Happy Thanksgiving!!

This week has gone incredibly too fast!  Dylan's parents arrived last Saturday and this week with them has been so fun and gone so fast.  Isaac is having a fabulous time with his Granny and Papa.  We've heard the word "Paaapaa" several times and even though I missed it, he said "Gany".
We've eaten tons of delicious food too.  Cheesecake Factory, Roaring Fork (just me and Dylan for date night) and Mighty Fine.  Not to mention all the turkey and fixins we could dream of at Thanksgiving lunch.  My brother David was able to come and eat with us too.
I don't have many pictures but here are a few super cute ones.

David took this picture while he was enjoying his first real Thanksgiving lunch.

His first taste of Daddy's homemade dressing.  Not sure of it yet.

Playing at the playground at Mighty Fine with Daddy and Papa

Love this one!

Granny and Papa

Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake!

'Tis the season!  I am making my first Ooey gooey pumpkin butter cake this evening.  I say first because since I made it the first time a couple of years ago, it's the only thing I'm allowed to make. :)  Tomorrow is my work Thanksgiving potluck so it was requested.  Also, in less than a week, I'll be making another one for the real day.  It's not just good for Thanksgiving, I make it for Christmas too.  Here's a link to the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-gooey-butter-cakes-recipe/index.html

UT football game pictures

Dylan and Isaac in our seats

Cuddling in our seats, it was a little chilly

Family photo

Bevo

The band was awesome

UT football game! UT vs. OSU

We were able to take Isaac to his first ever UT football game!  It got a little cold yesterday so I was worried about that but we ended up having a fun time.  Isaac has a signature "doesn't matter to me" attitude, was fine with the whole thing, almost unimpressed. :)  He really liked the walk to the stadium, people watching perched on his daddy's shoulders.  Once in the stadium he just wanted to get down and run around which unfortunately for him, he couldn't.  Dylan and I spent the time passing him back and forth and cheering.  UT couldn't pull off a win and in the middle of the 3rd quarter we left.  All in all it was a fun experience.
Here is a video that Dylan took.  I'll post some pictures soon.

Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day!
I have to admit I can get pretty choked up thinking about Veterans Day.  I'm so happy we take a day to recognize and say THANK YOU to those you have made the sacrifice to defend our freedom and keep us safe.

I have hundreds of great stories about my Pop Pop (Grandpa Beirn) who fought in WWII.  My grandfather was a medic.  Seriously, I think it is one of, if not the hardest, emotional duties to be assigned to.  His time as a medic continued to affect him the rest of his life.

Pop Pop stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.  He was the first medic on the beach and set up the first medic station.  It brings tears to my eyes thinking about the young men who were falling around him and how he fought to save their lives as they fought to preserve ours.  However, I don't want to go on about the trials of that day and the many days he spent in Europe freeing the Jewish camps.  This story is a good story...

Several years after my Pop Pop went to heaven my Grandma got a knock on her door.  It was the postman with her mail.  He asked her if she was related to George Beirn who fought on D-Day.  She said yes.  He said he was just filling in today for her normal postman and had never done this route before.  He said that he was also there on the beach in Normandy that day and was wounded.  He remembers laying there receiving aid from the medics.  He saw the name BEIRN on the front of the medic's uniform.  He memorized it, as well as the unit and ranking he saw.  He swore that he would find the man who had saved his life that day on the beach, and thank him.  Sadly, he never got to thank my Pop Pop in person but was able to thank my Grandma.  My Pop Pop had saved this man's life as well as many others and we were given the gift of a wonderful story confirming what we already knew, Pop Pop was a hero.

Doing your own dirty work...

I guess it was a week ago now when I went to get my oil changed.  Naturally, being a girl I go into that situation defensive.  You start with, "I just want an oil change, nothing else".  Then they come into the waiting room and say, "Can we just show you a few things?"  UGH!  So in a effort to not be "mean" I humor them and listen to them tell me all of the things I need to replace, how I need a tune up, etc, etc, etc. So he showed me both my interior cabin filter and my engine air filter.  I had to agree I could see they both needed to be changed but I said no thank you to spending $44 to get them changed.  Immediately after I paid and left I drove straight to Auto Zone.  For you locals, the one in Pflugerville on FM685 by Sonic.
At Auto Zone I told them what I needed: (1) interior cabin air filter and (1) engine air filter for a 2006 Toyota Matrix.  Two seconds later, they brought them up to the counter to check out.  Showed me 2 options for the engine one, I chose the better quality one which happened to be only $1 more.  I already knew how to change my interior cabin filter.  (mine is just behind the glove compartment, SO easy to get to)  So, I asked the guy to show me how to change the engine one.  I was a little shocked at how easy this one was to change too.  It was a compartment right on top, didn't even get dirty changing it.
All in all I spent $33, $10 less than the oil change place and now I know how to change them both!

Halloween Part 2

Well it's a little sad.  Halloween part 2 pictures are not available.  Our camera was dropped on Friday but continued to work.  However, Sunday night when I tried to take the trick or treat pictures off the camera it wouldn't work.  Dylan and I both tried the past two days but it wouldn't work.  Today Dylan kept trying and by a fluke all of the pictures were wiped off the card.  Perspective is, if I was completely honest I would have really only wanted about 3-4 pictures out of the 40 we took.  We have great memories.

Isaac had a blast trick or treating.  He rode in the wagon and Zada walked with us too.  He walked up to each door with one of us holding his hand (while the other took pictures).  He just stood there like a statue staring blankly at the person that came to the door.  Towards the end, as more and more kids came out, he really loosened up.  He loves being around older kids and seeing them run with their costumes made him smile.

We are looking foward to next year already.