the day after thanksgiving we took a fun little trip to the "alligator park" with my sister's family. it was a gorgeous day! We hiked around the large lake and saw quite a few alligators, turtles, and birds.
it's always fun to take photos by the alligator signs
this big guy was right by the trail!
Dan's grandfather (vovo) passed away at the beginning of the month. He was almost 97 years old. (Click here for his obituary.) Dan and I had the opportunity to fly out to utah for his funeral and brought baby brother along with us.
We enjoyed seeing all of Dan's family, even if it was only for two short days! We don't get to see them very often. We even got to see my two brothers and meet our nephew Emmett who is very close in age to Benjamin. Here's a few photos...
niece Amelia and nephew Calvin
Dan and two of his younger brothers
Dan's mom and all six of her children
my brother and his sweet family
emmett is such a cutie! wish we lived closer so we could play more often!
this photo below is one of the more recent photos that i took of Dan's grandparents at his brother's wedding. love these two! they were the sweetest people and always so kind and generous. it is wonderful to know that they are reunited with each other and their only child, dan's father, and we will see them again someday.
Just a few photos of the kids in their halloween costumes...
Baby brother was a pumpkin. All of my babies have worn this costume when they were around this age.
Lorelei was a bumble bee. this was actually the costume she was supposed to wear last year but wanted to be a princess instead at the last minute. Luckily this costume still fit her (just barely)!
Evan was batman!
Avery was the queen of hearts. She was Alice a few years ago and wanted to be the Queen this year :)
Kyla was a pirate.
Elayna was a tattooed biker chick. those are tattoo sleeves she is wearing :)
We spent last weekend on the beautiful Frio River in scenic Texas Hill Country with Emily and Brian, Jeremy and Nicole, and Grammy and Grandpa. We stayed in a fun little cabin at Neal's Lodges. Dan and I and the kids arrived before everyone else, so we did some exploring down by the river.
Lorelei in front of the cabin
the next day was overcast and a little chilly, but that didn't stop the kids from breaking out the tubes and getting in the water. the path to the river was right next to our cabin.
Evan didn't last too long in the water, but he enjoyed throwing rocks
uncle Jeremy helping the boys with the rope swing. the older kids had a blast on the swing.
the colorful thing in the background is a huge water slide that Neal's Lodges built on their property. i unfortunately didn't get a photo of any the kids or daddies on it. but here's my little spiderman climbing the rocks.
these two are so cute
baby Ben was such a trooper on this trip.
after spending all day in the chilly water, the kids really enjoyed the campfire at night. we played games, roasted marshmallows, and told spooky stories around the campfire. such a fun weekend!
I love spending my days with this sweet little three year old! she says and does the cutest things.
my sweet baby boy turned a year old on the 17th! the year went by way too fast!
here's a few cake photos. he was very serious about his cake and ate every last bite
we love this sweet baby boy! we are so blessed to have him in our family
