December FUN!

My 29th Birthday at Maggianos, YUMMO!!!

"For Meee?!!"  Aren't birthdays fun?!

Mom, Dad, and David

Jane and Rand

Do you see a resemblance?!

It's snowing!!!  Abbey out momentarily enjoying the snowflakes; take notice

of the plumbing truck behind her who came to fix the water heater, oh joy!

See, there's proof... just look at the house behind her; we have to 

document this living in Houston, snow only happens every few years if we're lucky!

This is by far my most favorite time of the whole year!  What other month out of the calendar brings about feelings of such JOY, merriment, and cherished memories from childhood?!  This month also celebrates my birthday which we did this last week at Maggianos and enjoyed quite a feast!!  It was great to celebrate with my crew, Rand & Jane, my parents, and a great surprise having my brother come in from College Station; I felt SO loved! 

We also had the unexpected treat of some snowflake wonder this last Wednesday!!  Yes, it's true to all you out-of-towners... Houston really does get snow once in a blue moon!  It was quite uneventful for Cole though; this would have been his first snow sighting but he was sleeping and I don't dare wake a 2 yr. old up from a hard nap!  Abbey did enjoy it for a while... or about 10 min. before she was begging to come in; we wouldn't last up north!!  

To all of you visiting our little blog for the first time through our Christmas card, WELCOME!!! Welcome to my ramblings of life as a mommy, wife, and a daughter of the King!  From our home to each of you, Merry Christmas!!!  May you rest in His great love and mercies over your life; "For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD." Psalm 117:2

I Went Cruis'in!!!

Putt, putt anyone?!!  Aboard the Carnival Ecstasy with Bridget!!!

Cruise elegant night on board and a "meet the captain" reception prior to dinner

The day we docked in Cozumel there was another Carnival cruise with us: Carnival Glory

The two adventurous mommas after our jet ski excursion; SO FUN!!!

On a private beach in Cozumel

I'm thinking... wake me up when this dream is over!!!

At port in Cozumel after we girls did some serious bargain shopping!

Back to the ship... bye, bye Cozumel

Our day at Progresso; I actually think Bridget's hair is blowing into the bird poop 

on my chest!!  The guy taking the picture told us this after the fact!!!  Progresso is the little town we'd like to forget!

Every night at dinner the waitstaff would pull us out to dance; it was so hilarious and this

was our cute little Lithuanian waitress

This was the night we danced until, well, late... our feet were yelling at us the next morning!

Here are some of the towel creations that awaited us every night when we returned to our room; our room attendants were amazing, we were upset that the ship wouldn't let us 

take them home... "housekeeping, you need towel"!

The sunsets were beautiful!

This was the fun group we dined with every evening; they were all from Houston too:

me, Bridget, Lina, Sharon, Shalia, Antione, and Betty

Here we are with our Italian maitre'd, Fernando... don't worry Chad, NO competition here!!!

Back on the homestead  I was welcomed with newly potted pansies and the SWEET, SWEET

Welcome Home banner with artwork by Abbey, of course!!!  What an awesome way to come

back home!

Two days after Thanksgiving I left with my friend Bridget from church and our AMAZING husbands sent us on a 5 day Carnival Cruise!!!!  Thanks to Bridget's husband, Darrell, who planned the whole thing and coordinated with Chad's schedule, the two mommas were off!!  The trip was so awesome and we were just beside ourselves most of the time in complete disbelief that we were actually given this opportunity!  I was a bit sea-sick the first 24 hrs. (SO not fun) but by the morning of day 2 I was feeling back to my old self.  We had the most amazing time laying out on the deck, reading our "never-get-to-read books", eating 5 course meals EVERY night, watching the nightly shows and entertainment, and we actually danced the night away several nights...such a BLAST and we laughed hysterically at the people dancing that had a bit too much to drink!!!  Our favorite excursion was in Cozumel where we got to chill on the beach for the day and where Bridget convinced me to ride a jet ski (I had never done this)!  This time of year the sea is pretty choppy so it was a ride I'll never forget and every time we hit a wave, our bottoms came about 2 feet off the jet ski, such an adrenaline rush, and I'm sure the people on shore could hear me screaming a mile away!  The whole day was an adventure especially when we had to get a taxi to take us back to port; I don't know where Mexico drivers learn to drive but our driver was flat our scary!  The guy was passing busses and shuttles on a two lane road going about 80 mph while Bridget was saying, "No rapido senor"!  While the driver was laughing at our requests, I was praying the whole time and thankful to get back on the ship in one piece!!!

Our other port of call was Progresso, and I'll just chalk this one up to a day of adventure, not relaxation!  It was like old Mexico and we were haggled to death even while trying to lay out on the beach which got old really fast but what did me in was getting pooped on twice by seagulls... Bridget has pictures of me discovering the lovely poop on my chest... I'll have to post those comical pictures later!!!  

The whole trip was really awesome to get back in touch with ME apart from my everyday roles of mommy and wife and somewhere out on the ocean a glimmer of the old carefree me came out.  It was such a blessing to have that time of refreshment and I really was ready to come back home to the three greatest blessings of my life and at the same time cherishing all the fun Bridget and I had.  I've posted pictures of my wonderful homecoming and all the preparations they did to make my coming home so FUN!  Thank you Chad for allowing me this time away and for all the sacrifices you made to give me this amazing gift, I'm so grateful and love you more than you can imagine.

Enjoy the pics, we took just a few!!! :) 

Thanksgiving!

Aunt Carolyn & Abbey

Love those 2 smiles!!!

sisters: Aunt Carolyn, Mom, & Aunt Nancy

The girls with Bear

Aline and cousin Marie

Abbey with my cousin Michelle

cousins Matthew and Robert, Uncle Scott, and my boys

We spent Thanksgiving in Conroe with my Mom's side of the family and had a fantastic feast at my Bear's house (my Mom's Dad)!  Of course, we ate WAY too much, and so enjoyed visiting and seeing all my family!  We did miss being with my Dad and brother David but were glad they were celebrating Colorado style; they went up to my parent's property to clear land and then to Colorado Springs where they stayed at the Broadmoor and had a fancy Thanksgiving lunch.  We missed them but are so excited about the thought of having a retreat out there someday and how cool to physically work towards that dream!  

Hope all of you had a very wonderful Thanksgiving and that God gave you moments to reflect on all your many blessings!!!

Gobble, Gobble!!!

My two lil turkeys!!!

Abbey, officially a Daisy Girl Scout after her recent induction ceremony!

Our walk for sweet Caris... isn't she absolutely precious?!!

Well, we're all off to a great start to Thanksgiving Break and I'm SO grateful for this time with family and away from the hurry scurry of a typical week!  The kiddos have had their Thanksgiving feast parties at school (which sadly has been dwindled down to a Thanksgiving snack) and enjoyed making feathered hats, tee pee crafts, and the ever favorite turkey hands!  

Abbey is now a Daisy Girl Scout, which I may not have mentioned in previous posts, and loving this fun time with her girl friends from class and doing all sorts of crafts and things within the community.  I was going to hold off on this till later but when almost all the girls in her kindergarten class joined, I folded.  It's bringing back a lot of great memories of her Mom's Brownie and Girl Scout days; cleaning out the garage yesterday Chad and I found the box which had my old sash and vest... she thought that was pretty great!  Other Abbey happenings: getting ready for her Christmas dance revue (she's a total ham and cracks us up dancing with that toothless grin), well on her way to reading, and lately sets the table before we eat with artwork for everyone and typically some very creative centerpiece (stuffed animals and such).  LOVE that girl!!!

Cole is up to his 2 year old shenanigans and at the same time, melting our hearts with his affectionate hugs, kisses, and "good moning (morning) Mommy" greetings.  He has been talking clearer just over the last few weeks and in about 4 word sentences; a big improvement from just a few months ago.  He may still need some speech therapy but that's boys for ya; girls are talkers and boys are movers.  We're also seeing the tantrums lessen in frequency so prayerfully they will be less and less as we near 3... we'll see, he's my VERY strong willed child!  And Cole's favorite things right now are recess when he's at school and daily "tackle daddy" sessions when Chad comes home from work. :)

I'm posting pics of all different things we've been up to; many are from the Juvenile Walk for Diabetes we did for sweet Caris, a little girl that's in our small group at church with Type 1 diabetes (she's exactly Cole's age).  May each of you be filled with great thanks and joy this Thanksgiving and remember that we serve a great God from whom ALL blessings flow!!! Gobble, Gobble, it's turkey time!

New Traditions

YAY for Neon bowling!!!

I couldn't get the lighting right for this pic but Abbey and Cole are behind the pins :)

Snuggles with Dad and Cole way into the popcorn!

The Berenstain Bears movie; you can't beat classics!

Did you read their books as kids too?

Boys won't stop eating for anything, especially kisses!!

We had SO much fun in our new tradition that replaced trick-or-treating on Halloween; Abbey said she wants to do this every weekend now!!!  We had a great meal at P.F. Changs and the kiddos loved trying out their chop-stick skills, then we headed home for neon bowling (explain in a sec), and watched their movie pick, "The Berenstein Bears" with popcorn, treats, and lots of snuggle time!

The neon part of the bowling wasn't planned but we had all those glow sticks that you make into jewelry and so we hung them around the pins, made a lane, and off with the lights!  The kids thought that was the coolest thing ever... and the parents had a blast too! :)  The bowling pictures are fuzzy but you get the general idea.  Cole was all grins with his first try at popcorn and Abbey loved the hidden treats inside each bowl; it was hard to get Cole to look up at the camera b/c he was SO into that popcorn!!

I know I have received a comment from someone who's "feathers were ruffled" at my last blog. I cannot apologize for my families stance on Halloween but only say again that God revealed so much about it to me this year and that it has no benefit for my family; what Halloween stands for completely goes against the Christian faith and we're choosing to stand on the higher ground we believe the Lord is calling us to on this issue.  If you have any other questions, rather than anonymous comments, please leave your contact info. and I'd be happy to explain further if you want to know our beliefs.  

Crosswalk.com. Check it out: http://www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/11583988/