Happy 8th Anniversary!

Well, Lee and I have been happily married now for 8 years! It's hard to believe how fast the time has flown by. We left our small Mississippi wedding for a three day drive to Albuquerque, NM, where Lee was stationed with the Air Force. We squeezed into our time one bedroom apartment and started life together! Eight months later, Lee accepted a graduate school position at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, OH, so off we went. We lived there for 19 months, then left for the NRO in Chantilly, VA. We lived there for 2 1/2 years until Lee decided to go reserves and we moved to Crosby, TX, for Lee's job at NASA/JSC. In the meantime, we got a dog, have had two beautiful girls and currently have another sweet girl on the way in 12 weeks! Life has been exciting and I can't imagine what else God has in store for us!

Here is a great portrait from Ann Alyse's perspective!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We pray you remember the birth of Baby Jesus - God's only Son - and celebrate with Joy this Christmas.

Happy 31st, Lee!

We had a good time on December 16 celebrating Lee's 31st birthday! On Sunday, the 14th, we took Lee to Fogo De Chau, a Brazilian restaurant he loves! He only eats meat there - mainly filet mignon - and I feast on the huge salad and veggie bar. The girls actually ate well, too! Tuesday - his actual birthday - he was home all day, although he called into a teleconference for almost 4 hours. BUT...he was home and not traveling! We had delicious gumbo for dinner and we made Lee two pies...chocolate pecan and chocolate. Ann Alyse did spoil one present...the only present in a bag...when she pronounced, "Daddy, don't open this one yet, it's candy!" We had a good laugh over that. Fortunately she did not know exactly what the other presents were so we're safe until next year! :-)

Happy 31st Birthday, Lee/Daddy! We love you so much!

Getting ready to open presents!

Daddy and his helpers!

A ride on the dolly!

The chocolate pie!

Let's all blow out the candles!

Let it Snow!

It Snowed! In Texas! In December! And it STUCK! Last Wednesday, December 10, Lee was out of town and the girls and I headed for AWANA Cubbies at church. It was very cold and was misting snow. Well, I thought it was hail, but turned out to be snow! While we were at church it started coming down really thick. I grabbed Ann Alyse and took her outside to see it all! She loved it. She thinks that Santa can only come in the "snowy time". Since it was snowing, she was convinced that Santa would come that night, but we had a discussion that it would still be two more weeks before Santa could come. The next morning she woke up and asked if it had been two weeks yet! :-) So, back to the snow...we drove home in the snow and icy roads and made the 30 minute trip in just under an hour! Wait, back up, since the snow was sticking just enough at church, I took pictures of the girls in it there with my phone so Lee could see it. I was not convinced it would still be there Thursday morning when he was scheduled to be coming home. So, we get home and it's snowing so much...really heavy (for TX)! Avery was asleep so I just put her on my shoulder, put a blanket over her, bundled Ann Alyse up and we headed out in it for a while. Ann Alyse didn't like it coming down in her eyes, so she just stayed on the front porch to watch it. I made her a big snow ball and she threw it on the wall! Avery woke up and poked her head out of the blanket just to see what was going on, then went right back to sleep.

The next morning, everything was covered with snow still, so I got the girls up, fed them breakfast and got them bundled up to go outside. Lee got in about 8:45, so we all went out together. Ann Alyse made two snow angels, Avery just ran around giggling and Daddy and Ann Alyse made a snow man! I enjoyed videoing and taking pictures. What fun we had! Ann Alyse is still convinced that it's going to have to snow for Santa to come...we'll have to see what's in store!

The only picture I could get in the snow without huge white flakes crowding the view!

Ann Alyse's snowball before she threw it on the wall!

What's going on?

Snow Angels!

Bundled up for making a snowman!

He, He, He! I love the snow!

Sweet girls in their first Texas snow!

The finished product...button eyes, carrot nose and raisin mouth and buttons. Sticks for arms and of course Daddy's cowboy hat...oh, and raisin hair under the hat!

Decorate the Tree

Lights!

First Ornament!

First Ornament!

I've got you!

The Angel!

Put up the Tree

Bringing the Tree inside!

Cutting off the net!

Watering the Tree!

Putting on the tree skirt!

Get the Tree

Helping Daddy carry the perfect tree!


Choo Choo!

Helping Daddy carry the measuring stick!

Thanksgiving

We headed to MS for Thanksgiving this year. We had a good time seeing all the extended family and eating with grandparents. Ann Alyse & Avery had a good time playing with their cousin, Morgan, in the big pile of freshly raked leaves! I'm so glad we didn't have to rake up their mess!

Fall Festival

We had so much fun at the Fall Festival at our church on October 31. Ann Alyse & Avery were in matching cowgirl outfits complete with gauchos, appliqued tees, cowgirl hats and boots! I have to say they were absolutely adorable. They enjoyed the bouncy things, the petting zoo, the train and of course getting candy!

Ann Alyse & Avery at the bean bag toss!

Jumping on the bouncy jungle!

Avery was so brave being the smallest one in there! She was pummelled more than once!

Cowgirl with attitude!

Sweet and Sassy Cowgirl!

Sea World

We got to take a quick two day trip to San Antonio in mid-October. We went to Sea World for a few hours on Sunday night, then again on Monday for a tour since the park was closed. It was a short, but fun trip and we can't wait to hit Sea World again in the Spring!

Ann Alyse & Daddy in the front seat of the shamu roller coaster!

Feeding the dolphins at the tour on Monday!