Life with Jill & D

Lots of catch up work to do

2011-06-25T15:50:00.005-05:00

In an effort to catch up this blog here are some pictures of our happenings in April...

We entertained Grandma and Grandpa for a long weekend.

Then we had fun with Julie and Mikey a few weeks later when they came for Easter weekend. Easter weekend was when Audrey took her first steps.

We watched the Kate and William get married

And we celebrated Audrey's first birthday with some of our neighborhood friends.

Crawfish Boil

2011-04-21T22:53:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago Audrey went to her first crawfish boil. I didn't let her try the crawfish but I'm sure she would have liked it since she likes pretty much anything we give her. She must have gotten that from her daddy. She got Diet Coke spilled on her right after we got there but she didn't let it spoil her good time. I'm not proud of this but the below picture is what she did when the LSU fight song came on.

And here she is with her first crawfish. She was a little too interested in the antennas - gross!

Walking with the Stroller

2011-04-01T19:09:00.002-05:00

Ma-Ma and Da-Da

2011-03-22T21:45:00.004-05:00

Here is another video of Audrey saying ma-ma and da-da at 10 months.

1st School Picture

2011-03-20T18:19:00.003-05:00

Audrey's 1st of many school pictures. Can't believe they captured all the kids looking and noone crying. That's a big feat.

10 months

2011-03-19T13:12:00.003-05:00

9 months

2011-03-19T13:01:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures of Audrey at 9 months... She loves to clap

She is still doing her own version of the army crawl.

This is what she does anytime the dogs get near her face. Gross!

Snow Bunny

2011-02-04T16:28:00.004-06:00

Since Audrey was sick I didn't want to take her out in the snow but I had to get some pictures so I opened up the front door and took a few. We'll have to wait till next time to make her first snowman.

Snow and Sick Days

2011-02-02T16:18:00.003-06:00

Audrey and I have been home all week because she has been sick. We took her to the Dr. Monday and she has RSV and an ear infection. But you couldn't tell from these pictures. She sure does put on a show for the camera :) And the past couple of days we have been snow/iced in. Well, not D. He thinks he can drive in anything since he is from Nebraska. But the girls and all the dogs have been housebound. It's been fun.

Audrey at 8 months

2011-01-22T17:52:00.003-06:00

Here are some recent pictures of Audrey. 8 months old - can you believe it? She is teething if you can't tell from the poor little rash on her face. She got one cute little tooth on New Year's Day. I wish they would come in all at once but the others are taking their sweet little time.

We dressed up in purple for the LSU game.

Here is Audrey all bundled up for her first snow day

And here she is exploring a new world from a standing up position

My Friend Mandy

2011-01-22T17:21:00.008-06:00

Kelly's Korner is a fun blog I read and she is having a little "blog party" to introduce all her single friends. She is asking everyone to post about their single friends in hopes that some of them can meet up. It made me think of my single friend Mandy and while I normally don't do stuff like this I thought Mandy would be worth it.

So here is a little bit about Mandy...I met Mandy in college and to know her is to love her. Seriously. She is just the kind of laid back, fun, kind person that everyone loves. She moved to the DFW area to teach but she is a small town girl at heart. She is currently working on her Masters degree in education.
Mandy has a great family that she is very close to and is the beloved aunt to two neices. Mandy likes to travel all over with her friends, loves country music and goes to all the good concerts in the area, likes the Texas Rangers to name a few of her interests. This all sounds so cliche and corny but she is such a loyal and amazing friend and really has the sweetest heart. So there you go....that's my wonderful friend Mandy who I love so much!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-21T17:51:00.005-06:00

Our Christmas was filled with so much family fun. We spent it with the fam in BR.
Audrey and her Uncle Johnny

Aunt Dana and cousin Kate

Sleeping with Gramps

Sweet cousins Cole and Kate

all the cousins and Uncle Jonathan

Aunt Julie and Redneck Uncle Mikey

Christmas morning before all the craziness began

Grandma and Grandpa and all their grandkids

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-01-15T12:14:00.007-06:00

So long overdue but here is my Thanksgiving post. Audrey was about 7 months old at Thanksgiving and it was a perfect age to travel with her. We flew to Omaha and then drove about an hour to Lincoln to D's sister's house. I was so nervous about flying with Audrey but on the flight up there she slept pretty much the whole time.

Here is a picture of Audrey on her first plane ride.

Here is Audrey having fun with her cousins Hayden and Samantha.

Audrey and D's sister Angie - the hostess for the weekend

Audrey was constantly entertained by her cousins. She had so much fun.

Here is the whole crew of cousins: Alex, Eric, Samantha, Hayden, Audrey, Nick and David

Audrey loved this puppet duck that quacked out a song. Anytime she would start to cry one of the cousins would run over with the duck and start playing it for her and she would stop fussing. Thanks to Aunt Angie, Audrey got one for Christmas :)

All the boy cousins went to the Nebraska football game the day after Thanksgiving. It has become a tradition in the family and the boys love it. Some years the girls have gone but this year we decided to stay in the warm house and watch the game on TV.

Since we flew out of Omaha we made time on our trip back to stop in and see the Landrum's and their new house in Omaha. This was the first time that any of us had met Claire and she was so precious. Claire is about 6 months older than Audrey so it is fun to see where Audrey will be in a few short months.

Tough Guy Blake

And I didn't get a good picture of Andrew but I can't leave him out.

So thankful for our family and friends!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-06T22:21:00.003-05:00

For Audrey's 1st Halloween she dressed as a giraffe. She had fun walking around outside in her costume with her neighbor friend Emily and then she handed out candy to all the trick or treaters who came around. She is really into wrappers now a days. There was a little bag of reeses pieces that kept her entertained for 30 minutes. Here she is in her cute little giraffe costume that her mom forgot to button at the bottom :)

And here is Audrey at her daycare Halloween party. All the kids in the infant room were dressed like this and it was hilarious!

Renaissance Wedding

2010-11-06T22:11:00.003-05:00

We took a little road trip down to Houston for my dad's cousin's wedding. They got married at the Renaisssance Fair outside of Houston and it was a fun weekend to meet up with all my family. Here are some pictures from the weekend...

audrey loves being outside so it was fun to stroll her around on a beautiful day

julie and mike

fun cousins

julie and audrey

the fam

more sweet fam

pumpkin patch

2010-10-23T09:09:00.004-05:00

my first pumpkin patch.... with dad trying to prevent head from getting sunburned...

with friend Sydney...

i can sit up now (with just a little help from daddy sometimes)...

i get pensive when i'm sleepy...

look, i'm taller than sydney...

and a family picture to end the day...

5 months old

2010-10-15T10:25:00.003-05:00

Tigers vs. Huskers

2010-10-02T11:11:00.004-05:00

Saturdays have been all about Audrey and College Football the last several weeks. All her family is confusing her with all the talk about the Tiger and the Huskers. She told me that she really just wants to be a Bulldog.

2010-09-18T07:41:00.011-05:00

These are some pictures we had taken in Baton Rouge when Audrey was 2 months old. She's almost 5 months now so I'm a little behind :) Many thanks to Amanda Causey for the pictures.

Visitors from Nebraska

2010-08-06T19:57:00.004-05:00

Last weekend D's sister and her family came from Nebraska to meet Audrey.
Nick, the oldest is really into baseball so they went to a Ranger's game on Thursday night. I got them hats to wear to the game and Audrey had a little Ranger's onesie so of course we had to take pictures. As you can tell, Audrey wasn't in the best mood.
But the boys were excited and even got on TV at the Ranger's game.

Here is Nick feeding Audrey a bottle. Nick became Audrey's entertainer all weekend. Whenever she would get fussy he had a "magic rattle" that would calm her down.

Alex is going to be in the 4th grade next year. He's a character.

And here is sweet Hayden. He's 4 and is a little angel. He had to be right by Audrey at all times.

I took these pictures on Audrey's 3 month bithday. She weighs 11 pounds even and is doing well. You'll notice the scratch on Audrey's forhead which is from my earring. Poor baby.

And I came home from work today to find daddy and daughter having a little bonding time. So sweet!

Bath Time at 12 weeks

2010-07-30T17:52:00.002-05:00

Audrey's been loving her bath time lately. Here are a few pictures because who doesn't just love a few neked baby pictures?

For the Grandmas

2010-07-24T11:11:00.005-05:00

Here's a shout out to the Grandmas!

Audrey with her favorite doll made by Grandma Metz

Cute bib from Grandma Nitz

First Week at Daycare

2010-07-17T11:11:00.003-05:00

Audrey started daycare on Tuesday and I went back to work so it's been a crazy week. It was so hard leaving her but I know she is in good hands.

Audrey on her first day of daycare (10 weeks old)

After Audrey's 2nd day of daycare she fell asleep in the bathtub

Her first report card

Here's a video of her "talking"

4th of July

2010-07-17T10:48:00.004-05:00

We had a good 4th of July weekend with friends and family that came to visit. Note to self, have lots of kids and friends will come visit.

Here's our official 4th of July family picture.

Just had to get this one in here of Audrey's pouty lip curl

D's brother Mike came from Houston to visit
(they don't look happy here but they really did hit it off)

Angie, Matt and family also came to visit.

This is Reese saying "please wake up, please wake up."

Playing patty cake

Cute Ian making silly faces

Smiling Baby

2010-07-06T07:57:00.000-05:00

2 months old (not the same as 8 weeks old)

2010-07-04T21:39:00.003-05:00

Here's Audrey holding her head up at 2 months old."Oh, that looks tasty"

"Life is Good!"

8 weeks old

2010-07-01T19:41:00.002-05:00

Some of my new favorite pictures from our trip to Baton Rouge...

Audrey's favorite past time

2010-06-10T14:28:00.005-05:00

I was looking back over random pictures I've taken over the past few weeks and there seems to be a common theme.....sleep. Now I just wish she would do this at night :)

And now mommy is off to sleep!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa

2010-05-28T11:58:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to take a moment out of my busy day of eating, sleeping and crying to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope it's a great day for you. Thanks for coming to visit me when I was born. I hope I can see you again soon! Love, Audrey

Audrey's B-day

2010-05-16T10:26:00.004-05:00

Audrey is here! She was born on Tuesday, May 4th at 1:18pm.

I went in to be induced at 5:30 am and she came pretty quickly once everything got started. Thank goodness for epidurals :) There was one 45 minute period where the contractions got pretty bad after my water broke. I asked for the epidural but it took a while to get everything together. Once the epidural kicked in I felt good and the rest of the labor went smoothly.

She weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 19 3/4 inches. She has a good amount of hair that is light brown. She has really light eye brows and eye lashes and a cute little pug nose that looks like D's baby pictures.

This post took a while because i am overwhelmed by the amount of pictures that were taken. I haven't even started looking at the video yet. My mom did a great job of capturing the journey for us. Here are a few from Audrey's first day of life...

Coming Soon!

2010-05-02T12:53:00.003-05:00

We are going in Tuesday, May 4th to be induced! We can't wait to meet little Audrey and in the meantime we are trying to enjoy our last weekend with no kids. My family is coming in tomorrow and then we will go in at 5:30am Tuesday morning to get the ball rolling.

Here is hopefully my last preggo picture at 38 1/2 weeks.

Bedrest and Nursery Pictures

2010-04-26T10:16:00.005-05:00

My life is pretty boring these days but that will change soon! I went in for my 37 week appointment and the Dr. ordered me to be on bedrest because of high blood pressure. So my last day of work was last Tuesday. A little earlier than I expected but I've had a good week of rest and now I'm ready to meet little Audrey. I'll go back to the Dr. tomorrow so we might have more of an update then. The bags are all packed and ready to go! Here are some pictures of the nursery.

Happy Anniversary D!

2010-04-21T09:47:00.005-05:00

Today we are celebrating our 3rd year of marriage. Happy Anniversary D!!!

29 Day Countdown

2010-04-13T18:29:00.007-05:00

So this pregnancy thing is kind of all consuming lately. I have about 29 days left to go and some days I am wishing it would happen tomorrow and other days I'm thinking that I need the full 29 days to get ready.

We went to the Dr. yesterday and got to see little Audrey. They are saying that she is right on track size wise and is head down and ready to come anytime now. Here's her profile shot...
She is about the size of a honeydew melon...

It's been alot of fun celebrating with all my sweet friends. Here is the Tech contingent at one of my baby showers.

And here's a picture of the crib set up. Maybe after this weekend we will have more pictures of the nursery but we are still waiting for the dresser to get here so it's a work in progress.

And here's a picture of the dad to be. He came up to my work for a baby shower last week and I thought this picture was so funny. He doesn't know what to do with all the pink stuff that is invading our home. I can't wait to see him as a dad for the first time. I know he is going to be a great one.

Baby Showers

2010-03-26T20:29:00.008-05:00

I'm a little behind on blogging but here are some recent pictures from some baby showers.

Tech Friends in Shreveport

Cornerstone Shower in Baton Rouge

My mom surprised me with this quilt that we worked on together when I was in Jr. High and we took a quilting class from our neighbor.

Sweet Hostesses from the Cornerstone Shower

Mom, Julie, me and Dana

Nursery

2010-02-24T19:21:00.004-06:00

We are slowly but surely getting the nursery together. We decided to go with pink (surprise, surprise) and I love how it is coming together. Here is D hard at work putting up bead board. Here are the colors of paint that we were choosing between. We ended up going with the second one from the left.

Here is a picture of the crib bedding.

And here is a picture of the pink and the bead board. There is still some finishing work to be done.

I reached the 29 week mark today so I am in my 3rd trimester. All of the sudden it feels like it is all going by so quickly. We had a Drs. appointment this afternoon and the Dr. said everything looks good. I'm starting to go to the Dr. every 2 weeks now so the end is in sight.

Snow Pictures of the Dogs

2010-02-24T19:11:00.005-06:00

Do you think the dogs liked the snow?

Valentine's Day 2010

2010-02-24T18:48:00.004-06:00

My mom, sister Julie, and sister in law Dana came in town on Valentine's weekend. Little did we know they picked the worst weather of the winter to come visit. But it was such a fun weekend and we got alot of baby stuff done like registering and picking out some stuff for the nursery. And of course we went out to eat alot. I had just found out the week before that I passed my 3 hour glucose test so I found a new appreciation for eating :)

Here we are at Chuy's with my aunt and cousin.

And there was no power in most of Highland Park but Sprinkles knew we needed some cupcakes so they used generators to keep making their delicious cupcakes.

Here we are registering at Target (oh my word, my belly looks so huge in this picture).

Lunch in downtown Grapevine with old friends.

My mom and her best friend Kay

25 Weeks and Babymoon

2010-01-28T20:00:00.004-06:00

Here's my week 25 picture. Still no final answer on a name but I think we are getting close. And we've finally made some decisions on the nursery. I'll post on that soon but the crib has been ordered so that's the first step.

Last weekend we had our Babymoon and traveled to San Francisco. It was alot of fun but it rained most of the time we were there. Here are some pictures from the trip...

Jill and Baby at the Golden Gate Bridge

Celebrating Demian's big b-day with a last minute birthday cake...

Waiting to get on the street car.

Visiting Ghirardelli Square

Experiencing Fisherman's Wharf for the first time

Touring Alcatrez

White Christmas

2010-01-14T17:45:00.003-06:00

For Christmas this year we went up to Nebraska to see Demian's family. Brrr! It was really cold as you can imagine. Too cold to get the camera out much. Here is a picture that I made Demian take with me on Christmas Day just to prove that we had a White Christmas. The rest of the day we were huddled up at his mom's house watching movies and playing board games.

It was a good Christmas and we were blessed to be with family. We figured we probably wouldn't be traveling this time next year so we are trying to take advantage of it as we can.

As far as a baby update, I'm still feeling really good. I'm loving the feeling of her moving around in there. And D finally got to feel her this weekend. We have a few names picked out: Audrey, Claire, and Emma. We can't really agree on one but hopefully it will become clear over the next few months because I'm dying to get some monogramming done!

It's a Girl!

2009-12-23T21:42:00.006-06:00

We found out Monday that we are having a little GIRL! I thought for sure that it was a boy so I was really surprised when they told us. I really had to totally change my train of thought but we couldn't be more excited. D said he knew all along that it was a girl.

I'm still feeling really good and really the only symptom that I have been feeling is tiredness. I'm 20 weeks along and I'm growing bigger every day. And I have just started to feel Baby P move around in there. That's an amazing feeling and I can't wait for D to be able to feel it too. After Christmas we have alot to do to get the room ready to go. Only 140 days to go!

2009-12-21T22:06:00.006-06:00

In Loving Memory of Granny Metz

1917 - 2009

Grandpa and Grandma in their younger days.

Christmas with the Metz's - my dad is the one on the right.

Grandma celebrated her birthday on Christmas Day. She was about to turn 92 this Christmas.

Turkey Day 09

2009-12-05T08:52:00.008-06:00

Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving weekend. We went to Kilgore to visit my grandmother and aunts and uncles for Thanksgiving Day. My dad and his 2 brothers always host a touch football game and this year the weather was perfect for it. Here are some pictures from the big game.

Then Friday morning we went down to Baton Rouge to spend the rest of the weekend. The baby got its first Tiger gear from my sister Julie.

And here is cute Kate in her LSU outfit.
Cole and Julie in their purple and gold.

Saturday night we took D to his very first LSU game.

Here is the group before the game. D is wearing a yellow polo shirt and he had on a purple undershirt. My brother Jonathan didn't think that was good enough so he bought him a LSU sweatshirt. That is the sweatshirt hanging over his shoulder in the below picture. He did wear it later in the game though.

Julie and Mikey

Ryan and Dana

And here are some more neice and nephew pictures.

Kate and her Cutesy Cloths outfit.

And me and D

So much to be thankful for!

14 weeks

2009-11-16T18:26:00.003-06:00

I'm 14 weeks along (almost 15) in these pictures. I didn't really think I was suppose to start showing until a little further along but I guess all the chocolate milk is catching up with me. The baby is the size of a lemon at this stage. I've loved learning about all the developmental stages each week.

I think this picture is funny - Emily and Ivan wanted that lemon so bad. I would like to think they they were just looking at me in adoration but no, they just wanted the lemon.

Bun in the Oven

2009-11-09T18:27:00.001-06:00

Baby P due May 12th!

old school

2009-11-08T11:39:00.015-06:00

I went to a baby shower this weekend for one of my oldest friends Johanna. We started first grade together, took gymnastics together, got through home schooling together and were best friends. Here are some pictures of us from throughout the years.

This is one of my b-day parties - I'm second from the left and Johanna is in the red coca-cola shirt

This is Johanna, me and April at a high school graduation party
This is Johanna's wedding in 2000.

And current day at Johanna's baby shower

Me, Johanna and April

Johanna and her husband Joe

Homecoming 09

2009-10-28T19:21:00.004-05:00

Mandy was so kind to let me ride along with her to Ruston for Homecoming. I stayed with Elizabeth and Chris and got to hang out with their sweet girls. Here are some pictures of the fun weekend:

The fake Champ

Allie cheering on the dawgs

Liz with her sweet girls - Clara and Allie

Future bulldogs Clara and Jolie

John and the bulldog

Group picture attempt

I love this time of year with cool weather, football games and friends! Thanks Mandy and Elizabeth for the fun weekend.

Big Announcement...

2009-10-07T19:00:00.002-05:00

We got a new little puppy! We picked her up this afternoon from a nearby shelter. They estimated that she's about 3 months old and some kind of retreiver/lab mix. We named her Bella. Here are a few pictures of the new addition.

And poor Ivan and Emily don't know what to do when they aren't the center of attention So here's some pictures of them. Here's Ivan wondering if he's going to like his new little sister.

Emily doesn't look like a happy camper but inside she's excited about her little sister.

Labor Day in Baton Rouge

2009-09-12T08:27:00.005-05:00

Spent last weekend with the fam in Louisiana. We stayed for a few days in Baton Rouge and then we went to Dana's family camp after church on Sunday and stayed until Monday. Get ready for some cuteness...

Kate all decked out and ready for the boat. She's a mean recorder player.
Julie and Kate

Cole and Ryan

Kate in her spot. This is where she rode most of the time. When someone would fall skiing or tubing she would get up to make sure they were ok then she would get back in her spot.

Julie, Jonathan and Cole tubing

Julie and Kate tubing. We couldn't tell if she liked it or not. She wasn't crying though so I think she liked it.

Ryan wakeboarding (or water boarding as my dad calls it)

Foggy Labor Day morning

Cole is in kindergarten now so he is too cool for school.

It was a great long weekend. Alot of memories were made.

August Happenings

2009-08-27T17:11:00.008-05:00

We've had a fun August. D took me to see Mamma Mia for my birthday. It was cute but seriously hard to get all the Abba songs out of my head.

At the beginning of the month the newlyweds, Julie and Mike, came to visit us. We tried to entertain them with all the fun stuff to do in Dallas so they would want to move here. But I don't think it worked.

We went to a Rangers game and got stuck in a rain delay.

Here we are at Raising Canes. This was on our way to Ikea so we had to stop.

Then the next weekend my parents came into town. We mostly just drove them around to see all their friends.

We went out to dinner with my mom's brother and family.

And I drove them out to Frisco to see my mom's best friend Kay.

And here is Emily saying goodbye to all our houseguests.

Thanks for coming! We love you guys!

Then here are some pictures from my trip to Houston to see all the cute kids down there. I already posted the video of Andrew so here's a picture of Blake. He was saying cheese and everytime he said cheese he would hold his cars out so they would be in the picture too.

We went over to see Jenn and the twins. She is such a good mommy.

Here is Shandra with Jenna

And Jenn with Jenna

And here they both are. Jenna and Ellie. They are so sweet!

So that's my August recap. We had a great summer but now we are ready for fall to get here.

Shandra's Mini Me

2009-08-19T18:12:00.002-05:00

NKOTB round 2

2009-07-25T11:17:00.005-05:00

I'm using this blog as my scrapbook so I couldn't leave out the pictures from last weekend New Kids on the Block concert. Their concerts are always so much fun and this one didn't disappoint.

Amy, me, Cantrelle and Jenna

These are girls that we have played softball with for the past several years. They are so much fun.

Colorado Trip

2009-07-18T10:24:00.007-05:00

A little late but here are some pictures from our trip to Colorado, July 4-11th...
We left home on July 4th and drove halfway to Raton, NM. We found a spot to enjoy the 4th of July fireworks.
Then we drove on to Vail, CO where we stayed for 4 days. It was wonderful. This is D and the dogs in Vail Village on the first day we were there.

We went hiking on the first day and enjoyed these views.

And this is what the dogs did the rest of the night.

More hiking pictures. And these pictures really don't do it justice. Everything in Colorado is so picturesque.

We weren't far from Breckenridge so we drove over there one day to shop and eat. Here are the dogs chilling by the creek in Breckenridge.

Then on the last day we went on another long hike. We saw this 50 foot waterfall but I couldn't get a really good picture of it without falling off of a cliff.

Ivan enjoying the scenery on our lunch break.

On the way home we stayed one night with our friends Krista and Dustin.

Then we saw some sights near Colorado Springs. Here is a family picture at the Garden of the Gods.

And we drove up to the top of Pikes Peak.

The dogs loved the 46 degree temperature at the top of the peak.

High School

2009-07-03T10:30:00.004-05:00

Last weekend we went to a renuion of some of my high school friends. The reunion was actually for the class of 1989 but their class was small so they invited a few other classes to join in. We didn't have as many people as we did at our 10 year reunion but it was still fun. They did a slideshow so I scanned in a bunch of pictures from high school. Here are a few...

These are our ugly uniforms

This is from our Jr./Sr. Banquet. No prom at Shady Grove! Our private school was so strict on dress code and we had to have sleeves on our dress. That was hard to find.

And here we are now. Notice none of the girls have sleeves.

This post is dedicated to Kari McCall Long who was unable to attend. We missed you Kari!!!

working 9 to 5

2009-06-23T17:52:00.003-05:00

I don't have much to update you on so I thought I would show you where I work. I work for a hospital consulting company (i don't want to say the name so they don't somehow get linked up to my blog). But basically what I do all day is work with hospitals to help them negotiate for the best deals on their cardiology equipment. So if you ever need to know about Balloon Pumps or who the best vendor is for Intravascular Ultrasound, I am here for you.

Here is where I spend pretty much 8 hours of my day...

Can you tell how small it is?

This summer I will celebrate my 3 years with the company and for the most part I like my job. The people I work with are fun and that is a big deal since I probably spend as much time with them as I do with my sweet husband (he's reading over my shoulder). We are pretty lucky to work within a 5 minute walk to Starbucks and we have lots of fun restuarants to try out for lunch. We also have lots of shops within walking distance (Mockingbird Station if you know the area) where we can indulge in some retail therapy if we are having a bad day. So that's where I work!

Julie's wedding

2009-06-02T19:17:00.006-05:00

Here's the week in pictures...

Julie getting her marriage license

Mom getting a pedicure

Julie getting a manicure

The Mother of the Groom and the Mother of the Bride

Girl's Night Out at J. Alexanders

Kate in all her cuteness

Dad making us pancakes

Julie with the ring bearer and flower girl

Bridesmaid Lunch

Julie got all the bridesmaid these cute aprons with our initials on them.

Dana, Julie, me and Mom

Julie with her new mother-in-law and sister-in-laws

Julie and Mom

The church during the rehearsal

Ryan, Dana, and Cole waiting for instructions at the rehearsal

Julie and Mike at the rehearsal dinner. They were so relaxed the whole weekend.

Demian, Jonathan, Dad and Ryan

Julie and Jonathan

Julie's cute flip flops for the reception

Getting ready for the big wedding day!

Julie as a beautiful bride. She was just glowing the whole day.
And the first dance

Lots of cake!

A wedding without cake

2009-05-15T19:22:00.007-05:00

Last weekend we went to San Antonio for the wedding of one of D's friends from work. Mandy told me to eat a piece of cake for her so that got my taste buds going. But we get there and have a nice sit down dinner and then I start looking around for the cake and there wasn't one. The waiter brought us these custard type things instead of wedding cake. Demian liked them but they just didn't cut it for me.
We have another wedding to go to in a couple of weeks so I guess I will have to wait until then to get my fill. Here are some other pictures from the weekend away.

D used to think I was silly for posing for pictures all the time but now he is kinda getting into it.

But he picked up the phone and it started ringing the front desk. Love his face in this one.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T17:48:00.006-05:00

You were the greatest mom back then....

and you are still the greatest mom...

Hope you have a great day!

Easter 2009

2009-04-16T18:53:00.004-05:00

Easter 2009 - I think we had at least 3 easter egg hunts. Cole and Kate were pros by Sunday. We had a little barbeque at Julie's house Friday night and the kids had alot of fun playing outside and of course hunting for eggs. Here's sweet Kate....

and Cole trying out the fishing pole in the pond behind Julie's house.

Here's the fam after church on Sunday

Julie had a wedding shower Saturday night and I'm glad I got to be there for at least one shower. The wedding is coming up May 23rd! I can't believe my little sister is getting married.

These pictures are out of order but here are Cole and Kate at church on Sunday. That hat did not stay on very long.

And the happy couple - Julie and Mike

Kate saying Happy Easter everyone!

Spring

2009-04-05T18:24:00.005-05:00

I was looking back at the pictures I have taken in the last 2 months and I noticed a definate theme - spring flowers are in full bloom and I love to take pictures of them.

I'm becoming more and more like my mom every day.

(that's a really good thing)

Random January Happenings

2009-01-31T10:45:00.005-06:00

On January 17th we celebrated D's birthday at Mi Cocina. Yum! Jen Ken supplied the cute chocolate birthday cake in Husker colors.

In other random January news, we had an ice storm come through this week and D finally broke down and started a fire in the fireplace. This is the first fire he has ever lit in the fireplace and he has lived here for 5 years!

I made him pose for this picture so I'm sure he is probably rolling his eyes but if it were up to him we would have no pictures of anything. The fire was great while it lasted but the high today is suppose to be 70 degrees so there might not be many more fires in the fireplace for a while :( But I'm ready for spring so that's ok. Well I better go get some stuff done on this Saturday morning. Have a great weekend and GO Cardinals!

Blog Makeover

2009-01-29T18:29:00.004-06:00

Many thanks to Kari for my Blog Makeover! I love it and it's just the motivation I need to get back to blogging more regularly.

So if anyone else needs a fresh look, I know you will find Kari so easy to work with and very talented. She was valedictorian of our high school and now does this along with raising two very cute little boys in Florida.

Houston Trip

2009-01-15T18:48:00.004-06:00

Mandy and Shan have already blogged about the weekend so this post seems a little redundant but oh well. We had a great time seeing everyone and trying to get Jenn ready for the twins (although are you really ever be ready for that). Here are some more pictures from the weekend...

sweet brothers

trying to be like his daddy

I didn't get the black memo

Jenn opening presents for Jenna and Ellie

Blake practicing his piano skills (I love the serious look on his face)

More brotherly love
and an extra picture of cuteness

Dancing Boys

2009-01-12T20:05:00.006-06:00

Here's a short video to keep you entertained until I finish my real Houston post.

They got a little camera shy at the end. Or maybe they were just watching their mom do the chicken. I should have turned the camera around :)

Christmas

2009-01-08T18:48:00.006-06:00

We had a great Louisiana Christmas this year. The highlight has become watching Cole and Kate. Who knows what we did before they came into the picture.

Here's my mom and dad on Christmas morning.

And Dana and Kate playing with Kate's newest toy

Here's Kate concentrating on the cell phone. I think she was trying to learn how to call Aunt Jill.

We took Cole to see a movie. He was so adorablely cute in the movie. He was clapping his hands and dancing in his seat the whole time.

Here's Kate with her cute Christmas leggings

And Julie and Mike

We also traveled to St. Francisville to see Jan and Ken and their kids. They live out in the sticks but it was worth it to see old friends.

So that's about it. I'm working on blogging more in the new year so stay tuned.

Thanksgiving

2009-01-08T18:19:00.009-06:00

I'm a little behind on my blogging. Here's my Thanksgiving post.

We drove to Nebraska for Thanksgiving. Not much to see between here and Nebraska but we made it in one day. We stayed with D's sister in Lincoln - the home of the University of Nebraska. I was so tired of seeing red by the end of the weekend but it was fun.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to the Nebraska vs. Colorado football game. It was soooo cold to me but they tell me I am a Texas wimp. The temp was in the 30s but I'm suppose to be grateful it wasn't snowing. Anyway, the Huskers won and made it to a bowl game so I guess it was worth it. Here are a few pictures of D's nephews at the game.We had to get there super early so we could go the bookstore first. We did this last year too and D basically picks out a bunch of stuff and I buy it for him and then I am done Christmas shopping. Works for me.

We were sitting in the visitors section because tickets were hard to come by but even the visitor's section was filled with mostly Husker fans. This is our view...

We ate at Runza's every day but Thanksgiving Day. It's one of those Nebraska traditions (like Raising Cane's in Louisiana). So that's about it - the weekend went way to fast.

Sweet Soul

2008-12-31T16:39:00.003-06:00

Monday was a sad day in our household. Reilly, our 10 year old dog, passed away. As you know, I wasn’t the biggest dog person in the days before D. But Reilly was the dog that converted me to a dog lover. The absolute best thing about her was that EVERYTIME you would say her name she would wag her tail. And it wasn’t just her tail that wagged – it was her whole backside. If she was in another room in the house all you had to do was call her name and you could tell by the thumping of her tail which room she was in. Even on Monday morning when I said goodbye to go to work she wagged her tail for me one last time.

The vet called her a “sweet soul” and we definitely agree.

Race Day

2008-12-14T20:06:00.004-06:00

We ran in the White Rock this morning (me the half - Mike and D the whole). This is Mike and D before the race... And me and D before the race...

D nearing the finish line... Me and D after the race...

Mike and D after the race and after food at IHOP...

It was a really fun experience. I don't know that Mike and D would agree because they are feeling it pretty bad tonight but hopefully they will agree once their soreness has eased a bit.

I ran with a girl named Sarah that I met at the starting line for the first 6 miles. It made the time go by so much faster. The race benefitted Scottish Rite Hospital and Sarah had been a patient there when she was younger. She is an inspiration. And she shared some chapstick with me so I will be forever grateful to her. I know that kind of sounds gross to share chapstick but I am addicted to Carmex and I failed to bring any. By mile 6 I really didn't care that much. At least I didn't have to use the gross port-a-potties.

I was a little disappointed with my time but it was my first one so I can't complain too much. I finished in 2 hours 18 minutes. But D did great - he beat his goal time of 4 hours by 18 seconds! I was so proud!

Julie's Engaged!

2008-12-05T20:14:00.005-06:00

The big news around the Metz household is that Julie is engaged! They are planning a wedding this summer. We all love Mike and are so happy for Julie. So here's a photo montage of the happy couple...

Instead of Pecan Pie

2008-11-25T21:00:00.003-06:00

I went to a Pampered Chef party this past weekend and we had the best snack ever! And even I can make it.

Harvest Spiced Nuts

1 egg, separated

1 package (8 oz) pecan halves

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon pantry cinnamon plus

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Line pan with 11 inch piece of parchment paper. Using egg separator, separate egg into large bowl (reserve yolk for other use). Whip egg white until frothy.

2. Add pecans to bowl. Toss to coat evenly with egg whites. Sprinkle brown sugar and spice blend over pecans, toss to coat evenly. Pour pecans out onto parchment, separating into a single layer.

3. Bake 18-20 min or until nuts begin to brown. Remove pan from oven. Let cool completely. Place in serving dish. Serve using tong (its sticky).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Not Martha Stewart

2008-11-20T18:33:00.008-06:00

I've always said that I hate cooking. But I decided to be a good sport and make a Pecan Pie for our anual Thanksgiving Luncheon at work. So I researched recipes and decided to try Pioneer Woman's recipe mostly because she gives step by step directions with pictures. I followed the directions exactly and even made an extra pie for D to take to work. They looked so good last night when I took them out of the oven.

I cooked them for 1 hour (a full 10 minutes beyond what Pioneer Woman told me to do) but when it was time to cut them today before the luncheon I realized that even an hour wasn't enough. The inside of the pie was literally the consistency of Karo syrup - like I hadn't cooked it at all! I just took my pie back to my little cubicle and hid it under my desk. Then I brought it home so I could take a picture for the blog.

And it looks way worse in person! I might try to cook it for a while longer tonight to see if I can salvage it at all because pecans are expensive! And now I'm back to hating to cook.

Before There Was Justin, There Was Jordan

2008-10-20T19:17:00.007-05:00

I traveled down to New Orleans this weekend to see the New Kids on the Block concert with my 2 favorite sisters – Dana and Julie. I was a huge fan in Jr. High but was never able to attend a concert. So when I heard they were reuniting, I knew it was finally my chance. We headed down to New Orleans a little early to see some sights and eat some gumbo then we made it to the concert just in time.

It was the most fun I have EVER had at a concert. They played some of their new stuff but it was mostly the oldies but goodies – The Right Stuff, Hanging Tough, Tonight, Please Don’t Go Girl, etc….

My mom made these signs for us to take as a joke.

We stayed at a cool hotel in New Orleans and then woke up Sunday morning and had some beignets from Café Du Monde before heading back to Baton Rouge. It was so much fun. Thank you Julie and Dana for making my NKOTB dreams come true!

Cowboy Wedding

2008-10-08T17:33:00.012-05:00

My cousin Dena got married this past weekend in Chappell Hill, TX. It was a gorgeous day and she was a gorgeous bride. The wedding weekend had a country theme to it and was beautiful with all the fall colors.

I just love fall weddings....

and little country chapels...

and wrought iron crosses...
and happy newlyweds...
and my parents...

(Dad went all out and got Wranglers since he was officiating the wedding)

and big brown eyes...
and long eyelashes...
We had a few hours between the wedding and the reception so we stopped by to see Shandra and family. How can you resist these boys? They are really sweet and even though Andrew would not count to ten in Spanish, he was very hospitable and showed us all around his room.

Now back to the wedding...the reception was in Old Town Spring (Shandra, why have you never taken me here?). It was so neat.

I also love wedding cakes...

and D for coming even though his beloved Huskers were playing...

My September Post

2008-09-29T18:59:00.012-05:00

I've been meaning to blog for a while but you know how it is when you wait a long time in between posts and then you don't really know what how to catch up on everything. So this is my official Sept. blog. I know you guys have been waiting on pins and needles :)

Kate turned one! I was only able to be there in spirit but doesn't that big bow just make you smile?

We are in full swing with football season. This was the scene this past weekend after the Huskers lost (don't worry we always have the LSU game on in the other room).

Hurricane Gustav has come and gone. I was at my grandmother's house watching CNN the whole weekend with her and her dog.

Hurricane Ike ruined our plans to visit Houston for the weekend to see Andrew and Blake.

Work is busy but I have found a new friend to carpool with and it makes the drive to downtown a little more bearable. That and our almost daily trips to Starbucks.

The dogs are happy and healthy.

D is training for a marathon and I'm training for the half marathon. It hurts me just to think about it so that's all I'm going to say about that.

And I had some lovely fertility tests done. That's all I will say about that too because it wasn't the most fun thing I have ever done. But everything looks good so far so hopefully something will happen soon. And don't think I won't gladly give up the whole half-marathon thing in a heartbeat if that is the case :)

Gatlinburg 2008

2008-08-19T18:44:00.000-05:00

2008-08-02T16:25:00.003-05:00

We are leaving tomorrow to meet the fam in the Smokey Mountains.
This was a picture from our last trip there back in July of 1999. Back in the days before D and before Ryan and Dana had Cole and Kate. So our lives are a little bit different now but we still love to get together and go on vacation together. I can't wait!

Summer

2008-07-30T18:14:00.004-05:00

Kari is my best friend from high school who moved away to Florida a year ago. She was in town over the weekend and we got to hang out at Cracker Barrell. Here are her two cute boys.

Bryson and Austin

Playing checkers

We went out to eat for Mandy's Birthday last night. Here she is hogging all the cupcakes :)

Fun Times

Dog Days of Summer

2008-07-26T18:04:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures of the kids....

Ivan caught barking at the neighbor again.

Emily
All 3 dogs Demian always has some project to work on.
He had to re-route the sprinkler system because of a huge root that busted one of the pipes.
Ivan the Terrible
Sweet Reilly

4th of July

2008-07-13T20:23:00.003-05:00

We went to Nebraska for a long 4th of July weekend. It was a blast but I've been hestitant to write about it because I have only one picture from our trip. Pictures are my crutch!

I'll give it a try...We left Thursday morning, drove straight through and got to Nebraska in time for a late dinner with D's family. Then we woke up early on the 4th of July to run in a 10k race. This is where my sunrise picture came in. It was gorgeous.

So after running that gave us the go ahead to eat whatever we wanted to the rest of the weekend and that's pretty much what we did. We stayed with his sister and his mom and other sister and family came in and we had a great time with everyone. This is the point where my camera battery died. We did fireworks Friday night (my first time to actually DO fireworks instead of just watching them at a fireworks display) and thankfully no injuries occured.

Saturday, after more eating, we headed about an hour away for D's 20 year high school reunion (he's old!). It was so much fun to meet all his high school friends and hear stories about him from way back. The reunion was at the VFW so it was very high toned. We showed up a little overdressed but then pretty much everyone is overdressed compared to a tank top. Yes, that is what one guy was wearing.

Then we got up Sunday and started heading back to Texas. We went the long way and saw some more Nebraska towns and lots of hay fields. But my favorite part of the drive home was stopping in Wichita to meet up with Ashley and her family for dinner. The kids are so precious! When we first got there I asked Ashley if I could hold Stahley and she came right to me. Then she looked at her mom and said "bye Mom". I wish I could have taken her home - she was so cute!

So that's the recap of the weekend - a week late but better late than never.

Father's Day

2008-06-16T18:37:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago D had the idea that I should go visit my family. I think I was very subtle in my approach...I'm missing out on every major event in my nieces and nephews lives! It could be worse but all the other kids in my family live no more than one hour away from my parents so I was feeling a little left out. Thankfully D took pity on me and sent me off to Baton Rouge for the weekend.
So I flew out on Friday night and because it just so happened to be Father's Day weekend we decided to surprise my dad with my visit. Ryan and Dana picked me up at the airport and we went to meet the rest of the family to eat. I walked in and dad just looked at me like it was no big deal that I was there. Then it slowly sunk in that he wasn't expecting to see me. So it was a great weekend and now I'll leave you with some pictures...

All the kids except Ryan

Cole
And Kate

Couldn't get many pictures without something in her mouth

First post for June

2008-06-10T17:55:00.005-05:00

Saturday night we got to enjoy the company of Jennifer and Deborah from Houston and Austin respectively. And I almost forgot Stacy who came in from Tyler. It was fun catching up on old times and talking about all the people we used to know and even some that we don't know but feel like we do (I did come home and read her blog by the way). We went to eat at La Margarita and we learned that you don't mess around when the waiter is trying to take your drink order. Then Kristi, Roscoe and Bailey hosted us for dessert at their house. Thanks for the yummy brownies and lemon bars! I should have gotten a picture of the dogs but just go to Kristi's blog and you will see plenty.
So there is my post for the month! No really, I'm going to Baton Rouge this weekend for Father's Day so I will have some fun pictures of the fam when I get back.

Dana's Blog

2008-05-17T10:26:00.004-05:00

Yeah! She started a blog! http://danasdayswithcandk.blogspot.com/

Happy B-day Dana!

2008-05-13T19:33:00.004-05:00

This post is dedicated to Dana - a great sister in law and friend. I hope you have a great birthday! Wish we were there to celebrate with you guys but maybe next year.
And now everyone needs to bug her until she starts a blog!

No Longer Newlyweds

2008-04-20T14:59:00.006-05:00

This weekend we celebrated our One Year Anniversary. We traveled long and far to the land of Grapevine and stayed at the Gaylord Texan. I didn't take many pictures so I got these from their website. The lobby is pretty amazing but they pipe in country music at all hours of the day and it does get a little old when you hear it bright and early in the morning when you are trying to sleep :)
We got there Saturday afternoon and D humored me by going to the pool with me and laying out for an hour. It was a great time to relax and talk about life and this past year.

Then we went to eat at one of the hotel resturants, Ama Lur. It was soooo good. And after dinner we went to watch the Mavs game on their big screen TV. I told him that he better appreciate that I like the Mavs because not many girls would watch basketball on their anniversary weekend. He agreed :)

So here's to many more happy years together...

Girl's Weekend '08

2008-03-30T20:04:00.005-05:00

7 Tech girls got together for the weekend in Dallas and I only got one picture...
We ate pancakes, shopped, ate lunch, shopped, went to Starbucks, shopped, ate at Patrizio's, went back to the hotel and talked alot and then ate some more. Then we woke up this morning and ate and then talked and then headed home. A great weekend!
And when I came home D was setting up our DVR. I know we are way behind but I'm so excited! No more missing the end of the Bachelor because I fall asleep before the rose ceremony! And no more commercials!

Easter '08

2008-03-26T18:08:00.002-05:00

New Hobby

2008-03-12T19:17:00.005-05:00

This past week we have gone to few events that have kept us out past our bedtime. But I have discovered my new passion in life. I want to be an event photographer. Just joking of course but when we went to the Mavs game I spent the whole time trying to get some action shots. It makes the game go by quickly. Here are some of my attempts.

Dirk shooting a free throw

Dirk shooting again
The Mascot
And I finally got a pic with the ball in the air
Willie Nelson
And we also went to a Willie Nelson concert with the Dallas Symphony. I knew 3 songs - On The Road Again, Always on My Mind, and that song about Wiskey for Horses or something like that. But you can't pass up free tickets!

Snow!

2008-03-03T20:17:00.004-06:00

2008-03-03T19:24:00.005-06:00

I got to spend some time with Liz in LA this weekend. No entertainment was needed. We stayed entertained by Clara and Allie the whole time. Clara speaks in the 3rd person and calls herself Clar Clar. It's so funny.

And Allie just looks cute and eats and sleeps and cries a little. I might have held her a little too much but I can't help it. She's so snuggly.Oh and we got the best cupcakes at this new little cupcake place in West Monroe called Curls Cupcakes. I was a little snobbish going in since we are lucky enough to have Sprinkles cupcakes here in Dallas. I really didn't think there was any way these could be as good but I stand corrected. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that these were better than Sprinkles.

It was a great trip and I only wish it could have been longer.

Oh and by the way, it's snowing here in Dallas right now!!!

It's All In the Shoes

2008-02-27T18:21:00.005-06:00

D and I ran in a 10k race this past weekend. It was my first 10k so imagine my surprise when I found out that I got 5th place in my age group! I want to leave it at that but I must be honest and tell the whole story...it turns out that when registering for the race D and I got our time chips switched. It’s that little chip that you attach to your shoe to get your official time. So, I got credit for D’s time of 48 minutes and he got stuck with my time of 59 minutes. Instead of getting 5th place, I really got 51st place. Oh well. At least I finished and we had a really good time.
I did have a Tech sighting. I saw Lori Rich. It was so crowded that I couldn't get to her to talk to her but I wonder what she is doing now. Does anyone know?

D and I with our matching yellow running shoes.

Dresses, Bibs, Booties and Blankies for “The Baby”

2008-02-05T20:24:00.000-06:00

We got together Saturday for a Baby Shower for Meg. I've got to say that with only a month to go, Meg seems to be the most pleasant and laid back pregnant women ever! Sorry Meg I couldn't resist putting this picture up. She never reads these anyway so maybe she won't ever know.
So back to the shower. The little girl outfits “the baby” got were so adorable. "The baby" got lots of goodies from Cutesy Cloths but they were sent directly to Meg because the name is a secret. By the way you need to ask Mandy to post a picture of the cutest little baby shoes that "the baby" received. Meg got some real life baby lessons when Jaxson came over to visit. I'm sure Jaxson and "the baby" will be really great friends someday and hopefully go to Tech together to carry on their parents tradition.

So Meg, I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes well and we can’t wait to meet “The Baby” (can you tell that I'm a little bitter about Meg and Michael not sharing the name with us).

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-01-26T14:36:00.001-06:00

Sunny CA

2008-01-23T19:49:00.000-06:00

We have returned from the land of Los Angeles. We had a great trip but I must say that I was a bit UNDERwhelmed by some of the sights and sounds.

For instance the Kodak theater - the one that hosts the Academy Awards and all - not that big. No red carpet and cheesy souvenir shops surrounding the theater. And the Chinese Theater where you see clips of all the celebrities cementing their hands in the hall of fame - even worse! My hands were bigger than most of the male celebrities so not only did I feel like a giant but it has been taken over by tourist and characters dressed up like Shrek and Batman who charge you to have your picture taken with them. It was not at all g-l-a-m-o-r-o-u-s like in my dreams (I'm singing the Fergie song right now).
But then we headed to the world where all your dreams come true.....DisneyLand!

It turned out to be a family reunion as my uncle and cousins that live in the area came and met us. And we also hooked up with my sister Julie who was in the area on a separate trip with some of her friends from Baton Rouge. My favorite rides were Space Mountain and Hollywood Towers but we also rode some favorites like Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Tours. We barely made a dent in Disneyland but it was fun anyway. And now that I can say that I have been to Disneyworld, EuroDisney and Disneyland all thanks to my great uncle Doug who works for Disney.

Julie and the cousins

Jill and D

Sunday we headed out to see Los Angeles. We went to the Santa Monica Pier, the 3rd Street Promenade and drove through Rodeo Dr. We didn't even try to go into the stores because I didn't want to get snubbed like Julia Roberts in Pretty Women. But here is the store I wanted to go into...

Then Sunday night we had tickets to Wicked. The best musical I have ever seen (I've only seen 3 counting Wicked so I'm no expert or anything but still, it was good)! D even liked it!

Monday we drove around a bit more, saw the Hollywood sign, some nice houses in Beverly Hills and BelAir and then headed to the airport to come back home.

Only one celebrity siting - we saw we Craig T. Nelson so the first person who guesses what TV show he was on gets a prize. And don't cheat!

Sunday Night Blues

2008-01-13T19:59:00.000-06:00

After about 6pm on Sundays I realize that the weekend is almost over and another week of work is ahead of me. So that's where I am right now at 8pm on Sunday night. Does anyone else
get that dreaded feeling? I'll be fine tomorrow around 8am but it's just working myself up for it.
I'm excited for, and thinking about my friend Liz who is going in tomorrow to have her little girl. I pray that everything goes smoothly and that I get a call around lunch to let me know that everything is ok. They still haven't picked out a name yet so hopefully they will be inspired once they see her beautiful face.
D's b-day is this Thursday. I was going to try to plan a party but we decided to take a trip instead so we are leaving Friday for Los Angelos and I can't wait. I've been once before but it was for work and I didn't get to do anything touristy. So if you guys have any suggestions on what to see, let me know. We did get tickets for Wicked on Sunday night but other than that we are don't have any big plans.
So that's about it. I hope everyone has a great week and hopefully I will have some interesting stuff to share after our trip.

Lazy Dogs

2008-01-12T17:37:00.000-06:00

The dogs love their new beds...

And I love my new camera. Thanks D!

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T20:00:00.000-06:00

This year was especially memorable for many reasons but here are the highlights:

1. It was the first Christmas for D and I as a married couple.
We worked it out so that we spent Thanksgiving with his side of the family in Nebraska and Christmas with my side. We gathered in Kilgore to be with my dad’s family. My uncle Barry (who helped with our wedding ceremony) and his family live there and my Grandma recently moved into an apartment that they built behind their house. I think D is finally starting to embrace my family and join in on all the silliness.

2. Christmas Day was my Grandmother’s 90th Birthday. We had a special b-day party for her on Saturday and laughed and cried as old memories were shared. My aunt found a box of party dresses that my grandmother saved over the years so we had a fashion show complete with gloves and matching shoes.

3. We also had Ryan and Dana kids around which always makes things fun.

Cole was opening a guitar and when he figured out what it was he said, “A Guitar! Thanks, I reeeaaaally needed this.” He is too cute.
And Kate just smiled and cooed the whole time and won us over with her sweetness.

And a special shout out to Jonathan who broke his collarbone while we were playing a game of touch football on Sunday afternoon. I felt sorry for him but then he started posing for the camera with his new shoulder brace so I knew that he was back to his old self.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and here's to a Happy New Year!

Ho, Ho, Ho

2007-12-10T21:53:00.001-06:00

So we set out to get a picture for our Christmas cards. We put some treats in the fireplace to try to get all the dogs to look up the fireplace for Santa. Reilly started out strong
Ivan and Emily looking on.

Starting to fall apart....

(No dogs were harmed in the making of this Christmas picture)
And there it goes. Emily got all 3 treats.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T19:36:00.000-06:00

We traveled the state of Nebraska for Thanksgiving. Some of my favorite things:

Playing football in the SNOW! I was more of a watcher on this one - it was cold!
Talking to all my family via speaker phone on Thanksgiving Day.
Trips to Walmart (anything to pass the time in small town Nebraska).

Watching the movie Beowolf with 3-D glasses - it wasn't pretty.
Finally getting the news that Nebraska's coach is moving on. Hope in Huskerville is renewed.
Pecan Pie, Greenbean Casserole, Sweet Potatoes, etc.
Reading a Nicholas Sparks book by the fire.
Watching the Ghost Hunters marathon instead of the Thanksgiving Day parade and the Cowboys game. I'm being sarcastic on this one - I wasn't in charge of the remote and that is seriously what was on the whole day!
Playing with all D's cute nieces and nephews.

Tech Beauty

2007-11-20T18:22:00.000-06:00

I've gone crazy with scanning old pictures lately and I just couldn't resist this one. This is Shandra circa 2001 and it proves that at one time she was a proud Bulldog even in the middle of Tiger territory.
So watch out, you never know who will show up next!!!!!!

Old Photographs

2007-11-11T19:53:00.000-06:00

These pictures of of my grandmother and grandfather on my dad's side. I'm working on a photobook for my Grandmother's 90th Birthday in December and I have had a great time looking through all the old pictures. Mom, this post is for you!

Grandma as a Flower Girl

Grandma and Grandpa at the State Fair of Texas

And here's an old picture of our family before Julie and Jonathan came into the picture. Nice hair dad!