Our Annual Family Photos

Here are a couple of images that didn't make the Christmas Card cut...

And our annual Christmas card..... 

Uncle Lee

It's been 3 years, but finally Lee came to visit for the weekend.  Ella was over the moon to spend a weekend with her uncle and Ron, I'm sure, was happy to have his little brother around to watch the football games.  At one point they had Ella squawking and cheering too.  We did the ritual River Walk and took a drive around San Antonio, but mostly it involved the guys watching football, either here or at BJ's bar & grill.

Color Me Rad

I hate running, that is no surprise to anyone who knows me.  But I found this fun 5K 'run' that sounded too fun to pass up.  Throughout the route, they color bomb you with dyed corn starch.  You are also given packets of it and everyone is color bombing everyone.  We started out in white and ended color-tastic!  If one comes to your city, I highly recommend it!  We went with a few of our girl scout friends....

Princess Room

We upgraded to a king size bed and gave Ella our queen bed frame and the guest bed.  Add a mosquito net, some refurbished letters and you have a bed fit for a princess.  It's huge for her but she loves it and it gives her her own little reading nook....

Halloween

Halloween is always a great holiday for Ella and I.   It's so much fun to dress up and go trick-or-treating.  This year we had a full social calendar.  Our first stop was a party with the girl scouts and then it was off to a friend's to trick-or-treat before heading home to hand out candy.

Pumpkin Patch Cowgirl

We headed out to the pumpkin patch and little miss decided to roll like a cowgirl... we also did some location scouting and she's more than happy to pose for me ...

Devine Acres Farm

Ella and I headed south to Devine Acres Farm with our friends.  This ranch had a ton of stuff for the kids to do: a petting zoo, a fishing pond, tractor and hay rides, water games, a playground and acres of exploring.  Ella tried her hand at fishing but was too impatient to just stay still and wait, so she handed the bamboo rod to me... and we caught a fish...

School Portraits

As usual, I did Ella's school portraits outdoors and with one of her friends.

The company our school uses is terrible and has the ugliest backdrops.  I always buy them though as what childhood is complete without the traditional ugly school photo.  She is gorgeous... the background? Not so much... 

Fall Soccer

Soccer season started again... Next level, bigger field, bigger ball, bigger goal and penalty kicks ... but still a lot of fun!

Girl Scouts

We joined another troop this year.  My friend, Andreia is our troop leader and this year has been awesome!  The girls have done so much and with little cost and it's always a learning adventure.  They celebrated National Peace Day with a tour of the Girl Scout Headquarters and placed windmills in the peace garden....

They went to the local grocery store, HEB, and had a tour, learning about healthy choices and where the food on their tables comes from.  The froze in the freezers, went back in the bakery, seafood counter, produce department and the meat department.  Having worked in a grocery store for 8 years in high school and college, I am very impressed with HEB.  I think had our grocery store offered tours, it would have long been shut down by the health department!  At the end of the tour, they each paired up with a cashier and checked out a real customer.  She thought it was awesome!

Halloween Party....

Going to a UTSA (University of Texas San Antonio) game and meeting the cheerleaders...

Build-A-Bear....