November 2014
We started the month of November by heading to Columbus to meet some dear friends at an indoor water park. The kids had a great time playing together and in the water - but the adults found the water quite cold so we didn't enjoy it as much :) We did have a great time catching up around the fire once the kids were in bed!
Pictures from Grace's 5th birthday party:
I celebrated 1 year post gastric surgery and lost a total of 130 lbs and the nutritionist said that I lost 15 of these 5 lb "fat" samples. What a year this has been!
We completed our tradition of decorating for Christmas the Friday before Thanksgiving. We were blessed enough to have my mom, sister and her husband around while we decorated. It was nice to start off the holiday season with family.
We enjoyed two visits from Grandma this month! We LOVE when she comes to visit :)
Thanksgiving with the Vandervaarts included a Turkey Trot in the morning, an intense Connect Four tournament and lots of yummy food and good conversation!
We spent the last evening in November writing letters to Santa! We also introduced our kids to Elf and made homemade popcorn. We are proud that they like the movie "Elf" as much as we do! :)
One Sunday after church, we took the kids to Olive Garden. We weren't considering how messy the spaghetti would be, but we had a great family lunch!
We got family pictures taken in mid-November. We were very pleased with the way they turned out and the kids always appreciate the reward (a Panera cookie) after good smiles!
November was a wonderful family filled month with visitors, birthday parties and holiday preparation. As you can see, our kids are growing up quickly and we are trying to embrace every moment.
Thanks for checking in on us! :)
