WOW! IT"S BEEN AWHILE!

(this is me, my cousin Jamie and my brother, David)


I can't believe it's been so long since i've blogged. A lot has happened since I last wrote. My grandmother passed away and I drove to Colorado Springs with my brother and sister! (wow is that a long car ride with those two! j/k! i loved it)

(this is my sister, Lisa. Yes, it was extremely cold in CO. Ok, we're from the south, but it was still cold!)

While it was a bittersweet being in Colorado, it was exteremly fun! Sad that my grandma passed away, but good b/c she'd suffered for awhile--she had dementia. I got to see my mom's side of the family and hadn't seen most of them for almost 9 years! That's too long. It was so great to see how everyone has grown up!

(this is birth order: my uncle wayne, my mom, uncle charlie, uncle scott, and aunt lu)

It was good to see my mom with her brothers and sister again!

After the service, we all went to a restaurant and ate. I got to talk to my Uncle Scott and Aunt Luann, and their girls, Tammy and Jamie. It was so great to see them and talk to them! I loved being around my cousins and have really missed getting to know them! Later that night, I went and saw Enchanted with my cousin, Evann. I loved the movie. I wanted to talk with my hands together and wear pretty dresses and sing all my conversations!

(don't know why it looks all yellow--it was blue when i downloaded it).

After a short night sleep and a good breakfast the next morning, it was off back to Texas. That was a fast trip, but I had to get back for finals and my brother's in grad school and my sister has 4 kids! I left Thursday morning about 6am, and got back Sunday morning at 3am. It was extremely fast. I got back in time to go to my last Deterministic Operations Research class on Monday, go to review for Physics on Tuesday, take my Det. Oper. Rsch final on Wed, and my Physics final on Thursday. Let's just say after that whirlwind, it took me a few days to settle down and enjoy life again. This is one of the things I love----leaves changing colors!

(this is one of my trees in my front yard----I love it!)

Then it's on to getting ready for the holidays! We found the perfect tree and decorated it!f

We decorated it and vewala! (don't know how to spell that)

(these are my kids just being precious! this is good if i can keep underwear on them all!)

They were all being so precious, I had to get a picture! Things have changed since then! Ethan is pretty much potty trained. He can take naps in his underwear, but I have to put a diaper on him at night. He's been in underwear for almost a week now and he hasn't had an accident!!!! Yeah! Can I tell you how exciting it is that my last kid is in underwear????!!!!

Our next adventure, was going to Sights and Sounds in San Marcos. It is soo cool! We took Eli there when he was 2. They transform the park into a winter wonderland. They have every thing you can think of at a carnival. Best of all, I had a funnel cake for the first time ( i think!). Thanks Miguel for introducing me to the best kept secret of a carnival. We saw Santa (line was soooo long) and the kids rode on a train ride. They also had a live nativity scene. Ethan loved the camel and donkeys. Can't wait for next year! I'd highly recommend this to anyone. It's only the first weekend in December.

(Eli and Livi riding the carousel)

(this is the pretty tree they have in the park--like the one at zilker)

Ok, I know this is really long, but this is it. I am training for a half marathon and had my long run on Saturday. Because the wind was blowing sooooo hard, I couldn't come back home. I kept running and then called Miguel to come pick me up. I ran to the HEB in Kyle. It was 5.5 miles. When I was waiting, I saw that they had Santa there and my kids could get a free photo with him. Since I'd told them the day before they could go get their picture with Santa at the mall and then changed my mind when I found out it was $20, I had to bring them there. After Miguel picked me up, we went home, and I got the kids ready and we went back over there.