Bethlehem Skyline Tour

(sorry the photo is so dark)

Our church hosted the Bethlehem Skyline Tour tonight. The Bethlehem Skyline Tour is a group of Christian musicians performing solo acts and as a group. The music was wonderful, but we didn't get to stay for the whole thing. Our church didn't provide child care, so Taylor sat with us. She did great for the majority of the show. She loved the music and danced and clapped through all of the songs.

If you want to hear some of the music from the tour, you can click on www.bethlehemskyline.com .

Playing in the tree before we left from the concert.

Yep, Lake Bear went with us to the concert. After all, he is family.

Coppell Christmas Parade

We spent all of saturday putting up all of the Christmas decorations. Taylor helped Nathan decorate the tree. She loves to pull all the silver balls off the tree and batt at the other ornaments.



Saturday night, Mike, Dacia and baby Cody met us for dinner and then went to the Coppell parade with us. The parade started at 6:30 and all of the floats were decorated with lights. It was about 50 degrees saturday night and we were freezing! It didn't seem to phase Taylor any, she loved the parade! She would clap and dance when the floats with music would come by. Cody was mesmerized by all the lights. He seemed to really enjoy the parade too.



Dacia, Taylor and me waiting for the parade to start



Taylor and me during the parade. They handed out snowman foam balls, so she was more interested in the ball than the parade for a little while.

KDO preschool day

Taylor went to KDO today and I have to brag about myself for a minute. I cut Christmas trees into her sandwiches this morning with a cookie cutter. I can't brag too much because they were just cheese sandwiches.

Who doesn't love festive sandwiches in their Princess lunchbox????

Tonight we went to go see Taylor's KDO class, friends and teachers. Nathan has picked her up twice from KDO, but it was nice for him to get to see her with her teacher and friends. I love how social she is and is so comfortable talking to all the kids and parents.

Taylor sat with me while they sang songs.

Taylor with Ms. Shirley and her friend Madison.

Building a tower with Madison.

Grapevine, Texas

We went over to Grapevine tonight and went down Main Street. For those of you who live close, you should go see all the lights on Main Street. It will definitely get you in the holiday spirit. They had a huge tree and a whole park wrapped in lights that were synced with music and it is really neat. Taylor loved watching the lights flash and the Christmas music.




Just imagine this all lit up at night with flashing lights in sync with music.









Merry Christmas!

25 days till Christmas

Merry Christmas! I've been waiting to say that for the longest time! I love this season. It is December 1st and I can't wait to get out all of my Christmas decorations! I don't have time to do it tonight because I have bible study, but hey, Jesus is the reason for the season right! I can't wait to get the tree up and put the presents underneath it. Nathan and I are a little worried about keeping Taylor away from the presents. Last year she could only roll around, so she would roll under the tree and play with the ornaments. This year she is super curious and into everything 24/7. I guess there is no better time to really teach her the meaning of NO! How do you teach a 17 month old that patience is a virtue? I don't know if it is possible.

I can't wait for Christmas morning when Taylor gets to open all her presents and see what Santa brought her. I think Nathan's dad is going to dress up like Santa this year, so that should be interesting. I think we are going to take her to meet Santa at the mall this weekend, so we will see how their 2nd meet goes. Last year she didn't mind Santa, but last year she would of been fine if anyone was holding her. I'll have to let you know how the show down goes......

Starting Traditions

I am really wanting to start some traditions with our family this year. We have one tradition where we play a game on Christmas eve, but other than that, we don't have any other traditions. My mom bought us a gingerbread house kit to make the day after Thanksgiving, but we didn't want to carry home the gingerbread house. We are searching for new traditions to start with Taylor. I did buy us matching pjs to wear Christmas morning, and let me tell you, Nathan is not very excited about it! He did agree to wear them though - he is such a good husband!

If yall have any Christmas traditions or ideas you wouldn't mind sharing with us, please post a comment or email them to me. Thanks and Merry Christmas!

I just read a friends blog and she had the same post. One idea she had posted was to do a Happy Birthday Jesus Party. On Christmas day you make a birthday cake and have a mini party to celebrate Jesus birthday. What a wonderful idea!

Thanksgiving Break

The Family at Thanksgiving

Dad, mom, Tom, Diann, Nancy and Rich (dads cousins)

We are back in Dallas and glad to be home. It is so nice to go stay with family, but there is nothing like being in your own home and getting to relax. Anyways, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving break in Kingwood.

I did get up at 4am friday morning to go shopping. My mom is a total trooper and got up early to shop with me. Let's just say I didn't have to twist her arm very hard to get her to go! We hit a few stores and stood in some hilatious lines to check out, but it was fun. We did all the shopping we wanted to and headed home by 9:30 am. My dad took the family to Galveston to go see the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, so mom, Taylor, Nathan and me stayed in Kingwood. Mom watched Taylor for us and Nathan and I went to go see a movie. I think we have only gone to see 2 movies together since Taylor was born. We went to Four Christmas' with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn. It was pretty funny and not very long. I think it was less than 2 hours long. Anyways, when Dad got home with everyone, we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Kingwood. It was pretty good and Taylor's kids meal was super fun. There is a picture below.

How fun is her meal? I think they normally light the pink stuff on fire, but they didn't with Taylor. I'm so glad they didn't!

Don't you just love her silk pj's from China. Mom and dad got them for her last April when they went to China for 3 weeks.

Saturday all of the family left so we hung out with mom and dad. Taylor helped us make coffee and homemade biscuits for breakfast. Nathan and I did have lunch with some friends, Chris, Missy and Elizabeth Hill. It was so good getting to see them again. Elizabeth is just a doll! After lunch we headed home and Dad and Nathan went to go play racquetball. Dad loves racquetball and Nathan only gets to play when we are in Kingwood with my dad.

Taylor making coffee with Grandma and Grandpa Koester.

Taylor helping me make biscuits.

Chris with Elizabeth Hill. She is precious!

We got up at 7:30 this morning and drove home to miss the traffic. It worked! We just cruzed home with no problems and of course, Taylor fell asleep as we were pulling into Dallas. It never fails, we want her to sleep the whole way there and she only falls asleep when we are getting there. Oh well, it could be worse, right?

That concludes our Thanksgiving break and we wish we could of seen all of our friends in Houston, but there never seems to be enough time when we are visiting family. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!