Dallas Pollan Photo Shoot

Sadie (cousin) really wanted to get up in that tree. By next year she will be in there with the big boys. Carter and Tyler are always so happy to spend time with their uncles Jason and Chris. It is a tough competition for who is the favorite uncle, I think the boys play them well. Never letting on that one of them has won the competition. Keeps the bounty flowing!

The most loved grandbabies on the planet! Carter, Tyler, Ali and Sadie bug. Sadie is not ours but we would take her in a second she is such a cutie. Aren't these kids gorgeous!!!

This is the extended family on Byron's side. We were all actually able to gather together at the same place and hold still for a millasecond. Hollie's camera is amazing and can shoot many shots in a row. I think we all look very handsome. It is a joy to be a part of such a nice family. They really do all love each other and want what is best for one another. I hope when my family has matured our kids will love each other as much as these guys do. (Wiping tears off my face....)

This is my favorite place to be....it doesn't matter where we are as long as I'm right next to Byron I am happy.

Thanksgiving Photo Shoot

I was in love with this garage, Byron not so much. So we won't be going green on our home but he did let me take photos in front of it. The boys were good sports and well Ali just love it when the camera is on her. I found the boys blazers and had to have them in the photo. Luckily the boys have decided they like them and wear them to church all the time.

This photo is a good sum up of our family. We are all happy smiling people holding hands but then there is Ali....she is on the tip of her shoes pretty much yelling or singing at all times. It was a great moment to capture the personalities of everyone so well.

I really like having a professional photographer in the family. We get to have family photos done frequently and she is so good at it. We had a fun time in Dallas scoping out the place for family photos. Hollie is very good at what she does. We found a lovely park with a couple different places to shoot at. When we got there we discovered it is also a favorite of LOTS of photographers as the place was swarming with them. Obviously it is a common occurrence to take family photos when the families are all gathered for the holidays. We were no exception as everyone was in Dallas for Thanksgiving this year. The trick was Hollie was not only the photographer she was also in the photos. Thankfully Uncle Hank came along and Hollie got us all set up and got the camera ready and Hank pushed the button making all the magic happen! It worked out splendidly. Hollie did learn a few things along the way and next time she is required to take photos and be in photos she will have a few new tricks up her sleeve.

So I can't get any of the other photos to load. My computer is running slow and I can't handle it. So off I run to Walmart for the last few Christmas gifts, checking the list twice business. I will work on a Christmas letter later today though I don't think I will be mailing it out to everyone this year, just posting it on the blog. If they want to read it they can. Dang I really wish these other photos would load, I really love them.

Making piniatas

So as part of our Dallas thanksgiving festivities we had a fun time making homemade piniatas. I didn't think they would work but was proven wrong. They were amazingly strong and took a beating from my eleven year old son. They were made with newspaper over a balloon with a flour and water paste. They did two coats of the newspaper, one and then dry, and another one. Then the turkey feathers were long strips of tissue paper with little cuts to make it frilly. So cute! The kids had a blast staying up late to work on their turkeys! They especially liked the staying up late part!

The Texas State Fair

I bet you didn't know the Texas State Fair was going on during Thanksgiving Break!!! It was if you were a Pollan grandchild. Byron's Mom threw a Fair for her grandkids. She has been talking about doing this for a long time and well she did it. It was so much fun. There were a bunch of stations which had different games to play, dart throwing at the balloons, penny throwing into the cupcake pan, nerf gun shooting into the clowns mouth, ring toss over the IBC bottles, ping-pong ball into the bowls....etc. etc. We had a family game of twister and each kid made a homemade piniata and got to brake open their own turkey piniata. Fun!!! Loads of candy was collected and has been eaten. Most importantly fond memories were made. This was a day the kids will never forget.

Is that not the cutest piniata ever seen. The kids spent three nights making these. They actually held up way better than we ever anticipated. It was giving them two swings and they would be dead but they had to really whack at the things for a good twenty or thirty hits before they started to brake. They were made from newspaper and flour/water mixture. Astonishing.

State Fair Lunch: Corn dogs, popcorn, soda, pigs in a blanket, almost funnel cakes but they didn't turn out....the good news was though there was a lot of smoke we did not actually burn down the church...Phew! The fire department did not come out either though maybe they should have or would have if they had seen the amount of smoke in the kitchen....hot oil really puts up a lot of smoke.

I kept telling the kids, "Don't brake your Papa!!!"

Don't ask me how Phil can handle all of my kids on top of him at the same time....somehow they managed to have a good wrestle and the miracle was it ended before anyone started to cry.

A Proper English Tea Party

Delicious setup for the English Tea

Pinky pointing demonstrations..... Proper passing of the food explanation.....

The grandkids with their Nana ready for tea, the ladies all wore beads to look dressed up and fancy.

So we went to Dallas for Thanksgiving and had a smashingly good time. This is going to take a few blog posts to get the whole trip loaded but we are starting from the end with the English Tea Party! Byron's Mom won rock star Nana award for all the fun things we squeezed into our few days there. The last activity before our MAD dash to the airport was the Tea Party. As part of the party the kids learned proper etiquette at an English Tea including how to seat a lady at the table. Also, rules for proper discussion topics and elbow etiquette. Everyone played along, accents and all and a most enjoyable tea was had by all. (Our tea was wassal as we don't actually drink tea) It was the perfect sendoff....Thanks for a fabulous time!!! My kids ask all the time why we can't move to Dallas. They sure love their Nana and Papa Pollan!!!