Exciting News!

The most wonderful thing happened this week - my parents moved from Texas to our neighborhood in Virginia!  After many years of living across the country from everyone, we are now within an hour's drive of almost all of our immediate family.  God has answered our prayers beyond all our expectations, and we're so grateful.  We love that Emma will get to grow up knowing her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Loving our time with both sets of parents!

My parents sold their house in Fort Worth in 3 days flat and had one month to pack and move out!  They spent a few days with us early in November to tour rental houses and make arrangements to live here. Since they don't know the area very well, they decided to live close to us and rent a townhouse a mile and a half away from our place! Yay!

The rest of November was pretty fun, too. We visited my brother Steve, his wife Sheila, and their daughter Meera in Philadelphia the weekend before Thanksgiving.  We had a great time hanging out with them and seeing their home and favorite areas of the city.  They are moving to the Boston area soon, and we look forward to visiting them there, too!

Emma and Meera had a great time playing together. 

We fed the geese at beautiful Wissahickon Creek, Steve's favorite place to run.

We also spent an afternoon at the Franklin Institute 

Looking down on Foucault's Pendulum swinging at the base of the Franklin Institute stairwell

They had a room full of science experiments. Emma got a kick out of the dominoes' chain reaction.

The giant heart with walkways through the arteries. Dan made me walk through it, and it was strange but also pretty cool.

We went out to breakfast before Dan, Emma, and I headed back to Virginia.

They are such a sweet family! We loved spending the weekend with them!

We've tried to do something festive every weekend in December, and the highlight so far has been walking through the Norfolk Botanical Garden's 2 miles of Christmas lights.  They let you walk along the path for one week before they open it to cars only.  I loved walking in the fresh air and spending extra time enjoying the beautiful decorations.

Emma walked almost the entire 2 miles!

Dan's parents were able to join us, too. 

A word to the wise - get there right when they open because it's a very popular venue. We got right in at 5:00 with no problem, but within an hour, the line of cars to get into the parking lot was incredibly long and slow.

We spent Thanksgiving day with family and friends at Dan's parents' house.  There was great food and fun company, as always!

Naomi and Emma ate their gourmet Thanksgiving dinner of bread and cheese.

The rest of us enjoyed a wider variety of food.  Left to right: Christina, Pete, Joyce, and Kimberly King, Mom Jester, and Joan (their next door neighbor)

Left to right: Nas and Pat Bailey, and Dan's sister, Robin

We were haunted by two very cute Thanksgiving ghosts!

Robin holding her adorable 7-month old, Miriam.

The day after Thanksgiving, Dan's cousin, Jon, his wife, Carrie, and their kids, Dylan, Tucker, and Chloe stopped by for lunch.

Emma and Chloe quickly bonded over all things pertaining to Disney princesses. Chloe is giving Emma a ride on the princess-mobile.

Mom Jester had an "I Spy" board game that Dylan, Tucker, and Chloe enjoyed playing.

A family photo for the holidays. Mom J. bribed Emma to smile by promising her chocolate afterwards. Hey, whatever works!