Let's Catch Up!

Well, it certainly has been a while! Let's see, Emily finally came home and we've been so happy to have her back. She had a terrific time in Utah and is trying to get back into the swing of things. We're all pretty much the same as we've ever been. My parents came for a quick visit at Thanksgiving and we were so happy to see them. Then December slipped quickly away for us amid band concerts and wedding receptions and jobs and school. We definitely looked forward to a break at Christmas time! When Christmas finally got here, the main present for the kids didn't get here! And has yet to get here!! That would be the Xbox 360 that we ordered in NOVEMBER...the Rock Band stuff got here and Emily's laptop got here, but not the game system, so we haven't even been able to play! Hopefully it will be here in the next couple of days.
Tom and I both took off the week after Christmas and enjoyed staying home and hanging out with the kids. We played a lot of games and watched a lot of movies together. Fun was had by all! Now we've got school starting back up tomorrow and work for Tom; I'm still off until Wednesday. Adam and Emily are still working at Domino's and Emily is still working at the high school with their color guard. She loves it. She is looking at starting school herself either in the next week or so, or maybe waiting until spring. She is looking at going local and then transferring to the University of Oklahoma or BYU; I think she prefers OU. Either way I don't want to let her go! She is excited though, and it's fun to see her make her plans.
Well, this was just a catch-up; hopefully I will do better to stay on top of this. Our love to you all!

Nothing New!

Well, Emily's been gone to Utah now for two weeks and we miss her tons! She is having a great time, playing in the snow, visiting her friends, shopping and travelling. She is going to spend a few days at Thanksgiving with Tom's parents so they'll get to spend some time with her. She will be home Dec. 4th and that can't come soon enough for me. I don't know what I'll do when she goes off to college.
We are so waiting for the weather to change down here. It was 85 degrees today! Where's our winter weather?? Last year it was freezing on Thanksgiving day for the ward Fun Run and Turkey Bowl, so maybe there's still hope for some cooler days ahead.
There's not a whole lot of new stuff going on right now. The boys are done with marching season and on to Jazz Band and Regions if they make it. They don't really want to but it's required so it'll be interesting to see how hard they try! It's nice to have them home in the evenings and not at practice til 8:00.
We're all just moving along with our everyday lives, just like you all are. We think of all of you often and send our love.

Happy 18th Birthday, Emily!!

Happy 18th, Emily! I can't believe the tiny little babe I used to cradle in my arms is an 18 year old woman now. And quite a beautiful one at that. Her birthday was yesterday, and we had a couple of her closest friends over to have cake and ice cream with us after dinner. We had such a good time that the girls were laughing until they cried. It was too much fun!
Emily and I are going to Time Out for Women this weekend; just the two of us. We are going to spend the night on the Riverwalk after the Friday night session and walk over early Saturday morning for that day's events. We are very excited to get to spend some time together before she leaves for Utah next week. No boys allowed!
Alex is healing nicely after his "severely sprained" ankle from last week; he even went to school today with no crutches. He's been hopping and hobbling around the house since someone jumped on his foot (accidentally) on a trampoline after a dance last Saturday night. It was humongously swollen and gross and purple for a good week afterwards but looks much better now. The doctor thought he might have broken the foot or the ankle; it was so swollen that we couldn't tell if it was the foot or ankle, but the x-rays were negative, thankfully.
Adam is looking at working at the UPS store in the time he's not working at Domilno's so he can save money faster for his mission. I personally just think he should go and let us worry about paying for it, but he's trying to help. He is a good boy...or man, I guess! Oh, and anyone wishing to donate to the "send Adam on his mission" fund is welcome to contact me! Hee hee!
Evan is doing great and just plugging along. He's doing a great job on the drumline and really enjoys it. He's trying not to get a big head since the drumline has a reputation as being the most prideful members of the band, but I think it's grown a little!
We send our love to all our friends and family and hope to see you guys soon! Great day to all!

Happy Birthday, Evan!

Happy Birthday to my dear baby, Evan. You may be fourteen today, and may be taller than me, but you are still my baby. I hope you love your new phone and that you have a wonderful day and a wonderful year!

Much Ado About Nothing

Not much exciting going on here, just the everyday madness! I think we've finally settled down to a routine with the younger two kids in seminary and school. We're trying family prayer in the morning before the kids go to seminary and scripture study at night before bed, and that seems to be working well. Hopefully it will continue to work well! Alex and Evan did really well at their first band competition on Saturday. Their band took first place in several events and overall. For the first competition for the high school's first year, it was outstanding! We are so proud of them when we see them marching on the field.
Emily had two high schools fighting over her to have her work for them assisting with the color guard. She chose to work with Johnson, the school the boys attend. She worked with many of the girls when she was on the color guard in high school last year. She's very excited and begins work today.
Adam was promoted to Assistant Manager at Domino's and is enjoying having more money to spend and more money to save for his mission. He is doing well and enjoying life, maybe a bit too much!
Tom is so happy to be retired from the Air Force. He is doing the same job he did while active duty, just as a civilian now. He likes having all the pressure off and having a more relaxed day. He is happier when he comes home now.
I'm still working at the Distribution Center for our church, and I really enjoy it. We are losing our manager because she is getting married in December. I'm very happy for her but sad for me because she is such a sweetie and I will miss her. It will be hard to get used to a new manager with a new style but hopefully it will work out okay.
That's about it for us now. I've been working on scrapbooking and making Christmas cards and that has been a stress-reliever for me. So when you get your cards at Christmastime from us, remember they were made with love!
'Til next time....

Our Anniversary "Vacation"

We had an AMAZING four days on our little vacation. I've included pictures at the end of this which correlate to the things I'll tell you.
We decided to be tourists in our own town and check out the things that we've never done before in San Antonio. We stayed downtown, next to the Alamo, at the Menger Hotel. You should google it; it's haunted! The rooms were gorgeous, as was the rest of the hotel. We spent the whole time "sightseeing" and eating out and buying souvenirs. We walked along the Riverwalk and went into some places that we've never seen before. We went to a glass blowing shop and you can see the picture below of the huge design that hung in the front window. We had dinner the first night at the Rainforest Cafe on the Riverwalk; neither of us had been to a Rainforest Cafe before. It was fun...we got to sit by the giant elephant on the third story. We actually ate the Mudslide Brownie, I'm ashamed to say. It was HUGE and delicious! Then we walked around a little bit and explored the hotel. I didn't see any ghosts, and I was disappointed. Oh well. We got up early the next morning and had breakfast at the hotel and the food was wonderful and everyone was so kind. Then we got an all-day trolley pass so we could scoot around town and not have to walk so much (bad knees!). We went to the old Mexican part of town, La Villita, and went to the shops there. It was so quiet, and in the middle of downtown. We went to a little church that has been there for over a hundred years. It had beautiful stained glass windows and was very peaceful inside. When we were done there we went to the Mercado and lazily walked around, doing a little bit of shopping. We saw some amazing artwork, and the artist came and talked to us about his work. He was so neat; it reminded me that everyone has a story...too cool. We had lunch at the Mercado in a park across the street. Then we got on the trolley again and went back to the Alamo and looked through the shops across the street, which we've never done before. They were interesting to say the least! We went back to our hotel and dropped off all our goodies that we had bought, took a little nap, and went back out to the trolley. It took us around the King District and we saw some incredible houses built back in the day and just more interesting places to visit. For dinner that night we went to Casa Rio on the Riverwalk, which is a famous restaurant here, and had great Mexican food in great surroundings. Then we walked up toward the River Center mall and checked out the little shops on the way. There was a cool one where they were burning incense and selling candles and stuff. We walked on into the mall and did some shopping there before heading back to the hotel.
The next day we got up to an elaborate brunch at the dining room in the hotel. We had salmon and leg of lamb along with anything else we could have wanted. That was Sunday and it was a little quieter around town. We did some driving around the area and saw some of the old town. We went to the Brackenridge Park and the zoo. We drove up to Bass Pro Shop (Tom said he knows many men who would be thrilled to have their wife want to go to Bass Pro for their anniversary!), and looked at all the cool stuff there. After that, we went to LBJ National Park and drove around and then visited their visitor's center. We were looking for stuff on LBJ's wife, Ladybird, because Alex and Evan are going to a brand new high school named after her. They didn't have much on her, so we headed back. On Monday, Evan wanted us to be home to drive him to his first day of high school, so we did that. Then we just puttered around town, taking it easy. The next day we went to lunch with Adam and Emily at a cool place called Artisan's Alley. After lunch we looked around at the works that the different artists had made. They have some amazing stuff there. It was a lot of fun looking at all the works and being able to talk with the people who created it. After that we realized that we had to come down from our fantasy world and go home. It was actually fun seeing the kids and finding out how they did on their own for a few days. The next day was back to normal, but I have that weekend to hold on to and look back on when I feel overwhelmed. We enjoyed each other's company so much that we'll have to do it again, sooner than our next anniversary!

23rd Anniversary Vacation

We had a WONDERFUL time on our little vacation. We stayed downtown at the Menger Hotel on the Riverwalk and pretended that we were tourists and checked out our town. You should google the Menger Hotel...it's haunted!! This is a couple of pictures of our room.