Thanksgiving Week

All 3 kiddos had the entire week of Thanksgiving off from school, so I decided it would be a great time to go visit my aunt and uncle in Louisiana. We are so blessed that they live just 3 hours away from us. I've wanted to live near them all my life. Unfortunately, I don't make the trip often enough!
The kids and I headed out Monday morning and had a super easy and fun drive. Our friends Heather and Paul gifted us with a portable DVD player when we were moving from PA to Texas. That little piece of equipment has been an incredible blessing to us over the last 3 years!
The drive was really pretty. I took pictures of the slight hills and colorful trees to show Joel. His complaint with Dallas is how flat it is. He grew up in northern PA amidst rolling hills and lots of trees. The only landmarks near our home are water towers, the dump, and Prestonwood Baptist Church.
While we were in Louisiana we got to have lunch with my Uncle Donnie & Aunt Barbara (my mom's cousin & his wife who I haven't seen in 6 years). We also went to visit my Aunt Peggy and her husband Ken (also a cousin to my mom). I haven't seen Peggy in about 13 years, though they get our family's newsletter and know all about our kids. It was lots of fun to see them and catch up in person.
My aunt Linda had all sorts of ideas about things we could do that would be fun for the kids. It was such a blessing to me. She took us to Chuck E. Cheese's, which was a HUGE hit! We talked about going to the childrens science museum, but decided it wouldn't be worth the money given the time we had.
We always enjoy my aunt Linda's cooking and this trip was no exception. My kids cleaned their plates the first night, which was a major thing in my book. (Dinnertime is usually riddled with "eat your food!", "okay, enough talking and eat", "yes, you have to eat that", "no, not two more bites, eat it all"...etc. So, I was very proud when they all finished their lasagna, green beans, and salad with no complaints!

They also love to play with Aunt Linda and Uncle Bud's dog Tigger.
It was such a great trip; I can't say that enough! (By the way, Uncle Bud is my mom's brother, in case you were wondering.)
We had a relaxing Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, then went to the Galleria Mall on Friday to watch their tree lighting celebration. They do an ice skating performance with someone dressed as Santa coming out at the end. After we left the mall, we headed to the cheap movie theater and watched Toy Story 3. It was lots of fun.We managed to also get some Christmas decorations up over the weekend. Asa got sick on Friday night and had a fever all weekend. On Monday we found out it was an ear infection, so he's all better by now. But, having a sick kiddo and being 7 months pregnant caused me to move a little slower in the decorating department this year.