Thanksgiving 2013

We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving in Weatherford.

 The kids helped Grammy get ready.

 

Carter got to meet his great-great-aunt Max

 

We spent most of our time passing this guy around.

 

We got to see the Hamilton clan while we were there.

The kids picked up right where they left off this summer.

We also celebrated Bumpaw's birthday while we were there.

No matter what I do I can't get Blogger to load this picture the right way, but it was too cute to leave out!  Bring on the Christmas season!

Sock Hop 2013

Sock Hop 2013 was on the Tuesday before we got out for Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so all my pics were on my phone which weren't as good.

 

 Sophie got to dance with her buddy, Preston

 

 Then it was JC's turn

 John Curtis is starting to enjoy it more.

Another successful Sock Hop!  Only one more for Sophie.  Can't believe my girl is getting so big!

Home

In 13 years of marriage Taylor and I have lived in 5 homes and each one has their own memories.  There was our first year of marriage in our sweet little duplex in Bryan where everything was new and we had fun playing house . There was the 2 years  we spent in our townhome in Hewitt outside of Waco where we learned to make a new place home and find community. There was  our little garage tree house apartment we lived in our last year in Waco where we made 2 babies and lost one and learned how to help each other heal.  Then there was our amazing parsonage in Marlin where Sophie was the center of our world and we learned the hard lessons of ministry.

But our current home here in San Angelo is the first home we bought.  This is the house we really  made into a home.  This is the place where we watched our fat babies turn into toddlers, preschoolers, and now elementary kids.  It's where we've laid floors, and laid floors, and painted walls and ceilings, and laid floors again, and built a desk, and a tree house, and laid grass, and laid grass again.

It's where Sophie went from dancing in front of the TV to Dancing with the Stars to dancing on her own ballet bar to prepare for dancing on a stage.  It's where John Curtis came home from the hospital, took his first step, and began this adventure of a life he is on.  It's where we've lived our life as a family of four and I've loved every stage of it.

But lately when family comes or we have friends over we've felt a little cramped in our sweet home.  With me going back to work this fall we started looking around at Open Houses every Sunday just to "see what's out there".  Nothing we saw tempted us until a few weeks ago.  We walked into a home and all 4 of us knew this was it.  We made an offer that week and it had been accepted by the next weekend.  By the weekend after that we had sold our current home without ever listing it.

So big changes are coming for the Sandlins after Christmas.  We are so thankful we have found a community, church, school, and jobs that we don't want to leave and that none of that will change.  Taylor and I have already started dreaming and planning about this new home.  We have big plans and enough work to keep us busy for a few years!

Halloween 2013

 Taylor picked the kids up from school on Halloween so they could carve their pumpkins before Trunk or Treat.

 

Romeo and Juliet

Thing 1, 2, and 3

 

 

 

 Boba Fett

 

 

G-Momma and Poppa flew in on Friday and came straight to the school to eat lunch with the kids.

 That night they brought them to the Fall Festival at our school.

It was a great weekend with them watching JC's last football game and going to the ballet with Sophie.  Thanks for coming G-Momma and Poppa!

Texas Aggie Football Game

Taylor and I took a great last minute trip to College Station last weekend.  It all happened very quickly when some tickets became available and were offered to us.  We haven't made it to a game since we moved here over 7 years ago because most games are on Saturday evening.  This game was at 11:00 AM and my parents were able to come and stay with the kids so everything fell into place for us to go.  We left right after school on Friday and stopped for a great dinner in Waco.  Then we got to our hotel pretty late.  It was so nice and quiet being alone though.  We got to sleep in a bit and were ready to hit campus.

Along with our tickets came this sweet parking spot.  That is my red Acadia and that is Kyle Field.  We didn't have to fight traffic at all!

 

We had a great time walking around campus and seeing what had changed and what hadn't. 

 We watched the band march in and found our amazing seats.

We got to see this guy play,

 

 

 

and the Fightin Texas Aggie Band march,

 

and had an amazing time!

 

Then it was back on the road, but first we had to drive by our first home together.  It was a fast 24 hours, but such a great unexpected treat!

Fall Weekends

Our weekends this fall have been full of family, football, ballet, and lots of resting.

 

 

 Last weekend Mom, Dad, Lindsey, and Carter came for Grandparent's Day at our school.  They ate lunch with both of the kids and Mom hung out in my classroom all day.  The rest of the time Sophie and I took turns holding Carter.

 Bumpaw and JC played Battleship and he actually stood out in the rain to watch JC play half of his football game before they finally called it.

 It was the weekend before Lindsey's birthday so we had to celebrate.

Look!  She's turning 8!

 This week we finally got to play some good, dry football!

 

The coaches and their boys.