to work cooking for our Thanksgiving dinner.

 She is such a big help in the kitchen!

I'm so thankful for my 4 turkeys!

They bring us such joy and laughter, most of the time :)

We enjoyed our Grable family Thanksgiving dinner at the Gillespie house this year.

The food, fun, and laughter didn't disappoint!

 The cousin pack

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Galveston Island State Park ~ Last Day

The sun was shining today, but the wind was blowing!

Since we had a long drive back, we packed up and hit the road after breakfast.

 We had a great time exploring Galveston!  The kids are ready to go back soon.

 The picnic table awning made this state park unique.  The kids played for hours in and around it.

 So long Galveston Island!  You were chilly and wet, but good to us!

Galveston Island SP - Day 3

Today we woke up to rain and cool temperatures.  Luckily we had planned to spend a day at NASA, so this day worked out perfectly.

We started with a delicious breakfast at the Sunflower Bakery.

The bakery was quaint and the food was excellent.

 Our next stop was The International Space Station.

 The kids had a blast and learned so much as they explored everything space.

It was good to rest our feet during lunch.

 Kaleb getting to see parts of the moon.

 NASA was a fun and educational experience for the kids.  And since the weather was so dreary, we were in no hurry to get back to our cold and soggy campground.

We went back to Sunflower Bakery to get a snack/dessert.

It didn't disappoint!

 Afterward we went to Murdochs to shop and look around.

 The boys always love to play dress-up in souvenir shops!

We ate dinner at Shrimp and Stuff in old town Galveston.

Our bellies were very full and satisfied!

It was a long, yet very fulfilling day!

We went back to our cold and soggy campground and called it a night.

Galveston Island SP- Day 2

We started our morning off with breakfast at the camper.  The kids were dying to go see the beach, so we walked the short path from our camper to the beach.

 It was a beautiful morning.

It was chilly, overcast, with temps in the mid-60's.

 The kids started off by exploring the beachfront, but before we knew it, they were begging to shed their clothes and play in the water.

 They jumped waves, played in the sand, and Blake even ran and dove into the chilly water.

 We sat bundled up, drinking coffee while the kids were shedding clothes and getting what clothes were left on them soaked.

 It was breezy and chilly, but the kids didn't seem to mind!

 After a morning at the beach, we walked back to our camper to get dried off and warmed up. It started raining, so we sat around the campfire and in the campers for a little bit.  After the rain subsided, we went to do a little beach combing.

 We found a lot of shells, dead monarch butterflies, an old jellyfish, and dead crabs.  We saw several fresh crab holes, but never saw a live one.

Blake and Barrett played frisbee on the beach while we hunted for shells. 

We went on a soggy nature hike.

 We ate dinner and roasted marshmallows around the campfire.

 It was a day full of adventure!

It was a fun day watching the kids explore the world God created us and experience new things.