Zoo Time

In celebration of Owen's 2nd birthday, we went to the zoo.  We were an attraction ourselves in our 4-child wagon.  I actually overheard someone saying that "they must be quadruplets!".  Whatever, they aren't the same age and that is pretty obvious as Addy is quite a bit smaller than the other three.  Anyway, they were too cute and had lots of fun.  Enjoy the pictures.

Addy

Grammy and Owen

Elise and Kyra with some bird eggs.

Wherever Papa is, Owen is. 

And Mags sleeping...

First Annual McPherson Thanksgiving Talent Night

In an effort to make the holidays more than just about food and presents, we decided that we would start some new traditions. I came up with doing a family talent night. The McPhersons aren't exactly talented in a "performing" kind of way, but it was fun nonetheless.

Ellie was first up. We have been working on her talent for a couple of weeks and she was able to learn "Christmas Bells Are Ringing" and sang it twice for the family.

As a family, we sang "Jingle Bells" which both Ellie and Owen have been learning and used some bells for each of the kids to ring during the chorus. Even Maggie had bells.

Kim's family sang primary songs. Kyra knows several and sang them well.

Now Evan really is talented musically. He plays guitar which he is good at (as far as I am concerned), but he is especially talented in writing and composing. He really has a gift for it and wrote this new song for our talent night.

Grammy and Papa told a story and Papa was acted the story out complete with props. The kids loved it! Well, most of them. Addy kind of freaked out when Papa first came out with the mask.

If you want to listen, here is the song my brother wrote and performed. I was able to get most of the performance. The video isn't great and the audio picks up the guitar more than his voice, but you get the idea.

Fun Times for Thanksgiving

Back to the Thanksgiving posts.  These are just a bunch of random pictures of the fun we had over our Thanksgiving break.  Loads of family fun!

3/5 of grandkids being read to by Papa.

The kids in the Choo choo wagon.  We now have 5 cars--though one of the cars was missing an axle so we were only able to hook up 4 this trip.  The kids loved it.

The children rolling around on the jumper.

Mom and Mags.

Daniel is pretty in love with this picture.  I don't know if it is the face, the background, the lighting or simply the fact that he took it.  Perhaps all of the above.

My niece Kyra. It's a little frizzed in this picture after a long day of play, but Kyra has the thickest and prettiest hair that I've seen on a 3-year-old.  She is pretty lucky.

Here is my brother Evan.  It's weird that he is wearing a bib in this picture because it is actually a pretty good picture of him.  Go figure.

Owen!

My other niece, Addy.

This picture is funny because Owen is actually looking at Grammy to see if she is watching him while he sneaks a grab for the scissors that are on the counter.  This boy is trouble.

Nothin' like a little action from Maggie.  She likes it.

Mom, Maggie and Dad.

Elise swinging away at the playground.

Bagels... a weekend tradition at my parents' place.  It is this nice little bagel shop in Katy run by a friendly Christian family.  Plus the bagels are pretty scrumptious.

Siblings:  Erin, Evan and Kim.  (Really missing my brother, Pat who is on a mission, in this picture).

Oh that Uncle Evan... he's so silly!

These girls are not only cousins but friends.  I love that!

Some of the fam parked out on the bench.  Ryan and Kim on the left, my mom and dad on the right and Maggie conked out in the middle.

Luckily, Mags woke up for this beauty of a picture.

I love this picture... (I think a tear is forming.  Ah, yes, this is why we love grandparents).

Doing crafts with the kids during down time.

Trying out the Train

This is what we were doing at 8:30 this morning...

Owen got a train track from his grandparents for his birthday.  Dan was the first to set it up (Owen likes to take it apart sometimes).

Both Maggie and Owen think it's pretty cool (Ellie was off to preschool by this time).  If you zoom in you can see how intense Owen's face is in this picture... he is deep in concentration.

He's a pretty good conductor and makes all sorts of train noises while controlling the train.

He also enjoys pushing various other cars and such on the tracks while the train is making its round.

Overall, great present!  He loves it, though in true form for my child, he wants mom or dad to play with him.  That's ok, it's a pretty fun toy for mom and dad too.

The Feast

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful.  We enjoyed being "home" in Houston for Thanksgiving and having the opportunity to spend it with my family.  I don't know that I ever appreciated Thanksgiving much when I was younger, but I found myself thinking about it and family a lot this year.  Our dinner was scrumptious and had a hefty helping of love in every bite.

My place.

I really liked my mom's centerpiece.  I'm a sucker for things like this.

My brother's place... I made little place cards for everyone.

We fit 7 adults and 4 children around this table and it still felt spacious!

The Turkey.  Moist, delicious and perfectly carved.

The pies.  There was another in the fridge (mine!).

The family (minus Pat who is on a mission and my mom who sacrificed herself being in the picture to be the photographer).

This year our family is thankful for our health, our happiness, our Savior and our love for each other and those around us.

I have a MILLION pictures of Thanksgiving to post so sorry if it starts feeling a little overkill all the way up to Christmas.  Speaking of Christmas, I've been doing mine online today.  I've been busy.