Gaylord Texan Resort and Ice Show, Part 3 of Trip

On Saturday we drove to another town in Texas called Grapevine where the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center is located.  Grapevine is very close to Dallas and only a short drive from Frisco where we stayed.  The hotel reminded me a lot of the Bellagio in Las Vegas.  It had a huge atrium which was decorated for Christmas with a "Texas" spin on things.  It took us awhile to walk around the atrium and then we went to "Ice" which was an ice sculpture display in the hotel in one of the huge convention rooms. The hotel had partnered with Dreamworks.  The entire display was made out of ice and the scenes were all from "Shrek the Halls."  It was amazing.  It was about three degrees in the display so we were all given huge, heavy coats with hoods to keep us warm and able to enjoy the incredible ice sculptures.

I wanted a picture of the license plate on our car rental
before we began our "Ice" experience at the
Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center on Lake Grapevine.

Inside the foyer of the Gaylord Texan Resort

The Atrium at the Gaylord

Steve at the Gaylord Texan Hotel

The two of us enjoying an early Christmas in Texas.

Here I am with Melanie at the Gaylord.

Melanie with her Dad at the Gaylord

Cowboy decorations make me smile.

A Pretty Fountain at the Gaylord

Santa's reindeers were pretty entertaining
to view.  Here's Steve enjoying "sports"
mixed with Christmas.

Melanie and Ryan as we waited in line
for "Ice."

Inside "Ice"

Mother and Daughter look alikes at "Ice"

Melanie with her Dad standing in front of a huge
ice sculpture

Maybe we shouldn't have posed for this picture
considering the caption on the book Shrek is holding.

Ryan's man cave at "Ice"

In this room behind where I am standing you could
ride down a slide made of ice.  Dad was the only
one brave enough to participate.

Steve and Melanie by the dragon and the three
bad wolves all of which were made out of ice.

Enjoying the "family" from Shrek the Halls

At the end of Shrek the Halls there was another
room with these impressive ice sculptures of the nativity.

Clowning around with Melanie and one of
Santa's reindeers dressed for "ballet"

Huge Texas boots in the background of this scene definitely
reminds me that we were in Texas.

A gingerbread house man-size!

Dallas Arboretum, Part 2 of Trip

The day after Thanksgiving we spent the morning shopping.  Then we drove to the Dallas Arboretum and enjoyed a few hours walking around acres and acres of land viewing fall decorations as well as beautiful trees, plants, bushes, and flowers.  We had beautiful weather, and it was a great way to unwind after hours of Christmas shopping on Black Friday.

White pumpkins are cool!

King's Throne from
"The Little Mermaid"

A house made out of pumpkins

Another house made out of white pumpkins

Yet another house made out of various pumpkins and
varieties of squash

Melanie and me inside Cinderella's kitchen

A beautiful arch shaped out of trees

Gorgeous arch,
happy couple!

Even though the signs all said not to
climb on anything, Ryan insisted on
breaking all the rules!

A lake by the arboretum

We saw people riding bicycles, jogging, sailing and
just generally enjoying nature while we were at
the arboretum.

Melanie and Ryan

There were creeks, lakes, and fountains
at the arboretum.

Inside the gazebo at the arboretum

At the end of this scene in the far background
 there was an infinity pool.

It's all about Texas and its history at the arboretum.

Enjoying a rest by a small pond
at the arboretum

Melanie with her Dad

Thanksgiving in Texas, Part 1 of Trip

Steve and I flew from LV into San Antonio and then on to Dallas where we met Melanie and Ryan for the Thanksgiving weekend.  We had a great time.  We enjoyed tons of Christmas shopping as well as sightseeing.  We actually stayed in a town near Dallas called Frisco which is where The Ogdens moved to a few months ago.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn on Preston which is a busy street full of many, many stores and a mall.  It was perfect because all of us had Christmas shopping on our list of things we wanted to do while we were together.

Frisco's water tower

We enjoyed lots of good food eating out at various
restaurants.  I knew about Paradise Bakery from Utah
and Oregon, so when I saw it I was quick to endorse
it as a great place to eat.  Melanie gave Dad a new
t-shirt and hat for his birthday.  Although you can't see
the design too well in the picture, it is an outline
of the State of Oklahoma and it says "Dust Bowl Tough."

Texas is all about cows, boots, belt buckles, hats, stars,
and bling!  I couldn't convince Dad to buy any bling, but he
was okay with standing by a bull near the shops we went to.

We were surprised to find the Ogdens at home.
I thought they would be in San Antonio
for the weekend, but we were able to see
them briefly before they left on their trip.  We
admired their beautiful Christmas tree they
had just finished setting up.

Another pic of us at Ogdens

Rob and Ryan

Kelsie, Jennie, and Melanie

On Thanksgiving Day we went to the movies.
Melanie and I saw "Twilight, Breaking Dawn" and the guys saw
"Powerball."  For dinner we ate at a restaurant
called Dave and Buster's.

Here's Ryan clowning around after my Christmas
purchase of a Dremel at Home Depot.  I think he
was happy with his Christmas gift from us.

Thomas Turns 29

A few years ago we started celebrating Thomas' birthday and Thanksgiving together.  Yesterday was our big party, and it was a lot of fun.  We had a nice turkey dinner and played quite a few games.  We went a little further in combining celebrations as we also gave Natalie and Thomas their Christmas money so they could use it towards the purchase of a van, and we gave them some gifts for the twin baby boys.  We definitely capitalized on putting as many "celebrations" together as possible this year.  It won't be long until the twin boys are born, so we are feeling "doubly blessed"  at this time of thanksgiving with many, many expressions of gratitude for all the blessings our family has been given and yet will be given!

Dinner is Ready!

I made Natalie stand sideways so
everyone could see how big she is
getting with those two babies.  She says
she feels like she is going to pop.

Dad is usually behind the scenes, but I asked him
to stand by Natalie long enough so I could get
a shot of him too.  He's been busy helping
Natalie and Thomas find a van for their
expanding family.

Dinner was yummy.  Maybe I shouldn't say that
since I cooked it, but it did hit the spot.

Time for Birthday Gifts
(Natalie gave Thomas tennis shoes and a jacket.)

Time for Baby Gifts
(Dad and I gave Natalie and Thomas  two matching sleepers,
two packages of newborn diapers, two boxes of wipes,
and two matching blankets.)

Time for Games
(We played pin gobble, gobble on the turkey,
musical chairs, throw the glow ring on the bottle, and
toss the tootsie roll pops in the pilgrim's hat.)

Everyone always seems to love glow rings.

It's Thomas' turn at throwing the
glow rings on the bottles.

How about some vintage soda and
a little Thanksgiving cheer by
wearing pilgrim hats?

We made two crafts; one was a turkey and the
other was a pilgrim.  Dad was in charge
of the glue gun.  They turned out pretty cute.

Time for Dessert
(Natalie made spice cupcakes that had pumpkin
and candy morsels baked inside.  She frosted them
with yummy homemade cream cheese frosting.)

It was a really fun party, and hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves.  We love holidays and we love to be together as a family.  It was great to spend the evening with The Ellsworths!

Natalie gave me Cali's kindergarten picture
when they all came over for Thomas'
birthday party.  She is a sweet little girl,
and I am happy I am her grandma!