Feeling Thankful

We had a good Thanksgiving weekend at home this year. We have so much to be thankful for and it's nice to have a special day once a year when we can celebrate our thankfulness.

Thursday morning, the Hardy family members came over to our house where we hosted Thanksgiving dinner. Here are a few pictures of the girls in the morning playing around the house.

Our new walker is just cruising around.

Gabby hanging out, too.

Adriana and Aunt Bridget.

Our Thanksgiving spread. It was yummy!

Adriana enjoying her Thanksgiving dinner. She loved the sweet potatoes!

Hanging out after our big meal.

Sisters being sisters!

Thanksgiving night, Gabby, Nana and Aunt Megan made some "hamburger cookies." Gabby loved participating. These yummy treats look like hamburgers.

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Friday morning we put up our Christmas tree and most of our Christmas decorations. We made the final touches Saturday afternoon.

Gabby hanging up bulbs.

Adriana helping, too.

The final touch: the angel on top.

Our Christmas tree. This year it's in the dining room instead of the living room where it would be the focal point and attraction for Adriana.

Friday evening, Uncle Tommy and Aunt Danielle came with us to see Santa Claus descend from Weaver's rooftop. The girls also got a chance to see Santa up close and sit on his lap.

Some exciting family news.... Uncle Tommy and Aunt Danielle are expecting a baby in early June! We are so excited for them and the girls can't wait to meet their cousin! Congrats to Tommy and Aunt Danielle!

Heading to see Santa Claus!

Waiting in the chilly temperatures.

Watching Santa come down the rooftop.

Gabby is so excited to talk to Santa. She is near the front of the line.

Patiently and excitedly waiting to sit on Santa's lap. They are next in line!

Gabriella telling Santa what she wants for the Christmas. The only thing she mentioned to him were roller skates but her list also includes a Barbie, Spider-Man toys and stuff to make art projects among many other things.

This picture sums it up pretty well... Gabriella is super excited to visit with Santa while Adriana couldn't be more terrified!

We hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving, too!

So what has Adriana been up to lately?

One guess....

Yep, she's walking! A few weeks ago she started taking a couple steps at a time and then last Thursday (Nov. 18) morning she began walking 7-8 steps at a time. By that night, she was taking more than a dozen steps. And the last few days she has been walking across the room and around the house. She is on the go!

You wouldn't know it by these photos, but this morning Adriana had tubes placed in her ears. Since about 2 months old, she has gotten ear infections roughly every 6-8 weeks. Her primary care physician recommended we wait until she turned a year to meet with a specialist. After her first birthday, we consulted with an ENT and then scheduled the surgery. She did awesome! The procedure only took a few minutes but she was put under general anesthesia. She was a little fussy when she woke up, but after a couple McDonald's pancakes and a long nap, she got up in a great mood! We are so thankful everything went smoothly today.

Such a big girl now!

Hanging out with Big Sis!

Waiting for Toy Story 3 to start. Nonna, G-Pa, Uncle Tommy and Aunt Danielle sent a "thinking of you basket" to Adriana today. Inside were all kinds of great treats for both girls and a few movies. Toy Story 3 was included! Gabby and David saw it a few months ago in the theater and she loved it! She was enthralled again tonight.

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Yesterday morning before church, I found "Double Trouble" at it again.

Gabby decided to climb into Adriana's bed when she heard her wake up from her morning nap.

Adriana loves books!

Another weekend full of football

We spent another weekend attending TWO football games! We had a great time! We met Nonna and G-Pa in Norman, Oklahoma, this weekend for the OU-Texas Tech game. The girls had a great time cheering on the Sooners. OU won handily! We got to the game a little early and Gabriella and Adriana loved the pre-game music and fanfare.

Dancing to all kinds of good tunes.

G-Pa watched the game from the sideline, and we had terrific seats courtesy of Coach Stoops and his wife, Carol, which we very much appreciated.

Giving some hugs, too! They are so cute together!

Babbling to Nonna about her necklaces.

Gabby and Nonna watching the band pre-game.

Wiped out by the 3rd quarter.

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On Sunday, Hutch played Butler again for their regional championship in El Dorado. Unfortunately, Hutch lost but it was so good to see Uncle Tommy and Aunt Danielle.

After the game.

Last week we found a great Wal-mart special on Halloween costumes - $1.20! Gabby thought she should wear her Transformer Bumble Bee costume to the game. Although it was a bit much, it did keep her warm on a very cold afternoon.

You Can Find Me in St. Louie...

We had a fun weekend in St. Louis visiting friends! We stayed with our good friends, Fay and Jeff, for both nights and we had a great time! We spent Saturday morning at The Magic House, which is St. Louis' children's museum. It was an enormous place and very impressive! We spent two hours there and probably saw only 1/2 or 2/3 of it. We will have to go back again some time. The girls loved it! Saturday afternoon Fay took photos of our family (check out her blog). She is an awesome photographer so we are eager to see how they turned out. We will post links soon! Saturday evening we had a chance to visit with our other friends, Rosemary, Paul and their daughter Aubrey, who live in St. Louis, too. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend!

Adriana pulling up on the huge candy wall at The Magic House. You had to guess how many pieces of candy were in the case... any guesses?

Gabby "fishing" for magnetic fish. This was a really cool exhibit. On the ground were clear floor boards so that you could watch the "fish" swim up the stream to reach the pond. It was really neat!

Fay and Jeff helping Adriana play the piano. Adriana loved pushing the keys.

Gabriella in the kitchen. She loves dramatic play.

Daddy checking Gabby out at the supermarket.

Adriana enjoying herself in the playroom for kiddos her age. She loved the slide.

On Saturday night, Rosemary and Paul and Aubrey came over to Fay and Jeff's for a cookout. (Samantha, Fay and Rosemary are sorority sisters.) This was our daughters' first time meeting each other. Aubrey and Adriana are just two months apart. Aubrey turns 1 in early December.

The only picture I could get of all three of them. They were on the go!

In a deep "conversation" about markers. What cuties!

The girls became good friends with our hosts' dog, Shakespeare. He's a great pup!

We had wonderful time visiting. Thanks Fay and Jeff for an awesome weekend!

Halloween Happenings!

Happy Halloween! This week was full of fun and exciting Halloween activities. The girls most definitely got full use out of their costumes.

Some photos from this evening:

Gabriella: a mermaid & Adriana: Snow White

Snug as a bug in a rug while sitting in their wagon before trick-or-treating.

Aunt Bridget and Aunt Megan came along with us this evening to join in the Halloween fun.

Walking down our cul-de-sac.

Gabriella's favorite house to visit tonight. The reason .... she remembers it from last year! Since last Halloween she has talked about "the man hopped up!" (One of the decorations is a scary man who pops up and down every few seconds.) She was SO excited to visit the house again - definitely the highlight of the night! Last year she wasn't scared of the spooky decorations and music but this year she was a little more cautious.

At the end of the night the girls surveyed the candy.

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Saturday was a busy and fun day. We went to TWO football games! We headed to Manhattan to watch the KSU-OSU game. Kick-off was at 11 a.m. Then we headed to Hutch to watch the Blue Dragons take on Coffeyville CC at 7 p.m.

Gabby having a blast at the Hutch game with her "terrible towel!" The Blue Dragons won!

At the KSU game. The Tadtmans invited us to the game. We spent the first quarter outside in the stands and the remaining time in their suite in the press box. Aubrey and Gabriella had a great time playing together. Poor Colten wasn't feeling well so he wasn't able to go to the game. We had a great time! Thanks Tadtmans!

Adriana taking a break from playing.

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Gabby's preschool class' Halloween party was on Friday. The kids bobbed for apples.

Gabby did an awesome job bobbing!

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On Thursday, Nonna and G-Pa had a Halloween party for the girls at their house since they weren't in town for the holiday today.

The girls waiting on their doorstep to trick-or-treat.

Greeted with goodies - candy and gifts, which included Halloween blankets and pillows they used in their wagon while trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Posing for the camera. Sisterly love!

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Wednesday evening was Gabby's preschool's carnival. Nonna came along with us for the fun. The girls had a great time!

Before the carnival. First time in their costumes!

Gabby during the cake walk. She won and chose a witch cookie jar full of sugar cookies. So cute! So won again later in the night and chose cupcakes. We have a lot of sweets in our house right now!

The beanbag toss.

An ice cream social in the cafeteria. The girls loved the sweet treats!

We had a spooktacular Halloween and we hope you all did, too!