Wacko's Modern Life: thanksgiving

Showing posts with label thanksgiving. Show all posts

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Thanksgiving in Arizona

This Thanksgiving was spent almost 1,000 miles from Houston in Morenci, AZ. After 2 eight hour days of caravaning with Gabby & Pappaw, an overnight stay in Ft. Stockton, 4 Jackson-size doses of Dramamine and umpteen potty breaks, we arrived. Aaron's older brother & his family live out there. It is an interesting little town - there are about 1,500 people that call Morenci home and all of them are associated with the area's copper mine in some way. There is one grocery store, a Dairy Queen, a bowling alley, a couple of auto parts/tire shops, a motel with a pub/restaurant, a health clinic, a gas station and a community building. Jackson had a blast searching for the white butts of mountain goats (we were told that's the way to spot them)! Emme loved that she could walk freely, well not freely but certainly with less restraint. Aaron's younger brother, Bryan & his family came from Lubbock too. We all had fun visiting with family and playing with the kids. Aaron & J. took the Rhino down to the river & had a flat on Thanksgiving morning, so Jennifer had to scramble to figure out how to fry the turkey without J. But it all worked out & turned out scrumptious! There was so much food, so of course Emme was in Hog Heaven!

November or "Movember" was men's health awareness month and so globally, there are groups of men that grow mustaches or mo's (Australian slang) during that month to raise awareness. Aaron, his bad & brothers all grew mustaches in support. Aaron's was a sort of creepy stand alone mustache while all the others grew handlebar mustaches. Above is the "mustache" picture of the 4.

Aaron looks like a pedofile in this one. Creepy.

Our sweet nephew, Bryce! He'll be 1 in January.

Jackson jumped on a trampoline for the first time and to say he loved it is an understatement! Just look at his face in these pics!

The mine as we were leaving

The whole family - minus Gabby & Pappaw

One pooped girl!

We stopped in Denver City to see my aunt, uncle & Mimi, Lamesa to see my great- grandmother & Abilene to see Aaron's grandpa on the way home. I didn't take any pictures in Denver City or Lamesa, dang it. We needed a new one for Uncle Hoot's facebook! Next time. As soon as we walked into Grandaddy's house in Abilene, Jackson said I want to play with his toys and he went straight to the drawer in the kitchen with all the little toys. This drawer has been around since Aaron was a little boy, maybe even longer, but all the kids love it!

Happy to almost be home!

We are so thankful for our family! Thank you J., Jennifer, Lynzi & Autumn for letting us come visit - we had a fantastic Thanksgiving & hope everyone else did too!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

2 Years Ago Today...

...my life changed forever! Little Jackson Dean Hiler entered this world at 12:45pm on November 28, 2007. And now, two years later it is almost impossible to remember life without him! He is the best little boy - so good natured, easy going, full of life and laughter. I am in love with his smile and his laugh is intoxicating! He brings a joy to our lives that we cannot even begin to describe. Jackson's vocabulary continues to expand exponentially. This morning he told Mickey Mouse that he needed a bridge to get across the river. We were impressed that he knew what a bridge was. Jackson's 2nd birthday was spent driving home from having Thanksgiving with family near Lubbock. Don't worry - he had a birthday party on November 21st, but more on that later. We had a wonderful trip with Yaya & Pops. Both kids did great on such a long road trip - Jackson did not get car sick once - VICTORY!

Jackson then....