Night of Lights

Just as we did last year, we attended the Annual Night of Lights in downtown Horton.  When I was a kid, it was standing in the middle of the 4 corners, eating popcorn, drinking hot chocolate, signing Christmas carols, and waiting for Santa to arrive.  Now there may have been more than that, but that's what I remember.

Reinvent Horton has taken the Night of Lights to a whole new level.  The past two years, it has been held in the civic building.  There is a free will donation supper, Santa is there for photos, and Christmas movies are playing.  There is usually quite a crowd too.

This year Ollie was not too keen on Santa.

Last year was much more successful than this year was.

The Santa photos were the only pictures that I took this year at the Night of Lights.  That must have been because we were too busy winning prizes!! Haha!  Everybody that attends gets entered into drawings for prizes and let's just say that we made out pretty well.  Jim, Marcia, Derrick, Heidi, Carter, Tyson, Riley ,and Oliver were all called for prizes.  Oliver got a wooden puzzle and Riley got a gift card to the western store in town.  Tyson was getting discouraged because they weren't calling his name, but he did end up winning a bike towards the very end!

Once they were finished with all the prizes they thanked everybody and announced that they decided to give away one big grand prize.  It was $500 towards the purchase of a Traeger grill.  And whose name do you supposed they called? -- MINE!  :)

Christmas Present for Riley - Check! 

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was nothing out of the ordinary.  I typically forget to take pictures because I'm too busy eating or sleeping, but I did a bit better this year.

Ollie bellied up to the bar with Papa.

 

 

 

 

Oliver's new thing is to take pictures with our phones.  Mostly we have a camera roll full of the ceiling and the top of his head.  He did however, get decent pictures of two of his grandparents. :)

Already learning to take selfies :)

We also celebrated Jim's birthday while we were there!  Lots of celebration and yummy food!

Fall Photo Comparison

Facebook has an "On this Day" feature that shows you things that you posted years ago.  

Today, this little gem popped up from last year.

I can't believe how much he has changed from last fall and it makes me sad to even think about what he will look like next fall.

                 

                                         2015                                                                        2016

Kansas State Basketball

My mom had never been to a Division II basketball game so when Riley got some tickets from work, we knew just who we would take.  My family has always been KU fans, so I wasn't even sure if they even owned any purple.  (They actually did, but we didn't know this and had K-State shirts waiting for them when they arrived at our house.)

Riley, Oliver, my parents, and I all enjoyed the game together.  

I can't even remember who they played, but I'm pretty sure they won.

Snuggle Baby

With each passing day, it seems that Oliver gives less and less snuggles.  The few times that we actually get snuggles, we sure soak them in.  Usually his snuggles are reserved for giraffey, but lately he has really liked his bear that Uncle Shelby and Aunt Jaime brought him back from Slovenia.

If anyone gets snuggles from Oliver, it is usually daddy.

And I'll admit, it makes me pretty jealous!

Friendsgiving (and a Grandparents weekend for Oliver)

A group of my high school friends and I got together for a "Friendsgiving" and what a wonderful idea it was!  We all met at Jessica's house to eat, drink, and be merry.  We had a great time and it was great to catch up.

I made a weekend out of my friendsgiving since I didn't have school on Friday due to Veterans Day.  I did some major Christmas shopping on Friday and stayed the night with Kerby.  We did some more shopping on Saturday, which of course meant, Ikea!

While I was away, Riley was also away pheasant hunting.  This meant that Ollie got to spend the weekend in Horton.  From the looks of the photos that I received, I think he had a great time!  (And from the way he has been acting the last few days, I think he got a bit spoiled!)

They went to the Veterans Day Parade...

 

...and the Veterans Day dinner.

He helped do chores and now says "Cow."  (These are the ones that Hudson so sweetly named Oliver and Hudson.)

My mom did some puppy sitting, so Oliver was sure to check out the "pup".

Ollie likes to sit at the table like a big kid.  (Often, at home he wants out of his booster seat so he can go sit in a regular chair.  When did this little baby grow up?!)

On my way back home, I met my parents in Topeka to pick Ollie up.  We enjoyed Cici's before heading back our separate ways.  Boy, was I glad to see this little face.