Runnin' with the Reeds

A Very Elmo Christmas

Anaya got so much Elmo stuff for Christmas! I'm so glad we brought an extra suitcase. She got an Elmo DVD...

...an Elmo book with a music player...

...Sesame Street character toys...

...Tickle Me Elmo...

...a stuffed Elmo...

and a Elmo book. She also got an Elmo outfit and a Sesame Street playhouse. That's a whole lot of Elmo!!

Back at Bethel

We really miss our church family and we couldn't wait to get back to Bethel. Even though we had been gone for months, it felt like we never left!

I think Anaya missed Timothy a little too much...

The Hubbards and the Hyltons

We're going back to Indiana, Indiana here we come....

Me and Anaya in the DFW Airport! She was excited!

This was Anaya's first time on a plane and she did very well! When the plane started to take off she said "Weeeee!" and then 10 minutes later she was out! It was perfect.

Anaya and I got together with a couple of art teachers from my school to paint some Christmas ornaments. When I saw we were painting moons, I immediately thought of my mother in law. (she has a sun and moon theme throughout her house) I knew a hand-painted porcelain moon from Anaya would be the perfect Christmas gift! Unfortunately, I broke the ornament.......twice. (and those who really know me, are not surprised!) The first time I broke it, I was showing it to someone at work and it slipped out of my hand. The art teacher helped me find all the pieces and glue it back together. It was in no condition to travel to Indiana so, I had to wait until we got back before I could even take it home. When I was finally able to take it home, I dropped it while leaving work. The poor thing never made to my house in one piece. I was so disappointed!

Oli-Oli!

One night, Anaya was eating ravioli (which we call 'oli-oli') for dinner. I go to check on her and she was putting ravioli in her hair! She hasn't had ravioli since! And the worst part is, I had just given her a bath and washed her hair. I learned my lesson--never give her a bath BEFORE dinner!

Thanksgiving

I was very nervous about Thanksgiving this year. Since we were unable to travel to Indiana, I had to cook ALOT. Thankfully, our friends joined us and they cooked too. Everything turned out great and we even got to use real plates and silverware! (I was especially happy about that part)

The kids' table.

Our friend, Ricky, ready to carve the turkey his wife made

A couple of days after Thanksgiving, we met up with some of Kyle's family. Richard and Cheryl live in Longview, Texas (about 2 hours east of Dallas) and their son Kurt and his family were in town from Arkansas. Kyle's uncle Scott was also in town. We all met at the Galleria Mall (in Dallas) for lunch. We had a really great time. It was so nice to be around some family since we couldn't go back to Indy.