My New Little Nieces

While we were in Ohio visiting Matt's sister, we also got to meet my new nieces Emma and Addison as well as attend their baptism. They are such sweeties and have cheeks that I could just munch right up. It was so fun to finally meet them!

Worn out and sleeping peacefully

An Early Christmas for Benjamin

For the past three weeks or so Benjamin has been asking to "go to Christmas." He still doesn't quite understand the concept of Christmas being a day of the year, but thinks it's a special place to go, kind of like the water park, or grandpa and grandma's house. Perhaps that's because his first gifts this year came while we were at a hotel in Ohio visiting Matt's sister Christa. Since we were away at a hotel and kind of "went" to his presents, perhaps he's a little confused. But boy did she pick some good stuff! He is in love with anything that moves on wheels, tracks, or in the air, so a garage with ramps and lifts and cars was just his thing. He's spent many hours playing with them since we got home. Thanks Christa!

Water Fun!

While we were gone for Thanksgiving, we went to Ohio to see Matt's sister Christa and meet her twin girls who were born over the summer. We stayed in a great hotel that had a mini water park in their pool area. Benjamin loved it!!

Checking out the big slide!

Giving the big slide a try and loving it!

Bowling Fun

What should one do when the belly is full of turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and pie? Why, go bowling of course!!! Well, at least, this is what the majority of us Anderson (Davis and Agapie) kids did on Thanksgiving night. We loaded up in the big red van and headed to a nearly empty bowling alley and had so much fun!

Believe it or not, Benjamin was actually thrilled to get to go
Look at all those balls!

A little bored, poor guy!

A Family Thanksgiving

What a blessing it was to be home for Thanksgiving this year and to have my sister and her husband and their son, as well as my grandma there as well. I've always kind of taken for granted having all of my family together around some holiday, but I think as we all sat around the table together, it hit me that my siblings are getting older and it won't be many years before some of them may be married or have jobs that take them to other parts of the country, so I was reminded to be thankful for this year of having us all together.

Pretty happy about the pie!

You're supposed to eat pie with a fork???

A Weekend at a Ranch

All I have to say about this post is, better late than never. This fall is flying by and I can't believe it's been a month and a half since we took a weekend away with our friends Brian and Katie and their son Cale. We went to the Flying L Ranch and enjoyed some good time hanging out with our friends and watching the boys play. There was a small water park with a lazy river and a couple of slides and Benjamin loved it. This momma is a wimp when it comes to cold and the water was COLD, so I was the official photographer. We enjoyed some good food, a tractor ride around the ranch, mini golf, and s'mores by a campfire. All in all, a very fun weekend!

wagon ride behind the tractor
Benjamin and Cale hanging out on the mini golf course

Daddy and Benjamin playing in the water

Fun on the water slide

Don't forget the chocolate!

Labor Day Weekend Part 2

Can we just say that I'm a bit behind on the blog thing? It's been a very busy month both with Benjamin's daily activeness and with Matt in the last month of studying for CPA. Needless to say, we are more than ready for the test to be over and for things to slow down a bit at least for a while.

So, two and a half weeks ago, we decided to make a day trip to the beach. Well, more like an afternoon trip. We left after church and returned home around 11 pm. It was a crazy tiring day, but we couldn't have asked for better weather. Last year we went on Labor Day and there was a hurricane on it's way, which made for super hot air and very choppy waves. The beach was also pretty dirty and we came home covered in tar. This year though, the beach was perfect! The air was warm, but not too hot, the water was oh so comfortably warm without too many floaty things that usually make me squeamish about swimming, and the sand was relatively clean and tar free. And, the waves were just right for Benjamin to play in. Also in contrast to last year, Benjamin LOVED the ocean and called it a waterpark. I told him it was God's waterpark. Last year he would not go near it and hated even the feel of the sand against his feet. This year, he was totally fearless, which was so much fun to watch, and of course meant we had to keep our eagle eyes on him at all times. Overall, it was a great trip and I got to do one of my very favorite things and watch the sunset while listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the sand.

Family Shot
Look at that sunscreen hair!

first steps into the water

He loved to jump and then land bottom first in the middle of a wave

Playing with Daddy in the water

Fun Pictures

Here are a few more picture from our Indiana Trip. Sorry I'm being so slow in getting these posted. We have been crazy with adoption paperwork and It's taking me a while to get other stuff organized.

Family Photo in front of Science Central

Who says adults can't climb up for a picture too? :)

Precious little Stephen!

Fort Wayne Zoo

Sometimes there are just those places that take you back in time to your childhood and make life feel simple and care free. The Fort Wayne Zoo is one of those places for me. When I was in junior high, my dad (a college professor) got a summer job in Fort Wayne, so we all moved up for the summer. We got a smallish apartment for our family of eight and spent the summer reading tons of books for the fabulous Fort Wayne library summer reading program, running around outside in the big grassy area that just happened to be right outside our apartment door, and making frequent visits to the Fort Wayne Zoo. It was a fairly simple summer (at least from my childhood memory's perspective) as the major busyness of life had been left back home. I have a lot of fond memories of really good family time.

And so, when we visited my sister and her husband, we decided it was time to take Benjamin there to enjoy it as well. It's rated one of the top zoos in the country and with good reason. The landscapes are beautiful, the animals easy to see and for the most part, not just in cement cages, and of course, they have a water fountain shaped like a lion. (see the picture below to find out why we think that fountain is so great.) It didn't hurt that the weather was absolutely perfect the day we went either. Now that we are back in the heat of south Texas, I'm really missing summer weather than you can enjoy being outside in.

Benjamin absolutely loves trains, so he enjoyed climbing around inside this one

Admiring the Jelly Fish

This is a classic picture for us. Matt had a picture of himself drinking from this fountain when he was little, and then we have another one that I took shortly before we were engaged of him drinking out of it, and now it's Benjamin's turn.

Benjamin loves hats!

Getting silly with the hats
In the rain forest