Sarah was so excited to have Zaidie here. Zadie gave her a set of choppers. They are teeth that chatter when you wind them up. In the evening, she decided to to switch her teeth for Zaidie's. She got a cup to put them in and went in while Zadie was asleep and switched the teeth. She was so excited that she had to wake Zaidie up to show him his teeth.

Friday afternoon and evening

We got together with Wendy, John and Catherine Norris, and Wendy's mom and dad Nancy and James and also the Gees, Wendy, John, Hannah and Emma. We played at the Norris' for awhile and then grilled hot dogs. We also had chips and salad. After dinner we drove to Galveston for the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens. We took a tram tour of the grounds. It was the perfect way to see all the lights and not walk your legs off. Each area was better than the last one. When we got off the tram, we the kids went on the little train while the adults sat and waited for them. It was a very nice evening.

Thanksgiving evening

It was long time coming. The Richters, and Zaidie spent Thanksgiving with the Hirschfelds and Lesovskys at Jill and Dimitri's house. Elyane, Hal, Bruce, David and Kameron were with us. We watched football as we ate appetizers and then had dinner and dessart. I haven't seen that much food in quite awhile. We had chopped liver, artichoke Parmesan dip, hummus, and shrimp cocktail. Then for dinner we had a huge turkey, and a huge ham, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, broccoli rice casserole, green bean casserole, spinach casserole, sweet potatoes and jello. For dinner we had pumpkin crunch cake, brownies with peppermint ice cream and syrup, chocolate pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate fondue with strawberries, bananas and marshmallows. If anyone went home hungry it was their own fault. Mona was full before dinner began but tried everything. I don't think she didn't like anything. I think we all rolled home.

Thanksgiving morning

Don't you just love a good parade! We do. We got up at 6:30 to meet the Pettey's to make it downtown to our usual spot on the street by 7:30. We usually park ourselves on the street at Travis and Fannin. We have great seats (on the ground or on chairs we bring) and sit and wait for the parade to start. Uncle Phil makes kolaches every year and I made hot chocolate and cookies. It was a yummy breakfast while we waited. The parade stated at 9:00 and was over by 10:00. Sarah sat om my lap and watched everything. She got excited each time something would come around the corner. Mona was also very excited. She had never seen a parade and was in awe every time something came by. She took many pictures with her camera and then took many more with our when hers ran out of juice. Santa was last and he looked great. We were home by 10:30 to catch up with Zaidie.

Walking around Manitou Springs

At the end of the day before going to the airport, we stopped for some shopping and lunch. We had trouble with the parking meter but we fixed it and then went on to have fun. We did find a great Bread and Breakfast that I would love to try next year.

Sunday was our last day

We went to the Garden of the Gods and walked around. We saw some awesome rocks and climbed some even cooler ones. Sarah and Russ reenacted the pride rock scene from Lion King. We had a great time and look forward to it again.










We got up in the morning and had to pack. I forget to tell the story of the lost camera. We got to Colorado Springs and started to unpack and lost the camera. We went to WalMart and bought a cheap camera that took lousy pictures at the Zoo. We took it back after the Zoo and bought a more expensive camera. We used it the rest of the trip and when we started to pack, we found the camera. Now we have to take that one back. I was glad to find our camera but what a whirlwind it was. We even called Houston and had our friends go to the house to look for it.

Fargo's Pizza Company

Saturday evening we went to Fargo's Pizza Company with Don, Lisa, Alicia, Lilly and Ella. It is a huge building that is decked out in Saloon looking decor. We had a nice evening and talked about meeting up with them for Spring Break if we can. It was like meeting old friends for the first time.