Nutcracker

Nutcracker this year had a new director/choreographer making it a new show for many of the parents who have seen it year after year. It was fantastic! Rachael was a Russian dancer and Jillian - a reed flute.

Rachael's dance

Jillian's dance

Gingerbread decorating

Getting together with friends is the only way to do gingerbread house decorating. Having a teen competition was an even better incentive...

2nd place:

The Winner:

'Twas the Night before Christmas....ICE!

We've been wanting to check this out for a while. ICE at The Gaylord had a 'Twas the Night before Christmas theme and thanks again to Groupon we finally made it. Not sure I'd recommend it as it was 9 degrees inside with a cool breeze. Even our phones quit working after a while due to the chilly air. We only lasted about 40 minutes, but it was really beautiful how they sculpted the story. The end of the tour included an iced nativity scene and tall Christmas angel.

Fall camping

Our camping trip this fall was at Lake Mineral Wells. All members of our camping group were able to go. It was a relaxing trip outdoors despite the "rustic" bathroom situation and being swarmed by bees each afternoon. We didn't get to kayak or canoe this time due to the wind speeds on the lake. We ate, hiked, played some football, ate, sat by the campfires, ate, attended a talk on owls and even tried to call some. Did I mention we ate - with our dutch oven and campfire cooking we tend to overdue it just a little with lots good camping food.

This scrapbook generated with Smilebox

They're finally here!

Well, we've been talking about it for a long time - we did it! We got baby chicks! 2 rhode island reds, 2 easter eggers, 2 columbian wyandotte, 2 barred rock, and 2 polish hens. My egg basket should be pretty and very tasty!