These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

It's been a busy week for us, but it's been a week full of my favorite things. My mom visited from Virginia, my daughter turned 10 and we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary yesterday. There's something to be said for a week full of happiness rather than spreading it out over weeks or months. This was also a great week for Sis who won her school's spelling bee on her birthday. She couldn't have been happier, well the presents and dinner at her restaurant of choice didn't hurt either. Here are a few of her favorite things:

Birthday phone calls

CD's

Cookbooks

Clothes...this happened to be her first pair of Converse.

Books...this is her favorite Harry Potter book.

Legos

Anything Snoopy (cross it with some type of food related product and she's even happier)

Winning the spelling bee

During the whirlwind week, I also found time to enjoy my mom's visit. We shopped together, baked together, and just bonded in ways that are not possible over the phone. She's hoping to come back for Sis's debut in the regional spelling bee this spring, so we won't have too long to wait to see her again. One of the hardest things about living this far away from VA has been the lack of family time. I grew up in a very close family and some of my fondest memories center on my grandparents and my cousins. Of course, our move 3/4 of the way across the country has helped me to see the value of these relationships and I can't wait to visit them on a more regular basis once we leave Texas. Don't misunderstand, I have enjoyed TX and the family time with which we have been blessed, but just like everything in the military, we have to start a new chapter in our life. In about 6 months, we will call Kansas home and I'm looking forward to experiencing another area and all the great things this wonderful country has to offer. The fact that I will be about 2 days closer to home makes it even better. I'll leave you with additional pictures from this past week, a few more of my favorite things.

A sunset...possibly some of the most gorgeous sunsets I've seen have been out west.

The bounty from baking with my mother. I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to make the teachers an awesome almond poundcake, but there are only so many hours in the day.

My new Christmas horse. Cheesy, but he'll always remind me of our time in Texas.

Heehee, his name is Elmer.