Nutcracker vs. Santa

Here are a few pictures from a few weeks ago. We had a ward breakfast with Santa and then went straight over to Aaron's work for the annual children's Christmas party. At the work party they had a presentation of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie done by a professional theater group here in town. Then the kids got a gift bag, a visit with Santa, and then a chance to play games for prizes. Talmage's favorite part was the cotton candy they gave out at the door as we left. Talmage isn't so big on sweets but when it come to cotton candy he has no control.

Our family at the company party. In the background on the right side you can see the tall nutcracker.

Her is one of the nutcrackers (they could be toy soldiers but my kids claim they are nutcrackers) that were walking around on stilts taking pictures with people and making a lot of jokes. They were very tall, and pretty cool.

In this picture you can see I am only to his waist. Anya wanted nothing to do with them. She was too scared to stand near them for the picture, that is why I am holding her. Earlier she had sat on two different Santa's laps (one at the ward party and one at the work one). She chatted with each Santa at length and all by herself too. I guess it's a good thing Santa is not a tall man.

Anya and our ward Santa
She was so excited to tell me that Santa like Hello Kitty too!

Arkansas Trip Finale

I just realized that I had several more pictures from our Arkansas trip. But as Christmas approaches it seems silly to revisit Thanksgiving with much attention to detail. So I'll just post pictures and captions.
We crossed over into Missouri for a fun little day trip. We tasted the worst water we have ever tasted or smelled. Some how Mario got into this family picture. You may need to click on the picture to enlarge it-- he's pretty small.

The Arkansas sign was much, much bigger! We stopped here an bought some oranges at a roadside stand.
Anya found this cool leaf that she thought looked like a nose, so Aaron snatched it and put it on so Dustin could take a picture.

Anya then had to make due with a lesser nose. But she still thought she was funny.

Here is most of our yummy Thanksgiving meal. We are missing a few pies and some homemade ice cream in this picture.


These are the things were were thankful for that day. All those who could talk listed things they were grateful for.

San Antonio Temple in the Fall

The trees have started changing color and we are loving it. Anya is so excited about it being fall (just in time for Christmas). She is constantly picking up leaves.

We had some things to do up by the San Antonio Temple today so we brought our camera and I took a few pictures.

The temple from the front.
It was fun to have clouds today even if most of them have blown away now.

That is the side of the temple in the background and two lovely fall trees. It was about 55 degrees and we were cold so we had to hurry, hurry and take pictures.

The Other Backseat Driver

Talmage is usually my backseat driver, saying things like, "Watch out for ice on bridge", and "Watch out for deer". So the other day we were passing the park in our neighborhood and Anya saw this sign..

She yelled out "Watch out for teeter totters!"

Thanksgiving Trip part 2 : The Glass Chapel

In a nice wooded area up on a hill, near the Missouri/Arkansas boarder we visited the Glass Chapel. It is a small chapel built mostly out of glass. We enjoyed the architecture as well as the smooth, paved, winding trail through the woods around the chapel. I think the chapel is mostly used for weddings.

This is a picture of the ceiling area near the entrance of the chapel.

The kids standing near the front of the chapel. Good thing the velvet rope was there to keep Talmage from playing the grand piano and organ!

Aaron and I at the front.

The whole family standing in the middle.

This one is for Stephanie who complains that their are not enough pictures of certain members of the family when it comes time make the family calender.