Friday night

Friday afternoon Kassade and Keyton came over

they had finished up some Black Friday shopping (power house shopping)

We had a nice dinner and then headed to the Botanical Garden for the luminary lights

it was cold but beautiful

they had added a lot of lights since we were last there

a cute butterfly garden

Love this picture

Kassade talked London into running behind the gingerbread and taking a picture

we then headed home to decorate the tree

this is the only picture I took

Glass & Ornaments

Saturday morning we took off the little town of Kechi

They have a wonderful glass shop there  - Karg Art Glass Gallery

All kinds of beautiful glass

and you can blow your own Christmas ornaments

We thought this would be a fun project for the kids

You pick out your colors, decide if you want it swirled or dotted

It is an interesting process

Below are the colors that you pick from.  They heat it up and dip it in each color

(this one is Kassade's ornament)

and they stick it back into the fire to heat it up

 did some rolling to take shape

and then he started the blowing process

 Keyton's ornament

 Keyton got carried away with his

(I guess he had the most hot air)

 His ornament was very large compared to the girls

 London's ornament

 good picture of him twisting it to make the swirls

 putting on the loop for the hook

 London's was rainbow color

it was really interesting and fun to do

don't forget to take time to shop around - I found some jewelry I would love

if you live locally you need to check out the shop some afternoon

Thanksgiving 2012

Went to Garnett for Thanksgiving this year

It turned out to be a beautiful day

I didn't get pictures of all the wonderful food we had

but it was fantastic - everyone was stuffed

Enjoyed having Angie come all the way from Green Bay to join us (sorry no pictures of her)

mainly pictures of the football game

 London and Cody taking time to play in the leaves

that were being raked up and later used to outline the football field

 this is how we toast our meringue when you don't have a torch to use

or you don't want Becca to have one in her hands

 the last couple years we have fried our turkey

it turns out great every time and frees up the oven

I love not having to mess with it

turkey #1 out of the fryer

 after everyone thought they could run around without getting sick

the football game started

Becca was made full time quarterback (turned out to be interesting)

 I think this is when Mike was nailed in the back by the ball

 London scored a touchdown

 doing her little victory dance

it was a fun day, great food and good time with the family

It's done

London wanted her ears pierced for her birthday

We finally talked daddy into letting her do this

So Saturday, November 17th we headed out to Wichita to accomplish our goal

She was excited and a little nervous

She had been asking a lot of questions about ear piercing over the last month

on the way there she asked if it would feel like when she had her blood drawn

I was honest about it all - didn't want any surprises

When we got to the shopping mall,  she took my hand and whispered "I'm nervous"

I told her it was okay - she just flashed me her beautiful smile 

 patiently waiting

these gals were wonderful!  they made it a great experience for her

 no drama, no crying, not even an ouch

just closed the eyes when it happened

so brave

I've decided she has a high pain tolerance

 not sure what she is thinking here

 how cute is she?

went then went over to Bradley Fair and saw Santa

Kennedy bailed out of the picture

between talking London into staying and Kennedy bawling

my picture didn't come out too good

they had blue lights and my flash didn't go off

at least it is in focus - Santa pictures never seem to go well with in our family

We also tried a family picture - oh well

all in all it was a great evening together