Halloween/Fall Fun/Thanksgiving

So I know it's almost Christmas and I'm really far behind, but I wanted to upload some pictures from Halloween. Jadelyn was a Sexy Samurai and McKenna was a pony. They both looked adorable!

We started the weekend with the girls carving their pumpkins. McKenna was not sure about the gross gunk inside her pumpkin, but she was brave and put her hand in there after some coaxing from Sissy. She finally decided that Jade could finish her pumpkin because the 'gross gunk' was just too much for her. They turned out great!

Halloween was on Sunday this year, and we started the day by meeting some friends at the Fort Worth Air Show for and amazing show. We love to watch the planes doing their tricks and especially LOVE watching the Blue Angels. I'm so glad we made it to the Fort Worth show - we moved right before the Houston Air Show and we were sad to have missed that. No worries - the FW show is just as good!

We left the show and went home to start getting ready for Trick or Treating. The weather could not have cooperated any better!!! We got both girls ready and then Grandma stayed home to hand out candy while Jade met her friends for one last year and Mommy, Daddy and Kenna went out and about. She did absolutely amazing! She said "trick or treat" as each door was opened and then "thank you" when they gave her treats. It was so much fun this year!

We had a fun fall and truly enjoyed the weather. The funny thing about fall in Fort Worth is that it can be really warm one day and very cold the next! Forty-five degrees in Fort Worth felt SO MUCH COLDER than forty-five degrees in Minnesota.

Our Thanksgiving was spent in Minnesota with the Van Brunt side of the family. Instead of heading to MN the weekend before Thanksgiving, we stopped in OK for a short visit. It was great to see Darrell's family and we had the opportunity to go through some of Mema's things. It was bittersweet. We all miss her so much!! Because Darrell had to travel the few days before Thanksgiving, he drove back to FW while the girls and I headed towards MN. It was awesome to have some time to visit not only my family, but also my friends that I left in MN. We had a great time and even got to see some snow!

McKenna doesn't remember snow because she was 11 months old when we moved to Houston. We picked Daddy up from the airport on Wednesday as it started to really come down. I had to dig out my Minnesota Driving skills, but we made it! We ran some errands and as the day progressed, the snow started piling up. I was absolutely amazed when McKenna looked at one of the storefronts and wondered what that guy was doing. He was shoveling! She was absolutely amazed by that and very curious about shoveling. It was so fun to watch winter through her eyes - something I guess I took for granted. We really threw her a snowball (pun intended) when we told her about snow blowers!

After a nice Thanksgiving meal and lots of game playing, Missy and I got up and participated in the traditional Black Friday craziness. Good deals were found and memories were made! While we were hunting for bargains, Darrell and Dad were hunting for deer Up North. I had much more success than they did!!

We have spent the last few weeks trying to get ready for Christmas. Our house is decorated and the tree is up. I love all the Santas and Snowmen that are scattered throughout our house. I have become a huge fan of yard ornaments... we even invested in our first blow up decoration - an 8 foot Snowman! I hope to find more in the After Christmas Sales!!!

I think this is enough babbling for now...I'm going to try to update the page with Christmas stuff sooner rather than later.

We're on the move

So it's been a while since my last update. Things have definitely changed for the Slough's!! We are in the process of unpacking after moving from Katy to Fort Worth!! Our new life should be fun and the last few weeks have been emotional ones to say the least! We hated to say good bye to the friends we had in the Houston area, but are looking forward to making new friends in Fort Worth! I start my new job in a few days and I'm nervous but excited. We are going to Jade's new school tomorrow to get her registered and are on a daycare hunt for McKenna. I will try to upload some pictures soon and will be better at updating the blog. In the mean time - please update your address books with our new address:
4417 Morning Song Dr
Fort Worth, TX 76244

Galveston Island with Nana and cousins

Nana, Donna, Jarod, Sage, M'Kayla, and Tori drove all the way from Oklahoma to visit us for a long weekend. This was the first time they've been to Houston and so we had a lot to see and do. Jade and McKenna stayed with Nana and Donna on Friday while Mommy and Daddy worked. They had fun playing Wii and making pancakes and having pizza for lunch. When Mommy and Daddy got home, we went to Willie's for dinner. That was another hit! Daddy and Jarod woke up early Saturday and headed to Galveston for some fishing. The rest of us girls woke up and headed to the Island after stopping for Kolaches. We found the perfect spot on the beach and set everything up and then the fun began! Everyone had a great time playing in the sand and water. We ate sandwiches and and then went back to playing. Pappasitos was in order for supper.

Nana had to change her plans and leave on Sunday instead of Monday. We got up and celebrated Daddy's birthday with his favorite breakfast and a cake. Then Nana and everybody started packing. McKenna decided she wanted to go to Oklahoma with Nana. After some talking it over, we decided she could try it. She was so excited! She helped Mommy pack her bag and got in the car before anyone could change their minds. Sissy went with her and as they pulled away - McKenna was waving and blowing kisses like crazy! She was so excited!!! The girls stayed a week and both had a great time with Nana and Pop.

2 going on 5

McKenna has always amazed us with her communication skills, but it seems like lately she is even more advanced than normal. It is so fun to drive with her in the car and carry on a full conversation. And her understanding is amazing! She comes up with some really funny comments. Tonight she was trying to tell me that Mr. Moon was out andI kept trying to correct her that Mr. Sun was out but going to sleep soon and then Mr. Moon would come out. We got home and she pointed to the sky and said "MR. MOON IS OUT". I noticed that yes he was out but it was a very light crescent moon. Later she and I ran to WalMart and it was dark out - so Mr. Moon was very bright. She ran to the truck and said "Mr. Moon is awake and Mr. Sun went night-night" I said 'Yes there's Mr. Moon'...to which she replied, "See, I TOLD you he was out". She repeated that lovely phrase in a sing-song voice about 10 times on our way to WalMart.

She notices nearly everything as we're driving down the road:
"Mommy, there was an RV"
"Mommy, did you see those motorcycles back there?"
"Daddy, the fire truck is not at the fire station, it's right there"
"There's Jason's Deli. I like Jason's Deli"
"Mommy, where's the hawk, is he out hunting?"
"Sissy, that guy is not safe. He doesn't have a helmet on."

It's always fun - she skipped the 'why' stage and went right to the tour conductor stage. She commentates EVERYTHING!!!

Independence Day 2010

We were looking forward to a nice long weekend in Dallas to celebrate Independence Day. We had survived four straight days of rain in Katy thanks to Tropical Storm Alex and were looking forward to sight seeing in a dry area. Jadelyn has never been to the Ft. Worth Stockyards, so we were going to spend a day there. We were also going to give Hurricane Harbor a
try. I booked a hotel that would accept the dogs, so we were all set to go! After shopping for snacks and goodies for the car ride and for the hotel - I looked at the weather forecast and was heartbroken to learn that the entire state was expected to have rain ALL WEEKEND LONG!!! So instead of spending money on a weekend in the rain, we decided to stay home in the rain. Saturday turned out fairly decent - it rained off and on but we were able to get a couple errands run. Then we went to dinner with our friend Marie and her family. After dinner it was BOWLING time!!! We had a blast! McKenna loved bowling and was a trooper staying up WAY PAST her bedtime. Today, after sleeping in a bit, we went for breakfast and then shopping for fireworks. It was a quiet day as a family with the sporadic firecracker being lit in the backyard.

Darrell grilled some awesome ribeyes while I cooked up some mushrooms and Ranch Style Beans. We had a great dinner and then played some Wii, where we learned that Darrell doesn't like playing games he's not great at. We settled on more bowling and had fun taunting each other. Then it was time to go to the fireworks. We set our chairs up in the bed of the truck and watched all the fireworks around the Mall...then the real show began and we realized we were very close - felt like we could reach out and touch them! McKenna was too scared to look at the fireworks close by but loved watching for the far-off ones both before and after the main show. Happy Birthday to the greatest country in the entire WORLD!!!

"Donkey's a good guy"

McKenna continues to entertain me!! She and I spent the weekend alone - Darrell was in Dallas for work and Jadelyn is still in MN visiting my mom and dad. We had a nice laid back girls weekend - shopping, eating out, playing with the dogs, and watching movies. This was the first time she really sat down and watched a movie. (she's never really been interested in TV unless it's to watch a hunting or fishing show with Daddy) We watched Toy Story and she liked it a lot. Then we tried Shrek...she has a love/hate relationship with Donkey. I'm not sure where it came from, but she suddenly freaked out when she saw a Shrek 3 commercial a couple months ago. She WANTS to like him, but everytime we'd see him on a commercial or at McDonald's, she'd get a bit scared. So we've been telling her that Donkey is a good guy and he's not scary at all. Up until this past weekend, she'd say she wanted to watch Donkey but as soon as we started putting it in, she'd change her mind. I finally got her to watch it with me and she was glued to my side for the first 20 mins or so...then she finally relaxed and enjoyed the movie. I think her love/hate is leaning more towards the love side right now, but we're not going to push it.

New to blog

OK so this is my first attempt at a family blog. My goal is to get good enough at this to keep my family and friends updated on our family happenings. As I sit here playing, McKenna is running around like a mad woman. She is so much fun and entertaining. Jadelyn is in MN at a shooting competition with her grandpa. Darrell is on his way home from a weekend of work in Dallas. I'm going to try to keep this updated fairly often but have a lot of learning to do!!

The Beach

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