A Thanksgiving to Remember

Well they all are really. But I was going for a "catchy" title.

We spent the Turkey day with a conglomeration of people...Bek & Kev stuck around so we at least had some family to spend the day with this year! All five of us decided that doing all the work that a Thanksgiving meal entails was too much for us to handle. So we went to Brandon's boss' house where some of their family, some other SEBTS families, and a sweet Chinese family all enjoyed the holiday together. It was a big crowd with lots of kids (read: lots of noise), lots of fun and lots of food!

I was in charge of the dressing this year. Which shouldn't sound like a daunting task since that's been my job the last two years. However, the last two years our Thanksgiving feast was in China which basically means that my dressing didn't really have to be THAT impressive since anything tastes good after eat so much soy sauce. But this year making the Thanksgiving staple for a bunch of fellow Americans who hadn't been eating dumplings several times a week for the last year...well...it was a little intimidating. So what did I do? I stuck with my trusty Ghetto Chinese Cornbread Dressing. Sure I had all the amenities of an American grocery store, but my instinct told me to stick with what was familiar. So in went the Ritz crackers and chicken bullion cubes (I just made my Aunt Susie faint) . And lo and behold...even Ghetto Chinese Cornbread Dressing can be a hit in America.

A little intimidated by the large crowd at first, Eden became fast friends with Brandon's boss when she figured out he was the one with the strawberries.

This week we put up our Christmas tree! And you'd think that having a giant green prickly thing in our living room would draw more attention from a curious toddler. Surprisingly, Eden is not that interested in it. She's interested in taking the candy canes off of it, but then again so is Brandon. We had fun putting it up though, listening to our fav Christmas cd, and discussing how we don't have that many ornaments. (thus...candy canes).

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. We're happy, healthy, and have an exciting new family member joining us soon. We're blessed in LOTS of ways and thankful for so many things!

But this year we're celebrating being thankful for something a little different. God has used the last few months at SEBTS to confirm his calling for us to return overseas for long term service. And even though submission to this sort of calling can bring heartache...the thought of missing family and friends and not seeing nieces and nephews grow up...it brings incredible joy and peace to be able to just say yes to what we know God wants for our family. We're so overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for this peace that comes with knowing we're headed to where He wants us. There's so much more to say on this subject, which includes plans for returning to Texas for the next few years before headed back overseas. More to come on this later.

We pray your Thanksgiving holiday was fun and turkey-filled! But most of all we pray your Thanksgiving was full of the peace that passes all understanding!

This Week In Pictures...

The much anticipated camera came in the mail this week. (yes, we couldn't wait until Black Friday) And as a result, we've been picture happy. But we have a very worthy subject who has been keeping us entertained the last few days.

Hangin out on the kitchen floor...showin off some belly (her, not me)  :)

Learning to color (and not eat the crayons)  

I had my first photo shoot this week with my very own speedlite! and Eden came along:

Dada and Eden bundled up cuz it's been cooooooooold lately! (and because that was the day OU was about to humiliate Tech)

Bath time

Discovering the art of making faces on a window

Leaving a toddler alone in her room for "play time" proves to be pretty entertaining for parents too! She pulled out her diapers and found her own personal-sized basket.

Of queso and bean burritos...

We're thrilled to inform the blogging world that Chancler kiddo #2 is on the way! I'm 10 weeks preggo and feeling every bit of it. Which means odd cravings for Taco Bell bean burritos, utter exhaustion, and hurling at the sight of leftover queso. I feel like I'm already showing but I'm sure that's a result of nasty bloating and one too many strawberry popsicles.
We've heard the precious heartbeat (yes just one!) and have been given the due date of June 14th. We're super excited and of course praying that the nausea passes quickly so that mornings can be a little more exciting around here.
This time around is proving to be a lot different than my pregnancy with Eden. The only symptom I had with her was an enlarging abdomen. But of course I couldn't indulge every craving I had when we lived in China. So things are kind of balancing out I guess. Feeling nausea but having an Arby's down the street is alright in the grand scheme of things! :)
And this time around we were able to tell our parents in person rather than via Skype! That was exciting to be there with them to give them the news! We made Eden a cute little t-shirt that says "I'm going to be a big sister!" But of course after 30 minutes of them still not noticing her shirt, we gave in and had to tell them a different way! But still very fun!
So let us know your prediction! Boy or girl? Vote in the poll to the right!
I'm not telling you our predictions so as to not sway your vote... :) But let us know what you think!

Eden's Invention

It's a good thing Christmas is just around the corner because Eden is in desperate need of some new toys. Her favorite new activity ("toy") lately is rolling pin golf. You know...golfing with a rolling pin. You mean everyone didn't do this as a kid?

This may be the last picture you see on here for awhile. I've just sold my beloved camera in hopes of "sizing up" to a Canon 50D.  But we're waiting until Black Friday (day after thanksgiving for all you non-crazy 4 a.m. shoppers) to see if there might be some great deals on one. I know, it's stupid to be camera-less around the Holidays...especially when you've got a cutie 13 month old hangin' around. 

Starting Early

Our neighbors have a cool power-wheels toy that they let us borrow today to see if Eden could figure it out. After numerous times of holding her thumb on the "gas button" she sort of got the hang of it! Every time she'd give it some gas it would throw her back a little making her thumb come off the button...it gave us a good laugh. :)

Our Kind of Halloween

We're not really Halloween people. We'd totally be cool with the idea of the "holiday" completely being wiped off the planet. Remember last year when we were thrilled to discover that Chinese people don't celebrate Halloween. yeah, that was awesome. 

However, this year we find ourselves surrounded by halloweenies. I've never seen so many people get into this crazy day. Houses up the street have those giant inflatable frankenstein's. 4 of them. I'm not kidding. In one lawn. 

So it shouldn't surprise you that we don't do anything to celebrate. BUT, yesterday we were invited to a local church's Harvest festival thing. It was so much fun! Free admission. Free food. Fun toys for Eden. Fun toys for Brandon. Cotton candy for me. All in all...it was great!

Eden didn't quite understand the giant inflatable thingys. That is, until other kids got in there with her and then she was thrilled to run around knocking other kids down. That's my girl.

She LOVED all the cool toys!

And Brandon loved this toy
They had a little area set up for family pictures. Ahhh....how cute.

So it shouldn't surprise you that since we're not very into Halloween, we're also not very into Halloween costumes. It didn't even cross my mind this year to find a costume for Eden. I'm hoping she'll be one of those kids that thinks she's too cool for costumes. Is that bad?

Anyways, after discovering she was literally one of THE ONLY kids at the Harvest Thingy not in a costume, I officially felt like a failure of a parent. Well, ok, not that bad. But maybe I felt like I wasn't doing my duty of making sure she's raised with all the official rights of passage. So today while rummaging through her trunk of grow-into clothes for a winter coat (it was sooo cold today!!) I came across something that could possibly pass as this year's Halloween costume:

Ignoring the bright pink hat that clashes with her "Halloween Costume," all in all...I think it works! :)  It was a gift to her from one of our sweet friends in the Big Chicken and I'm so glad she had a good excuse to wear it today! It was a little tight in her hind end area because it's actually meant to be "split" (ie...the split pant theory...you can ask me later if you're a little behind on the blog). 

So this year for Halloween, Eden is dressing up like one of her long lost BFFs in China.

Eden is Groovy

One of Eden's new favorite things is pushing the radio button on Brandon's fancy shmancy alarm clock. We keep it tuned into the 80's rock station just for these occasions. And yes, that is my hairbrush she's dancing with. :)