Thanksgiving in Texas

We traveled to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with Ryan's parents. For the first time, Tessa had her own seat on the airplane and it made flying with her very pleasant. On takeoff we threw our hands in the air and said "high to the sky!" This child loves to fly!

We had surprisingly great weather all Thanksgiving week. Nanny and Pa took us to the Houston Zoo and it's hard to say who liked it more, Tessa or Ryan. So many neat animals including a baby giraffe. The live oaks are even more beautiful than I remember.

To Tessa's absolute delight, we rode the carousel. She was so cute saying "hold tight" while we went flying around on different animals.

We rode the train which brought back fond memories of my grandparents taking me on the very same train. The tracks have been extended and the train now runs to the medical center where I did my nurse training. Tessa was obviously more impressed with the train and its whistle than my former hospitals. In this picture she is saying "Choo-Choo!"

In the children's area was a petting zoo where Tessa brushed and petted the goats. We cracked up watching her fuss at them when they would walk away from her. "Oh no goat!" Toddler translation: 'You're not getting away from me, I want to brush you some more!' Thank goodness for patient animals.

Since we won't be seeing Ryan's parents for Christmas, we celebrated early and opened gifts. Tessa is still more excited about tissue paper than anything in the package so Momma and Daddy helped open presents. Once she realized there were toys and dolls for her, she became very interested.

The best present was her pizza oven. We all LOVE pizza and it seems like we go out for pizza every time we see Paula, which is how she earned the nickname Nanny Pizza. What better gift from Nanny Pizza than a pizza oven?

Tessa and I received matching aprons. I'm the Cookie Maker and she is the Cookie Taster.

We had to put such cute aprons to use immediately. Nanny and Tessa made turkey cookies.

On Wednesday the Burches got together for brunch. We marveled at all the renovations and watched Tessa climb the stairs over and over again.

We can't visit Texas without a trip to my favorite fast food restaurant. WHATABURGER! Tessa approved and was so cute eating her fries I had to take a picture.

Nanny and Pa have great parks in their neighborhood and we visited them several times. It was a great way for Tessa to burn energy. In fact, Thanksgiving morning we wore her out so much that she took a great nap. Ryan and I both were able to sit down and enjoy Paula's wonderful Thanksgiving meal while Tessa slept.

Traditionally we all gather at Aunt Kristin's house Thanksgiving night and let the kids play. It's amazing to see how much everyone grows in one year! Congratulations to Kellie who had another girl four days after this picture was taken.

The trip home was thankfully uneventful. It was great to see everyone but it's nice to be home too. Happy Thanksgiving!!!