A Carriage Ride Through Lebanon.....or at least a couple blocks.

My Mother in law told us about a fun opportunity to take a carriage ride through downtown Lebanon, so yesterday we decided to go check it out. We picked up Grandpa Hotrum on the way and made our way to find a parking spot. I called Uncle Nate to figure out where they were meeting us and we walked down to meet them. I caught this adorable picture of Ally while we were waiting to cross the street. As we are making our way down the street we see the two horse drawn carriages which makes the kids even more intrigued.

We get down to the park and weave our way over to where Uncle Nate, Aunt Kaydi, Grace, and Jude are waiting for us. We spend the time waiting for the carriage, talking, and watching the kids play.

They were very patient and excited! I also got a cute family picture of the Nate Hotrum Family. Finally it is our turn! We make our way up onto the carriage and wait until it is time to go. We make the loop around the town and after a couple smooth starts we are waiting to go at a light and *JERK* we all almost go flying. Grace thought this was the height of hilariousness! So we finally make it back all in one piece safe and sound. We walk around the park for a little bit, then decide its time to go. We make our way past a fire truck and let the kids look at all the cool stuff on it. Then back to the car and over to Grandma and Grandpa's for a yummy warm dinner.

Putting up the Tree!

Yesterday we went out and picked out a tree for us. We are not the go out and cut your own down kind, we tried that last year and got a tree that kept falling over, so we headed off to the Bi-Mart parking lot. We got a beautiful Noble measuring in at 7 feet 6 inches. We got it tied to the van and made our way home in no real hurry. We finally get home and unload the kids, get the twine cut, and heft the tree off the roof of the van. After doing some trimming of branches at the bottom we bring it inside and get it set up in the stand. After a few adjustments we start the decorating process. Darrin and I get the lights put on then let the kids go crazy with the ornaments.

They are still getting the hang of getting the ornaments to stay on, but all in all did a fabulous job! After getting the tree all decorated, we all sat down to play Dylan's new favorite game, Uno! We played for awhile and just had a relaxing afternoon. Now to put the presents under the tree!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is nothing I look forward to more than the smell of turkey filling my house except....actually eating the turkey! We had a low key fun filled day of card games, eating and playing.

Before dinner my Dad got the chance to play with my new camera by taking our annual family Christmas picture, along with some others that got rejected. I am thankful that I have so much family close to spend time with. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.....oh and 29 days until Christmas!!!!!

Ally is a Dancing Fool!

Sorry no pictures of this. Today we went to the library where a musical guest was playing for story time. His name is Eric Herman. He was fantastic! It took the kids about 10 minutes to get into it, but once they did I had a hard time keeping track of them. They were up dancing and participating, it was fantastic. Well after a few songs and fun jumping, dancing, and craziness Eric announced that they would be having a dance contest and the winner would win a CD! Well they went through the whole song and I saw them keeping an eye on Ally. Well when it was all over, she had won! I snuck over to her to get it so she wouldn't destroy it and it took a bit of coaxing to have her give it to me. When it was all over she ran over to me and said, "Where's my CB?" She had to have it in her hands since she had won it. Eric signed it for the kids and we bought two more of his CD's. It is such fun music and gets you moving and laughing! I was so excited for Ally. Then it was off to home for lunch and quiet time in which they planned to listen to all their new CD's.

Click here if you are interested in learning more about Eric Herman.

25 Years

For the last 25 years I have be privileged to witness the growth of an amazing man. My brother turns 25 today and I am so blessed to have him not only as my brother but one of my best and closest friends. We celebrated this momentous event with a family dinner on Saturday. Followed by a couple rousing board games. Eric, I love you and and can't wait to see what the next 25 years of your life brings!