American Father

My Father is American
He's brave, strong and true
He's a soldier in Kuwait
Fighting for me & you
He sends the message clearly
That men are made of steel
With pride and their honor
They help their country heal
From the men who tried to stop
The pride that we share
In our freedom and our country
He shows that he cares
My Father is an American
He's a soldier of the War
He will fight until the end
Into America's free core

4 months down, 2 months left
until Daddy comes home
where he is loved best

Rainforest Cafe

Mimi & Grant always have lots of fun stuff planned for us when we come to visit. Today we got to go to the Rain Forest Cafe - one of Lily's favorites. We always have to sit near the elephants & today we got a front row seat - the elephant could have eaten dinner off our plates! :o) We had a surprise this time though, when a green tree frog walked over to say hello! Lily was so excited...at one point she was trying to follow him around the restaurant! She also surprised us by picking up a handful of calamari as soon as it was put down on the table & eating it like they were french fries! Usually Lily is a VERY picky eater...

The Nutcracker

Mimi & Grant had the most wonderful idea to take Lily to the ballet to see 'The Nutcracker'. Lily was so excited to get dressed up & go see the ballerinas. She was so good throughout the performance & watched attentively the whole time. Even when it was over, she kept saying she wanted to see more & didn't want it to be over. It was a perfect idea for the aspiring ballerina - she has been practicing to become a Sugar Plum Fairy or Snow Princess ever since!

Waiting for the show to begin

Lily, Grant & Granny at dinner after the ballet.

Festival of Lights

We also got to go to the 'Festival of Lights' at Moody Gardens. Lily & I had never been to Moody Gardens before & none of us had been to the 'Festival of Lights'. The lights were so pretty & it was really neat to see some of the displays they had. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the butterflies (they were all sleeping), but we did get to see some of their nocturnal animals & the macaws. And we can't forget the poison dart frogs, right Mimi? :oP

Lily, Mimi & the Nutcracker

The princess castle!

We're goin' to the beach house!

Where else can you spend Thanksgiving weekend on the beach? I know our Massachusetts friends were jealous! :o) The wind was a little cool, but it was still warm enough to sit on the beach & make sandcastles. The beach is one of Lily's favorite places to go & whenever she knows we are going to Mimi & Grant's, she always asks "Are we going to the beach house? YAY!!!" There were lots of shells on the beach & Lily collected a bunch to bring home with us.

Apparently Lily thought it was warm enough to go swimming, but we all thought she was crazy! She kept trying to convince Grant & I to get in the water with her, but it was just too cold! She did find a puddle that had been warmed by the sun to sit in though...

One of Lily's favorite things to do at the beach house is riding on the golf cart. She thinks it's the greatest thing ever...

what a cutie!!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at Aunt Betsy's house this year...what a yummy Thanksgiving dinner we had! Roasted turkey...deep-fried turkey...sweet potato casserole...green bean casserole...fruit salad...MMMM! Lily claimed she didn't like turkey, so she was told she had "chicken" & she ate it right up!

Our fantastic cook, Betsy!

Lily & her cousin Rebecca

Lily had a great time playing with Rebecca...coloring, sharing Beanie Babies...and anyone who will watch 'The Little Mermaid' with Lily gets an extra smiley face in her book :o)

Lily coloring with Uncle Kris
What a good dog...Abby was very tolerant of Lily's poking & prodding!

Paw Paw's Country

We went to visit Lily's Paw Paw in "the country". Lily was pretty upset before we went out there because I wouldn't let her wear a dress (we have a fight every morning if she can't wear a dress). She went downstairs at Mimi's house pouting & when Mimi asked her what the matter was she said "Mommy won't let me wear a dress." So Mimi told her that she couldn't wear a dress because she was going to the country to see Paw Paw, to which Lily replied: "What country?" :o) to Paw Paw's country, of course!

Once we got out there Lily had a blast. The first thing she asked to do was go fishing - which I can't believe she remembers every time. Paw Paw has rigged up a little fishing pole for her & we usually go fishing in the ditch for crawdads, but unfortunately the ditch was dry due to no rain. Bummer! So instead she helped Paw Paw find some sticks to start a fire for the BBQ pit & then she helped him carry some firewood! What a strong girl - Don't mess with her!

This is one of the Chevy Nova's that Lily's Daddy & Paw Paw have been working on. Paw Paw surprised Daddy & painted it yellow, so we took a picture to show him all the work that's been done.

After dinner we took Lily to a playground. This little girl sure does have a lot of people wrapped around her little finger! All she has to do is say "Come on the swing with me!" & people jump right up! :o) Lily's favorite thing at the playground was the merry-go-round. I don't think she has ever been on one before, but she loved it. I don't know how anyone can go around that many times without getting dizzy...she was making us dizzy just watching her!

Fun at Mimi & Grants

Princess Cookies

Mimi bought Lily some special cookie cutters, so Lily & Mommy spent the dat making cookies shaped liked crowns, dresses, purses, shoes, hats & sunglasses. Lily did a spectacular job rolling out the dough, cutting the shapes out & decorating them!

First you roll it out...then you pose for a cheesy picture...

then you go crazy with the sugar!! :o)

The finished product

Dance, Dance Dance

I can't stress enough how much Lily likes to dance & how often she does it...the whole time we were at Mimi & Grant's house, Lily pretty much lived in her ballerina dresses & got anyone who would to dance with her as often as possible...

Here is Grant dancing with Lily...

and this is when I got caught taking pictures of Grant & Lily dancing..ha ha...

Pool Time!

It was a little too chilly for the pool, but Mimi & Grant did heat up the spa, so Lily could get her swimming fix. :o)

Lily & Grant
1, 2, 3, JUMP!


Bath Time
Another one of Lily's favorite things to do at Mimi & Grant's is take a bath in Mimi's big tub. I don't know what it is about that tub, but Lily loves it.

Aquarium

Mimi & Grant took us to the aquarium while we were visiting too.

Lily thought her Ariel doll would like to see the fish too...
WHOA! These fish are bigger than Lily! And this has to be the longest moray eel we have ever seen!

White tiger

On the shark train! da dum...da dum...da dum, da dum, da dum

yikes! It's JAWS!
Riding on the carousel...
I don't know if we should be more worried about the shark or Grant getting Lily...
Lily was thrilled that Grant won that stuffed unicorn for her! He lobbed many lobsters, but finally won the prize :o)
What a fun day!!

Welcome Dinner

Our first night in Texas we had some special visitors for dinner! Granny, Betsy & Kris came to eat fajitas with us (yum yum! we sure do miss the tex mex!). Little Miss Lily had fun showing off, once she got over her shyness. :o)

Little Miss Ballerina

Lily, Betsy & Kris playing 'Elefun'

Lily being goofy with her Grant

"Flying" with Uncle Kris