Christmas Fun!

We have had a lot of fun getting ready for Christmas and have done some pretty fun stuff!  We are so busy during the week that we have really gotten to where we protect our weekends for some good family time.  Now we have 2 weeks off and are excited to be together.  A couple of weeks ago, we went to a shopping center that was giving carriage rides with miniature horses.  The girls had a great time and loved seeing the horses.  After the carriage ride, we ate dinner at Pei Wei which is one of our favorites.  Then, we ended the night with a dessert at the Pie Bar.  All in the same shopping center and so much fun!  

 

 

 

 Gabe and Sadie on the carriage. 

 Claire and Me.   

 

 And the Pie Bar.  It is seriously sooooo good. 

 

 

We also attempted Gingerbread houses for the first time. We are not exactly the most patient people when it comes to art projects and we are definitely not engineers or architects so the Gingerbread houses were done...um...Gillespie style. We did get them together and the girls did get candy decorations on them, but they sure didn't last long. Luckily when they fell down, Gabe just said, "You get to eat the candy now!" That quickly took care of any sadness because they fell down and all was well. We're making some Christmas memories!

 

 

 Sadie decorating.

 

 Claire decorating.

 

The final product. 



Claire turns 3!

We now have a 3 year old and a 5 year old at the Gillespie house!  It's hard to believe.  We had Claire's birthday party last weekend at one of her favorite places... where she goes to Gymnastics!  She absolutely loves gymnastics and was super excited to have her birthday party there.  She has a sweet friend, Mia, and they are just a few days apart so we had a combined birthday party.  Both girls had tons of fun and ran around the gym with each other the whole time.  Part of the time they were just running in circles on the big mat in the middle and were loving it! 

 

Claire has grown so much this year and is such a little girl now.  She told me the other day, "Mama, you can't pick me up anymore, I three years old."  That didn't last too long as Claire loves to be held.  She has a way of working her way into laps or climbing up legs so that she is being held.  She also loves playing with Sadie and making sure she is not missing out on anything that her big sister might be doing.  She makes up laugh everyday and sometimes it is very difficult to keep a straight face when a straight face is needed...and there are many times that a straight face is needed.  Claire is definitely our child that will try to get away with things and Sadie is always right there to tell us about it.  We are blessed more than we can say.  We know that God has big plans for Claire and we are thankful.   

 

 

 

 

 Jumping and jumping.

 

 Claire and Mia taking a rest.

 

 Sadie in the pit. 

 Our attempt at a group picture.  What were we thinking?

 

 After Hannah was thrown in the pit. 

 

 Ready for some cupcakes. 

 Blowing out their candles. 

 

 Mia wanted sprinkle donuts so we had cupcakes and donuts.  Yummm.

 

 Finished with the cupcake.   Gotta love pink icing. 

\

Headed home.  Claire took a great 2 hour nap.  Turning 3 took a lot of energy!



Thanksgiving

We have had a fun week celebrating Thanksgiving at our house!  We had a quiet dinner at home yesterday and spent the day decorating for Christmas and resting.  Gabe made a great turkey with all the fixings and we ate and ate and ate.  Sadie has been looking forward to turkey and pumpkin pie for quite some time now.  The girls really enjoyed watching the parade this year which was a lot of fun.  We recorded it so they have actually watched it several times.  We decided to go bowling this afternoon so I snapped a few pictures while we were there.  We are so thankful for the time we have as a family and for our sweet, sweet girls!  We are truly blessed!

 

  

 

Decorating the Christmas Tree

 



Getting ready to Bowl.  Is it obvious Claire is saying, "Cheese"

 



Go Sadie Go!  

Claire needed a little help to get the ball rolling.

 



Taking a little break.  Bowling can be hard work.  

Gabe with the turkey!  It was soooo good. 

 



Who knew Starbucks would be open on Thanksgiving?  We loved having a coffee and the girls thought they had one too.  Shhh...don't tell them it was hot chocolate.  They were conviced they were having chocolate coffee and watching the parade. 

 



And the picture that loaded out of order.  Just a screen shot of their first bowling match up.  There will probably be many more to come. 

Sadie turns 5!



Well, I thought that I was just going to do a fall recap, but I have ended up with too many pictures for one post, so here is the first with Sadie's birthday.  

 

 

 

We had her party at one of her favorite places.  She calls it the "princess store" but the name is really Sweet and Sassy.  It is a dress up store for little girls.  My girls love it and we knew Sadie would love to have her party there.  The girls all dressed up in princess costumes, had their hair and nails done, and then danced on a runway.  It was a great group of girls and they had so much fun!  Claire was old enough to participate and it was fun to see her with the "big girls." 

 

Sadie has started Pre-K and is definitely not our little Sadie anymore.  She is very friendly and very outgoing.  She is loving learning and loves school.  We are so excited for who she is becoming and the plans that God has for her.  I am so thankful that I get to watch her grow and be a part of what God has planned. 



Dressing up!

Getting their hair and nails done.

 



Preston, Sadie, and Kaitlyn. Such sweet friends.

 



Two princesses

 



Dancing on the runway. 

 



Getting ready to dance. 

 



And of course some cupcakes for our big 5 year old. 

 



A Beach Vacation

I can't believe it has been a month since I have blogged.  Summer sure does fly by.  We just got back a couple of days ago from our San Antonio, Sea World, Port Aransas adventure.  It was great to travel with the girls and we made some great memories.  We were definitely more exhausted when we got back than when we left, but I guess that is how "vacation" works with a 2 year old and a 4 year old.  We started out in San Antonio.  (More pictures from Sea World later)  From there we drove to Port Aransas to spend a few days at the beach.  Gabe found a great beach house for us and the girls loved just playing in the sand and collecting sea shells. 

The girls loved the hotel.  Here are a few pictures of them helping us pack up to head for the beach. 

 A few pictures of the girls playing at the beach.  It was so fun to watch them.  When we were driving to our beach house they were chanting from the back seat, "Where are the duckies!  Where is the beach!"  They were so excited when we finally got there.  

 Here they are sorting through some of their sea shell treasures.  

 Daddy and the girls enjoying a snack at the beach.  

We were at the beach over the 4th and we found a great cruise that we could go on and see the fire works.  We didn't have to fight the traffic, find a place, or entertain the girls until the fireworks started.  They loved being on the boat and were both actually awake for the fireworks.  It worked out great.

 Here's Sadie on the boat enjoying her Skittles while we went out to our spot.  

 A picture of the fireworks that Gabe took.  I kept missing them and was getting a lot of pictures of all black.  I'm still working on my photography skills.  

...And sweet Claire on the boat getting a little wiggly before the fire works started.  Luckily there was some room for her to wiggle.  

First week of Summer Fun!

Just a few pictures from our first week.  Lots of swimming and lots of fun.  Yesterday we went to the pool and then grilled out and Gabe took the girls to Sonic for dessert.  Today after church Sadie said, "Yesterday sure was a fun day!"  I agree.  

 The pool we go to has a lazy river and the girls love it.  We all just float around.  It's so great!  Check out Claire's hair.  I have no idea how that happened, but I bet Daddy had something to do with it. 

It's Summertime...Finally!

Welcome to Summer!!!!!!!!  We are so excited at the Gillespie house!  We've already been to the pool three times and I am actually blogging on a Sunday because I don't have to get up for school tomorrow!  We have some fun stuff planned and are looking forward to all being together.  Here's some pictures from our trips to the pool.  They are all from snack time.  I haven't gotten the camera out while we're swimming.  Hopefully,  I'll remember to do that soon.  

 Sadie enjoying a snack...One of their favorite parts of swimming. 

 Here's Claire, livin the life!  Les is sitting with her on the chair and is feeding her Cheetos and a Capri Sun.  I told hm all we needed was a fan to fan her as he fed her and she would be all set.  She LOVES Les so much! (And I think she's pretty special to him too!)

 On the way to the pool!  So excited. 

Ready to swim!