Thanksgiving Time

Well, it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone. I am still amazed that Christmas is only about 3 weeks away. We had a great Thanksgiving and were very fortunate to have great friends to share it with. Our friends Jennifer and Erik from Iowa came over along with our friend Mike from Toledo. Erik, Mike and Patrick all did a residency together at Texas Tech so it was fun having everyone together again. I would have to say that overall we had too much food and a lot of fun.

We managed to get out a few times and show everyone some of the local attractions of the area. The following pictures are of our trip to Brandywine falls.Patrick and Isaac in front of the falls.

Patrick and Jordan in front of the falls.



A picture of Brandywine falls. (With no one in front of it!)

And we even managed to catch a shot of Sydney running around. And "Yes" that is Jordan in the background showing off her funky moves!

And the above picture is one of our "Thankful Turkey." We put a turkey body on the window at the beginning of the month and everyday we added a feather. And on the feather we put something we were thankful for. Everyone had a different color and turned out to be a really fun thing to do with the kids. It was fun to see what the kids were thankful for. And also what they thought Sydney was thankful for. The only change I will make for next year is that I will start at the bottom of the door. Towards the end of the month we had to bend over to see who was at the front door.

And here is a closer look at the turkey. Overall everyone really liked the "Thankful Turkey" idea and I think it may become a new tradition for the Gallegos Family.

And to finish this post there is a short video of the Brandywine Falls. Enjoy!!!

We hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Waiting for Jordan's Bus

Jordan's bus gets home about 4:25 so that leaves most of the afternoon for Sydney, Isaac and I to play and have some fun. So, yesterday afternoon was no different and we headed outside for some play time. I caught a few pictures of Isaac and Sydney playing. (And if you notice, Sydney is wearing a dress-up dress. She screamed when I tried to take it off at nap time. So, she wore it until dinner.)

Riding a tricycle with a fancy dress on.
Isaac riding.
Sydney climbed into the stroller all by herself.
A close up of Sydney in her dress-up dress without the coat.

"She is clothed with strength and dignity..." Proverbs 31:25

Whatever my kids are dressed in may they always realize that through Christ they are clothed with strength and dignity. This is what I pray tonight for my children (and yours.)

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Happy Birthday Patrick!!!!

On Monday we celebrated Patrick's birthday and had a really great time. He is now the big 33! So that means I am officially married to an "Older Man!!!" (Since of course I am only 32 HAHA!) So, I caught some pictures of the kids along with a group shot of Patrick and the kids.

This is one of Isaac making one of his quirky faces. And Jordan posing as usual!
And Miss Sydney enjoying a nice piece of birthday cake
(Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.)
And last but not least a picture of the whole group before we dove into the cake.

Well Patrick, we hope you had a great birthday and we all love you very much!

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara, Jordan, Isaac and Sydney

Pumkin Carving Part Two

We had to trash the last pumpkins because they were overtaken by bacteria/mold/fungi/ organisms of unknown origin. I guess we carved them a little too early. So, this weekend we jumped back onto the carving game. Here is a picture of Patrick and Sydney enjoying some time together.

Patrick with the finished pumpkins. Jordan did the middle all by herself.

The kids playing is a pile of leaves in the front yard.

Jordan

Sydney throwing leaves everywhere.

Isaac pausing for a quick picture.

Another group shot.

Who needs toys in the fall. Toys fall from the trees at our house.

We are definitely enjoying fall. Hopefully it will last for a while. I don't think I am ready for winter quite yet!

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Let the Festivities Begin!!!!

Well, it is official, the Halloween festivities have began. We still have one week until Halloween is officially here but that doesn't stop the Gallegos Family. We started the day off with a fun, non-scary Halloween party. We decorated pumpkins, played games and watched a magician. The kids had a lot of fun. Here is a picture I caught of the kids before we left. Jordan is Scooby-Doo, Isaac is a dragon and Sydney is a Dallas Cowboy's cheerleader. (Yes, the cheerleader costume goes over VERY well here in Ohio! LOL)

Then we came home, had some lunch, and all took naps. Next on the agenda was some good old fashioned "Haunted Gingerbread House" making. Yes it was messy and everyone really enjoyed it. Let's be honest. Anything that involves candy is enjoyable for our kids. Here is a picture of the kids with their "Haunted Gingerbread House."
Here is a view of the house from the front. Isaac did most of the "yard," that would be the front part with pumpkins and gummy-candies. (And a fruit roll-up pathway! You just can't see it for all the yard decorations!)

And a view from the back. The red thing is supposed to be a dead tree. This was the first thing Isaac wanted to eat when we dove in to it.

And here is a picture of the kids eating their house. It was all they could do to wait until after dinner to eat it. But I do have to say that they ate all of their dinner tonight. Go figure!

And here is a video of the kids eating the house.

And did you notice that Sydney shook her head "YES" at the end of the video. Her big thing right now is to say "NO" to everything. Well, she is definitely following in the sugar loaded footprints of her sister and brother.

So, we are preparing ourselves for a week full of Halloween parties, trick-or-treating, and dressing-up. I think I am ready but we will see how the week goes!

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Fall is Upon Us!

Well, the leaves are changing, the weather is getting cooler and the Gallegos family is outside with spoons, knives, the bed of a truck and pumpkins. What can I say, we are building memories for a lifetime! So, as you can guess, we carved pumpkins this afternoon. Now, I remember carving pumpkins as a kid. There were no fancy carving knives or stencils. We simply made triangle eyes, a triangle nose and a grimace smile that only a mother could love. However, the times have changed and our kids aren't carving the same pumpkins their parents did. This is the stencil Isaac chose for his pumpkin. Yes it is a dragon and he is making a dragon face. And the orange thing sticking out of the pumpkin is the fancy carving knife that I was talking about earlier!
And well, Jordan didn't want a normal face on her pumpkin either. She chose this witch stencil.
So, do you think they carved them! Of course not, but Patrick and I were up for the challenge and I have to say that they didn't turn out half bad. The kids like them so I guess that is all that counts. So, if you live in the area and want to see some cool pumpkin carvings feel free to drive by. And if you live far away, we are always up for company so you are welcome also.

So, here is a picture of the kids and Patrick with the pumpkins all carved. And "YES" I think Isaac is playing with scissors in this picture.

Finally, after all the excitement the boys were worn out and this is where I found them after cleaning up outside. What can I say, they needed a nap. So here's to Fall, pumpkin carving, and naps on the couch on a Saturday afternoon with dad.

Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.

Hiking with the Fam

About a month ago we went hiking at a place called "The Ledges." We knew about this place but just never had made it out there. So, one nice brisk evening we decided to pack up the kids and head out there. It is actually only about 5 minutes from our house and after we got there, Patrick and I couldn't believe that we hadn't gone before. There were some really nice trails that were even pretty good for the kids. Overall, we had a really nice evening. So, here are a few pictures we caught!At this point we were at a look-out spot and as you can see it was a really nice sunset. And from this view we are eye level with the trees.

Patrick and the kids catching a nice view.

I even got them to take a group shot!

And this shot was taken during the hike. It looks like it was dark but we were actually just in the trees. Trees are something that we really love about Ohio. And obviously we weren't very prepared because Patrick and Isaac were both wearing sandals.
Love Ya and God Bless, Tara G.