Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

Yesterday was picture day for Anna Claire. We usually try to combine birthday and Christmas pictures into one trip to the studio. I'm thinking next year, we'll be doing pictures in JUNE. That place was C-R-A-Z-Y busy yesterday. We didn't chose one picture in front of the Christmas tree, so I'm thinkin' we'll be good to go earlier next year and avoid the insanity that is holiday pictures.
Click HERE if you want to see last year's pictures.
Brad is most proud of the picture below. We were just about to do an outfit change, and Brad said, "AC, do you want to take a picture with the football since you have on your LSU outfit?" Of course, she agreed, and the photographer handed AC the football. Immediately, Brad said, "Do the Heisman!"...and here's what we got:

Insert Creative Title Here...

Here's Anna Claire modeling some of her birthday gifts. Silly girl.

We took Anna Claire to a high school football game the other night, and she was in heaven! We sat near the band and drill team/pep squad. She mimicked their every move! One of the boys at our church plays on this particular team and his jersey number is 33. Anna Claire can spot this number easily, so she was always quick to find him on the field. She just didn't understand why he wouldn't wave at her when he was on the field. Ha.




The other night, I has some friends over for dinner and fellowship. We made these cute little Turkey baskets.

Yesterday, some people from our church partnered with our good friends over at Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market to help serve a Thanksgiving feast to families that have a special needs family member. This was an incredible outreach and a neat organization to help. In one picture, you will see me serving up a large spoonful of green beans to one our helpers. This sweet young man wanted to help serve at one point, and I told him that he would have to eat all the green beans that were left over! He thought that was pretty funny.

This Post is Brought to You by the Letter "T"

THREE:
On Oct. 30th, Anna Claire turned 3. Whoa. 3. That's crazy. She celebrated her birthday in multiple phases. At school. At home. At Bouncing Tigers.
We woke her up on her birthday with candles in some donut holes.
Her birthday was also on the same day as her Fall festival at school. This meant she was able to wear her costume to school, which she was pretty jazzed about.

After her festival, Gigi, Papa Bear, and Aunt Sissy arrived to celebrates AC's birthday. First stop: El Rancho.

That night, we had her party at Bouncing Tigers. Fun times for all!




Anna Claire convinced Gigi to go down one of the big slides with her. The funny part was that once Gigi got to the top, AC took off without her!





TRUNK OR TREAT:

This is the only picture I got from Trunk or Treat. So, just picture several cars/trucks/motocycles decorated and filling our church parking lot. The kids who came had a fun time!
And after Trunk or Treat, we went to dinner.
TRIP:
Gigi, Papa Bear, and Aunt Sissy headed home on Sunday, and we headed to Branson for a little vacation.
AC was ready to go! She had her Bible, Tic Tacs, and hand sanitizer. Ha. Silly girl.
Our first morning in Branson, we were able to sit out on the back porch for a little while and enjoy the cool morning.
We then ventured in to town to do a little shopping and meet some friends for lunch.


We had lunch at the Hardluck Diner, where the wait staff all sing at various times throughout your meal. AC was impressed!
We also saw the Andy Williams show. This was a dream come true for Brad, and I must admit, AC and I enjoyed the show as well.

Anna Claire enjoyed painting some pumpkins at our condo.
There was a Famous Daves in Branson, and this made us smile. For some reason, I only got a picture of Anna Claire eating corn on the cob.
In our condo, there was a blow dryer on the wall. AC was fascinated with it. Funny girl.
Jeff & Anita (our friends from Council Bluffs, IA) met us in Branson for a few days! We had a blast together!
We went to the Butterfly Palace where we saw all kinds of beautiful butterflies.



There was also this angel statue that was really a live person. Kinda spooked Anna Claire.
Brad decided to be his own statue.


One afternoon while at the condo, Anna Claire was going to take a nap in our bed. I went in to check on her at one point, and this is what I saw:
She has managed to surround herself with every pillow she could find in the room.
We were able to go to the Miracle of Christmas show at the Sights & Sounds theater. This was an amazing show! 3 stages, live animals, angels flying, etc.





We came home Saturday night. I was getting Anna Claire ready for church on Sunday morning, and she said, "Mom, are we going to church?" When I said, "Yes", she quickly responded with, "Great! I like church. Everyone loves me there!" Such a ham.