Thanksgiving Leftovers

 

Now that we are full on blessings, love, and of course delicious food... here are a few Thanksgiving "leftovers" for the blog.
...
1. This year my family, husband, and I celebrated at our home in North Dallas for Thanksgiving.
2. We watched our Aggies beat Alabama! (again.. thanks to a recorded taping on our DVR)
3. I came down with strep over the Thanksgiving holiday and spent my Friday with my mom at Care Now.
4. My mom, brother, and I enjoyed a movie date at the Dollar Movies in Plano. We watched Looper.
5. Ray had to work a great deal of the Thanksgiving holiday as this is his "busy season" at work.
6. We ordered a new cleaning robot as our last ended up geting "injured" on our carpet.
7. My boys picked up our first "real" tree for our Zellner home. Funny thing as though it barely fit and the top had to be removed. It is huge but perfect.
8. Ray and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary at the Melting Pot before the holiday came.
9. I am so excited to be celebrating the birth of several of my besties little kiddos. This December and January we will be celebrating Harley and Jacob who will be turning 2 and Bryson who is turning 3. It is amazing how time flies. We sure love these kiddos and are so blessed to have them in our lives. In only a few short months, we'll have 3 more little ladies join us. God is so good:)
1o. I had an opportunity to celebrate my mom's special 21st birthday:)
11. I sadly have eaten my weight in desserts these past few weeks. I really should start working out... sadly that's not happening any time soon. ha!
12. I am looking forward to a few weeks of school before we go on Christmas break.

Here's to turkey leftovers, to all the blessings, and happenings that may come. May we be reminded that God's hand is on everything. Nothing is a suprise to him. May I remember that it is His timing and nothing for Him is too great. Sending it all to Him this season!

Babes, Birthday, and Butterball!

We wish you a blessed Thanksgiving season. May we truly be thankful for all of God's amazing gifts! This year my family came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us in Dallas. It was such a pleasure to share our holiday with them as this was our first Thanksgiving in our new home. From ladies day shopping excursions, Babes Chicken and birthday celebrations, and Turkey Day festivities, all was a true celebration! From my family to yours, I wish you all the love and friendship for a time of true thanksgiving!

 

Shopping Day Funtivities: On Wednesday, while the boys were away the ladies did play. I enjoyed a wonderful shopping and antiquing trip with my mama. We ventured to Downtown McKinney and found a lot of great vintage shops. That afternoon we then made our way to Waters Creek for a bit of clothes shopping as well. These trips are far, few, and in between as we don't always have the opportunity to do this... so it definitely made this excursion extra fun!

 

While my mom and I spent a day on the town, Ray and Chris enjoyed a lunch at the Londoner and spent some time at the gun range. I love that they had some boy time together.



That night we made our way to Babes Chicken for dinner. We ordered cat fish and chicken fried steak. It was delicious; however, I was so incredibly full. They just kept bringing dish after dish of food. I knew this was probably a bad choice as Thanksgiving would be another amazingly full meal for our tummies... but the food was so good... it was worth it.



Upon our return, we had planned a small birthday celebration for my mama. Her birthday is on December 1st and as we rarely now are able to celebrate on her actual birthday, I was excited to do a small celebration.

Thanksgiving morning, we awoke rather early to begin our morning cooking festivities. This year I truly feel so blessed to have my whole family to share this day of Thanks with. 



Our menu included turkey, ham, my greatgrandmother's stuffing, grape salad, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato caserole, cherries, and a pumpkin and pecan pie. All I have to say is YUM!

 



Picnic In the Park & Arboretum Adventure

This past Sunday, my husband and I had a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a picnic in the park and fall Arboretum Adventure with our bible study group. Two of our members have contracts through their work and each received 5 free tickets to the Arboretum. Today was the perfect Fall day to redeem them. The morning had started off a bit chilly, but after a bit of time, it was absolutely beautiful. After church, we all met up at the Hjertstedt's home, picked up a sandwich lunch at the Corner Market, and made our way to the Arboretum. The parking lot had been full, but a free shuttle service was being offered nearly a mile up the road. Upon our arrival, we made our way through the park. The Chihuly glass exhibits were absolutely stunning. I love these pictures, but am unsure if they do the exhibit justice. It was gorgeous!

Then we found a great grassy area, layed out a few blankets, and enjoyed a delicious picnic in the park.

We ate in the sun, as part of the shaded area was a bit wet. It didn't bother us at all. After we were pretty much done and ready to get a game plan together, several photo opts were taking place only feet away from our lunch, so we quickly packed up and took a walk. Of course we then pulled out the cameras and began a few photo opts of our own.

 

We even had a few professional photographers by our side. :)

 

As we made our way around the garden, we came to the Pumpkin Patch. It was said that the Arboretum housed over 65,000 pumpkins during this fall festival time. They were everywhere and were absolutely amazing! From young to old, we sure all enjoyed our self in the patch. 

 

 

We sure had a wonderful adventure at the Arboretum. It was a pleasure to spend our time with such sweet friends. We are so thankful for these groups of friends! Wishing you all a very blessed Thanksgiving filled with photo opts, food, and of course lots of FUN!

First Grade Fun!

There have been lots of changes this year from school to grade level, teammates, and curriculum. While some days have been a challenge, many other days have been a true blessing. Here are some of the fun activities that my first graders have participated in and our first grade fun!

Eagles Soar!

 

 

Last Friday night, the husband and I met up with a few couples from our ABF for a night of wings and football. Our good friends Denise and Chase picked up $6.00 tickets to the Allen Eagles game against Plano Senior High. Before the game, we dinned at Sauced. I unlike almost everyone ordered a pulled pork sandwich while Ray ordered the death sauce. It was pretty good. The fries were delicious. After we got our fill, we left for the game. Wow! The stadium is amazing!  





It was sure a tense game as Plano Senior High was on the winning end until the last moments of the game. I personally  love the half time show. Since I was on dance team, I do tend to like a good show. That night the band dressed in Halloween costumes. I loved looking at all the costumes... some were honestly questionable as I couldn't imagine my highschooler wearing it, but still super cute!

       

But I will honestly say my favorite part was chatting with these lovely ladies. 

Denise, me, Amy, and Julie 

 

The boys also had a blast... but they definitely were more into the game. With seconds to tie the game up, Plano Senior High dropped the ball and Allen Eagles WIN!



Thanksgiving FRIENDship Feast!

 

On Sunday, our friends gathered at our home to share in our annual Thanksgiving FRIENDship Feast! It could not have been more perfect timing as our best Brushwood friends were in town to enjoy our celebration. Each year our cooking gets better and better. Boy was this year delicious! From 3-9PM our night was filled with delicious food and fantastic friendships. I truly love these people. I am truly THANKFUL!

 



 The ladies that have blessed my heart for almost a decade!

Ray had his first opportunity to fry a turkey. It was delicious!

But watch out for flying oil.

Our Menu:

Fried turkey, sweet potato casserole, macaroni and cheese, veggies, rolls, grape salad, pecan tassies, deviled eggs, chocolate bread pudding, apple pie, and chocolate mousse.

 



 Annual deviled egg picture... five years and counting!

Four beautiful ladies and two little ones to join us:)

 

 Our Duke friends 

 Kitchen Fun!

 

Our Fant friends and sweet little buddies.

  Mike and Adam. Mike makes a fantastic Mac & Cheese:) YUM!

Our Brushwoods

Sweet couples

 

This has been another amazing year of blessings. I am truly thankful for these moments. From delicious food, full tummies, and fun firsts. Happy Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for?

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

Happy 3 Years to my love. For a man who loves me and all of my quirks. To a man that still melts my heart. I love you babe! A sweet surprise celebration was held at The Melting Pot! May life always be as "sweet!"

Afternoon Aggieland Excursion!

 

Was I the only person that forgot about our new Fall forward schedule this morning? Even though I had received multiple messages about daylight savings time, I woke up at 8AM which sadly was really 7AM... I had forgotten to reset the clock. So in an effort to enjoy our extra hour and the beautiful day ahead, Ray and I decided to take a random roadtrip to Aggieland. After gathering a few things, enjoyed a quick stop for a Whataburger breakfast, we were on our way. Once we arrived into College Station, we had to stop at Aggieland Outfitters. I thought the sign was absolutely perfect! Greetings from Aggieland! And boy it is always so good to go back!

 

 For lunch we enjoyed some Antonio's pizza off Northgate.

After our walk around Northgate, we visited the newly remodeled Memorial Student Center. Wow. It was beautiful! I loved all the newness of the updated remodel with all the traditional touches.

Kyle Field

And of course I had to take my picture with my lovebug under the Century Tree.

 I love that Ray and I are able to enjoy a random afternoon roadtrip to Aggieland. I love catching up on old times and looking forward to all the new. Here's to the past and of course our futures! All I have to say is Gig 'Em Aggies WHOOP!