Thanksgiving and South Padre Island

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without home made pies. This year we had pecan, pumpkin and apple.

The turkey decorations I made were a big hit at the kids table!

The grownups table was ...aaaaahhhhh so quiet and peaceful.

We were very brave and left Cali in charge of the kids table in the kitchen this year. She did an awesome job of keeping all of the boys in line!

The next morning we were up bright and early and off to South Padre Island.

It was a bit cold and windy on the beach but still awesome and soooo beautiful!

The Griffith's braving the cold water.

There were bright blue jelly fish all over the beaches.

This is the jelly fish that almost got me when the tide came in while I was trying to take this picture!

A light house replica near where we were staying.

And now for the real reason we were in South padre ...BYU Basketball!

Rise and shout Cougars!

The BYU team warming up.

They ended up sweeping the tournament after a last second winning shot by Noah Hartsock in one game and a double over time in another.

We were right behind the BYU bench the last night of the tournament. So incredibly awesome!

Gary giving Coach Rose a bit of advise ...Please! We don't need any more nail biter games!

Good job Cougars!

A crazy Dino building we saw on our way in and out of South Padre.

Passing through Port Isabel on our way back home.

Who knew we were so close to the Mexican Border!

I tried to get Gary to say ...Si Senor' when they asked if we were American citizens, but he didn't think that was such a good idea!

Our tax dollars at work! United States federal agents searching a car.

Watch out for Pelicans on the bridge!

The only bad news that happened during this trip? Watching the BYU football team lose to Utah. Not to worry ...we'll get 'em next year!

Fall trip to Kansas

I know, I know I am such a loser in the blogging department! As you can see I am quite behind in my efforts to share our adventures with all of you. Fortunately I have added a lot of pictures to my draft file over the past couple of months so I will dust them off and add some highlights before posting. Who knows? If I have the patience I may try to add a few videos as well!

At the request of my son Mike and his family I decided to make the drive up to Kansas for a visit just before Thanksgiving last year. Since my sweetie was going to be out of town on business any way it sounded like a great idea. The added bonus being I could bring all of their Christmas presents with me so I wouldn't have to mail them. That was worth the cost of gas alone! I'll do just about anything to avoid those long lines and high prices at the post office during the holidays! I quickly started and completed my Christmas shopping for them, and in a matter of days I was on my way.

Here I am crossing from Texas into Ooooooooooklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains. Oh yeah! After that long drive (12 hours) through Texas, Oklahoma and into Kansas it was wonderful to finally arrive to see Mike, Jess and all of my beautiful grandchildren again.

Grace enjoying one of her favorite TV shows.

Jillian loved pushing her babies in a stroller. She would go and go until she got stuck after running into a piece of furniture, wall, toys, etc. What a cutie!

Once we got her going in the right direction off she would go, again and again. She was just like the energizer bunny.

Sabrina catching some TV time too.

One afternoon I took Grace and Sabrina to gather leaves so they could make place mats with their mom for Thanksgiving. We didn't find many brightly colored leaves ...mostly brown! But we gathered them up and brought them home anyway.

We found a fun kiddie park near by so of course we had to stop and play awhile.

Grace telling me all about her sand picture.

Grace hard at work.

Sabrina decided to make a sand castle.

Sabrina loves to swing and spent most of her time checking out the different options the park had to offer.

She didn't like slowing down and begged me to push her higher and higher!

Sabrina ...to infinite and beyond!

Jessica found a great art project for the girls to do while Benson was at school and it kept them busy for several afternoons.

When they were finished they each had a beautiful picture to hang in their rooms.

One morning I pulled out the stage and puppets I sent them for Christmas last year and we took turns putting on puppet shows.

This was Gracie's story puppet show ...unfortunately I had just brought my camera in from my car and it was so cold the picture kept fogging up.

Sabrina had a great puppet show to share too.

One snowy afternoon I stopped by McDonald's to pick up a happy meal and met Benson at school for lunch. It was fun to see where he goes to school and meet his teacher. Thanks for telling me all about dinosaurs, reptiles, mammals and sharing your room with me Ben. Sadly I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures and videos of my sweet grandson. By the time he got home from school each day we would be so busy I'd forget to get the camera back out again. I promise I'll do better the next time I come for a visit!

I had such a great time and am always sad when it's time to head for home because I know it will be awhile before I get to see them all again. Thanks for a wonderful visit. It was the best!