Galveston

Yesterday we decided to jump in the car for a road trip and headed out to Galveston. We had not been down there in about 5 years and certainly not since Hurricane Ike. We were surprised at how many shops and antique stores were still not rebuilt in the year and a half since Ike. Though many homes had been repaired and most of the Strand area looked good, you could certainly see that Ike had taken its toll...I'm sure people get burned and insurance only goes so far--I could not see myself coming back from that and rebuilding. You'd always be worried about another hurricane! Anyway, we had a very nice time. Ryan loved playing in the sand, running away from waves, climbing on the rock jetties, shopping, and we even took one of those old time pictures so got to dress up and do that too.

Before Ryan, Chris and I used to do this kind of thing all the time--last minute road trips to someplace we hadn't been in a long time or just somewhere we had heard of but had not been to. With Ryan, we haven't done this much, but she was absolutely WONDERFUL--great on the road, patient and polite all day--a real jewel! I told Chris as we at at Babin's on the way home that it almost felt like a date because Ry was so good and easy yesterday! What a fantastic day with the family! : )

Snow Day!

We stayed at school the full day but get a late start tomorrow. We sure couldn't wait to get home and play--even if it was just a couple of inches of snow!

Kind of random

First, I know this is not a well written post. But I wanted to just say, while I'm busy figuring out some resolutions I might actually stick to (maybe? you never know!!), I wanted to pay a quick tribute to Christmas break this year. I don't have all of the family pics, but will post them soon. They aren't saved to my computer like the ones below!

Christmas break 2009 was a good one--we got to hang out with family, ate great food, relaxed, shopped, spent time with friends, got a few things done around the house. All around, a wonderful two weeks! With just a small hiccup of an abcessed tooth (or something that my dentist says needs a root canal on Monday), this has been one of the nicest, most relaxing vacations from work ever! : ) Thank heavens for a job I enjoy that also comes with big old breaks just when you need them most!! Also, just a couple of new pics to add. The ones of Ry are from Chris's dad's place in the hill country near Comfort. The other is of a little shopping with friends Amie and Erin in Brenham. Our friend Tiffany was there too, but she was taking the picture!!

Family Photos

Though I've lived in College Station for about half my life (really?!?), home is still on the ranch near Boerne where my parents still live. They have a beautiful place that is somehow kind of magical. It is comforting to see things from my childhood still around, though mom and dad have done some amazing renovations! I love the place. I love the trees and the house and the creek (where dad thinks kayaking would be great, even though the largest span of water would mean turning around every 3 minutes!). I love my parents and my whole family--and I can't wait to get back there for the holidays in just a few days. We love to sit outside, have a beer, watch football, sit on the counters in the kitchen and talk, watch the kids play, and just be together as a family.

When I was home at Thanksgiving, I got a chance to take some family photos. Really because they needed them for Christmas cards. But I loved it. I love taking pictures and capturing those little times in their lives right now. Looking back at the photo album my mom put together for me growing up, I see those moments, those little glimpses into how we were, what was "cool" at the time, the fashion, the furniture, the way people wore their hair. My favorite pictures are the ones that show "how we were" -not just the ones where everyone is looking at the camera, though those are good, too. The candid ones: those are the ones that really give you an idea of how crazy or fun or serious something was.

I put a few pics from Thanksgiving here--and they are ones that I love (there were many, but I don't know if everyone else cares to see them all! ) I hope to get a bunch more at Christmastime, because my family is by far the most important part of my life. I hope you all get to spend some great time with family this holiday as well. Merry Christmas!

halloween!!!

Success!

Our little Super Girl!

Ry had such a great time this year for Halloween! She could reach the doorbells for the first time, so could head to the doors by herself while we hung back a little. She LOVED it! She cracked us up because every house she would give us a big thumbs up on the way and a big smile, then after getting the candy and hollering "thank you!" over her shoulder, she would pull out whatever she got and say, "Mom, Dad--look what I got!! (very excitedly) and then "What is it?" : )

The Loot (which she is very good about sharing with mom and dad!) : )

S'Mores

They do work (if you read the last post)--we did 10 seconds--just about the time the marshmallow started to puff up big. S'mores are good (mine was delicious) but sometimes, 4 year olds just want the marshmallows more. : )

Are you still there.....?

I know you may be wondering if we are, so this is an update. We are still alive. For some reason, there hasn't been too much excitement lately. Well, I take that back--I did have a great birthday spent with friends. I guess I haven't written about it , not because it wasn't a nice evening with friends, but because for some reason, 33 just doesn't seem noteworthy. It just means another year older.

I think too, the weather has been playing a part in my lackadaisical attitude. Rain, Rain, Rain everyday. While I usually love a rainy day, as our friend Matt said: When did College Station become Seattle? Yeesh! Yesterday we picked up Ry and then went to Cotton Patch for dinner--all was well until in the middle of dinner, it started pouring. And I don't mean it was raining hard, I mean it was torrential. It was monsoon-like. We had parked about 10 feet from the door and just to run and get in the car, we were completely soaked. Urgh. Then driving home was a real treat...25 miles per hour on the highway. That was literally all you could go. The dumb rain has even kept our house from being painted. Each day it rains it pushes it back which is kinda stinky as we are ready to have it done!

I do have something exciting coming up in a couple of weeks though. I'm taking a couple of photography classes from a gal in Bryan, Shauna Maness. Her website is http://www.shaunamaness.com/ and I heard about her from one of Chris's mom's friends. Her stuff is super artsy and the kind of stuff I really like, so I'm hoping to come away with some good info. and a great time (plus one of the classes is on a school day, so I'm playing hooky--how great is that?!). I'm hoping it will give me a little jump start to take a little time off for me to do something I really like to do. : )

So that's about it--we are still here. The cross country team hasn't been doing that great so Chris is gone every Saturday all day and it isn't even fun for him (or me). Ryan is doing great--she's into math (today) asking how much 8+10 is and so on. We are going to attempt s'mores tonight in the microwave (another friend of ours said she has done it and they are great)--we'll see how that goes!! : ) Hope all of you out there are still doing fine too! (below is a quick pic from my b-day--before the shenanigans and bowling!) : )