Giving Thanks!

Psalm 100
Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth;
Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful singing.
Know the the Lord himself is God, it is he who has made us and not we ourselves.
We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his courts with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him; bless his name.
For the Lord is good. His lovingkindness is everlasting and his faithfulness to all generations.

Our Thanksgiving holiday was filled with lots of fun and house hopping! We began the day at the Turkey Trot (our third consecutive year- I think you can call it a tradition now!) where we were joined by Nana and Paw Paw and Aunt Jenn. We also talked our good friends the Crawfords into paying money to do a 5K early Thanksgiving morning too!
After the Trot, we headed to Nana and PawPaw's to have traditional mimosa's and watch the Macy's Parade. Elizabeth was really into it this year; of course Dora was her favorite balloon!
Lunch was at my Granny's house- so yummy! Then we went to Aunt Kim's home to be with Justin's family for awhile. After that, it was NAP TIME, so back to Granny's house. When the girls woke up, we decorated the Christmas tree. Finally, home to sleep!!!!
Friday, we headed to my Aunt's home and spent time with more family. Elaine got to play with her cousin Taylor who is a month younger but 4 pounds heavier! We left there and made the trek to Kaufman to spend the night and hang out there on Saturday. Elizabeth got to help Grammy make muffins and then go with Daddy and Pop to the barn to see all of the animals! She fed the cows and goats and climbed the hay! She was pretty proud of herself:) I will be proud of myself if the outfit she was wearing gets clean enough to ever be worn again!

Although it was a lot of driving and slightly exhausting, what a blessing that we have so much family to spend time with. We are also thankful for our precious CityView church family with whom we get to do life! Jesus, himself, is more than enough, yet he still chooses to provide us with immeasurable gifts. Thank you Jesus!

Aunts and Good Friends!

So, Elizabeth and Elaine are blessed with a wonderful Aunt Jenn! It is great to have her close by, and she is so much fun! In addition to Aunt Jenn, all of my college girl friends are "Aunts!" Elizabeth equates the word aunt with FUN! Here are are few photos with her Aunts:)

Aunt Jenn makes me smile!

Aunt Brooke came all the way from Thailand to play party blowers with me!
She even taught me to say Hello in Thai!

Aunt Brooke and Aunt Haley where are you? (Elizabeth's way of "Hiding")

High 5 to Aunt Megs!

Aunt Kristie and I both like grilled cheese and singing!!!!

Not pictured: Aunt Amanda, Aunt Sarah, Aunt Susan, and many more.

Elizabeth and Elaine are blessed also with super friends too! Yesterday was quite a lot of fun friend time! Taber and I took the girls to Southlake Town Center to play (mainly because we were bored). Of course we had our cameras handy! I also got a video of them standing on a park bench singing Jesus Loves Me at the top of their lungs!


Then Elaine's friend Sophia came over with her parents Andy and Katie for dinner. Elaine practiced sharing her toys and her new skill of sitting up! Someday these two will be hiding in the bathroom washing each other's hair with hand soap like Addie and Lizzie were recently caught doing!



Speaking of super friends and babies... My most super college friend and roomie, AKA Aunt Megs is going to have one!!!!! Praise God from whom all blessing flow! She is due at the beginning of the summer- HOORAY!

Daddy's Birthday

This post is very over due! November 12th marked Justin's 26th birthday. I counted up, and this was his 8th birthday that I got to share with him. On his 19th birthday (when we were just "friends"), I got a group of people together, and we had a little surprise birthday for him at Rumors Cafe. His big gift included a bar of soap for him to pass on to his potluck roommate who did not shower! Oh the good ol' days...
This year we celebrated a few times. On his actual birthday, the girls and I took him to McAllisters for lunch and lots of sweet tea, and then we had special date to Texas de Brazil while Nana and PawPaw kept the girls. Whoa, was that a lot of meat, but even I, who am not the biggest meat eater, really enjoyed it! We also went out with family to celebrate at PF Changs, where the waiter was rather awkward and definitely asked for a piece of the turtle cheesecake I made before we even cut into it!
Any way, I love you Justin Bassett, and I praise God for the privilege of walking beside you through life and being called your wife!

someday we'll all be looking at the camera... someday!

all dressed up!

Little Bo Peep and Her Lost Sheep

So, for Halloween, I really wanted something for the girls to dress up as together. However, in all of my searching, I came up with a lot of boy/girl pairings and even a lot of boy/boy pairings, but no good girl/girl combinations. Finally, I came across the idea of Little Bo Peep and her lost sheep- perfect! I initially planned on making both of the girls' costumes, but after coming across an $8 bunny outfit at WalMart, I decided to buy it and just make a few modifications. I did make Elizabeth's costume and learned all about the art of "gathering" in the process. Being the thrifty woman that I am, I am proud to say that everything included, Little Bo Peep's costume cost $4.50 and a lot of good learning time:)
We had a great time Halloween night. CityView again sponsored bounce houses in neighborhoods of our church members, so we hung out at one of them. What a great way to meet people and share the love of Christ. What Satan intends for evil can be redeemed!
Elizabeth also got her first taste of trick or treating. Raegan, Anna Beth, and Aidan all helped her along the way. She was very good at saying thank you, but about half way through, her candy bucket got too heavy to carry! Elaine made the rounds with us, snuggled up in Nana's arms; about the same time Lizzie's bucket got too heavy, Elaine decided she was through counting sheep and went to sleep. It was such a fun night and great to be in a community where everyone just sits out on their driveways and hangs out together!

Little Bo Peep

Has lost her sheep!

"Maybe if I ring this bell, she'll see that I'm right here!"

Hooray! I found her!
Nana and Paw Paw had her the whole time!

A nice little family pic
Hanging out at Daddy's office:) They had a super fun party for all of the kids.
Snuggly little lamb!