New Dresses

John's sweet aunt Anna made these dresses for the girls for Christmas. Since our camera broke during that time I didn't have authentic Christmas poses of them. They wore the dresses to Mass today for the last official feast of Christmas - The Baptism of Jesus.

Please overlook the condition of my house in the background - sigh.

Poor Leah's been sick with fever for days. She really tried to smile.

Treasure hunt

Anyone who knows me well is aware of what a garage sale/Goodwill/Salvation Army fanatic I am. I just love hunting for bargains and can't bear to pay retail for anything. Yesterday I was looking for bunk beds for 2 of my boys and didn't find them but found these pretty winter dishes. I've been using plain white for several years now - boring but practical. I'm so excited to have found 8 place settings for $0.79 each piece. They're not too Christmas-y so I can use them through winter. It was such fun to set the table tonight.

JUST TESTING

John got me a really cool camera for my birthday. My son Josh is helping me figure out how to upload pictures. "WHY SO SERIOUS???"

Thanksgiving at the Ranch

Our family has a ranch in the Texas Hill Country which my generous brother, Chris, purchased for our use over 10 years ago. It's a peaceful, relaxing place to get away from the world. I actually read a book while we were there over Thanksgiving weekend!

Grandpa Tommie (Vietnam vet) taught the boys some shooting and gun safety.

We did a lot of sleeping.

Grandma Pat helped Josh with an architecture program.

CRAZY COUSINS

Our cousin, Tatum, went hiking with us.

After we got home the girls decided to go swimming in November! 10 minutes later they were in the hot tub warming up.

Fall Foliage in Texas

Lost Maples State Natural Area has fall color that rivals New England on good years. We've been trying to get up there for a hike for several weeks. We finally decided to take the kids out of school last Friday and go before the big wind storm was due to come in Friday night. It was a beautiful and tiring 4 1/2 mile hike. (I realize that my photograpy skills need some work.)

YUMMY VEGGIES!

We belong to a produce co-op, and every two weeks we receive a huge order of fresh fruits and veggies for just $15. The last few orders have had an abundance of peppers, so I made some stuffed peppers. They were as delicious as they look. Sorry you weren't here to have one, Dad.