HAPPY NEW YEAR

Top Ten events for 2011
2011 - a year of progress - (more or less)

1. Mike accepted a job offer with Compucom and started working again (in Mexico City.) Which may not seem like progress, given that's pretty much where we were five years ago when I decided to join him in Mexico, but given the status of our retirement fund, believe me, it's progress.
2. We moved into and remodeled our home. Although we're not quite finished, we're quite happy with what we have completed. We have loved having family and friends come stay with us.
3. Enjoyed a Reed Family Reunion in March, when everyone came home for Mike's birthday. We even managed a group photo of the event.
4. Made a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit Poodle and help her pick out and buy a condo. (actually the only help I rendered was driving her around, as she made all of the decisions herself, but still, it was fun to be a part of it.) She ended up adding a dog to the mix as well. The best part, though, is that she is now driving herself around.
5. Made a trip to Nashville to visit Carrie and Shawn, just for the heck of it.
6. Bethany passed the boards. Hooray! Also, my practice has grown and we moved into a new, much larger office, giving us room for expansion.
7. Ran the St. George Marathon (#7 for me) with Poodle (#1 for her) and had a great time visiting Diane and Jerry. A week later Mike rode the 100 mile bike race in St. George with Ryan and Brandon (Peterson), who all did very well, I might add.
8. We became temple workers and have enjoyed serving every Friday evening.
9. Ashley got engaged to Landon Lee and will be married April 14, 2012!
10. We added our tenth grandchild - Charlie Babbel Harper on December 19.

Houston Zoo

We took a trip to the zoo the day after Christmas.

Atley's favorite part was the snacks.

Asher's favorite was the drums.
Atley decided to be brave and ride the zebra, but had second thoughts as they started to go around.
Asher opted to sit by by Poodle.

And my favorite part was the ground hog bubble.

Christmas 2011- the photos tell it all . . .

our Christmas tradition - the Nutcracker . . .


everyone's favorite Poodle . . .


Christmas breakfast at Ryan's . . .


with Brianna and Atley . . .


watching Asher with his favorite toy . . .

the beautiful Peterson girls . . .

opening stockings with Ashley and Landon

All in all, a wonderful Christmas!

Charlie Babbel Harper

Charlie Babbel Harper
December 19, 2011
8 lb 5 oz

with big sister Violet

and a very happy mommy.
Delivered by an awesome OB/GYN.
Strong work!

I think I'm going crazy.

Raise your hand if you agree.

Christmas 2011

Coming soon . . .

posted a day late

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE POODLE!

You're amazing!

I'm so proud to have you for a daughter.

Thanks for running St. George with me, even though you beat me

by more than an hour! You rock!

Love you!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Ashley and Landon.
We're so excited for you.
You make a great couple!

Thanksgiving 2011

I can't believe another Thanksgiving has come and gone. It seems like just yesterday we were in Mexico inviting the missionaries over for Thanksgiving dinner in the evening, because it was just a regular day for everyone else in Mexico, pretending that nopales (cactus) were green beans, and missing our family.

This year was very low-key. We made several attempts to lure some company over for dinner, and were not successful. (Apparently they hadn't heard about our one pie per person rule) Lucky for us, the Harpers stayed in town and we had a great day with them.

Apparently, I haven't adjusted to cooking for less than a crowd, because we ended up with a 20 lb turkey, tons of stuffing (best ever recipe from Emeril) dad's potatoes, rolls, and five pies (actually exceeded our one pie per person rule.) The Harpers are going to be eating a lot of leftovers this week.
We're so grateful for family, church, employment, friends, and good health. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Renaissance Festival 2011

After living in Houston for 19 years (altogether, not in sequence) we (I) decided to try a new adventure and go to the annual Renaissance Festival, an event that is hosted every fall for approximately one month in North Houston. It is quite the festive occasion, with people dressing up in authentic costumes, recreating the atmosphere from the Renaissance.

It draws HUGE crowds, as we discovered. I talked the Harpers into going with me (I had free tickets, which was a draw.) What we saved in admission cost, however, we more than made up for in gas. It took me almost three hours to get there, almost two hours of it on one stretch of road to get to the parking for the event. They were very good sports about the long drive.

We had a fun afternoon admiring the interesting characters we encountered.




We ate authentic Renaissance food (at least that's what they called it.)

And we watched a reenactment of a joust.
One of the fun events offered was an elephant ride, which Violet especially enjoyed.Until the elephant tried to grab her off the fence.
We had a great day, in spite of the long drive and the aggressive elephant. Thanks, Harpers for coming along so dad could stay home and write his talk.

11.11.11

So grateful to live in the beautiful United States of America

Land of the Free. Home of the Brave

Many thanks to our dedicated troops who keep it that way.

Veterans Day 2011

I Phone (my phone)

Do I have the best husband in the world?
Why, yes! Yes I do. Thanks for asking.
Perhaps that begs the question - Why is he the best?
Well among other things that I won't mention, he bought me a new iPhone 4S
Or as I call it - TECHNOLOGY FOR DUMMIES
Amazing!

Thanks, sweetie! You're the best!

HALLOWEEN 2011

We had a great Halloween weekend . . .

starting with a picnic at Stephen F. Austin park . . .


and hike, of course
later some trick or treating . . . make that Trunk or treating


with a princess
a kitty cat
a chicken and cow


and lots of candy!
then Sunday dinner at Reed and Papa's with cookie decorating!Yep. Pretty busy weekend, as you can see!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FERNASH

Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter! Hope it's the best one ever!

St. George Marathon 2011

Saturday I finished the St. George Marathon for the very.last.time.
Why? (not why I ran it, but why I won't do it again)

• Hottest day in the history of the marathon.


• Due to a last-minute errand (dropping off our clothing retrieval bag) started way behind everyone else, and never found my friends I was planning to run with.


• Forgot to bring my salt pills, which keep my electrolytes in balance during long runs.


• As a consequence of two of the above, had severe muscle cramps in my feet sometime after the halfway mark and my feet contorted and turned in, tripping me. Ended up having to walk the rest of the marathon in order to keep my feet longer on the ground to control the spasms.


• Decided to forgo the long line for the porta-potty at mile 7 to save time, but by the time I got to mile 9 (they are spaced conveniently every 2 miles along the course, just a few feet off the road) made a mad dash for the potty, and in my haste forgot to lock the door. Someone else with equal urgency opened the door and there I sat in front of a herd of runners.

*My apologies to anyone I may have made fun of in the past for not being able to complete a marathon in less than 5 hours.

So why DID I run the marathon again? Because Poodle wanted to run it with me. She did GREAT, running a 4:14 for her first marathon, on that hotter than HECK day.

And in spite of above complainings we had a GREAT time! We stayed at Jerry and Diane's and they were a blast! Poodle's friend Katelyn came to run with us and Laura to cheer us on.

Here we are the night before feeling pretty spry.


We laid our out clothes and took a picture of them - a tradition in Katelyn's family.


The pre-race bonfires, which are usually welcome relief from the cold, not so welcoming the morning of this race.
After race relief -



Jerry and Diane gave us a grand tour of St. George.


Congratulations, Poodle! so happy for you. so grateful you're doing better!

NASHVILLE CATS

We took a trip to visit the Nashville cats for labor day. The weekend flew by way too fast, but we were able to enjoy being with the Funks. The best things about Nashville

The State Capitol is cool - on top of a grassy hill (that's fun to run down)


The Adventure Science Center - best hands-on science museum I've ever seen for kids (or adults) with blood vessels you can build yourself, a slide through the intestines that poops you out with a sound like passing gas, and a moon walk bungee anti-gravity walk.

The Pancake Pantry - with awesome sweet potato pancakes and even more awesome hash browns.

Country Music - free concert in the park - as a matter of fact, there are free concerts everywhere you go, including the airport!

Opry land hotel - one of the nicest convention centers I've seen.


but the best thing about nashville -

The Funks! Carrie, Shawn, Caroline, Devin and Graham - thanks for a wonderful time. We miss you!

Dear Ryan:

Thank you for lending me your camelback hydration pack.
I almost made it to the end of the driveway.
Love,
Mom
p.s. the salt tablets worked wonders, though

Great run - kind of

Beautiful long run saturday morning
Ran into six deer in total, one mother with three little fawns following her across the path, and another taking a drink out of the bayou,
wild boars, squirrels, and a few snakes.
Beautiful wildlife!
The run, on the other hand didn't go so well.
Let's just say complications arose.
Definitely not ready for the marathon!

Fun with Poodle

I just spent a fabulous week in Washington D.C. with Poodle. We had many great adventures, (one of them being my driving.) Poodle was a perfect hostess. She let me borrow her blow dryer, toothpaste, and buy anything I wanted.

Good thing I remembered to bring my camera so I could share all of my great photos!

Here are some of the highlights:


We went house hunting.
and hosted a baby shower. (Of the eight people present at the shower, four of us attended the same elementary school in Holladay, Utah! Small world)


Poodle and I drove out to the country to pick raspberries.


and of course, we had to make a stop at Georgetown Cupcakes. MMMMMMM

But my favorite was kayaking on the Potomac River. As you can see, one of us did most of the rowing.

Thanks for the fun week, Poodle! You're the best!