A Red Knight Christmas

So on December 11th we had our squadron Christmas Party.  It was up at the O Club at Whiting Field.  We had a great time.  Since this would be Taris' last one for a couple of years.  We shut the joint down!  We left at around 2:45 AM and headed for some breakfast at Waffle House.  By the time we got home, I chatted with Kathleen (in Japan).  I crawled into bed around 4:00 and the dogs were ready to be up and about at 7:30.  I didn't take any pictures...I know, I know.  Trust me when I say that it was a lot of fun and we had a great time.

Marcelain Photography

Over the Thanksgiving holiday the Byers family had some family pictures made.  For most of us, we haven't had pictures made since our weddings!  One of the things that Taris promised before he signed up for his 365 deployment, was taking some new family pictures.  We worked with Tammy Marcelain.  She is AMAZING!! If you find yourself in Abilene, you can not go wrong with her.  She has an amazing eye to see the full picture and I couldn't be happier with the final product.  If you want to see the ones she posted specifically on her blog, go here.  Here are a few of our favorites.

Black Friday

So on Thanksgiving day the family sat around Maw-maw's house investigating our best plan of attack for Black Friday.  We had fun looking through all of the adds and figure out who had the best deals on what.  It was decided that Wal-mart would be our jump off point, then branch off from there.  Rachel and Kayla both needed new lap tops, Ashley wanted to check out the $10 Blu-Rays, and I saw a Kodak 12 mp digital camera to send with Taris to the desert.  Wal-mart did things different this year.  They actually never closed and set-up stations through out the store for certain items and handed out tickets.  I arrived at 3 AM and my reward was number 2 in line.  (I know, you think that I am crazy, but I will say this...the closer you are in line, the faster you can check out and get down the road.)  I picked up a couple of other things, but I can't mention them since Christmas gifts have been given out yet.  After Wal-mart, I headed to Target.  They had a 500 MB portable external hard drive and a few other not to be mentioned at this time.  I finally headed to Best Buy where I did the most damage...shocker.  Best Buy had some awesome deals on Blu-Ray movies and television season dvds.  By 7:15, I was on my way to La Popular for some breakfast burritos.  (The BEST ones in Abilene.  I do miss my Mexican food!)  I was back in bed for a two hour nap by 8 AM.  Hope everyone had their own success on Black Friday...or Cyber Monday!

Family Pictures

It was so nice to see all of the family and we took advantage of the time with a TON of pictures.

Mason

Mason turns 2 on December 4th.  I can't believe how grown up he has gotten.  It make me so sad that we live so far away.  We had the privilege of staying at Mason's house while in Abilene.  He loves his Uncle T more than his Auntie E, but he does know my name so I guess that makes up for it.  On to the pictures...

Such a Rachel look...stop taking my picture look.

Stay tuned for the story of "the orange"

Baby Kendall

Or as Mason would say Boby Kenal.  No real words needed, lets get to the pictures!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was awesome.  We were able to go home to see all of our family.  We ate lots, chatted much, and watched a ton of football.  For the first time since I can't remember when, we didn't take a picture of any food and forgot to take the picture of everyone at the table.  The group shots will have to do.

Ashley with his Paula Deen Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake

Aunt Shanny

Rachel and Kendall

Taris

Kayla

Uncle Todd and Aunt Nita

Curtis and Maw-maw