The Nutcracker

 Our annual Nutcracker outing was lots of fun!  Leah and Violet joined us this year and did great!  Mabel and Annie seemed enchanted.  The dancing was especially good this year.  I love girl parties!

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving this year was lots of fun.  Ryan and Brianna stayed here rather than their usual trip to Arizona.  Although we're not quite as fun as Patty's parties, we do make good pies (or at least lots of them.) The Harpers came and brought yummy dressing, and cranberry salad, dad made his famous mashed potatoes, and I made enough pies to make the pie to person (adult) ratio close to 1:1.  And isn't that what Thanksgiving is all about!

T

Friends

Our good friends Dorothy and Craig Funk visited from San Antonio in November.  We had fun shopping at all the little antique stores in Spring, and  I actually bought some things, which is unusual.  Since it was Dorothy's birthday, we also went to dinner at Pappasito's and had made a birthday cake.

It was great to spend a fun weekend together.  Happy Birthday, Dorothy!

Halloween 2012

 Unfortunately, I took most of the photos on my phone, and can't turn them to get them onto Blogger.  So these are the only photos that were oriented correctly to post.

Halloween was a blast this year.  We bought a boatload of candy and sent it with the Harpers to the Trunk-or-Treat.  They left them at our car with a sign to "take one."  Apparently, a truck was parked in front of our car, so nobody saw it and we had to take it all home.  It's still hanging around the house, and may end up in some Christmas stockings, so BEWARE!

The Ward party was fun.  Violet and Charlie came.  Bethany brought Mabel, Annie and Leah.  They were all SO cute.  I may eventually figure out how to turn the photos so I can add them, but for now here are the only ones:
Violet was a fairy. (I think)  Charlie was Charlie Brown - so cute!

The Peterson girls were beautiful princesses!

 We visited the Reeds on halloween.  Asher and Atley were Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.  This photo doesn't capture the cuteness of it all, but it's all I have.  Lots of teenagers were taking pictures of them, because they were so cute!

Ainsley

We became grandparents again October 20 with the birth of little Ainsley, daughter of Ryan and Brianna.  We are grateful to have another little girl in the family.

Congratulations!  Atley and Asher seem to be delighted with their little sister.

Miracles never cease

So my mother called last week to ask my opinion on whether she should get a knee replacement, because her doctor had recommended that she see a specialist.  Of course, she refused my advice that she get one, stating that my dad thought she didn't need one (since he knows so much about orthopedics.)  But today she called, stating that the specialist had told her that if she doesn't have the surgery, she will likely get worse and end up in a wheelchair.  So wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles - she has consented to the procedure, to be done in a few short weeks.  I'm stunned.  And thrilled.  It should add years to her life.  And reassuring that you're never too old to change.

So actually, she called a couple of days later stating that she was confused.  She is going in a couple of weeks to talk to him about when he will do the surgery, which likely will not be until the summer. 

Nashville Cats

I had a great visit with the Nashville Cats this past week.  Thanks to Fernash, I have posted photos of the fun.

Carrie and I went running every day while the kids rode their bikes in a park near their house.  The weather was beautiful, and we saw a herd of deer traipsing through the forest one morning.  The kids loved riding their bikes and we took turns pushing Graham in the stroller - although he was convinced he could keep up with us.


We visited the Nashville Library, where the kids checked out tons of books, and we stopped at a little candy store nearby with 50 different flavors of saltwater taffy.

The Nashville Zoo has one of the best playgrounds I've ever seen.  The kids loved climbing on the rope maize, through the forts and sitting in the mouth of a snake.  We had a picnic on the grass in an open public area of the zoo.  While Carrie and I were talking I looked over and Devin had decided he needed to relieve himself, so he had his pants down, and was aiming to relieve himself when Carrie grabbed him and whisked him off to the restrooms.  Definitely the funniest part of the day.  We also visited a cupcake bakery for very
yummy treats.




Because it rained one day, we ended up going to Pump-It-Up, which the kids loved.  Graham was tackling the giant inflatable towers like he was a Pro Football player.   They had a blast!

One of the funnest things for me was watching soccer practice and the soccer games.  Although a little tentative at first, Devin blocked two goals toward the end of the game.  Caroline was anything BUT tentative, and did a great job, pushing hard, and running as fast as she could trying to score a goal for me.  She did a great job!

After the soccer games, we went to a pumpkin farm, where the kids each picked out a pumpkin, then went home and made and decorated cookies.   (You probably notice a sweet treat trend here)

I had a great time with the Funks!   I brought one of my favorite childhood books, Charlotte's Web, and we read it before bed every night.   That may have been more fun for me than them.  Thanks for a great vacation, Funks!  I miss you already!

Summer of 2012

The summer of 2012 has come and gone, although here in Houston you wouldn't know it, other than the congestion on the freeways.  Although it went by way too fast, we had a great time.  Labor day weekend marked the official end, and we enjoyed time with family at one of Bethany and Ryan's community pools.

Asher learned to swim last summer and Ryan was trying to encourage him to go off the diving board.  His mom added an additional incentive - an Oreo cookie.  He eagerly went off the diving board, then went again and again and wouldn't stop.  When I told him he must really like diving he replied "I'm getting lots of cookies."

Papa had lots of fun going down the clamshell slide with the grandkids.

We then all went out for ice cream.  A great ending to summer!

Belize 2012

For July 4th we took our first real (non-work-related) vacation in many years  to the beautiful country of Belize, a country with gorgeous beaches, lush jungles, and a population the same size of Katy, Texas.  If you're interested in the details, please read on.

San Ignacio - We chose to spend our time inland where there was more variety than beach bumming.  The hotel was beautiful and surrounded by lush jungle.

Belize Prison - On our way to San Ignacio we passed the only prison in the country.  Inmates are expected to be self-sufficient - they grow and harvest all of their produce or they don't eat, and they make items to sell to purchase personal conveniences.  I asked our driver to stop and bought my only souveneir -  a lovely bowl made by one of the prisoners.        

Tikal - To be perfectly honest, this was the main reason I wanted to stay inland - so we could cross the border into Guatemala and visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal.  And get another stamp on my passport.  Tikal is far more expansive and private than Teotihuacan in Mexico.  There were absolutely no vendors trying to sell their wares.              

Temple 1 - built by the most popular ruler, in honor of himself.   He constructed an identical edifice facing this one dedicated to his wife.  (yes, men CAN be romantic)

Flora and fauna - This is the tree the Mayan culture called the "tree of life."  

This interesting "fruit" is not edible, the natives have a name for it, but I would likely get arrested by the internet police if I typed it.  The sap of the tree can be used as a cure to bot-fly infestation.  It anesthetizes the worm that bores into your skin where you were bitten and allows you to pull it out.  I know, lovely.

ATM adventure - Actually not a cash machine, it was by far our greatest adventure.  (even more exciting than getting the passport stamped)  When we told one of the couples at the hotel we were going, they said "It's been nice knowing you."  They refused to elaborate, other than say we would never be permitted to do anything remotely like it in the U.S.  Actun Tunichil Mukal is actually a cave in which ancient Mayan artifacts, as well as well-preserved skeletons were found, astonishingly still undisturbed by archeologists.  Accessible only via the cave, we donned helmets (good thing too, or I would be seriously brain-damaged),  and went on quite the spelunking adventure.  We weren't asked beforehand if we could swim, which was a necessity in certain parts of the cave.  The guide asked me to be the lead person (next to him) for reasons which became obvious.  At the end of the cave  is an aluminum ladder anchored only on one side, which we climbed and hoisted ourselves up into the upper cave to see the burial site.  On the way out, we all turned off our headlights and could see absolutely nothing.

our guide - my buddy

Mercado - Saturday morning we checked out the local market, where Belizians sell their wares.  We sampled  fresh coconut, papuse -kind of  a "fat boy" tortilla, sacha - puffy empanadas with a cabbage topping , and sour sop ice cream.

So yummy!  Sour Sop 

Church - Although we stayed in a small town in a country of 230,000 people, we found a Mormon church just a few blocks up the road from our hotel.  Our tradition has been to attend church with the locals, but our taxi arrived the same time the meetings began, so we walked to the chapel Saturday evening and talked to the Branch President.  He told us this week he had sent in five applications for missions for his branch alone.

Saturday turned out to be quite rainy with thunderstorms all day and,
well, we ended up a little desperate for entertainment . . .

Gator Bait Triathlon

Ryan and Brittany competed today in the Gator Bait Triathlon in Boerne, Texas.  They call it the gator bait  because once upon a time a gator lived in the lake.  You may think that the name would intimidate people from signing up.  Not true.  There were almost 300 athletes.  Poodle and Ryan both did great, and had a fun time, as you can see.

Congratulations on a great race, Poodle and Ryan!