Grateful

The Sunday after Thanksgiving my cute niece and her husband visited on their way back to Austin.  It was great to have them, especially since I have grandchildren the ages of Emily and Brett's children.  Violet loved having some girls to play with, since her cousins were out of town.  At church the speaker was giving a talk on gratitude, and asked each of us to think of what we were grateful for.  The little girls spent most of the meeting kneeling by their chairs, coloring and giggling.  They kept bringing me some post-it notes with words written on them.  I didn't care that they weren't paying attention, because they were entertaining themselves.  It wasn't until after the meeting that I looked at the notes, surprised to discover that they indeed had been listening.  Here is their list:

1. fruit

2. plans

3. family

4. my mom and dad

5. water

6.  my body

7. my bruther and sistere

8.  the skeripshers

9.  freinds

10.  grand parints

11. door

12.  my hair

13.  my eyes

14.  my mathf

15.  my nows

16.  my leg

17.  my ers

18.  my tows

19.  my jolry

20.  dror

21.  butrfliys

22 tents

23  frosin

24.  techers

25  stop siyns

26  stors

27 sporkols

28 jolls

29  the erth

30  flawrs

31 pecocs

32  snowflaks

33 fethrs

They ran off to Primary and Emily and I had to laugh at their list.  They were trying to make it to 100 items before the meeting ended.  We seriously underestimate our kids!

I am grateful for children!

Shoreman Triathlon - September 6, 2014

Poodle and DTB  have been preparing for the Shoreman Triathlon (1/2 Iron man) race all summer (well, longer than that actually)  We flew to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where we met up with Poodle and her fan club, Emily Bones.  They were hoping for some cool weather, as last year the temp was 50 degrees at start time.  No such luck this year!  It was a whopping 90 deg by a couple hours into the race.  

 Even though they were competing against one another, DTB helped her zip up her wet suit.  What
a good sport!

This is my favorite picture of them!  (Pre-race, obviously)

Brittany and Emily

 It was a scorching day, but she managed to cross the finish-line smiling!  The medallion she received after swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and running 13.1 miles was a quarter-sized trinket hung from a ribbon.  But then, most people don't do this for the medal!  She certainly didn't!

We went to the Boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean afterwards and ate at a great restaurant!

Congratulations, Poodle!!

(Unfortunately, I'm not the greatest photographer (I know, shocking!) so we don't have many great action photos.  DTB managed to capture a few.)

This just in . . . Poodle won first place in her age category for the Triathlon!!

congratulations!!  See race results here:  http://www.dqtridu.com/shoreman14.htm 

Anders Lee Reed (9/3/14) #15

We were SO happy when Ryan called to tell us Brianna was in labor and was going to the hospital to have their fourth baby!  She was scheduled for induction this weekend, and we would be out of town at the Triathlon.  She had him just in time, and I was able to visit them in the hospital before we left!

 So cute!

 Brianna is so calm - I guess it's all the experience she's had in the past five years!

He was a big guy - 8 lb 3 oz, and such a cutie!  We are so grateful for his safe arrival!  That makes four new grandchildren this year.  WOW!  :)

Lynard Skynard

For our anniversary this year I bought Mike tickets to a Lynard Skynard concert that was performing in Houston.  He was pretty excited!  Unfortunately, I had to leave poor Bex a little early.  Good thing Poodle was there to help out!  Surprisingly, we weren't the oldest people in the crowd!

 DTB sported his new haircut!  I think he got it cut just for the concert, so he could fit in better.

 An earring and tatoo would have helped!

 Unfortunately, we are frequent fliers to the rock concert scene, so we didn't realize that, although the tickets stated the concert started at 6:30, they lied.  The "rock stars"  play at the end.  The pretty crappy bands play beforehand.  That's probably so you'll appreciate them more.  At any rate, dad was ready to leave by the time Lynard Skynard began performing.  He changed his mind pretty quickly.  They were amazing!  (and I'm not a big rock star fan.)

 We did have to leave early, as DTB had an early high council meeting and needed to get to bed.  :(

Next time we'll know - wait until dark, then show up!

George Allen Funk

I love visiting Nashville, with it's beautiful trees, fabulous climate, art and music fanatics, but most important - the growing little Funk family!  This time was especially fun, as we were welcoming the handsome George Allen Funk to the family.

I usually started off picking the kids up from a friend's while Carrie was waiting to be induced.  We convinced Devin to eat at Five Guys by enticing him with Yogurt Mountain treats afterwards.  So fun!  (not as much fun for Carrie - sorry!)

The next day I convinced them to help me make cookies.  Devin and Graham volunteered to hammer the Heath Bars that I needed crushed up to put in the cookies.  They did a fabulous job!  Unfortunately, the cookies were pretty much a bust!

 We were so excited when Carrie called with the news of the delivery!  We went to church but left early to visit her at the hospital.  She did awesome!

 Graham was quite the super-hero helper.  So were Devin and Caroline, although they didn't require the costumes.

 Eating healthy with grandma he he.

 Getting little George home from the hospital was an ordeal.  They gave Carrie her papers and allowed her to walk out holding little George in one hand, her bag in the other.  As there were several different places to pick up patients at the hospital, we had a difficult time finding each other.  I may have been a little sharp with the garage attendant trying to find my precious children.
All was forgotten, however, when Poodle showed up and made everyone smile!

So grateful for the arrival of George Allen!   (the third of four 2014'ers)
Love them all!

SLUMBER PARTY!

We had a great time last weekend with the "babies."    Lindsey was here waiting to move into her house, so we had the Peterson girls over so that mom and dad could have a well-needed "adult night out."  (We had more fun, though.)

Mabel and Violet were the  cool "oldest kids."

We had cooking lessons (wish Bex were here) and made  Levain chocolate chip cookies.  And I was nice and shared my aprons. Aren't they lovely?  (hehe)

 Everybody climbed in our bed (except DTB) and watched Frozen, until they were asleep, when we transferred bodies to their final resting place.

To complete the party, we had Shipleys donuts for breakfast, and sent everyone home on a nice sugar overload.  You're welcome.  ;)
Definitely a must do-over.

Summer Vacation 2014

We spent July 4th at a fabulous resort in the Hill Country.   We had a great time playing, relaxing, and eating (yeah, baby!)
We stayed at the Barton Hill Resort in Austin, with the nicest golf course in Texas.

 Of course, we got in some exercise hiking and biking.  We didn't realize there would be a swim hole here.  Big mistake!

 Being the "foodies" that we are, we had to try out the hot spots for good grub.  This one didn't disappoint!

We also tried out Hopdoddy's (I believe there is one in Houston now.  First try we went to the one on 6th Street and the line was out the door and down the street.  After waiting 40 minutes in line and only moving a few yards I got anxious.  The hotel was shooting off 4th of July fireworks and I wanted to see them, so we went next door for some "street tacos" (not very good) and headed back to the hotel for a fabulous fireworks display.
We talked to the staff at the hotel for advice.  When we told her we had been to the Hopdoddy's on 6th street, she said, since that's where the "hip" people go, it would be much more crowded.  (apparently we're hip!)  So we tried a different location the next night.  Still a long wait, but worth it!
Although it was only a long weekend, we had a great time, and can't wait for our next get-away!
(That will be September in New Jersey for the triathlon)

nieto #13

Siena June Harper 

With the birth of Siena, we are now at an even dozen grandchildren!  And we're pretty happy about that!

She couldn't be cuter, and we couldn't be happier that she was born healthy and without complications.  We're SO grateful we have the best OB on earth in our family!  Lindsey did fabulously and was up and running around a couple of days later.  Which relieves my intense guilt that I didn't have vacation days to take to stay with her and help her out.  She's  been amazing!  Violet and Charlie are absolutely in love with their new sister.

Yes, she's precious!  And quite popular, as you can see!
We love our little Siena June!

SAVE THE DATE

ANNOUNCING THE SECOND AWESOME MICHAEL REED FAMILY VACATION

TO BE HELD IN 2019

Air Fare and Lodging will be provided by DTB

(Yes, seriously!)

Please plan accordingly.

Recommendations for destination sites welcome beginning today!



Adam Haygood Lee

On Sunday morning Adam was blessed by his father.  In our Church, it is a tradition to officially give each new baby a name and a father's blessing soon after birth.  It is typically done in church the first Sunday of the month during Fast meeting.   Because Ashley and Landon are in between homes - just leaving their home in the Big Apple, and beginning  life in the Big D, they are, shall we say "transients" - in between homes.  So instead, we had the blessing at home - our home, that is - given that everyone was here from out of town.  Thanks, DTB for making that possible!  Landon, the new dad gave him a wonderful blessing!   Shady then  took  family pictures, and we all went to church for Easter Sunday services.

SURPRISE!

Dad-the-Bad pulled off the biggest surprise of our marriage!  He arranged to have everyone together to celebrate my 60th birthday.  Yes, that's right - the big 60!  Can you believe it?  Yikes!

That's right.  Actually, it was a week early, which made it even MORE of a surprise!  And it was Easter weekend, which made it even MORE fun!  He had it all planned out - I came home from work, walked in the kitchen, and this is what I found!

He flew in this awesome baker from Nashville to make my cake.  She and her "helpers" did a fantastic job, as you can see.  It even tasted better than it looked - if that's possible.

Friday evening we went to one of our favorite restaurants - reminiscent of Brazil - a churrascaria "Nelore" - in the Montrose area.  Unfortunately, we had a few setbacks - Leah and Annie were sick, so Bethy came with Mabel instead of Brandon, Ryan couldn't find a babysitter, so Brianna stayed home, and poor Shady got in an accident on her way to dinner.  The accident totaled her car, the car that hit her, and she was too shaken to join us for dinner.  We picked her up and took her home, then joined the others.  (See her hilarious blog post about the entire incident at babytheshady.blogspot.com)    We're very grateful she is safe!




Saturday was a fun-filled day at Brazos Bend State Park - one of our favorite Houston sites.  Dad's plan was to have a family photo taken in OUR "family tree."  Unfortunately, the park was pretty crowded, and someone else decided it was their family's tree.  The nerve!

 Here's the gang - (minus Ashley and Landon - baby Adam was not cooperating)

 This big daddy was next to the shore, just waiting for some bait!

 Ainsley insisted on pushing her sister and cousin.

 Poodle is always a favorite with the kids!

It was fun to have everyone home for Easter Sunday!  The grandkids LOVED being together.  In  official Reed tradition, we had the kids hide eggs for the ADULT Easter egg hunt.  (It works better that way)  The kids love hiding the eggs and the adults love trying to find the GRAND PRIZE egg!

Note the handsome guy below.  Thanks, GRAYTOP, for the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!
Thanks to every one of you for coming -I love you!

Happy Birthday, Graytop!

Happy Birthday

to the love of my life!

60 years old and still looking good!

One of Carrie's friends asked her, "is that your dad?"  Then she commented that he should be in a hair commercial, because his hair looks perfect.  That's why we call him graytop!

Sorry I don't have your present yet!  I do plan on getting you some biking stuff (as well as a pair of running tights so you don't have to keep borrowing mine.)

Love you, sweetie!

Caroline's Baptism

This past weekend we traveled to Nashville to attend Caroline's baptism.  It was a whirlwind trip, but we had tons of fun!

We love visiting the Funks!

The baptism was great!  Carrie made sandwiches and tons of cupcakes, which were devoured!   Tons of people came from their ward.  I was amazed.

Caroline was baptized with her best friend, Annabeth.  

 After the baptism we took the kids to Target where they could pick out anything they wanted.  Graham chose a plastic lizard (he named him Oscar) from the dollar bin.  I tried to divert him to something I thought would be more lasting, but he insisted.  I finally told him he could get something "besides" the lizard.  He made sure that if he picked something else he would still get to keep Oscar.

We had fun walking the streets of downtown Nashville.

and Carrie made dad a delicious chocolate cake for his birthday (much better than the "fancy" one I paid way too much for  for when we got home.)

Congratulations, Caroline!  We're proud of you.