Thanksgiving 2013

Jeremy was in Oklahoma this year for Thanksgiving to spend time with his father and family. So, while he was gone, the littles had fun creating things with Grandma. Feather hats, Indian vests, thankful place mats, turkey's, stickers, etc... Grandmas facilitated well! 

I am so blessed to have a husband who loves me enough to trade one of his mini bikes for me to have a very nice camera. And this was the perfect time and place to use it! I was determined to take our own family photos this year for our Christmas gifts, and I have to say that they really turned out better than I anticipated! Here are a few that were not all used for print, but just for fun. 

This place was at Eagle Mountain Lake located north on Boat Club Road. There is a specific spot that many photographers use for many different poses and props. When we arrived there were also a few others there doing the SAME thing we were! Family photos! :) Here's an old truck that, of course, ALL my boys loved! 

Kien loves climbing and jumping! This was a great shot of him mid air! Go Kien! 

Gabe loves to climb, too, and what a great shot! Good job, Gabe! 

And this is my wondeful hubby. He's not a big fan of photo's, but I am thankful for him and the -once in a while- poses he gives me!  ;) 

I am trying to be creative on a whim, and this one was pretty cute. :) 

It was a bit cold, and my boys love to explore. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the lake through the trails, but we did manage to hike (yes I had heals on) down a little and find a cute bridge. 

What a perfect place to hear a story about Thanksgiving! (I don't recall the book, but it had to have been a festive one- lol) And from Grandma, too! She's a great story teller! 

Ahhh, yes, Texas really does have cactus. A lot of it, too! No, we didn't touch and no, we had no accidents! YAY!

The nigh was drawing near and the perfect lighting for picture taking was losing ground, we decided to surprise Greg's mom by taking the back roads to TMS for the Christmas Light show they host every year. As we were leaving, we saw them! I had heard that you could almost see deer every visit, and sure enough, they were walking around a fence just chilling. They weren't afraid of the cars that drove by, but were just hanging out. They were not fenced in at all. Pretty cool!

Then, as we were driving I noticed the silhouette of a bird I had never really seen before. As Greg and Nina were talking, I rudely interrupted and asked Nina (an avid bird watcher-identifier) what kind of bird was fat in the belly and had pointed ears. She gasped with, "That's probably a Great Horned Owl!" So we begged Greg to turn around and drive back by to see if it truly was. And, yes, it truly was! We stopped so I could photograph him, (or her). After this shot through the back window of the truck, I decided I had to get closer. I walked around the back of the truck and looked down to step into the tall grass by the fence and by the time I looked up to take my shot, it had dove into the ground. Gone. So this is the only photo I was able to take. :)

Because Jeremy was in Oklahoma for that week, I did make an effort to take him with the little boys for a family picture. Of course, I wouldn't be able to attain one that had us ALL in the same photo, but this would definitely work! 

Jeremy does NOT  like his photo taken much at all. I was able to coax him into a few shots to prove to the world that he really is a happy guy, so he smiled for me ;) ... (It helped to mention the name of a girl, too haha) It was fun, and we managed to find some pretty decent shots!