State Fair of Texas

Whew! We have been busy! Grandpa and Sharon were back this week and the kids and I joined them at the Texas State Fair. We couldn't have asked for better weather and despite my aversion to fairs and carnivals in general, it was really fun.


Here are the kids with Grandpa and Sharon in front of Big Tex. The kids really loved it when Big Tex spoke. Kinda creepy if you ask me, but as long as they weren't scared it was fine.
The State Fair is the place for little boys. Addie was pretty much always wondering when we would go see the animals. Jack was in heaven the whole time with trains, cars, plane rides, etc.

I thought his head might explode over these die cast cars. Jack has learned how to say a few key phrases like, "I like those", "I really love those", and "I want to buy those."


Anthony called my expression in this picture my teenager smile. "I want to buy this" might be what I was thinking. :) A red convertible would be a nice trade off for the mini van on weekends.

Finally, when everyone was dead tired we got to this farm learning center thingy. It was a little more involved then we were up for at that point, but pretty cool if you had more time. We thought we were entering the petting zoo, but instead we fed pretend animals, sowed pretend seeds, reaped a pretend harvest, sold our produce at the pretend market, and bought some Sun Chips with the pretend dollar we earned. It really was cute. I was just ready to go, as were the kids.


One great part of our day: It was Senior Appreciation day. Yep. It's usually my luck that we go on Free Kid day, which is a nightmare of ridiculous proportion. Senior Appreciation day is awesome. Way more quiet. Way easier to keep track of your kids. No lines on the kiddie rides...go figure? The only downside was that the parking guys actually took a good look at me and parked me far away from the entrance because I was young enough to walk. Oh well. Win some, lose some.

Fall at the Dallas Arboretum

I am sure there will be more fall photos taken at the Arboretum this year, but this is our first trip. We went for a playgroup a few weeks ago and had a great time. The creativity with the pumpkins is always impressive! If you live in Dallas and haven't done this - it's really great! I mean, where else do you find a cottage made out of multicolored gourds?? This was just one of four pumpkin/gourd cottages in this years display. I'll get pictures of some of the other displays next time.


These are just sweet pictures of my kids. They have both been a lot of fun lately. I have moments just about every day lately that make me stop and reflect on how blessed I am to have these children in my life. I think it is so exciting to watch Jack and Addie become better friends as his vocabulary improves and he can talk to her.

Rockwall-Heath High School Homecoming

Grandpa and Sharon came to visit us last month. The day they got in we went over to the Rockwall-Heath High School Homecoming parade. The kids had a great time and I think they brought home more candy than Halloween.
Jack pretty much just stood there pointing and saying "cars" over and over again as a new group would roll by in whatever cool car they rounded up for the parade. Here in Heath, there were some cool ones for sure.
When Jack wasn't pointing at the cars, he was all over candy gathering. Notice the full back pocket.
Family photo time!
One issue we are stuck with: Fear of adults dressed up as animals. This is Jack's face after the Jr. High School mascot (a wolf) came up to shake his hand. Addie flips out, so he has learned to flip out. This makes for a fun time on "Dress like a cow" day at Chick-fil-a! A Disney vacation is NOWHERE on our horizon for now. :(
After filling our tummies with candy, we went back to the house for presents from Grandpa and Sharon! It was like Christmas.
The kids had a great time visiting with Grandpa and Sharon after a long summer without them. It really is fun to be back at least near our families so we can see people so often!

Conference Weekend

We went down to the Berg's home in Palestine for the October session of General Conference on October 2. The weather was beautiful and all of Anthony's siblings were there, including the newest cousin Grayson.
It wouldn't have been a Berg family gathering if we didn't do a photo session. I always love the pictures of Grandparents with all of the grandkids. There actually was a better one of the kids, but my favorites are the ones where the adults look normal and the kids look a little (or a lot) crazy.

Our little family.


These three played really well together for the weekend. With two 2-year olds in the mix, that is not always the case so it was so nice that they just had fun together. Yay!! Now they will get along forever and ever, right?


Again, there was a picture of these three with Grayson where they were all looking at the camera. This one seemed more fun to me. Maggie and Jack couldn't stop touching Grayson. If Jack stopped, Maggie started. Jack looks as if he'd pull that blanket right out from under the baby if anyone encouraged him.


We had some awesome Bulgolgi (Korean BBQ), made by...ME. Ha, yeah. Anthony cooked it, but it's all about the marinade and the meat slicing and I did that part. This picture looks like a familiar scene from all of the family gatherings I've been to in Palestine...aside from Serena's baby belly. :)


Another cute cousin pose. Not even sure these three look related, but they do share genes. Really.


My favorite part of the weekend: stealing the cute newborn baby as often as possible. Grayson is just so sweet. I don't know how well I paid attention to conference, but I sure was cozy snuggling this little boy.


Jack is crazy about Uncle Joe. He has a truck and he wrestles with him. What could be better?