We made Grandma
Stahle's Rhubarb jam before we left for TX so that we could give it to Dallas' family as part of their early Christmas presents. Aunt Sharon did the hard part by providing us with the rhubarb juice, then we just mixed everything together and made the jam! It is really some phenomenal stuff. Grandma
Stahle was a
genius!!
This is the largest statue of an American Hero in the world! Sam Houston was the first president of the Republic of Texas. He retired to
Huntsville Texas where Jay attends Sam Houston State University. We could see the statue from miles away when we drove into
Huntsville. It's HUGE!!! Jay took us to visit the Sam Houston Museum, and took our picture at the statue. (See if you can find us).
We liked this sign and thought it would be fun to get a free ride until we read further.
This was Ashley's first experience with a real live Texas Longhorn. This was also a very mean longhorn, and kept trying to gouge us with his horns! That's why Ashley is Dallas' human shield in this picture :) Actually, he's trying to pull her away from the beast, but she wouldn't listen.
Greta was absolutely hilarious. We had a ball with all the
nieces and nephews, but she was definitely the one with the most energy. Prior to this picture, her hair was up in cute little "puppy dog ears." Apparently she decided this was cuter!
Here are our studly 6 year old nephews Dallin and Jonas. During our trip Dallas' brother-in-law Jimmy, (Dallin's dad) taught some of us some pretty cool Jiu-Jitsu moves. The boys had fun practicing them on each other and trying to get the other to tap out.
The day after our Thanksgiving Feast we went to Alligator Park. It's a huge park with ponds and swamps where alligators just hang out without fences!! You just walk along a trail and if you're lucky, an alligator will be
chillin on the bank. None of us were brave enough to touch one, but we got within about two feet of the ones on the banks. We saw little baby ones and ones that were over 6 feet long!
Honestly, has anyone ever been to a greyhound track? This was one of the most exciting things to do with 6 year
olds. Every 15
mins or so, there was a new race. The kids would all pick their favorite dog (usually by which one pooped first or the most), and then yell their little hearts out. Jay even placed a bet, and won 40 bucks that he graciously contributed to the babysitting fund so the adults could all go play later that night.
Clara and Uncle Dallas snuggling because it was pretty dang chilly at the races
So after we left the kids to terrorize the babysitters, we went to downtown Houston for a night on the town. We enjoyed eating at
Benihanas. Ashley practiced a psycho face, and I taught
every one how to use chopsticks... I failed miserably.
Zee's favorite thing to do when we come home is settle down on our shoulders. You can see she's perfected the art of it, and looks very comfortable.
For a few days there, Zee would love to play in the blinds by our bed. We thought it was funny until she would do it at night while we were trying to sleep. No worries though, a squirt bottle solved the problem quite quickly:)
One of my favorite tricks that Zee will perform is the towel rack trick. The first time she performed this, she just climbed the towel till she got to the top. Now, she just jumps and lands perfectly on the top. Pretty impressive, since she only has 2 inches to work with. She finds it quite comfortable I guess, because she always does it.
This picture isn't Zee, but we still enjoy visiting Zoey when we go home to California. She also enjoys naps, and long walks on the beach at sunset.
