The Guest Family

Daddy with his proud kiddos...enjoying some of the post-race snacks

It was fun to be downtown watching...lots of energy and high spirits!

Kenny with good friends, Lisa Harp and Tina Carr...high school friends. We realized on Saturday that they were all running it too. We all met up after the race.

Carson with the sign that we made together for Kenny...I wrote out the words and he decorated it and drew some pictures...very cute. Needless to say, Daddy LOVED it!

Thanksgiving 2009 was crazy fun as always! I left the Thursday prior to go to Austin...by myself! I got to thinking about it and I think this is the first time since the boys were born that I have been in Austin with Mom and Dad without them! Mom picked me up at the airport and we met Dad for a quick lunch before heading to "Christmas Affair". This has become a fun tradition for whoever can make it. It is put on by the Junior League of Austin and is a huge shopping extravaganza! We had a great time doing some Christmas shopping, getting ideas, looking at all the "hot new items"...this year - anything with bling!, and just hanging out together. We met Dad for dinner at Abuelo's and then headed home to hang out and visit the rest of the evening. Friday Mom and Dad were scheduled to go to College Station for a friend's son's wedding, so I rode with them and we met Kenny and the boys there, since they had driven up from Frisco that afternoon. We spent Friday and Saturday night at the farm visiting with Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Carol and Aunt Ilene (Kenny's family from Georgia) that were in town for a visit. They had never met the boys and Gigi enjoyed showing them off. Sunday after church we all headed back to Austin. We spent Sun - Wed in Austin visiting with Yaya, Grumpy and Marmee. We also got to see the Sahs and Aunt Sally for dinner one night, which was lots of fun. Kenny and I had a date one afternoon and got to have a lunch alone Hula Hut and then made a huge dent in our Christmas shopping. Yaya kept the boys a lot, which was a nice break for us and fun for her! :) Wednesday we loaded up and went back to the farm...yes, we did A LOT of driving and A LOT of back and forth! Everybody else (Aunt Nan/Uncle Slim and the Brooks crew) arrived Wednesday evening, too. Gigi, Karen and I spent the evening making cute shirts for the A&M game the next day. We did something new this year at the farm....this was the first year that Gigi let everyone pitch in and help with the cooking! So, everything was done by Wednesday night and it made Thursday morning SO much more relaxed and enjoyable. We just heated everything up and ate...early this year. Some of us headed to College Station to tailgate before the game. We took the big kids with us and left Collier with Gigi to take a nap (a 4 hour nap it turns out - he was tired!). The kids had a BLAST!!! They have lots of fun pre-game activities prior to all the home games now and had even more stuff because it was the "big game". The kids got to participate in a mini-yell practice led by the yell leaders, watch the football players march behind the band to the stadium, got LOTS of freebies and got to experience Aggieland! When we got back to the tailgate we found out that there were 2 extra tickets to the game and that Kenny and I could go - what a GREAT surprise! Karen and I rushed the kiddos to meet Gigi (she met us half way), dropped them off and got back to the stadium just in time for kick off. It was so fun to be at Kyle field, see the band, see the Ags play SO well...so, so many fun memories! Friday we loaded up the car, the kids, 2 dirty dogs and headed for home. It was so fun to go, but always great to come home. Thanksgiving 2009 is one for the record books - great holiday full of family, memories and many, many blessings to be thankful for!

Three cute little Aggies!

Karen, KK and I in our cute shirts that Gigi helped us make.

Brooks crew full 'o Aggie spirit!

Wish Collier had been there to be in this pic!

Current Yell Leader with Future Yell Leaders???

Sweet Lil Ag...he insisted on wearing his cowboy hat with his boots...pretty cute!

Crazy FUN!

The kids with a member of the Corp when they dropped off their change for "Coins for Cooper". The Corps teamed up with the Knight family to help raise money for their son, Cooper, who is in need of an intestinal transplant. Read more here - www.cotaforcooperk.com. I received an email about this kiddo the week of the game, told the kids about him and they bagged up change out of their piggy banks at Gigi and Pawpaw's house (they have one for each kiddo that they throw loose change in) to take with us. I was really proud of them for being so willing to GIVE!

The Flames! - Carson's soccer team

Coach Paul giving Carson his trophy and certificate

Carson had his end of season party for his soccer team - The Flames - right before Thanksgiving. They had pizza and each player got a trophy and a certificate with an award specific for them. Carson got the award for "Best Sportsmanship"...this is a great award, but especially funny because Carson was sort of the team "ambassador". He was the one out on the field talking to everyone (shocking, I know)...his team and the other team....making friends, discussing things, doing everything but actually playing soccer! After a very painful season (on the field only, because we LOVE our team and the families), we have decided to hang up the soccer cleats. Maybe Collier will be more interested in soccer, but for big bubba - soccer is over!