Fun in San Antonio

Posting those train pics from last weekend reminded me that I still had some pictures from our Thanksgiving visit to post. The first few days we were in town we stayed in San Antonio with my parents. Nana Kathy took a couple of days off of work so that she could spend special time with me and my tater tot. We rode the zoo train, went to a playground, and bounced nonstop at a super cool mega bounce house.

Three Rivers Rambler steam locomotive and UT Holiday Express

Gavin is very much into trains these days. Yes, Thomas too. Does every child go through a Thomas the Train phase? It seems like they do. Our not-yet-named Elf on the Shelf told me that Santa scored a few Thomas the Train cars from eBay this year for our budding train engineer. What a great stocking stuffer! Santa is a thrifty fellow and couldn't imagine paying full price for those little suckers. Especially considering that this is a phase and next year Thomas will be long gone. To make Christmas 2011 extra special for our little dude I took him to see a model train twice and for a ride on a real steam locomotive, the Three Rivers Rambler. What a treat! It's called the Three Rivers Rambler because it takes passengers up to where the French Broad and the Holston rivers come together to create the Tennessee river. Neat, huh? My mom and I took him on the San Antonio Zoo train too, over Thanksgiving. Trains, trains, and more trains.

A few of my favorites

Three of my favorite ornaments: my TTU ornament sent to me by one of my BFFs, Gavin's 2011 school picture ornament, and our newlywed ornament from 2008.

Christmas parade

The Friday after we got back from Texas, we attended the Knoxville Christmas parade. This was Gavin's fourth visit, his first being in utero. This was also the night I found out I had a pretty good shot at the job I had recently interviewed for. We've really enjoyed the Christmas parade over the years. I was interviewed by one of the local news stations while we waited for the parade to start. I was sure they would not have chosen my interview to air, but lo and behold I had several coworkers tell me the following Monday that they had seen me on TV. How embarrassing. I was unable to locate the footage later. Gavin enjoyed the girls. Every time a dance team or group of cheerleaders would pass by he would ask, "more girls, mama?" Goodness, it's already starting.

News as BIG as Texas

No, we are not adding children to our family - furry or otherwise. No, our house has not been sold, though we remain hopeful it will sell in the spring. I did however recently accept a job offer in Austin. My family will be together again. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to us! Almost exactly five years later we are packing up yet another moving truck and making the drive between Tenneessee and Texas. It's funny how things work out. The next three weeks will be chaos, but the means to a wonderful end. In case I don't have a chance to update this blog between now and then...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Our last TN Christmas tree...


When it all began..

Thanksgiving in Houston

After arriving in Austin and spending a few days in San Antonio, our little family of three ventured East into Houston. Thanksgiving was spent with my sister and her family, our parents, our nephew and my sister's inlaws. It was a fantastic holiday full of family fun and togetherness.

Working on the turkey



My sister's vegetable art.



Pre-dinner snacking and Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade


Making dessert with Bristol and Colton. They made the apple pie bites I made for Halloween. It was a great project for these two and of course it tasted good too.



The Kids' Table


The Adults' Table. Colton took this photo! He has always been good with a camera. Even when he was just a little bitty dude. I love his composition.


Little reindeer. You can't tell in the photo, but the noses blinked red. These were a big hit.


Our parents



Playing outside














Colton's football team made it all the way to playoffs this year. Way to go!


Just us.