Fishing in Port O'Conner

Here is a slide show of pictures from our Amazing weekend in Port O'Conner with my sister Mendy and her hubby, Chris. We had such a blast and it was so nice to get away for the weekend, stare out at the water, and reel in the big ones!! Mendy and I each tagged a red fish (30 and 33 inches), but Mendy and Chris tied for the biggest Red Fish at 40 inches! Other fun catches were a shark by Charles, Bull Sting Rays by Charles/Chris, & small sand trout by Charles. The highlight of the weekend was going to "The Spot" and having them cook up the Red fish we caught the first night! Man, that was AMAZINGLY good! I wish I would have taken a picture of the meal to remember! Ha!

Isn't life really about leaving a legacy?

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

An altering phase of Life...I have PROOF!!

I just thought I would share a thought. One of the most life altering experiences is to have a child. I do not know this personally, but feel as I am able to speak about this since I have witnessed first hand the changes with my niece Mackenzie. After someone has a child, it is AMAZING the things they will do for the pure enjoyment of a smile from God's little creation. I just wanted to share PROOF that this is true. My proof finally came from Mackenzie's second birthday party where she received a 4 wheeler and a helmet from Nana and Papa. However, it was evident from the beginning that my sis and her hubby enjoyed the item as well. So, cheers to all you parents and the quirky things you do to make your little one smile...they love it, and so do we!! HeeHee!

5 weeks later: The Aftermath of IKE

As we were in Galveston this weekend fixing up the Beach house (ONCE AGAIN), I thought I would post a few more pics of the aftermath still present in Galveston. Most businesses have loads of trash outside them as pictured below, and there are large trash fills around the city where they are dumping what they can. The sadest thing to me is how brown everything is. The level of saltwater and storm surge has killed just about anything living, and caused the city to look brown. One of my favorite places in Galveston was the "Galveston Fishing Pier". It is featured in my Labor Day blog as we went fishing on it. It was usually packed daily with hundreds of people. Well, as you can see...it took quite a beating and will not be around for a while. Please continue to pray for those who have lost so much and have no homes.

Happy 2nd Birthday Mackenzie!!

No words can express the love that Charles and I have for our precious niece. She is the light of our lives and we LOVE every minute with her. I sat down trying to select which few pictures to show you of her special day. Of course this was no easy task as I had taken over 50 pictures in just 2 hours! And, to make matters worse, I cried the entire time looking through them. It is so hard to believe she is growing up so fast. Just yesterday I was hunched outside the delivery room waiting patiently to hear her first breath into this world. When she arrived, I cried. When she turned 1, I cried. And now she is 2, and I am crying. Time goes faster than we realize and although it is hard, I would not trade one momment of those tears.

Here are a few pictuires of her BD party. We had a pool party in my parents backyard with friends and family. It is important to note that I have never actually seen that many presents for any one person on their BD...especially for a 2 year old! I know she is spoiled, but we love it that way! The best part of the party was the SURPRISE guest!! Grandma came down to celebrate with us!!! We were so excited as you can tell in the pictures below.

Happy Birthday Kennybug, we love you more than words!

SYTYCD TOUR 2008

Ever seen the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance"? Well a group of our friends makes it a habit every year to get together weekly to watch the show, laugh, eat, and pretend like we can still dance too! As a finale, we buy tickets to the tour each year, and even go out to a nice dinner. This year, only 6 of us could go, and we ate at Mia Bella's downtown and then headed to the show. It was packed with amazing dances, solos, and comic relief. The pics below tell some of the story.

What else can I say?? Sometimes you just gotta dance...

HAPPY 50th Sally!!!

OK, I know that I did the posts out of order a little, but I will do better next time! Yesterday, after we bought a truck, went to Galveston to assess the damage at Charles' Uncles House, we then through a SURPRISE 50th BD for our friend Sally. Thank you Jenn for your lovely house, Randy for the AWESOME catering, and everyone who came out! It was so much fun, and we loved the look on her face!

Waiting around for the "Surprise"!
PRICELESS PHOTO!!
No comment, but this one's for you Sally! We love you!
Yummy Gringos Catering! :)

Beautiful cake from RJ Goodies!

Singing Happy Birthday!

Hanging out

Laughing at Karoke...you really must have good friends to be able to Karoke together!!

Look what the tide brought in...

After buying the truck, we went to Galveston to assess the damage done to Charles' Uncles rental house. Here is a picture of the front. I think we may need a new garage door!
Here is the back side of the house where the "wash away wall" came off. One of my friends told me that they wash away walls keep it from tearing the house off with the lower walls. As you can see, there is also a lot of Debris still that we need to clean up. Amongst the rubble was dirty diapers, back statements from other people in Galveston, shoes, lots of clothes, board games, photo albums, and much more. It was very sad to think this all belongs to someone else, and we felt bad looking it.
Here is Cindy standing in the rubble and notice the line of dirt on the side of the house...well, that is from the WATER LEVEL! Very sad, and really shows just how bad Hurrican Ike was.
More rubble looking out of the garage and into the back yard to the water.
Here is a view from the water to the backyard.

In with the New

Yesterday was the most packed day we have had in a long time (and EXPENSIVE!). It started around 5am when I couldn't sleep pondering what we should do about the car situation. When Charles woke up, we both prayed about it, ate a good breakfast, prayed some more, and then decided to go with the truck we had been looking at. Charles loves it and it was a really good deal...so we bought it! Here are a few pics of the transition. The Truck is a 07 F150 crew cab. It is very pretty, and as you can see, Baylor is already claiming it! Any one have any ideas for a name?

A Tribute to "Meep-Meep"

As many of you already know, our white car, affectionately known as "Meep-Meep", has bit the dust. We are in the midst of truck shopping for Charles, I will keep my Element, and of course we would not DARE think of EVER getting rid of the motorcycle (what was I thinking?!). So, this tributes for you "Meep-Meep"!


Dearest "Meep-Meep",
You have been there for us through many trials and miles in our life. We have had our share of problems, but you have always been there. Sure, it may have been a few hundred/thousand dollars later...but you were there. Thanks for always listening to our problems, bad singing, and lame jokes. We appreciate the big Brother you have been to Baylor and he would like us to say "thanks" for all the rides with the windows down, letting him slobber on the windows, and the french fries in the backseat. We will love and miss you...take care and stay clean.

Love,
Mom and Dad