Christmas Spirit

The day after Thanksgiving, nearly every house on our cul-de-sac was completely decked out with Christmas decorations. You know what they say about everything being bigger in Texas? Well apparently it also applies to their Christmas displays. In fact, the company that makes those inflatable lawn snow globe things is based right here in Texas. Having disposed of most of our exterior decorations when we moved from our house in Arizona and went back to school, we've spent the last couple of weeks slowly catching up with "the Joneses," as it were.



Here is the current state of our outdoor display, complete with the lights on the 150 year old oak tree that were terrifying to put up. I'm seriously considering leaving them up for good.




Our Christmas Amaryllis from Dad K. This is probably the best one we've had in a long time, with four full flowers on a single stalk. The tag said it was a Red Lion variety (pure, deep red) but it turned out to be a variegated type.




Living room shot, with the real tree, garland on the column, and the Schirmer's on the piano (of course).




The formal dining room shot, with the antique table and the wreaths that Liz made and hung.




The family room shot of our Amish star from Lancaster County (Liz insists that this is NOT a Texas star), the fake tree, and garland.

Finally, here is a video of Charles reciting the Christmas story (Luke 2) from 2005. He is a seasoned pro at it this year, and Joey nearly has it down himself. It's funny how each year we're so surprised (maybe a little annoyed) at how fast Christmas comes, but before we know it, we'll be sad it's gone.

Say Cheese!

This past Saturday we spent a little time in the morning trying to take some Christmas pictures. After a couple dozen attempts, we ended up with a few acceptable family portraits. However, we also snapped a lot of outtakes of the kids.

Tori practicing knocking on a door, or getting ready to punch me out.

Then I told a blonde joke and we all laughed (Tori has just gotten the laugh down, although it's still silent).

Then I told a bald joke that must have hit a little too close to home--don't worry Tori, at least yours will grow someday...

You know when you're making your kids smile so much that they start giving half robot, half constipated faces? That's where we were at with the boys, so I told them to give me a stern look.

A good picture of Charles' new haircut.

Our little Angel

Sunday, the 26th of November, we blessed our little girl. It was a very nice day and we enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa Kewish there, as well as the Wheelers from Houston. Dad Kewish and Greg were able to stand in the circle as well as some of our other friends. Tori was as beautiful as ever, even if I'm a bit biased. Liz did a great job scrounging together her outfit on a budget and I thought it turned out great. Liz made Tori's headband herself when she went on a crafty streak soon after she was born.

The two girls together.


Close up of the home made headband.

Tori's whole blessing outfit.

Enjoying sitting on her boppy.

Joey was so tired, he crashed on grandma's lap in the middle of putting his toy plane together.

New Braunfels, TX

Another thing we did over the Thanksgiving weekend was take a short trip here in the Texas Hill Country where we live to an historic city named New Braunfels. Settled by Germans in 1845 just before Texas joined the United States, New Braunfels still has a strong German influence, including the oldest (and probably best) bakery in Texas. All the boys care about are the gingerbread man cookies at Naegelin's (or as Joey sometimes calls them, gingerman breads, which I guess makes sense) and Landa Park. Comal Spring pops out of the rock in this park and there are lots of other things to do there. I snapped a few pictures while we were exploring.


I caught Joey standing next to a Cypress tree

So I posed Charles next to the same tree

Charles and Joey with Grandpa and Grandma Kewish in front of Comal Spring.

I sat them on this little bridge over Comal Spring and Charles wrapped his arms around Joey.

Another benefit of New Braunfels is that there is almost always a diesel engine or two parked close to the park. We drove up to it, looked around carefully, threw the boys on the train, and snapped some pics.

Thanksgiving

Just a quick post with some pictures from Thanksgiving (only a few weeks late). Mom and Dad Kewish were in San Antonio to join us and we cooked most of the day. When the boys woke up from their naps and saw the spread they were beside themselves. Charles exclaimed, "Joey! It's our Thanksgiving feast!!!"

Here is the gang ready to eat.

And a close up of all the food (homemade pumpkin and apple pies not pictured).