So Thankful

Look at this cheesy grin..
says it all!

We've had a great Thanksgiving week!
These were taken waiting for dad to finish
the Turkey Trot
on Thanksgiving morning...
Allikaye with her friend Annika...

Here he comes!!
Yay, daddy!

Allikaye was yelling,
"Go daddy, go! Win a medal!"

Daddy and his friend, Justin!
So proud of their big race...

Lovin her daddy...

Then we had a great Thanksgiving!
At my house this year -
and a lot smaller than usual...
but it was wonderful.
Fun and relaxing and yummy!
I just love my parents.

I had to take some pictures
of Allikaye's beautiful pieces of
Thanksgiving art/centerpieces
that she has made at church and school.
I really love them.
A lot.

Mayflower and a pumpkin pie...

At school she said,
"I am thankful for my mom, dad named Matt, and myself."
hehe!
So sweet!
Also thankful for her kitty!

Love this one...

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is GOOD!"
Psalm 118

I just can't wait any longer...

Normally I would wait

until Friday, after Thanksgiving,
to change the blog to Christmas-sy -
but I am excited for the season...
so I just couldn't wait!

And here are some
pictures from Allikaye's shoot...
I love them.
And there are so many more.
I'll share those eventually!

We have also been busy...
parent-teacher conferences, report cards, blah.

But we also took part in one of our favorite traditions
since living in Castle Rock.
This is our 4th time celebrating the lighting
of the Star on Castle Rock.
We love this.
I l.o.v.e stars -
love them.
So what better town for me to live in,
than one that has a huge star shining from the top of our rock?!


And of course,
we love the star on the top of Castle Rock for a
more important reason.
It is a reminder of the JOY of the season...
that our SAVIOR is BORN!

And when we get to see that Star shining every night,
we remember to FOLLOW the STAR to our SAVIOR!
Love that.

Here is Allikaye, Mallory and Kaida,
waiting for the countdown!

And despite my Texas Big looking hair...
here is a family shot!
I'll take it - these don't always happen!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

xoxo

First snow of the year!

Yes, it has snowed!

First snow of the year,
later than normal...
but exciting nonetheless!

The snow definitely gets us in the Christmasy mood...
and so did the Santa's Arrival Parade
at our mall!

Is it too early?!
Nah, and the snow is falling right now as I type!
Lovely!

Here is Allikaye with her inaugural candy cane!
MmMm..smells like Christmas!

There's the Christmas tree!

Miss Colorado was there...
or "a pretty" as Allikaye still calls them.

We even had some hot chocolate
near Santa's lodge!
Doesn't she look old?!
She never wears jeans. ever.
The other day I did some hard-core
bargaining and she finally wore them!
Yippee!

Cute...both the girl and the hubby...cute.

Here's another just because they are just so darn cute to me!

Here is the picture taken right before the hot chocolate spilled.
Lovely.

After that Christmas fun
we played in the snow!

Lovely...

Happy first snow of the year!
Come on Thanksgiving...
Christmas is waiting right around the corner!

xoxo