Travels

This past Monday, our family of four successfully made it from Key West, FL to Houston, TX. It was a long day to say the least, but we are happy to be with family for Thanksgiving.

Our morning started off like usual, but once we were all ready to go, we hopped in the car to head to Ft. Lauderdale. After the four hour drive, I think we were all ready to get out and stretch our legs a bit. I know Haley was.

Once it got a little closer to boarding time, Haley and I went to get some snacks since we would be on the plane during our normal dinner time. She saw an apple at the stand and was adamant that that was what she wanted. I was a little apprehensive since it wasn't going to be the easiest thing for her to eat because we normally give her slices. That did not deter her one bit. She took that apple and bit right into it! It took her 45 minutes and she ended up eating almost the whole thing!!

Once we were on the plane, Emily started making friends with all the nearby passengers. Everyone just loves a cute baby!

After all the in flight announcements, one of the attendants came by our row. She said, "I just want to make sure that you and your husband know to put the oxygen masks on you guys first and then on the kids. Wait, this is your husband right?" Zach and I had to chuckle a bit.

Three hours later, we made it! Haley had a small breakdown about mid way and Emily fell asleep after eating, so no major crisis!

We are looking forward to the holiday tomorrow and we are so grateful and thankful to be able to celebrate with family!

Christmas

It's a little early to be thinking about Christmas cards, but I can't help it since we've had a big year and I'm really excited to share our year with everyone.

I've been using Shutterfly for a while now. We have our family website (http://thehintens.shutterfly.com/) that shares pictures of our family and all of our adventures. We really enjoy our website because it allows family and friends to check it whenever they want and they can download their favorite pictures.

Now, back to the Christmas cards. I always love sending them out to family and hope they enjoy getting them! So, here are a few of my favorites for this year.

I won't let you know which one I picked, so check your mailboxes!

Thankful

As Thanksgiving gets closer, I like to remind myself what I am thankful for this year, because we truly are blessed.

~Having a happy and healthy family.

~A wonderful partner and father to our beautiful girls.

~A roof over our heads and food to eat.

~The opportunity to stay at home and watch the girls grow.

~Wonderful friends that support us wherever we are.

There really is so much more to be thankful for, but these are the things that I am most thankful for each and every day.

Family Time

Last week, Zach's brother Zane, his wife Melissa, and their little girl Alice came to visit.

Haley and Alice bonded very quickly.

They laughed, a lot! It was so precious!

Haley even got a playmate in the bath.

And story time at night.

While they were here, we went to the aquarium. Alice got to hear the ocean from a conch shell.

We even went to the circus! Not quite a big city circus, but there were elephant rides. Unfortunately, it was a little too cold (which was a big surprise!) by the time we wanted to get in line.
Haley enjoyed the circus by watching it with Daddy.

Emily stayed nice and warm in the stroller.

And Alice was as cute as can be in her little hat.

Another day, we went to the butterfly conservatory. Melissa got lots of luck when a butterfly landed on her shoulder.

I so rarely get pictures with my little girl, so this was a treat!

Alice and Haley had fun after seeing all the butterflies.

We even got a new family picture at the southernmost point.

Another day we went to the toy factory and the girls got a free token for the carousel.

Alice just wanted to lick the pole.

On their last day, we had a picnic lunch at the beach. Haley decided to go into the ocean and had to be stripped down. But it was the perfect chance to get a picture of all three cousins.

Cousins Laughing

These two girls just had the best time together!

Halloween

We went to Children's Day at one of the local parks. They have all sorts of food and activities for the kids. Haley was all ready to go!

After walking around a bit, we found a bounce house for the smaller kids. Haley had a blast! She totally loved jumping around. We didn't realize that there was a time limit to the jumping and we got there a little late. Unfortunately, Haley didn't get to jump too long. She was pretty sad about it.

Emily was a little bored with the whole bounce house.

It ended up raining on us while were at Children's Day, so we came home and decided to carve the pumpkin. Emily didn't get to participate this year since she is too little, but I have a feeling she'll get to next year.

Zach brought out the swimming pool to carve the pumpkin in and Haley got plopped right down.

She was a little hesitant at first.

But she dug right on in.

She even wanted to share the seeds with Daddy.

What she didn't get to share with Daddy, got stuck on her legs.

Here is the finished product!

We tried to do some trick or treating, but it didn't go over all that well. Haley was a little nervous about the people dressed up, so she didn't get much candy. But that's ok, because we only had two trick or treaters all night and that left us with lots of leftover candy. Maybe next year!