The Chou Life

Blessed is the first word that comes to mind when I think about our Thanksgiving celebration this year.  Our family is truly blessed–beautiful and healthy children, sweet and hospitable grandparents, wonderful aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, an abundance of good food and even better family time.  With thirteen of us staying in my grandparents’ home at once, we had a full house…and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way!

Here are a few (ok, maybe not a few) pictures from our weekend trip to Missouri:

Calla LOVES her little cousin Solomon and insisted on holding him as soon as they arrived…

Hudson was intrigued by his “white meat” cousin and showed his affection often by bonking Soli on the head with whatever toy he happened to be holding at the moment…

Yes, I am a proud, proud Auntie…

Look, no bonking, just sharing!  How sweet…

These two usually ate their meals at the same time and would occasionally eye the other’s food jealously…

Three cousins just hanging out in their pj’s (Calla’s polka dotted leg made it in the picture)…

We got to meet the newest addition to the family, Madison Grace Lamp, who was 9 days old.  What a darling little girl!…

My momma always loves her some newborn baby time…

My parents thoroughly enjoyed the time they were able to spend with all their grandbabies in one house…

Thanksgiving isn’t complete without a round of jowlers…

And a celebration of Grandpa’s birthday.  Happy 70th, Grandpa!  You don’t look a day over 69!

Thank You, Lord, for the blessing of a loving family who makes Thanksgiving so special.  My heart is happy.

-Abby

I took this video of Calla a few days ago.  Her new dance moves crack me up.  I’m not sure what’s going on with the strange facial expressions…

-Abby

So you’re all probably ready for me to stop talking about my birthday, but this is the last b-day post, I promise!  I’m really not self-obsessed…it’s just that these pictures were too funny not to post…

Bet you’ve never seen birthday candles lit like this!

Apparently “it would take too long to light them all individually” (am I really that old?) so a more efficient approach was taken…

Anyway…I did have a fabulous birthday.  After several weeks of not much hanging out time with my momma, we got to spend the afternoon together yesterday eating and shopping.  Yay!  To everyone who sent cards and gifts, thank you so much!  At this vagabondish (it’s a word, really) time in our lives, these reminders of love have been especially sweet.  Thank you.

-Abby

Happy birthday to you my sweet

Many more years I pray we repeat

All the joy that we have shared

And all the trials we have beared
(more…)

Twenty-nine is almost here.  One year left of the twenties…oh dear!  Even though I’m married with two kids, I still have trouble grasping the reality that I’m an adult.  And I’m almost in my thirties.  Goodness gracious.

Anyway…

My sweet momma planned a birthday gathering yesterday at a quaint little teahouse in CO Springs–Montague’s.  The wonderful women who attended are a blessing to me in many ways, and my favorite part about the group is the wide range of ages–from teenager to grandmother.  Make that toddler to grandmother!…

A trademark of Montague’s is their pumpkin tomato soup, which I ordered, along with a delicious tomato/black olive/mozzarella quiche.  Mmmm, I’d like to eat that all over again.

Calla was happy to help me eat my gigantic piece of coconut cake…

…and then she proceeded to provide entertainment for the remainder of our time together…

Thank you Momma for a wonderful meal and a fun time of fellowship.  I love you!

-Abby

More pics from last weekend’s fishing trip:

Apparently Calla spent the entire day serenading fish with her harmonica…

She came home just a *wee bit* muddy…

Notice she’s still holding her harmonica…

I think we have a little tomboy on our hands–what do you think?

-Abby

As I mentioned in the last post, an interesting situation developed as we were driving home from Albuquerque earlier this week in our borrowed vehicle.  Coasting down the pass from Raton to Trinidad, the RPMs started jumping up and down erratically, and it only got worse the farther we traveled.  We stopped in the tiny town of Walsenburg and discovered we had leaked nearly all our transmission fluid.

After a two hour pit stop at a gas station, it was decided that we would spend the night in Walsenburg and the guys would work on the transmission leak in the morning.  Given the choice between the nearby Anchor Motel and the pricier (and several miles away) Best Western, we went with good old Anchor.

There were no cribs available, so we pushed several armchairs together to make a bed for Hudson.  Sweet boy did pretty well considering his makeshift sleeping arrangements!  After a few hours of sleep, the guys took the car to NAPA to find parts and start working.  The kiddos and I hung around the hotel all morning.  I don’t think Calla has ever watched so many cartoons in a row in her life…

I tried without success to nap Hudson halfway through the morning, but thankfully he stayed happy (although a bit zoned out) despite his six hours of sleep the night before…

We munched on fruit and cereal all morning long…

Anytime the door was opened Hud made a run for it…

But Big Sis was always on door patrol and made sure he didn’t escape!

The guys eventually got the leak fixed and we were able to head home.  And I truly enjoyed spending a whole morning in a stinky hotel room with my sweet babies.  God is good.

-Abby

Hmmm.  I haven’t really felt like blogging lately.  Usually I look forward to sitting down, just the laptop and me, but I’m just not feeling it this week.

We did see an interesting movie this evening–A Christmas Carol.  CG=amazing…and the story was pretty inspiring, as always.  Jim Carrey makes a great Scrooge.  I’d recommend the movie, but don’t let the fact that it’s animated encourage you to take your kiddos.  It’s scary in parts.  I may even have nightmares, but I’m a movie wimp.

Here are a few pics from our quick weekend trip to Albuquerque.  We thoroughly enjoyed seeing family and friends, and as always, the visit was too short!

These two were so cute together (remember they’re only 3 days apart!)…

These two (just 3 weeks apart) were pretty sweet together as well…

This little bozo made a cute peapod…

Strolling through the Botanical Gardens…

I have a few more pics from our last-minute hotel stay on our way home, but that’s an entirely different story and another blog post…coming soon!

-Abby