AND it's not even the largest one they serve! You get your picture on the wall if you eat the biggest one. 
Sally and Tag were also in town visiting the baby so we got some pizzas from Costco, I made queso and brownies, and we all ate junk and watched the game. It was a good time. 
We stayed for nearly a week, which still didn't seem long enough. We saw movies and ate lots of food. We went shopping and played video games. Oh, and we had mad drama with Lily. On our last day we get home from sledding and all of a sudden people are hollering at me to "Call a vet! Call a vet! Somethings wrong with Lily's leg!" So we all freak out while Lily whails louder than a dog her size should and I call several vets, none of which actually have a veterinarian working because they're on vacay. Eventually the poor thing stops screaming but wouldn't put any weight on her back right leg. So we carried her everywhere for the next 24 hours, during which Giselle got really jealous and Lily got really spoiled. We're pretty sure she just pulled a muscle (from our extensive online research) while she was playing with James. We also found out that she's a GENIUS because weeks after the incident she would lift her leg whenever she wanted to be picked up! Who knows how long she was trying to milk our sympathy.
Anyways, on our way back from Iowa we stopped in Austin to stay the night and see new baby Savannah. She is so precious. We got back from on New Year's Eve at about 7, watched a little tele, and were asleep by 10:30. Ha!
We just took a couple of pics, browsed the bookstore (where strangely I found the canister set I've been wanting for years), and hit up an LDS chapel in Houston-the first one James family attended when they moved here back in the '80s. Then we went to Brodie and Jennika's and had hamburgers and played games.
We were greeted with a cheese and fruit plate and a bottle of wine, which we gave to James' dad. I scarfed that down before heading off to my 3:00 massage and 4:00 pedicure while James had a meeting. The spa was fab and much needed. 
After my pampering I went back to the room to get dressed and James headed down to cocktail hour at one of the bars (cocktail hour... fancy huh?). I met him there and found my new favorite "drink": Rum Punch without the rum. The punch is pineapple juice, orange juice, and grenadine. So good! After cocktail hour we were driven over to this French restaurant. It was a first for pretty much everyone at the table. And I think we all pretty much agreed that French food is amazing, but you need about 3x the amount of food. We were all still a little hungry when we left... fat Americans. Had to get a pic in front of this huge wine thingy. This doesn't even show how big it was. 
a party bus that Mark had specifically said he didn't want! Ha! I guess the limo we were supposed to have was having issuses? So for a moment we hopped on the party bus to check it out. Then the limo showed up. 
It was as crazy as a limo ride can be with a bunch of grown-ups... nothing like prom night! Ha! I did pop my head out the window and get a few people to wave at me! 
The limo took us to Brenner's on the Bayou where a private room was set up with a special menu. I don't know if its legible, but I had a crab cake, tomato basil soup, striped bass with crab meat, and chocolate cake. It was FaBuLoUs! 
And let me just say NOT CHEAP. Apparently, for a private party the minimum is $2,500, which you would think would be easy to hit with a 17 person party-11 of which are drinking right? Nope. Our bill was $1,900, so at the end Mark was telling everyone to order anything they wanted since we had to pay the $600 extra anyways. So one guy ordered a $250 shot of scotch... isn't that insane? For a drink! 
I even decorated a little Texas tree for James. I may keep it up all year :)
*Mid-November Jennika and I went to the Nutcracker Market, which was SO fun! Definitely a new holiday tradition for Maggie. The goal is for my mom to be able to go with us next year, she was so jealous! 
We weren't sure what to expect, and couldn't get there until about 1:00pm, but five hours later we each had some goodies and BIG plans for next year! 
*The next weekend Brodie and Jennika came up to hang out because Brodie had a two-day lacrosse tournament right by our house. We got to go to one of the boys' games, which James really enjoyed. Here you can see Lily hiding under his shirt because she was so cold. 
*The Tuesday before Thanksgiving Corbin flew down and drove with us on Wednesday to Alabama. What was supposed to be a 12 hour drive turned into 14 as we kept venturing off to find restraurants that were way further off the beaten path than we thought. Oh well. 
It was so nice to see Grandmama (my dad's mom). I hadn't seen her in over two years and I really missed her! 
I was so excited that I got to learn how to make her famous Chicken & Dumplings for Thanksgiving! They're so easy and they really are the BEST. 
Here's James hanging out with my cousin Ethan. They were so cute together! 
Here's the whole fam at Thanksgiving (well not the whole family, but everyone who was there). 
*On Friday morning we left at 6:00 am to head to Tuscaloosa for the big game. We got there with the perfect amount of time to see and do all that we wanted to before the game started. Right when we got on campus James won these stickers that he and my sister wore all day. I love that he's become quite the Bama fan :)
Lauren's boyfriend Jake won this shirt! Lucky! 
In the background is the President's mansion. I've always loved that house. 
In front of the stadium. It was SO cold that day. If my dress hadn't been so dang cute I would have certainly been wearing jeans and boots! 
In front of the stadium are statues of all the coaches who have lead the Crimson Tide to the national championship. Here we are with Bear Bryant. 
I can't believe we were able to get a picture with Big Al! I was so happy! 
After seeing all the sites on the strip we went to the Paul Bear Bryant museum. Best $2 I ever spent! We watched a movie all about him and learned lots about his life. We also got to see Nick Saban's shirt from the National Championship last year. 
As well as the trophy. Roll Tide!
After all that we went to Wing's where we hung out for a whole 4 1/2 hours and ate and watched the game. The food was AMAZING, and the game was really exciting until the last quarter :( 
After leaving Tuscaloosa we went to Prattville to see my best friend Beth. I hadn't seen her in over two years and it was so fun. She's been renovating her house since the last time I was there and now it's finally finished and I was so happy I got to see how beautiful it is now. 
*After leaving Beth's we drove down to my Mawmaw and Pawpaw's (my mom's parents) where we spent the rest of our weekend. They have a new "vacation" home on the river and we had a lot of fun racing around on the golf carts and eating lots of food. 
The boys played football for a large chunk of the day, and they were all really sore afterwards! 
At night some of the cousins played games with us. And obviously James taught them some magic tricks :) 
Of course, no visit at Mawmaw's would be complete without Mawmaw doing something crazy. So here she is busting out a candie bra! We about died! 
November was a really fun month, and Thanksgiving was one of the best. I hadn't spent Thanksgiving with my family in 6 years, and I'm so thankful James was so willing to go. I'm excited for the rest of this month too - we have a fancy dinner this weekend, James' Christmas retreat for work next week, my company Christmas dinner the next week, and then Christmas in Iowa! All coming soon!
