Fall Is In The Air

Second Thanksgiving Dinner
First Thanksgiving Dinner

We celebrated Steve's birthday at our first Thanksgiving dinner.

Julie, Sheldon, and Jace were here right before leaving for Honolulu.

We played a few games including a lively game of Thanksgiving Bingo after dinner.

The weather has finally changed in Las Vegas. I've starting wearing jogging suits now, and we recently turned on our heater for the first time this fall. So with those changes I guess it was definitely time to celebrate Thanksgiving. A few weeks ago while Julie, Sheldon, and Jace were in Las Vegas, we celebrated Thanksgiving early with them as well as with Natalie and her family. We had a lot of fun playing games and eating yummy food. So, Steve and I had decided that since we had already celebrated we would simply go out to dinner and to a movie on the real Thanksgiving day. However, the day before we changed our mind and made a quick trip to the store to buy the smallest turkey we could find. We enjoyed a very quiet day, but it was a nice day. It's always nice to smell a turkey baking away in the oven, sip a cup of hot chocolate, and enjoy a movie while under the comfort of a nice warm blanket. We had another yummy dinner and then went to an evening show of Harry Potter. I'm grateful for all of my many blessings. Most importantly I am grateful for my wonderful family who I love more than words can express!!!!!

Our Fall Trip to STL

Kyra with Pinky, the DeBauch family pet which is a bearded dragon

The DeBauch Home

Basements are wonderful; it's like having another house that's

tucked away and hidden from view

This is the DeBauch back yard. It's huge and there's more than you can see in this pic. In MO most of the garages are in the back of the house like you see here. We had fun playing basketball on the asphalt there by the cars. I even won one round of HORSE.

This house is two doors down from Heather. We walked down to meet Kyra as she got off the school bus.

At the park by The Butterfly House

Outside The Butterfly House

Enjoying a train ride at the zoo

Dane seemed to really like the snakes. The DeBauch family has a bearded dragon called Pinky as their new pet. It's much, much smaller than most everything we saw at the zoo.

At the zoo

Enjoying the rhino

Having fun at the zoo

Who is that in the mask?????

We had a lot of fun putting on tattoos

Waiting to go to the school trunk or treating party

Aunt Melanie with her nieces and nephew

What a pretty entranceway

Bluebird Park; acres and acres of land. Hard to believe it's in the middle of a city

Fall in Saint Louis is soooo pretty

Bike riding to the pond by the DeBauch home

The pond a block or two from Heather's house

Grandpa loved the pond; nobody has fences. What you see in the background are the yards of a few homes that face the pond in Heather's subdivision.

Heather's new bike

We couldn't resist trying on some fancy, fancy shoes

The DeBauch back yard; the kids love the playground equipment and yes, there are tons and tons of big, big trees. No fences though

The DeBauch living room. When you walk in the front door, the living room is on the left side of the stairs and the dining room is on the right side of the stairs.

Steve and I just returned from St Louis where we enjoyed wonderful weather, fun activities, and family togetherness. It was very nice of the CCSD to schedule Nevada Day, a weekend, and two staff development days all side by side, so I could actually travel halfway across the country and stay five days during the school year. Melanie flew in from Dallas as well. What a perfect trip! It's fall in STL and the trees are so pretty. I guess I am a nature girl because I love to be outside and enjoy all the scenery. In Heather's subdivision about one block from her house is a pond. It was a lot of fun to walk to it and enjoy the water, trees, ducks, etc. We celebrated Halloween with Melanie and Heather and her family. This was our second Halloween celebration this year. We did quite a bit of Christmas shopping also. We ate out several times and also enjoyed the STL Zoo and The Butterfly House. Heather and Chad have a beautiful, spacious home. It was fun to stay there for the first time. After the kids went to bed at night we played cards and visited till very late into the evening. I loved being in Missouri and can't wait to go back for Kyra's baptism the end of February.