CHRISTMAS 2008... here goes a long one!

We had an amazing Christmas! Owen was somewhat into it... the new toys anyway. He was as excited about opening gifts as I thought he would be but it was still very fun! Andy and I learned a very valuable lesson... have the toys ready to play with as soon as they are opened. By this I mean out of the package and batteries installed. You can imagine the frustration of an 18 month old who just opened a new toy and has to wait about 2 minutes for mommy/daddy to open it for him... lesson learned! ANYWAY, we started out Christmas Eve at Andy's parent's place where we had lunch, opened gifts and visited the cows (Owen LOVES cows!). Grandaddy (Andy's dad) got Owen a John Deere Gator for Christmas... we were all a little apprehensive because it says it is for three year olds but I should have known my boy genius would have no problem driving this thing. He was grinning from ear to ear, it was so cute! Here are a few pic's from Christmas Eve...

Is this not the sweetest picture?! They were watching Grandaddy feed the fish. Notice Owen's hand on Andy's arm... too sweet!

We spent the night with Andy's parents and came home Christmas morning. Owen was pretty excited about the presents under the tree! One of his favorite gifts was the Shrek ornament that I got him. He LOVES Shrek so the talking ornament I got him was a hit! He also really liked a guitar that we got him; he was playing and dancing all day! My Dad, Becky and Rachael came over around 1:00 and I cooked lunch... I must say, my cooking has come a long way compared to the ham I totally burned about four years ago ;) LOL! We spent the afternoon visiting and letting Owen entertain us. He actually put Rachael in time out several times... I finally had to make him stop and tell him to put his puppy in time out (see picture below), it was hysterical!

Dad left around 5:00 and we had a nice quiet evening. The next day we went to my grandparent's house in Fort Worth to celebrate with my mom's side of the family. I have really been looking forward to this because I got together with my grandma and helped her make a very special gift for everyone. Nana had been working on a cook book for me for the last four years! She had written their life story in the front of it and all our favorite recipe's of hers followed. She didn't like her handwriting so she hadn't given it to me b/c she wanted to re-write it! I was worried it was never going to get finished! I told her if she would just send me what she had I would get some old photo's of theirs and make a book for everyone (typed!). She agreed. I got on Shutterfly (one of my favorite sites!) and put together Nana's cook book complete with their life story and old family photos! Tears were shed when the books were opened and Nana and Papa were so proud! If you haven't seen a photo book from Shutterfly you must check them out! They are great! I have made one for Owen's first year and I plan to make one each year, it's easier than scrapbooking and a lot less expensive! ANYWAY, we had a wonderful Christmas and Nana and Papa's!


Owen in Papa's chair! Nana doesn't even get to sit in this chair! HA!

Is this truck to ride on?

I'm too tired to open any more presents!!!

Papa telling my cousin, Josh about pictures in the cook book.
Nana
Hannah, my niece, showing off her fabulous PJ's that we got her!

We had a terrific Christmas and it was such a blessing to share it will all sides of the family!

Pigskin Princess Update...

I just wanted to update you all and let you know that PIGSKIN PRINCESS is the CHAMPION of the 2008 Couples Only Fantasy Football League! That's right, out of 14 teams (guys and girls), I won! Could it be beginner's luck?... possibly, since this is the first year I have played but I like to think not! I couldn't have done it without the support and "coaching" from my husband! Thanks babe! Here's the best part... a $175 reward... I'm sure Scott has my check in the mail ;) (time for everyone to pay up!) LOL! GO PIGSKIN PRINCESS!!!!!

Thanksgiving

Well... I have been putting it off for some time now. I guess I should blog about Thanksgiving before I tell you about our Christmas... We did our usual trip around Texas for Thanksgiving. We started out the night before with dinner at my Dad's in Granbury. The next day we had lunch with Andy's family at his aunt and uncle's house in Granbury. We then headed to my aunt's house in Aledo and finally settled down at my grandparent's house in Fort Worth for our annual cousin's slumber party! My grandparents just love having all of us there together. We played Catch Phrase with my grandmother and it was hysterical! She seems to have no concept of the timer as she is trying to get us to guess words.
I think this is the first year I have ever gone shopping on Black Friday and I actually LOVED it. Next year I plan to join the crazy shoppers (no offense) that get up at 3AM!

Saturday we drove to Quitman to meet up with Jeff and Debralea so the guys could go hunting. Debralea and I did some more shopping... We actually drove almost an hour to get to a mall! LOL! We had a wonderful time. Owen and Braden really enjoyed each other!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends! We are truly THANKFUL to have you all in our lives!

Napping with Grandaddy before lunch.

Playing soccer with the big kids!

Picking up pecans with my cousin, Saxon.

7 Teeth in 7 Days

So our Halloween was not very eventful because Owen came home with fever that evening and that is when the teething extravaganza began! I had bought him a really cute Frankenstein costume that was head to toe fleece with just a cut out for his face but of course it wasn't cold enough to wear it and since he was running fever I decided we were going to have to skip it. I dressed him up as a hunter and Kelly and I took him to the Fall Festival in Salado. Where was Andy you might ask... hunting of course! Opening weekend!!! ANYWAY - we only lasted about 15 minutes at the festival and then it was home and to bed. The next seven days were crazy! Owen got seven teeth in in seven days... four on bottom and three on top. He was late cutting teeth as he didn't get his first teeth until he was about 10 months old so I guess we have some catching up to do but my goodness! Poor baby! He was miserable and definitely not himself for a whole week! We made it through and hopefully we don't have many more baby teeth to go... he's running out of room in there! Here's a few pictures from that weekend... I still plan to dress him up as Frankenstein to get a picture for the scrap book - and the blog of course :)

Taking it easy with Daddy :)

Going to school on Halloween

Look out deer - there's a new hunter in town!

Last year we took Owen to the pumpkin patch and it was too bright for him not to mention he was too little and we didn't get a very good pumpkin picture... So of course we went back to try again and yet again we didn't get many good shots. Here's a couple. He's harder than ever to photograph since he doesn't like to sit still! Just for fun, I threw in a picture from last year so you can see how much changes in a year...

2007 - "Someone please get me out of here!"

Pumpkin Patch 2008

TSU Homecoming

Last weekend we went to Tarleton State's Homecoming! It was great to go back and look back on our college days! We started the day at the parade which I have to say is not as good as it was when I was there but it was okay... Owen really liked it. We met a friend of mine from High School (Jennifer) there with her family. It was great to visit with her :) After the parade of course we had to go to Montana's (one of our favorite restaurants) and then that night we made a trip to City Limits (the bar). It was a great time! A lot of our friends were not able to make it this year but we still had a great time. I took along my friend Staci... she wasn't sure what she was getting herself into but I'm pretty sure she had a GREAT time! :) Enjoy the pictures:

Me and Jennifer at the parade

Owen and Asher (Jennifer's baby boy)... "talking"

Andy's fraternity brother's in front of Scott's old house... oh the good old days ;)

The guys trying out the equipment in the new Rec Center... it was VERY NICE! Why didn't we have that when I was there?!

Liz (Scott's wife) Me and Staci at City Limits

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Isdale!

This weekend we attended the wedding of our good friends, Shay and Erica! The wedding was amazing and we had a wonderful time! We had a baby sitter for both nights so we were able to enjoy ourselves a little and the rehearsal and the wedding :) The wedding was at The Mansion at Judge's Hill and it was so beautiful!!!!!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Isdale! Here's to many years of wedded bliss!!!! :)

A Day at the Fort Worth Zoo

While Andy was gone Owen and I went and stayed with my mom for a few days. We took my poor mother all over the place as we made trips all around the Ft. Worth area visiting as many people as week could. You are a trooper mom! Thank you!!!!! While we were there we were able to go with my college roomate, sorority sister and dear friend Kristi and her daughter Landri to the zoo. This was Owen's first trip to the zoo and he really enjoyed it. Landri was very informative and was sure to tell Owen about each of the animals ;) We had such a nice time... I wish we lived closer so I could see Kristi more often! Miss you Kris!!!! Enjoy the pics...

My Boys

So I know the Cowboys were a little disappointing yesterday but I still have to share these pics of my boys in their Cowboy gear :)

Romo and Witten - what a pair!

Bringin' Home the Bacon (kind of)

Andy went on an Elk hunt in Chama, New Mexico last week. I just wanted to share Andy's picture of his elk that he got. As Andy said he "hunted like no man has ever hunted before" (LOL!) He had a wonderful time and the good news is we will not go hungry this winter with all the elk meat we will have from this hunting adventure ;) Some of you may be turned off by this whole hunting and eating the meat thing... I'm pretty new to this myself as my father was never a hunter. I'm not going to lie, we have had a freezer full of deer meat that I didn't cook but I really intend to actually cook the elk meat that Andy is getting processed. I hear it's really good ;)

Galveston 2008

This August (prior to Ike) we took a trip down to Galveston with our good friends The Fruge's and the Faske's! We had a wonderful time! We spent the first day on the beach, napping and cooking out... it rained the second day so we took a trip to the aquarium at Moody Gardens and then had a nice sea food dinner! Of course the trip would not have been complete without a trip to the Rainforest Cafe! Owen really loved the beach. He ran right out into the water like he had been there before! He also really liked the aquarium... especially the penguins :)


Enjoy the pics :)





Parker (the newest Faske)

Owen pushing Parker

Erin and Cason

Owen loved this frog at Rainforest Cafe

Amanda and Heather

The Faske Family

Erin

John~ burried by his kids

Parker - this kid can sleep anywhere!

Andy and Amanda ~ Owen's hat ;)