Kristin Hill Taylor

Seeking God as the Author of Every Story

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{Branson} Falling into winter

November 29, 2011 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Well, hello, blog readers. I’ve missed you.

We’re home from Branson, Mo., where we spent four nights, including Thanksgiving. We were there with Greg’s mom and his two brothers and their families. That’s seven kids 7 {almost 8 …} and younger. And seven adults.

And would you believe my mother-in-law found us all matching pajamas? All of us, from 5-month-old Kieran to 60-year-old Gran-Gran. Admittedly, I had reservations about dressing up like 13 other people and posing for a picture.

Turns out I loved it.

We did those two group poses and then smaller groups {families and then Gran-Gran with all the grandkids}. Of course, there are plenty of funny ones …

This was me trying to get the camera set up right. Clearly, the kids were excited.

I hadn’t made it back from behind the camera on the tripod before the self-timer started clicking off the four consecutive shots. And look that front row of kids. Those are some serious faces!

Ben apparently thought it was nigh-night time since everyone was in pajamas. {He’s not really asleep. Sleep didn’t come that easily on vacation.} And his snuggling is distracting his sister, who wasn’t going to let her new doll go. Kieran was so done with the photo shoot by this point. Mae is a little unsure of the whole thing and decided to inch closer to Gran-Gran. Ethne seems a little distracted by something. Evelyn and Elijah are ready to go!

_______

We left on Wednesday, which was Ben’s 2nd birthday! My boy who is all boy is now officially 2. I brought along some cupcakes to have after dinner that night. He obviously enjoyed that.

… and some lemon.

While in Branson, we ate a delicious Thanksgiving meal from Cracker Barrel, saw “Happy Feet Two,” spent a day at Silver Dollar City, played indoor mini golf, and saw “The Miracle of Christmas.” It was a fun way to spend the weekend transitioning from fall to winter. I left with a heart full of thanksgiving thinking about Christmas.

_______

This was our third trip to Branson. We first went in September 2008. And again in October 2010. Our family is growing and so are the memories we’re making.
________

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Filed Under: Ben, family, holiday, road trips, vacation

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About Me

Telling stories is my therapy and I love sharing them with friends on my porch.

The main characters in my stories are my entrepreneur husband, our high school girl who never forgets, our middle school boy who has no fear, and our joy-filled first-grade girl. As we live out our stories, we seek God as the author of them all.

Learn more about my story here.

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@racershoops camp was so fun for Rachel and a few @racershoops camp was so fun for Rachel and a few of her friends! Despite all the basketball she has consumed as a spectator, I didn’t know how Rachel was going to feel about playing basketball. 

Spoiler: She enjoyed it, learned to grab rebounds, scored on the 10-foot goal, and turned extra cartwheels to celebrate. 

Big brother gets his turn next week. We love our Racers and are grateful to have these opportunities. 

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I love summer. But my summer has started off busy: appointments, book edits deadline, establish new habits with the kids at home. All that’s necessary and good, it just cuts into my down time beside the pool. 

Today we have two open gyms for our basketball players, my book study with a few friends, a new weekly high school girls’ book study at our house, and a monthly dad-son character study. 

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