Thanksgiving in Texas!

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Texas and had a wonderful time! Aliyah's birthday fell on Thanksgiving day, so Grandma Mink made a cake for her and we celebrated while we were in Texas. She LOVED the horses on it!

My nephew, Justin, with my sister Amanda at Thanksgiving dinner.

My brother, Jeff, took us on a nature walk in the backyard. I grew up with acres and acres of land behind our house. It was fun to watch Jeff teach Maya and me!!

My brothers....Jeff and John.

My sister's (Amanda) beautiful kids...Edith and Jett.

I was also able to visit with friends! We drove up to Dallas to spend time with Cassie and her three adorable and sweet girls. It was such a FUN trip!! Thanks Cassie! She even made Maya her first cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream! Yummy!

Our girls had SO much fun playing together...pretty soon there will be six girls playing together! Wow...who would have thought?! :)Oh, and this is Ava (her FIVE year old) reading books to Maya. Yes, she is only five and can read ANY book you hand her!My best friends from highschool...it was SO fun to catch up!!! Nycole is in the middle and Tanae is next to her with her little girl Jordyn.

My other best friend from high school was Candace and she is due almost the exact same time as I am in January! She is also having a girl. She is standing next to her brother and sister, who, by the way, have grown a TON since I last saw them! :)

Oh, and one final picture of my nephew Justin tackling my brother-in-law, Jeff. Justin is an amazing football player...one of Austin's best! He has two amazing sisters as well...Ashley and Amanda.

Happy Halloween!

My little pumpkin and tinkerbell! What a fun night!Maya decided she wanted to be Tinkerbell when her friend Gracie told her that she was going to be Tinkerbell! Here they are!Someone's excited to get started!

A day in the life...simple pleasures

Well, it has been awhile since I blogged, but I had a fun day on Thursday, a day filled of just little, simple pleasures and I wanted to share! The girls and I started the day doing laundry (this has become a Thursday tradition!) However, the girls wanted to help and it was really fun to do it together!

We spent the rest of the morning at a friend of mine's house. She made us some delicious homemade applesauce last week and I wanted to learn how to do it! She invited me over and we made 10 jars worth! It was a lot of fun and the girls helped out too.

Later that afternoon, we played outside for a little while. Aliyah loves to push Maya around on her bike. Maya seems to enjoy the free ride as well! There are few things that bring me more joy than seeing my girls play together and be friends.

When Aliyah takes her nap, Maya and I usually do some "school." She loves to learn and it is our special, quiet time to be together. I really enjoy it. I really think life is about enjoying the simple pleasures everyday. And, today, was one of those days that seemed full of them.

And, of course, being pregnant, one of the greatest treasures of all!

California!

Last week Ken and I took a trip to California with some of my family. (My niece April Fillmore and her husband and three boys and my nephew, Dave Mink, and his wife and two boys! Needless to say, my girls were outnumbered, but they had a blast!) Thanks for inviting us Dave and April!!!We also visited Ken's uncle, Dean, his wife Deanna and their son Nathan. But, Maya spent most of her time with the family dog, Tucker. She LOVED him!
Dean grilling some amazing steak. They made us the most delicious Sunday dinner! Thanks!
Near the beach where we stayed was a park with a zip line! I took Aliyah for a ride, but Maya wanted to go by herself! She's a brave girl.
Ken enjoyed learning to surf!
Check him out! By the end, he was a pro! Santa Barbara Zoo...I LOVE Aliyah's face here! She's saying "hold on Maya, we're going for a ride!"

The girls had the chance to feed a giraffe! It left quite an impact on Aliyah and whenever I ask her about the giraffe, she says "long neck lick me!" And then she starts to laugh. I think she was a little surprised to see the giraffe's tongue coming at her!
We had amazing weather! Sunny all week!

Here is Maya holding a baby octopus! Benjamin, April's husband, showed us where to find them. It was a favorite activity among the kids!

April Fillmore, me and JesseAnn Mink. Don't be fooled by this picture...with 7 kids under the age of six, we were hardly ever just sitting around and hanging out!!! :) But our walks along the beach were fun!

I also did a little kayaking. Ken caught this picture of me with the girls watching. Aliyah wanted to come with me so bad! Maybe next year sweetie!

It's a Girl!

Well, we found out today that another girl will be joining our family in January! We are so excited for these sisters to grow up together! What a fun day. We just wanted to share our exciting news!

New Pictures...Finally!!!

Okay, I know it has been way too long!!! I've had some camera issues (just lost the charger and had to order a new one!) Anyway, no more excuses....here's what we've been up to. To begin, in August, we had a visit from my best friend Cassie, her husband, and three adorable girls! Here we are at the top of Sundance!

The boys rode their bikes down the mountain and we rode the gondola down with five girls under the age of 6....not sure who had the bigger adventure! :) Making princess crowns!

Such fun girls!

In July, we took a trip to Chicago to visit Ken's dad. We had such a wonderful time! Here are a few pictures from his farm. The girls LOVED riding the horses!!!

In July, we also had my family reunion and my brother, John, and his three amazing children (Justin, Ashley & Amanda) stayed with us. Here are Justin and Ashley with their cousin Deanna. The next picture is Maya and Amanda.

Well, there's the mini update! Sorry it has been so long!

Cahoon Reunion

July 3rd and 4th we celebrated with Ken's Grandmother Cahoon and her children and grandchildren for the Cahoon Reunion. His Aunt Carol (picture below in the green shirt) worked so hard to organize this reunion and it was a great success! Thanks Carol and thank you grandmother for such a wonderful family and legacy.

Aliyah and Maya enjoyed all the fun activities, including bounce houses, swimming pools and a slip and slide!


Oh yea...and they LOVED the chocolate chip cookies too!! :)
Maya having fun on the slip and slide!