6 weeks in Houston

Sam had to do 2 month long away rotations. He did a month in Houston at UT Houston and a month in Temple, TX at Texas A&M's Scott and White hospital. James and I did not want to stay in Lubbock all by ourselves so we headed to Houston with Sam and we all stayed with my parents. We loved staying at my parents. I feel like James really got to know them and they were really able to get to know James. We wished we lived closer.

These pictures all out of order but I don't want to take the time to fix them.

Halloween. James was a little monkey. Honestly, he was a little scared of actually putting on the costume. I have no clue why. The few weeks leading up to Halloween he would talk about how excited he was about being a monkey but when it actually came down to putting it on he was a little nervous. With a little struggle and lots of praise of how cute he looked with it on we were able to get him to wear it. He loved getting candy. We only went to a few houses on my parents cul-de-sac but that was plenty. He didn't like the houses that had scary decorations. Maybe even more than the getting candy he loved giving out candy to kids who came to my parents house.

Uncle Ryan is back!! We were lucky enough to be there when Ryan came back from his mission. He loved his mission and we are so proud of him and the 2 years he dedicated to serving the Lord. We are so glad he is back! James was just 3 months when Ryan left so he had changed a ton since Ryan saw him last.

I don't know how but somehow it became a tradition in our house to drop a bag of balloons on the newly returned home missionary when they first come into the house. Here is Ryan with the traditional balloon shower.

Us at the airport picking him up! Josh wasn't able make it for when Ryan flew in but Josh flew in a few hrs later and we were all able to be together as a family. Loved it!

Dad's first hug.

First few seconds after seeing Jacob.

Jacob's first hug.

What we did with James while waiting for Ryan to get off his plane. We probably rode those escalators like 20 times. He loves them!

Went to a Halloween toga party with my parents. It is the perfect Halloween costume for a big prego girl!

We went to Old McDonald's farm/pumpkin patch. We will definitely be going back.

It had a huge sand pile. He was in heaven. What little boy doesn't love a big pile a sand to play in?!

Slides!

Riding a horse all by himself!

Terrorizing/petting the poor animals.

Letting the animals eat out of his hands.

Jacob's weekly football games. James became obsessed with football while we were there. See how he had to have his own football.

This is James wearing Jacob's lacrosse helmet that he said was football helmet. This is how he looked most of the time at my parents home.

He always wanted Jacob and Papa to play "tackle" with him.