Opryland!

We decided to start a new family tradition this year - Opryland!  We had a great time seeing all of the decorations, touring "ICE", eating dinner and gelato, and just being together! 

Here we are at ICE which was a chilly 9 degrees!  I thought Anna's coat was a little big but the workers assured me it was the correct size for sliding down the ice slides.

 GrandDad wasn't messing around with his cold weather attire!

 Slide time!  Jimmy was first!   

 Jacob was next and loved it!

 Anna was third and wasn't so sure....

  My turn!

 Here comes GrandDad!

 Jimmy and Jacob decided to go for another slide.  This time they got "serious" and crossed their arms for maximum speed.  :) 

 Even Nana decided to join in the fun!  Her start reminded us of a family vacation to a New Hampshire water park but once she got going she was golden!

 Fun family pics!

 Jacob and Anna thought this NYC taxi was super fun! Vroom, vroom!

 Our sweet family in front of the beautiful nativity scene. 

Jacob loved the giant nutcrackers around the hotel!

What a wonderful day! We're already looking forward to next year!

So Thankful

Oh how Jacob and Anna love to build!  They build a fort every, single day.  Here they are in front of one of their latest creations which is a "mountain" fort. 

Climbing over the mountain

Anna has discovered she is big enough for Jacob's bike and now wants to ride it instead of her trike.  She plans to ask Santa for a pink bike for Christmas!

 Nanny, Pam, David, Christian, and Mindy all came to visit!  It was so great to see all of them! 

Jacob and Nanny enjoyed some snuggle time while watching "Wild Kratts". 

 Jacob was very excited to meet "Super Cow" (or whatever he goes by....) at Chick-fil-a. 

Anna?  Not so much.....

 Anna had her first dentist appointment and was the perfect patient! 

She chose a ring as her "prize". 

 Jimmy and I went to school for the kids' Thanksgiving feast.  Unfortunately I only took one picture but at least it's a cute one!  

  It has been super chilly lately so to combat the cold we made hot cocoa with marshmallow dogs! 

We are so thankful we had Nana, Gramps, GrandDad, and Uncle David over for our Thanksgiving feast! 

 Jimmy tried a new turkey recipe this year and it was delicious!

 Anna is definitely my daughter!  She chose the dessert sampler - German Chocolate Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Banana Cream Pie, and whipped cream!

We have so much to be thankful for and we had a wonderful holiday celebrating it all!

Halloween!

Jacob was so excited to wear his Spider-Man costume to preschool!  This was a treat for the Pre-K kids so Anna was a little bummed she didn't get to wear her princess dress.  However, once we determined Anna would wear her bat t-shirt to school and we called her "Bat Girl", she was happy.

Jacob demonstrating his Spider-Man strength!

I carved my first pumpkin with the kids.

 Spider-Man and Rapunzel all ready to go!

 The kids love making silly faces :)

  Off to our neighbor's house for pizza

 The neighborhood kids all ready for trick-or-treating!

 Our first stop on the cul-de-sac with Katherine and Eric

 Last stop - our house!

Anna was done but Jacob still had some Spider-Man strength left! 

 Jacob with all of his loot!

 Anna enjoying a chocolate treat!

What a Happy Halloween!!