The Summers Family

a few pics of late....

2010-11-30T12:04:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics of the fam from the past few months. It is getting pretty hectic with Anna taking dance two days a week and Stephen working most nights. Leigh is getting so big and continues to amaze us with her laid back and happy personality. Hope all is well with you and yours. Getting close to Christmas....things seem to be moving faster and faster....

Anna with her Great Granny, coloring.
Entertaining Leigh

Anna in her dance uniform at a local festival performing with another little girl. They were the only two out of 10 to show up that day. :)

Stephen and Leigh at our church fall festival.

Summer time is here again...

2010-06-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

So I guess I will start to blog again. HA. Things have been a little busy for me this past year. Besides being pregnant, school got really busy with competitions and new responsibilities. We have now added an AP course to our department, which I will begin teaching next year. This year we did a pilot program and had two girls take the AP exam and I am anxiously awaiting their scores. I started this year as the new regional director for our ( UIL type ) competition, which went really well. With all the large schools in our region participating, we had close to 500 students enter and the event had little to no hiccups. We had 6 students advance to state and 3 received superior ratings at the State competition in April. Needless to say, I love my job and am so proud of my students and all they have accomplished this year. By the time May rolled around I finally got to focus on my pregnancy and the upcoming arrival of Leigh Elizabeth Summers. The labor was hard, seeing as how I didn't get an epidural until WAY late in the laboring process, but Leigh made it here in one piece with all ten fingers and toes. She has been an awesome baby and has done fairly well adjusting. Anna is SO proud to be a big sister. She loves helping and has done really well with the transition our little family has gone through having a new baby.

We decided to keep Anna in school during June so that I could adjust and get Leigh's sleeping schedule under control before we were all home all day. That has been such a blessing. I get to spend all my time with Leigh during the day. The days that Stephen is off, we get to just lavish ourselves with her and man has that been nice. When Anna was an infant, I was always looking for the next milestone and with Miss Leigh, I am taking it all in each day. I really want to enjoy her while I can, because man life is getting fast. It seems the more things you add to your plate,the faster it all flies by. Here are some pictures of our newest arrival and a few from the things we have already been doing this summer. Hope all is well with those who check on this blog periodically. I should be updating more often now that I have more time with the summer. Until then...

Leigh Elizabeth Summers: 8 lbs 9 oz 19 inches long, born on May 20, 2010

Daddy with Leigh

Big Sister with a fussy Leigh

Leigh in her pretty dress that her T-Ma bought her.

I don't think she was too into my photoshoot...

Sisters in sunglasses...

Anna at the shrimporee on a bungee thingy....

Leigh's first bath...chewing on her hand.

Anna at a friends birthday swim party.

Anna and her cousin Kaylee reading...

Daddy and Leigh

Big sister holding Leigh for the first time. Look at those shoulders, we are taking this serious!

I will post more pictures as the summer unfolds! :)

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T11:36:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Anna and I went to stay with my dad to hang out for Easter. Mom went up to Waco to see Jered and his family and Dad had some commitments in Corpus, so we went to see him and celebrate Easter. We had a blast. Dad had arranged for a family friend to loan us a child's saddle and she got to ride Gabby all by herself. She looked SO big on that horse. It was ridiculous.

We spent a lot of time together, made some pretty eggs with a stamp kit that she got from T-Maw and J-Paw and played with J-Paw outside with some parachute men that was also in her gift basket. On Sunday, we woke up and checked out what Anna got from the Easter Bunny in her basket. Then she went out to hunt for her eggs. She had so much fun being the center of attention.

Other things we did that weekend included a trip to Texas State Aquarium, which Anna LOVED...even though I don't have great pics to show it off!! We also had a fun afternoon with Daddy when we got home playing frisbee in the park. Anna has got some serious game.

Playing Frisbee with her Daddy. He loves disc golf and has all the drivers and putters, which is why there are like 10 different frisbees.
Stephen showing her how it is done. Anna giving it a try.

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. I am trying to get geared up to posting again since this baby will be here with in the next 6 weeks. :)

Anna the Entertainer....

2009-10-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

So I don't have a ton of time, so these are the things that have been going on in our life. I will post pictures from this weekend later.

I am pregnant, about 12 weeks. Due May 16th. No sickness, just migraines every now and then.

Anna is three now, and more ridiculous than ever. She cracks us up on a daily basis. See video for proof.

We have gone to Waco to see family, gone to a birthday party and gone to Anna's school's Fall Festival in recent weekends.

Anna's new favorite past time is Friday night football. On Friday morning when she sees me putting on my spirit shirt for school, she lights up and says,"Tonight is the FOOTBALL GAME!!!"

Stephen is still at the club and loves it. Yesterday he made a peanut butter pie, along with about 10 other items for dinner...he really is in his element.

Enjoy the video and I will post pics later.

Our Blog, Obviously Interrupted.

2009-08-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

It is time consuming to have a blog. Facebook takes five minutes tops and it seems you have to actually put thought into a blog. So maybe it is not about time, but about effort.

Anyway, things have been truckin along in the Summers' household. We moved into our new place about a month ago...I will have some pics soon. We really love the live oak trees in Rockport and have a huge one smack dab in front of our house, which has everyone calling this the "tree house"...not to mention it is elevated.

School is in full swing and I am SO excited. I absolutely LOVE what I do and seem to fall more in love with it each year. I am thinking lately it has been because of the awesome support I get from the administration at my school but also from the district. They are not afraid to say that the arts are important and that they are proud of us when we perform well. That really does make a HUGE difference. We got the art club together the other day to do a community face painting gig at a local apartment complex. One of my students wanted to paint some flowers on my face to practice before painting on the door of the theatre department at school...so I let her. See the results. It was a fun day.

Stephen is still at the Club here in town and loves it. Anna has started school and just moved up into a new class, she is such a smart girl and we are super proud of her. She came into the living room the other night and showed me a triangle that she had "cut out especially for me". The sincerity in her voice seriously made me choke up a little. She acted like she was giving me an organ. I was a sweet moment.

This weekend we went to the park and Stephen took Anna over to the Baseball field to show her the bases and told her about how the game is played. She was walking to each of the bases and then Stephen started talking about how you run home and jump hard on the base, so she gave it a go, and it was so funny...see the pics below. : )

Then we walked down to the wildlife nature trail and pond and fed the turtles ice. : ) We had a great day...here are the pics of our beautiful nature trail/pond. It is so nice. It is short and sweet, but it is all I got right now!! Have a great week!

Anna Blair turns 3.

2009-07-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

It is almost bitter sweet. I cannot believe that she is 3 years old. Three years is a long time and yet it seems like yesterday....man. Unbelievable. We got together with our families at my parents house and had a pool party. We decided with all that is going on with our schedules, it would be easier and less stressful to just do a family thing. And really, when you ask Anna who her favorite people are, she will always say, "Parker and Kaylee...they are my buddies." So, we figured, why not give everyone what they want? :) Here are some pics from our fun filled weekend. These are more from the party festivities, Holly has more from when they were playing before the party. I know Holly will have some on her site as well...so feel free to check it out.
Uncle Judd and Anna

Check our Parker's tongue. He was getting ready!!

Getting some presents. She really had a fabulous birthday.

On Sunday, we saw someone on TV having a party. She walked over to me and said, "mommy, we had such a good party yesterday. " I asked her if she had fun and she smiled and said, "oh, yes!" That was all I could ask for. :) Have a great week.

WIcked A New Musical

2009-06-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Stephen and I in the Majestic Theatre during intermission. It was pretty dark and they were VERY particular about using a flash...or really, any camera at all...so Stephen wanted to play it safe. : )

Stephen bought me tickets to see Wicked for Mothers Day. He read my mind. I have wanted to see this production since I heard about it going on National tour back in 05. If you don't know this about me, I LOVE musical theatre. I always have and always will. I love music period, but you put that with live acting and dancing and I get all giddy. We left Friday afternoon and drove to San Antonio to see this much acclaimed musical at the Majestic Theatre. On the way up to the doors, my heel strap broke, which, it was going to happen..I have had those heels since 2002. They have done their time. Anyway, the shoe was almost impossible to walk in, but I was not going to let that bother me and ruin my good time. And there is no way it could. It was amazing. The music was beautiful, the acting FABULOUS...I mean, wow, Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda was a HIGHLY entertaining physical actress and the voice of Donna Vivino playing Elphaba was divine. Stephen couldn't get over her voice. Anyway, it was a night to remember. I am almost tempted to buy tickets in Austin in two months seeing has how it won't be back in TX next year. I will say if you ever get the chance to see this production, don't pass it up..it will knock your socks off.

Kaylee's Day

2009-06-07T08:21:00.000-07:00

It was not her birthday, but on Saturday, it was all about Kaylee. It was her first annual Dance recital. They signed her up for dance at the begining of this year at the Jan Moore Dance Studio in Victoria. Karen took dance from Jan Moore for 8 years and it was really neat to see Kaylee follow in her footsteps. Tradition is a great thing sometimes.

Pat and Peggy were in Rockport so they picked me up. When I got into the car, this was the sight that I saw...and just about squealed with delight.

I had to take a picture and send it to Karen and Stephen. Karen was meeting us at the Recital Hall and Stephen unfortunately had to work. Anna stayed home with a babysitter, we figured we would have a hard time keeping her still for that long.

Peggy took a few pictures at the house before they left. She just cracks me up posing in this costume!! SO CUTE!

Peggy also took some pictures at the dress rehearsal the night before. I love this action pic, she looks like a super hero.

There she is, in the back row.

With Aunt Karen and Aunt Jody. Karen got her the flowers. She was very excited about them.

Seriously, how cute is this??

With Granny and Grandpa, so proud.

Below is the video of her performance. Her group was about half way in the program and she did such a good job. We were very proud of her. It was highly entertaining as she seemed to have some problems with the steps and kept looking at her neighbor. We also enjoyed her mirror image moves....everyone is going right and she is going left. HYSTERICAL is all I have to say. We loved watching all the other dancers of various ages. It was a fun night. We look forward to doing it again next year at this time. I say this because at dinner later that night, Karen asked Kaylee if she wanted to take dance again next year and she smiled and said yes. : )

My Little Artist

2009-05-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

Anna has been drawing a lot lately and today was the first time she actually set out to make something recognizable and succeeded, well kind of. This is how it went.

Anna - "Mommy, I gonna draw a cat."

Me - "Sounds like a good plan squirt."

Anna - " See Mommy, see my cat."

Me - " Uh huh, ( glancing out the corner of my eye as I put up the dishes ) Oh! Wow! Anna, you did a really good job!"

I then proceeded to grab my camera phone because the camera was in the car and I didn't want her to erase it. See picture below, I was pretty impressed with my 2 year, almost 3 year old.

OK, so the cat looks a little possessed, but it still kind of looks like a cat. She got the almond shaped eyes and the nose and whiskers and mouth. It even has four legs and a tail. I am not sure why the cat has a toupee and appears to be shooting fire out of its mouth, but whatever.

Then we went outside and she proceeded to tell me she was going to draw a sun with her chalk. OK people, I know that a sun is not that hard of a thing to draw, but after the cat incident I was interested to see how it turned out. You can see the results and judge for yourself, but beware of making harsh comments because I think she is genius. That is her sun on the right under her leg, not that large blue thing.

And I will give you one more story for humor sake and also just to write it down which so many people have told me I have to do once they have heard it. The other day I was cooking Dinner and I had Anna up on the counter because she likes to watch while we cook. This is how the conversation went.

Anna - "Mommy, gimme hugs."

Me - ( hugging her REAL big and making the grunting big hug sound)

Anna - ( pulls away with a confused look on her face ) "Mommy? You poopin your pants?"

I started laughing so hard I almost wet myself instead of what she was accusing me of. I hope you all have a great week!

Graduation Day +

2009-05-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

Stephen completed his finals this week and on Friday graduated from Del Mar College with an Associate of Applied Science Culinary Arts Degree. Before that, he completed his yearly competition called "Salon" in which students compete in their advanced classes for medals. Stephen competed last year and although he didn't medal, he did get TV coverage. This year, his advanced class was advanced pastry and he had to make a cake. His instructor seems to things that Stephen needs to get his Pastry Chef degree because he did so well. His celebration cake for a little girl's birthday won a Silver Medal. He was excited and we were very proud. See pictures below. This year there was no tv news crew, so unfortunately he wasn't on the news but he was happy with the silver medal nonetheless.

Graduation was great. Stephen made us all proud by receiving his degree Magna Cum Laude. Here are some pics from graduation at the American Bank Center in Corpus. As far as the future, we plan on staying Rockport for at least another year, and Stephen is going to stay at the Country Club to get another year's experience under his belt. The degree is great and his knowledge he gained while in school will benifit him greatly, but experience is what will really get him ahead in this business. After next year, we will see where things are going. If Stephen has moved up at the Club, we may stick around for a while. I really love my job here and he is happy at the club. So, I guess we will see how the Lord decides to move. : )

Holly took a lot of pictures before and after the ceremony, so see her blog for extra pics of the weekend. We had a great time at Stephen's parents' house on Saturday with family celebrating Stephen's accomplishments. I thought I would add a few extra pics from the last few weeks. Our computer is 7 years old and getting a little hard to work with. Thats right people, Macs are that awesome! 7 years with one update. AWESOME...anyway, we are about to buy a new one, but it has been hard to post with old Bessy so my posts have been on vaca. Enjoy a few pics from the last month or so....

Easter pics from Granny and Grandpa's. Karen giving Anna a hug and Anna and Kaylee getting ready for easter egg hunting in 60 degree weather. Fun times in Texas!

Anna's end of year program was Coyboy themed and they had to wear ten gallon hats when they entered the auditorium. She loves her school and loves her J-pa pictured as well.

Then,last weekend, Kaylee came over for the day and we built a fort. Anna and Kaylee had fun playing and Anna showed her distain for my desire to take her picture.

Have a great week!

Spring Break = Family Travels

2009-03-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

For the past few years around spring break time we have gone up to my grannies house and spent some time with her. Anna loves to see her and spend time with her and I always seem to get great video moments and pictures. This year was no exception. The picture is us eating at The Jalepeno Tree in Marshall with my mom, Great Grannie, Anna, me and my Great Aunt Winnie. We had a great time.

After we left Great Grannies house, we drove to Waco to hang out with Parker for one night. They were very excited to see each other and spent the evening and morning playing hard, which is why all picture taken they are in their pajamas. : ) The video was taken late that night before bed and they were both delirious. It was funny to watch, enjoy.

Stephen drove up with Kaylee on Sunday night and then Monday morning Karen drove and they all came over to pick Anna and I up at Jered and Holly's house. Anna was very excited to see Kaylee. We got to Killeen and went straight to Karen's friend Tommy's clinic to give Kaylee and Stephen an eye exam. Anna wanted to try as well and did NOT care for it at all. We had dinner and went home to plan our next day.

How pitiful is she?!

The first morning there we woke up and decided we would try to do something fun. Karen had purchased St. Patrick's day shirts for the girls and they looked very cute. We chose putt putt and had a great time. Anna would hit the ball once, then pick it up and run and drop it in the hole. We then headed in to play on the games and win some tickets for prizes. After all that morning fun we went and ate lunch at a local diner. It was wonderful food and the girls enjoyed theirs as well. We then went home for a nap and were heading to the lake that afternoon.

We got up from nap and went straight for the lake. We arrived at the state park and learned that the beach front was closed at that time, and were really bummed because the girls really wanted to play in the sand. So we entered the park anyway and drove around looking for a sudo-beach which the woman at the counter said we might could find. And we did. It was a little rough around the edges, but the sand was good and the weather was very nice and the girls had a great time. The water front was pretty nasty, so we stayed away from that, but over all it was worth the look. We used our beach toys and made a sand castle and then the girls trampled it. I love the pics I got of the girls there and then in the car on the way home when Anna was tired and Kaylee was being a super champ of a cousin and entertaining her.

bo derek?

We then got up the next morning and headed to Austin to go to the Children's museum and eat at this fabulous Italian food restaurant Karen kept telling us about. The minute we walked up to Mandola's Italian Market, I remembered where I had heard it before. I went inside looking for Keith Nelson ( Holly's brother) recalling his face from Jered and Holly's wedding 6 years ago. I glanced around and didn't see him and decided to go wash my hands before lunch. On my way back from the bathroom I saw him serving a group of people and went up and introduced myself, because as I said, it had been 6 years. He was SO gracious and payed for our entire meal and seems to be doing very well for himself. He was running the show and doing a very good job. I know Holly is very proud of all his accomplishments. It was a fabulous meal, Karen was right about that! Because he was working I didn't get a very good pic of Keith, but that is him looking to the right and talking with someone in the kitchen. And below are pics of us enjoying our meal. Karen's good friend Holly ( another Holly) came to eat on her lunch break. We had a great time and were very happy with our trip to Killeen. After lunch we were so tired and realized how late it would be by the time we left the museum and decided to let that wait for another day in the future. We headed home and had a great nights sleep.

Have a great week and I will be posting soon with easter bunny pics!

One for the record books...

2009-02-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

So Anna has started asking a lot more questions as she has gotten older and has a little more comprehension about things. A popular one lately has been where we work. She knows that I work at the school where all the busses are (the district bus barn is RIGHT next to where I park) and that daddy cooks for people. So a couple of days ago, she asked where we work. So I told her that I work at the high school and daddy works at the country club. She repeated it and we went on our merry way. Today, Stephen told me that she asked again this morning where he worked. He told her at the country club, and she repeated it and he dropped her off at school. When he picked her up from school this afternoon, her teacher told him that she proudly exclaimed that her daddy worked at the honky club. He about died laughing and I about fell out when Stephen told me. Her teacher got a big kick out of it as well...I am pretty sure that it was the talk of the day school today.

This went in line with the new movie she got from T-ma ( my mom) Sleeping Beauty, other wise known as Sleeping Booty. Yes, my daughter calls the movie Sleeping Booty. It is all pretty hysterical. I just think that these are the small things that make it SUCH a fun journey. Hope you have a great rest of the week!

Wow, time can get the best of you....

2009-02-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

So I know it has been a bazillion years since I last posted. Stephen LOVES when I exaggerate, so I feel the need to do it incessantly. : ) Things have been good. Stephen is months away from Graduating from Culinary school and we are very happy here in Rockport for the time being. Stephen will more than likely stay with the Country Club here in town working towards building up a resume and learning as much about the biz as he can. I could not love working at RFHS more and really love my kids and the direction our program is headed in. Things are lookin up. : )

I have had a really busy few months with getting started back up with school and then trying to host a regional art competition at our school this last weekend. I was SO proud when out of 300 entries, we had only 25 participate and 17 students advanced to area and 4 students

advanced to state out of an overall total 36 advancing. We were very happy and it sold the competition to our kids, which is what we were all about and why I fought to host it. It is ALL about buy in, and they bought it, hook line and sinker. So I know next year will be a much more successful event.

Anna is doing great and growing up super fast. She hit the 2 and half mark just after the

beginning of January and is fully potty trained and using the most impressive vocabulary. Everyone who meets her complements her on how well she can express herself with

words. : )

She loves to listen to Daddy play the guitar and asks him to get it out regularly so for Christmas this year, we decided to get her one of her own. Instead of the cheap little guitars, we went with a ukulele. She loves it and here is the picture to prove it. She loves to sing, and likes to listen to George Strait in the car with Daddy. Her favorite song is Troubadour....she knows all the words. Like I said, she is good with words.

Enjoy the other pics below, we went and visited the Big Tree a few months ago and here are some pics to show what Anna did while we were there....run, and run, and run some more. : ) Also is a picture of her and Jack Grantham who we went and saw today. She talks about Baby Jack quite often, she likes him very much. Have a great week and now that things have slowed down a bit I will try to be better about posting. Also, enjoy the video of Stephen and Anna singing....she cracks us up.

Tea Party

2008-12-15T08:41:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago, we were invited to a mother/daughter tea party at a friend's house. Her daughter and all daughter's participating were fourth grade and older so I was very excited that we were asked to attend. I was a little nervous how Anna would do, but like always, she was a model child. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Linda's house. It is awesome on the water with the master bedroom on the first floor, and two bedrooms, living and kitchen on the second floor.

Anna enjoying her tea.

Anna showing off her craft ( that Linda provided special for her) to the big girls. She was very proud of her Christmas Tree.

Girls pouring tea.

The lovely spread, cherries and chocolate, strawberries and cream. It was wonderful.

My friend Linda's handy work. Yep, that super awesome mosaic live oak tree in the background...the whole backsplash...she did that. I told you she was wonderful.

The ladies at the tea. That is Linda in white next to me, and then Tisha, Jenny, and America.

That same weekend we had a very nice Sunday with great weather and we decided it was time for Anna to see "The Big Tree". For those of you who don't know, the biggest live oak tree in the world rests like ten minutes from my house. So, we went and took some pics down by the water and then went to see the big tree. I will post pics from that event later. Time gets away from you when you are living your life!

It may have taken a while....but it will NOT disappoint.

2008-12-06T18:37:00.001-08:00

So, here is the latest with Anna. She continues to boggle our minds with the things she picks up. From school, from tv, from us. So here is her latest thing that we have never heard until this very day when Stephen brought her home a present. The present was a pirate eye patch. Enjoy.

Victory is mine!.....And I guess we will talk about Halloween too...

2008-10-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

So I won the pumpkin decorating contest!! YEAH!!....well not to get too excited...I was only competing with one other person and well, I won. I was in the teacher/faculty category and apparently the other teachers got lazy this year. There were not as many pumpkins this year as last. I really meant to take some pictures of all of them and kept forgetting my camera at home. Sorry about that.
Anyhow, on to more recent issues, Halloween was tonight, and Anna and I were going to head over to Calallen to hang out with my parents. Their neighborhood has had a hayride for the little kids for as long as I can remember and Mom and Dad have wanted Anna to come since she has been big enough to go. Last year she had just had her stupid ear tubes put in...that stayed in for only like a month ( sorry, I am a little bitter ) So we were out for the count last year ( even though I had a super cute outfit for her to wear and was so sad that she could'nt wear it, we put her in it days later and took pictures. ) This year, I refused to buy a new one, so we recycled. : ) It still fit, so why not? Anyway, this year, Anna and I were headed to the hay ride...then Dad got sick. DANGIT! So then Mom was going tocome up and visit and go with Anna and I to our church Pumpkin Patch, and then she called and was hold up with a massive headache. MAN! Well, maybe one year we will be able to make Halloween work. Anna and I got ready and headed up to the pumpkin patch. She had a blast. This was before we left, she was showing the camera
( daddy ) her tail and how she meows. It was hilarious.When we got there, we were told that there was a place set up specifically for the little ones. At the toddler station there were tons of prizes that were not candy based....it really was awesome. Here she is in action. She threw a ball in the frogs mouth....And won a toy...she liked that....A LOT. Then she got the idea...

Play a game....

Win a prize. And again...and again...and again.She won some pretzels....And ate them...

Then she won some more prizes.....Then she just played and had fun...and I enjoyed watching her have fun.

How hysterical is that tail??

Waving bye to some people as we were getting ready to leave. It was a great evening, and the only thing that could have made it better is if the rest of our family was there. : )

Tootin my own horn....

2008-10-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

So at school we have a pumpkin decorating contest, where you can paint or decorate a pumpkin. I will take pics of the ones I compete against tomorrow, but I thought I would post pics of mine so I can show everyone what I have been working on. It was loads of fun. The best faculty pumpkin wins a 50 $ gift card to Walmart....so you know I am hoping! : ) Have a great day and I will post pics of my competitors and the results tomorrow! It was an Art theme....famous artists through time. Features artists are Salvidor Dali, Piet Mondrian, Vincent Van Gogh, Picasso, Edvard Munch, Andy Warhol, Leonardo Da Vinci and Jackson Pollock.

Seventeen years later....

2008-10-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been a while since we posted. Unfortunately the blog thing has to take a back seat to all the craziness of life. So here is a quick update on the happenings in the Summers household.
Things have been great.
Anna and I went to see my grandmother (Granny) in East Texas a few weekends ago, we try to do this at least twice a year...and Anna really loves spending time with her. This makes me really happy and I always seem to get a great video clip from their time together, check last years post for proof. : ) So this year, I was hoping, and man did I hit the jackpot. Four of my favorite things together in one video, my Granny, Anna, Jesus and the piano.. in no particular order : ) And Jesus does not make an appearance per say, He is sung about for those of you out there that are thinking otherwise. : ) We had a fun time with Parker and Holly as well that weekend...see her blog for those details.

Anna has been taking a liking to Stephen playing his guitar in the evenings. So I also filmed a little of that. She really likes to strum the guitar and LOVES to dance to his playing. So, enjoy her little dance scenes.

Things really are going along nicely, nothing really amazing to report. I shall share some thoughts soon though. Since Stephen got his new job at the Country Club, he is home on Sunday night thru Wednesday night....so by the time Thursday comes around, I have way more stuff to do...like laundry and stuff. Sometimes it stinks to be responsible. Anyway, have a great week!

As of late...

2008-09-16T15:51:00.000-07:00

We have been a wee bit busy lately with the arrival of Ike on the gulf coast and feeling better about the fact that it missed us. Obviously we are not feeling better about the poor people who have lost everything or are without electricity. I was reminded how wonderful our God is that in the midst of all of this, He would allow a cold front to move in to give some relief to those without shelter, or those who are trapped inside their homes without air conditioning. It is really very hot in South Texas this time of year. Anyhow, this is what we have been up to. We went to go visit my College Roommate Kristy Dupree (Stridde) and had a great time with her and her husband Chris and their two kids Kayna and Noah. Noah and Anna were born two weeks apart. Pretty cool. Anyhow, they had a blast together and she can't wait to see him again. Kayna was so precious and beautiful and Anna loved to hug her and kiss her and wanted to play with her always. We had a great time. Friendship like that is always a breath of fresh air.

Then when Ike threatened to come right to Rockport, we decided to head out of town and go to my parents house south of here in Calallen. Once we were out of danger, there was lots of time to play. Judd came down to help board up and have a mini-vaca and hung out with Anna a lot. She loves her Uncle Judd a bunch. She has prayed for him twice this week. When we get ready for bed, we ask her who she wants to pray for and she normally lists off the people she sees everyday, but sometimes she comes up with a few extras. He has been on her mind lately. : ) Last but not least, the other night before bedtime, Franklin was on the floor and Anna wanted him to sit next to her. She slid over and said, "Uh Heer Franlin" and then he jumped up on the chair. She was very proud of herself and was very happy to have Franklin next to her on the chair. Well, hope you all have a great week and thanks to all who called or checked on us. It is nice to know that you are important to others in your life. Until next time......

Labor Day Weekend and Farewell Hemingway's

2008-09-04T19:02:00.001-07:00

Stephen's sister Karen came in this weekend and we got to hang out over at Stephen's parents vacation house a lot. They have a place in Rockport, which is very convenient I must say. I really enjoy having them this close, especially when Karen comes in, cause we don't have to travel. : ) Anyhow, we decided to go crabbing on Sunday afternoon but came up short. Anna and Kaylee had a good time playing in the "sea shell sand" as I call it. We went crabbing off the pier at Goose Island State Park and down at the end of the pier there is a little island (really it is just a low spot that has collected a TON of old shells) and we took the girls down there to liven the day (Anna was not entertained with looking at empty crab nets). Stephen was working that afternoon, which now knowing that we caught nothing and just sat in the heat, he was the one that came out on top. : ) After the girls had played awhile, we decided it was time to head back and see if Granny and Grandpa had any luck with the crabs. We have gone crabbing or at least tried to go at least once a year since Stephen and I started dating. It is probably one of my favorite things to do...it really is fun and I was hoping Anna could experience it that day. Oh well, better luck next time I guess!

This view is MOST depressing when you are hoping for a crab dinner. Here are the girls in action at "Shell Beach"

Anna had a great time just hanging out with her Granny and having a snack after we played at "shell beach".
I just love this picture.

So after staring at yet another empty net, we cleaned up and headed back to the house. Anna has been getting better at singing songs and has recently taken an interest in "Ring Around the Rosy." She and Kaylee sang it and danced around for quite some time before I got it on video. By this time, Anna was not as energetic and it looks like Kaylee is whipping her around.

In other news, Stephen got a phone call yesterday from a local restaurant manager asking if he was looking for a job. Stephen had applied at this restaurant when we first arrived in Rockport and was offered a job there a day after he accepted a job at Hemingway's. A little confused, Stephen said no. Then the man proceeds to explain that there was a rumor going around that Hemingway's was closing down and if that was true that Stephen had a job with him. After calling his boss, getting his voicemail, getting another call from yet another restaurateur offering him a job (Stephen was popular) his boss called back and first apologized for the way he found out. Apparently he was making his way down the list of employees and the ones already called were already out looking for work. He then explained that they were closing down. Pretty sad because Stephen really enjoyed where he worked. He liked the people, the chef, the restaurant, everything. Fortunately for us all employees got a severance package and Stephen took one of those two job offers and got an increase in pay. He starts next Thursday. Please pray for him in this new job, we are hoping God will use this opportunity to further Stephen in his career. So this has been a busy week. All in all, we are doing good and I am very thankful that God allowed Stephen to be given news like this with the promise of stability in another job. I think the Lord knows I might have exploded had he not provided that information all at once. Below is a video of Anna and her daddy playing before bedtime.
Have a great week!

Growing up is hard to do....

2008-08-30T18:16:00.001-07:00

At least for a parent. Peggy, my mother-in-law, kept Anna for me Friday night so that I could stay after school and get a little more organized after my first week of school. It was definitely needed, and I very much appreciated her willingness to watch her. When I got there to pick her up , Peggy said that Anna's teacher had told her that Anna had gone poo-poo in the potty that day. OK, side note, she is not in full blown potty training yet, but we are in the introduction stage and her teacher is REALLY good at knowing Anna's "timing" and just throws her on the potty when it is time...but to Anna's credit, she is doing it...not bucking the system like lots of kids do.

When we got home and after I read her a story, I asked her, "Anna, did you go poo-poo in the potty today?" And she smiled and said "yeah...bih durl" ( aka big girl ) I had to choke back the tears...she IS a big girl now. She is very lovey so I can kind of hang onto the babyness of holding her and she still lets me rock her every now and again....but I look at her and there is no baby left. She is a little girl. And it is SO exciting, but yet, SO sad. The exciting parts are the things like saying prayers with her and having her finish the sentence...I will say, Dear, and she will finish "Jeesahsssss", thank you for, and she will finish "food, or mommy or daddy", or whatever comes to the top of her head, which sometimes makes for great laughs, Then I'll say, help it make us healthy and, and she will finish, "STRONG! "..like, she yells it, every time. In Jesus name we, and she will say "prway, Ahhmen". Everyday with her is the best, I just wish I could remember every single thing....like you remember it moments after it happened.

Today she woke us up with her recent montage of " mah ee, dah ee, pee-pee potty"..so Stephen got up to let her go to the bathroom. I was then summoned into the bathroom because Anna had gone poo-poo in the potty at home for the first time. She was so proud of herself. I give her two weeks and we will no longer be buying diapers...praise the Lord!

I thought I would put this on the blog, Stephen's mom got this little chef hat from a friend, Anna loves it. So does Stephen. ; ) Also, a pic of Stephen and Anna before bedtime. She loves her daddy. Have a great week!

T, U, and V do not exist to our daughter...

2008-08-24T19:15:00.001-07:00

Anna let us all know how smart she was today by singing to herself while she was coloring. She just all of a sudden busted out her ABC's. I am fairly certain that they have been reviewing this at school because, we have sang the ABC's like maybe five times in the last few months. She has a few toys that sing them, but it isn't like she is playing with THOSE toys 24/7. So either she has been learning them at daycare or she is a freakin genius. Anyway, here is the video we took of her singing the ABC song today. I love how X and S sound the same, and as the title of the post says, T, U, and V are not in the song. : ) Enjoy...she cracks us up. : )

Puts a new spin on house boat......

2008-08-08T17:27:00.000-07:00

Yep that is right. This is where we live, and yes, that is a boat on the front of our house. But I am not above it. I am not. It has a TON of perks that make that silly schooner on the front of the duplex that Stephen and I are renting worth it.

Well, we made it. It took two days of intense work, and it is still in progress but we are getting there. We have lived in Rockport for a week as of today. In case you were wondering where abouts Rockport is located, check google maps so you can see where it is located. We are about 45 minutes east of Victoria and 45 minutes north of Corpus Christi. Stephen is working at "the" place to eat in town, a restaurant called Hemingway's, you should check it out. He is really liking it and learning a ton. It was a miracle and blessing that God was able to get him this job. We really thought it would help his career after school if he had some experience from a place that really taught him what he needed to know once he graduated. I mean, you can't get everything from a 2 year program at any culinary school, which is why they all rely on co-op programs where students work while going to school to get on the job experience. However, some of those jobs don't fully prepare you for what life will be like once you get out into the real world and start working towards becoming an executive chef. Hemingway's is run by Chef James Granger, who teaches periodically when he is needed for the Culinary program at Del Mar, where Stephen is currently enrolled. SO, he has the knowledge of what the program gives you and what the program does not, and he makes up the difference, which is awesome. So it has been a great thing and I am very thankful to the Lord that He has allowed Stephen such a great place to work. I am posting a few pics of our new abode. It is nothing special other than we live in it. : ) It used to be a house that was converted into a duplex and the original owners wanted to rent it out only to seasonal vacationers, hence the schooner on the front of the house. The new owners prefer a more stable income, so they are renting it out on year leases now. Because the duplex used to be a house, our living room and kitchen/dining area are muy grande. Our bedrooms are non-existent though, but that is ok.Giant kitchen and dining area, don't you just love the old dark wood look? So homey.
We are in the works of getting some more lighting and a possible ceiling fan. It is terribly hot in the kitchen/dining in the afternoon and very dark.
Anna's room, bad picture I know, I never got a chance to get another decent pic of her room before she went to sleep.

Our living room. The tiled floor on the far side of the living room leads to the door on the left.

Our room. Pretty small but cozy. The closets make me feel like crying, but I will have my walk in again some day I know it. : ) The view from across the street. That is the bay, yes we live on the water, or at least, across the street from the water. The view at dusk is pretty amazing. We feel very blessed that we have found this home that is close to school and Stephen's work, is much more affordable and saving us the cost of fuel because we will not be driving as much. It has a very nice yard with LOTS of live oak trees so Anna has a place to play. Excuse the clutter in some of the photos, I am still trying to find a place for everything. Other than the house, we are still doing great, Anna started at her new daycare and really likes it. I have started back at school a little and will start back full blown next week with LOADS of staff development. Students come back on the 25th, so I still have two weeks to get my stuff in order for classes which is good, cause I will need it. Hope all our friends and family are doing well and if you would ever like to come to the water and have a vaca, Port Aransas is 15 minutes from here and there are plenty of affordable condos we would love to co-rent with someone and have a fun filled weekend at the beach. You could also crash on our huge living room floor on a blow up mattress if you feel like roughing it! : ) Just give us a call or shoot us an email and we will plan! Have a great weekend!

Moving right along....

2008-07-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

We went to my brother Jered's house in Waco a few weeks ago and had a blast of a time with him and Holly and Parker. I am not going to post all of the great pics twice, but please visit her site to see all of the fun we had. I will show a few pics that were my favorite and a few that didn't make it on her blog.

Holly playing play dough with Anna. (video coming soon at how EASY it is to make)...for those of you interested in making homemade play dough.
Climbing
She did NOT want her picture taken. She is such a diva when it comes to the camera.
At Panera Bread with Jeremy, Nikki and Eleanor Rhodes. Once again, Anna did not want to take a picture.
Eleanor saw Anna's hair and was going in for the kill.

I love both these pics because Anna is having such a blast. It just makes me smile.

So, moving on, we found out last Monday that Anna was able to get into "the" daycare in Rockport, the town where I teach. We put her on the waiting list last year and didn't think a thing about it until this summer, when we realized that Stephen was only going to be in school for three days of the week in Corpus and I was commuting 45 minutes 5 days a week to Rockport. So we called "the" daycare (and I say this because everyone in town says everywhere else, which is not a lot of places, are not worth it in comparison to this one) and because of our previous years placement on the waiting list, she was allowed an upcoming spot. So, we went with it. We started looking for a place to live, and found one within a matter of days that is more affordable than the one we are currently renting. I have three weeks left of summer and two are taken up partly for staff development. So, we have begun packing. Oh, how I loath packing. I have been singing that in my head for the last few days to the tune of Oh, how I love Jesus. It makes me feel better as I open yet another cabinet to find gobs and gobs of junk that we have decided we cannot live without. I really am fine about it...I have had more time to pack appropriately, not just throwing stuff in a box hoping it won't break during the move and I am getting really positively anxious about living in a new place. I could have been a military brat I think with the love I have of starting again and the idea of change. Anyway, I will try to post with pictures of our new place and how things are going once we get settled week after next. I am in PD this coming Tuesday and Wednesday and then on Thursday we move. Stephen is still searching for a job in a restaurant, they are currently finishing up with summer staff who are heading back to college and he hopes to hear from various prospects this coming week. Pray for success in that if you feel so inclined. Have a fabulous week!

The day our lives changed...

2008-07-21T11:59:00.001-07:00

Anna was born. Since then, things have never been the same and I know that Stephen and I would rather die than go back. She has a great trust for those who love her. She will try it just because Mom or Dad said it was OK...she really is obedient. She is very tender and sweet and loves to give kisses and hugs. She likes one on one time. I say it more and more, her personality is just like her dad's. She loves to read before nap and bedtime, like 30 minutes of it is fine with her. Her favorite book right now is "The Eye Book" by Dr. Seuss...and that isn't forced Dr. Karen Summers (optometrist aunt)..she just really likes it better than the nose book and the foot book. She is starting to sing songs little by little and it makes Stephen and I want to cry when she notices she is off pitch and can correct it. She makes us laugh moment by moment with every little noise and the words she tries to say, like guacamole was kuh molee today. AWESOME. She brightens our day and we could not imagine life without her. I thank God daily for the UNBELIEVABLE gift He has given me in her and am humbled that she is second only to my salvation which I take for granted more than I should. I hope and pray that when we decide to have another child, that they are just as precious as Anna, and also as well behaved! : ) She has spoiled us rotten as a first child!

We celebrated her birthday in Corpus at my Mom and Dad's house last weekend. Here are some pics of the occasion. Those in attendance were Jered, Holly and Parker Johnston (my brother and family), Great Granny (my grandmother), Granny, Grandpa and cousin Kaylee
(Stephen's parents and our niece) Tommie and Mike Welch (my aunt and new uncle..congratulations are in order :) ) . Libby Grantham (fabulous friend) and her girls Sadie, Tessa and new baby boy Jack. We did things I knew Anna would love. She started the day with a horse ride with J-Paw. (no pictures of this event)
Then the guests arrived and we did some swimming in our rocking 20 dollar pool from Walmart. Can I say, that for 20 bucks, this thing is AWESOME! They had a good time while it lasted. It was getting close to lunch, so we broke down the pool and went inside to do lunch and presents.

When it came time for cake, Anna was not too sure about her cupcake, even though her counterparts had a GREAT TIME. She opted out after about five attempts to eat the cupcake and went for jello instead.
Notice the new hairdo. We cut off the mullet curls.
Not very sure of this fire thing. Let us, just for grins, see how she compares with her cousin Parker when it comes to fire. Flash back to his birthday.....YES! That IS my nephew at ONE YEAR old, trying to grab fire. He loves it. Not so much like Anna on this one....but very much like his Father, who last week, during 90 degree weather mentioned starting a fire in the fireplace...he said he was joking, but I have my doubts. : )

So here is the progression of tasting the cupcake. (which I promise was good..see other children lapping it up for proof...)
First taste.
Obvious disgust.
Notice Stephen talking her into eating the cupcake on the right and Kaylee watching in amazement as another child turns down chocolate.
We even tried using a fork, which she loves, to no avail.
Why is that fire thing in my Jello?

She does NOT play around when it comes to her Jello. She is serious.

Present time was a little crazy. Lots of kids around. They had a good time though. She got some awesome stuff.
That is a lot of kids wanting very badly to tear at some paper and Anna just stood there and looked and wanted ME to open her presents. I could tell it was making the other kids (especially the older ones) itch.
Talking about her bell on her new tricycle from Granny and Grandpa.

Trying out the bell for the first time, she was very excited and surprised.
She loves her friend Tessa. That is Great Granny there in the recliner.

After everyone said bye, we put her down for a nap and she crashed hard. It went over fairly well. After it was all over and I started looking through pictures I realized that there were NO pictures of anyone else except those who were in direct sight of Anna. Some pictures did not turn out that great of other people, because they were not prepared to be photographed. Oh well, maybe I will be more mindful of it next year. We went to Waco two days later and spent the week with Jered, Holly and Parker and had a blast. I will post pictures from that soon.
Have a great week!

The Final Chapter..for real

2008-07-13T10:34:00.001-07:00

So on Tuesday we spent a majority of time at the Duomo in Florence. We left and on the way out did a little shopping as we walked passed some street vendors. We got in the car and headed for Siena. All the reading we did on Siena talked about how it was a must to see it at night. So, that is what we did. We arrived around 4:30 and started walking the streets. Stephen walked by a bakery (pretty high class stuff) and they were closed already. They had a t.v. in the window playing a video on how they make ricciarelli (biscotti made with marzipan). In case you didn't know, marzipan is almond paste, so they are pretty freakin amazing. Stephen began searching for another location that was open that would sell him some ricciarelli. He found it later, and they were pretty expensive so he bought one and we shared it. WOW. About the same time, Karen and I walked past a print makers studio and gallery. I walked in because I love printmaking and I had wanted to purchase some artwork from Italy and prints are the cheapest thing you can get. His stuff was amazing. Siena was founded originally by Jewish settlers before the sons of Remus, Romes' founder, came to stake their claim. A lot of the proprietors in Siena are Jewish. There is a synagogue there and this print maker was also Jewish. A lot of his artwork had Hebrew letters and such. Siena is also a medieval-esque town. Siena didn't grow much after the plague that devastated it in the 1300's. Most of the town, as we read in the book's, is "frozen in time." The print makers current piece he was working on was the Hebrew alphabet in the theme of illuminated manuscripts. They were stunning. If I could have afforded one of these amazing works I would have purchased as many as possible. I bought a few things that were nice and affordable and we made our way after he bundled them up. After we arrived in Siena about 15 minutes had passed when it started to rain. It was one of those constant slow rains, we knew it was going to rain most of the night. The print maker's studio. I was foaming at the mouth. I would love to have a space like this one day.
The color is a little dark, but you can see some of the detail in the Hebrew letters. They were breathtaking.

We then started walking toward the Cathedral in Siena - in the rain. Karen stopped and bought an umbrella. We got to the Cathedral and Karen and I got an audio guide. This was probably my favorite church from our entire trip (other than the Duomo). The church was absolutely beautiful at first glance, but once inside and exploring a bit, Stephen found the library and recommended that I check it out, and that is where I found this cathedral's real treasure. I walked in and was blown away by the amazing frescoes on the wall. Pinturicchio painted these frescoes in 1502 and 1503. They were some of the most well preserved frescoes I have ever seen. They were amazing and vibrant. I wish we would have had more time there, but as it was getting close to 6, they were getting ready to close the church. I am very thankful though, that I was able to see this collection. Also in the Cathedral was a bronze statute of John the Baptist by Donatello. Supposedly his, John the Baptist's, right arm is housed there.
Exterior view of the Cathedral.

Inside the Piccolomini Library. Frescoes inside the library.
Statue of John the Baptist by Donatello. He was known for having sculptures that were very dramatic and full of texture.

We walked around for about another hour or so, trying to decided where to eat. A lot of our books said that Siena was NOT known for good food, but in one of the books, there were a few recommendations. Trattoria la Torre was the one we chose and we were all the more thankful afterwords. Our dining experience was one that will be remembered for a lifetime. The owner, a large Italian man with an apron, seated us. He spoke in Italian the entire time he greeted us and explained the menu. We muddled through ordering and the food was amazing. While we sat, the owner walked around and visited with his customers. A younger woman, that we figured was his daughter, sat behind the counter singing a Whitney Houston song that played overhead. This was fairly common, there was 80's music playing everywhere in English and they knew all the words, even though they could barely speak the language. I remember thinking multiple times, the music in Europe ROCKS! As we were getting ready to leave, Stephen read an article framed and posted near the front door about the restaurant, by "Under the Tuscan Sun" author Frances Mayes. She wrote this article for the New York Times, International Issue back in 1990, prior to writing her popular novel. As Stephen read, the owner walked over to him and Stephen asked him if the picture was,"tu madre", he said yes and made a gesture for sleeping. We were not sure if this meant she was upstairs asleep or had passed away. It was a good article and a fabulous restaurant.

Owner of Trattoria la Torre.
Article Stephen read and discussed with the owner.

After dinner we walked out into the main gathering place of the city, Piazza del Campo. This area is a fan shaped cobblestone amphitheatre-esque center of the city . The Sienese are looked upon as humanists because the center of their city is a gathering place for people, not a church.

We stopped for Gellato and Stephen finished his way before Karen.
Outside the Gellato shop. The group of people straight ahead were all watching the Europe cup soccer match between France and Italy that night. That is why the whole Piazza was deserted. It normally is swarming with people. The rain didn't help either, it was still raining off and on pretty heavily. The small crowd outside this restaurant and the various employees within each shop would periodically cheer or boo. It was a fun experience....then the game was over, and Italy had won. That was when it really got fun. Young people from each side of the Piazza came strutting into the fan shaped area chanting in Italian. There were suddenly about 50 people where there had been none. They were so excited that their team had won. The rain started back up and they started running around in the rain, chanting even louder and kicking a soccer ball around. It was too dark to get great pictures of this, and the rain made it even harder, but this is the best we got. All in all, Siena was a fabulous experience, and if you get the chance to go, forget what the books say, this place is one of a kind.

The next day we packed up our things from our beloved Villa in the Sienese countryside. We headed out pretty early because we wanted to make it to Pisa to see the leaning tower, and then drive the many miles to Cinque Terra. The drive was very interesting to both. Some stories can only be told in person, because they are too colorful for the blog, but if you feel so inclined to ask, we will GLADLY oblige you. : )

We got to Pisa with little problems and found a parking place with the help of a gentleman walking his dog. We stopped for Cappuccino and a quick restroom break and started walking towards the tower. The first "sighting" of the tower.

Excuse the "up the nose" look, but it was the only way to get the leaning tower in the picture.

I could NOT resist doing the totally dorky "pushing the tower back up" pose. See me there to the right. I asked Stephen if he wanted me to take his pic, he said, very snootily I might add, "no." : )
Stephen and I in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Leaving Pisa and heading for Cinque Terra. The streets were lined with orange trees. SO AWESOME! Anyone in the town could just pick one and eat it.

We headed for Cinque Terra, which is Italian for five towns. These are five very small towns that rest on the edge of cliffs off the Mediterranean Sea in North Eastern Italy. Please see map from previous post for clarity. : ) We did not realize how long it would take to get there or that it would take us nearly one hour to drive down the side of the mountain (cliff) to reach these towns or we would have stayed longer. We only had time after we arrived to see one of the five towns. We were to spend only an hour or two there so we could check into our hotel in Milan that night. I shall allow the pictures to tell the story and beauty of Cinque Terra, more specifically, the town of Vernazza.

Driving on the highway towards Cinque Terra.

After following the road signs until they disappeared...our map did not have the little roads on it that we needed to get to our destination, we stopped and asked this VERY nice man in a range rover. God bless him. We were in the middle of nowhere and there were not a lot of people around to ask for help. We flagged him down and he said we needed, in broken English, to go towards Pignone.

The blessed sign to Pignone. We were really in the middle of nowhere.
We drove a seriously, one lane dirt road and drove through some crops. These men were giving us the, "stupid Americans" look.
Then we made it to the mountain and started driving, in a standard vehicle mind you, down hill. We were at about a 45 degree angle most of the way down. Our first sight of Vernazza. We were SO high up, we could barely believe that was our destination.
A far off view of Vernazza as we came around the mountain after the fog cleared. This gives a better idea of how far off we were.
Walking down the hill after we parked. We still had quite a hike before we made it to the town.
The street into town from the water. Restaurants and shops lined the streets.
The edge of the water...no beach, only rocks and mountain. This made me think of Goonies. : )

Stephen placing his feet in the Mediterranian Sea.
Stephen on the stairway overlooking the boat dock/manmade beach area.
Stephen and Karen tasting Anchovy Bruschetta, which I opted out of.
How Vernazza looks when the sky is clear and no atmosphere clouds the camera. WOW.
That is Stephen way out of sight, getting better directions out of there. : )

We drove to Milan and got into our hotel. It was a very much needed nights rest. We had traveled quite a bit that day and had seen more than I could remember. Our trip had come to an end. We were to catch our flight the next morning around nine. There are so many other pictures and stories that there is just not room for on the blog. I was sad to leave, but SO excited to get home to see my baby girl and I know Stephen felt the same. We had been away from her for 11 days and it was going to be another 20 or so hours before we saw her again. The blessing of this trip will never be forgotten and the reason for it in the first place, the honor of someone who was taken from his family too early in life and the research to keep it from happening to another will be in our thoughts always as we remember our trip. If you want to read up on Nick Gonzales and his foundation and feel compelled to give, please do so. Here is the link to his story of life and the foundation that hopes to save one. Thanks for reading if you have...we had a great time and are happy to be able to share our experience with you all.

Italy: The Final Chapter..almost (disclaimer...longest yet)

2008-07-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

This is the first town we visited on our day trips, Monteriggioni from the main road. So here we go, the final days of our trip. We picked up Karen on Sunday in Florence and had a great dinner. We headed to the villa and prepared for the next day, day trips in Tuscany. Tuscany is more of a region than an actual location. Tuscany is to us like south Texas. Here is a quick map to let you know where we were throughout the trip and where we were headed. Google maps is awesome. Anyway, Stephen made breakfast the next morning, which side note, is a WAY better idea because it takes him half the time to get ready and by the time we were ready to go, he had breakfast ready. We ate and left. Guys, take note. It really saves time to cook for your women instead of having to wait around for them to feed you AFTER they are done primping. Just FYI.
So, our first stop was Monteriggioni. We drove into the town and noted the walled city up on the hill it is known for. We decided to drive up this narrow gravel drive up to the city wall. Scary and once at the top, realized it was a walking trail. It was early, our brains had not gotten up yet. SO, we drove back down and parked. Walked up to this little cafe on the side of the road and decided to get some caffeine before hiking back up the hill. We had Cappuccino and Espresso. It was very yummy. The town, like many of the towns in Italy are all a trip back in time once you step inside the walls of the center of the city. Small towns like this, the city only exists inside these walls. Larger cities like Siena and Florence, the people out grew the center and kept growing outward. Here are a few pics from Monteriggioni.Group picture at the top of the hill outside the city wall.Stephen and Karen enjoying their Cappuccino.
View from the top of the hill. Vineyards as far as the eye can see.

After we spent some time admiring the city, walking into a small gift shop with a wine tasting table set up in the basement and deciding it was a little early for a wine tasting, we headed back down the hill on to another town. The best thing about this town was it was our first experience with a small town. We were not expecting the inside of the wall to be inhabited. (don't ask me why). We thought of it as some sort of La Bahia or Goliad or something. Like a historical site. It was hysterical to all of us to walk in and find that it was completely inhabited by around 200 + people. Silly Americans, we are so narrow minded.
Our next stop was Colle di Val d' Elsa. This town was known for something we had read up on and were all very curious about. It has a church in it that supposedly has one of the nails from the cross of Jesus Christ's Crucifixion. It is kept in a marble vault and locked using four different locks with four separate keys kept by four different citizens as to keep it safe. It is only brought out once a year during a festival. After we arrived, we found parking and learned that most of the little towns are on a hill or multiple hills that require a LOT of walking and climbing. Needless to say we were working off the pasta. After a long walk up a steep road, we made it to the Cathedral di San Saeraore. We had hoped to see the nail through bullet proof Plexiglas or something, but to no avail, it was unavailable for viewing. We made our decent and found an elevator hanging out on the outside of the hill. After we got out, we saw the location where we chose to go left and had we gone right, we would have walked right into the elevator to take us up. We had lots of jokes on the way to the car about the little worm in the wall on the movie "Labyrinth". If you know you know, if you don't, sorry. Here are the photos from d' Elsa (as we called it, that name is TOO long)The location of the nail from Jesus' cross.
The elevator in the side of a hill. It really did look odd, almost like something out of a James Bond movie.
The infamous "fork in the road". The dark door, just out of sight on the right is the door that takes you into the elevator. Notice the plaque on the wall just next to it. It is clearly labeled "Lift". Didn't see it and we went left and walked about another 15 minutes uphill. Oh well.

Before getting in the car, we noticed it was getting past our lunch time and decided to get a bite on the go. Sandwiches, which were awesome. We made our way to San Gimignano. We parked and waited a few minutes for a shuttle to take us to the center of the city. As the day progressed, we were getting to larger and larger towns. There were a ton of shops to see. We would walk and stop and walk and stop and so on. We headed towards the city center to see the Basillica Santa Maria Assanta. There is a fresco by Bartolo there depicting Good and Evil and a lot of frames depicting the life of Jesus. This was an enjoyable experience, the paintings were very interesting to look at not just technically, but the content was neat. We were playing name that story from the Bible and some were hard to name. Old Testament was on one wall and the Life of Jesus was on another. We stopped to have Gelato at "Italy's Best Gelataria" as voted in 2005, 2006 and 2007, "Pluripremiata Gelateria". It was good. Then we headed back to the car. We had thought to go to Sienna next, but the day had gotten away from us. We chose to drive to San Rocco a Pilli to the Coop market, get a few more groceries for breakfast ( we were running low) and eat at the pizza place Stephen and I went to our first night at the Villa. It was a nice dinner and we headed home to rest up for the next day in Florence and Siena.
The front of the Basillica. Notice what we thought was probably a May Pole.
The Gelateria that was Italy's best.Stephen and I on the road around the city. You can see how high up it was. All cities were built on hills. You can see how much time you would have as an advantage if you were being attacked by a neighboring country or town.

We prepared to head to Florence the next day so I could see the Duomo and then on to Siena
(which all the books suggested to see Siena at night ). We got up, ate and got on the road. It took about 45 minutes to get to Florence and park. We headed straight to the Duomo to see the inside of the cathedral. Once we got a good look, and smirked at the women and especially men who had to buy and then cover themselves with light blue fabric to cover their exposed arms and legs, we headed outside towards the line to walk up the dome to the very top of the Cathedral. 375 feet up in the air and 439 steps to get there. Let me just say, it was amazing. I am so glad I got to do this. Not to go into the whole lesson, Brunelleschi designed and created this dome using the Pantheon in Rome as his muse. He was the first to design an Octagon dome in history and the first to do it with out the use of support systems or scaffolding from the ground floor. Pretty much he is a genius. I think he is my favorite. Check out more on the Basillica di Santa Maria del Fiore. Here are some pretty awesome pics. We were really high.
: )Front of the Basillica.
Interior shot of the fresco's on Brunelleschi's Duomo. Notice the rails right in front of the circular windows and the rails right above those. Oh yeah, we were up there.

Pardon my behind, but this is the only picture we have of the interior of the corridor leading up to the top of the dome. I wanted you to see the small amount of space, the tiny window to let in light and all of the ridiculous graffiti. It was out of control. The exterior of the dome was even tagged up. So sad.A visual of the interior of the the Duomo for those of you who are mathematically challenged and 375 feet doesn't compute to you. Those little dots ...those are people. We were REALLY high up.Stephen and I at the top of the Duomo, exterior.
View of Florence from the highest point in the city.
The only graffiti that I approved of, because man is it true.

I had planned on finishing this post with the rest of this day in Sienna and then our day in Assisi and then our day in Pisa and Cinque Terra, but as you can tell, there is no way. So, I will post that info in the next two or three days. I cannot express how much of a dream come true this trip was for me. I realized the other day that I had said in the same breathe that I wanted to go to Maine one day and then Italy. I know, I know, why Maine? Someone had just returned from there and we were having a conversation about places we wanted to go. Anyway, last summer I went to Maine and had some lobster and this summer, I was in Italy at the top of the place I have always wanted to see. Crazy. Amazing. Thanks Karen. You are the reason for both.

Italy: part two

2008-07-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is us on the train to Florence, and as you recall, after this pic was taken, Stephen was sleeping as I flipped through books furiously before our arrival. This was not a day for sight seeing, but for finding the Hertz rental office, getting our rental car, and heading towards our villa near Sienna. Karen was flying into Florence the next day and we were planning on getting a large amount of sight seeing done then. We got to the train station around 11:30 and had about two hours before we were supposed to pick up our car, so we checked our bags at the station and went in search of lunch and the Hertz office. Found the office and then an Internet cafe, so we stopped and checked up on Anna through email. We then started walking back towards the station and found a hole in the wall pizza vendor (really good food that was really cheap). We made it back to the station and sat on the marble floor at the station and enjoyed our lunch. Yeah, their train stations have marble floors..NUTS! OK, the weather there was never above 75 or so until right before we left, so sitting at the station (which is an open air station, not enclosed) on the floor was a very nice experience (if you don't mind sitting on the floor). While we ate, we had this little sparrow hop over to us like he was waiting for us to feed him. He was very sure of himself too, super cute. It was a very peaceful little lunch. So, we got our bags and headed back to the Hertz office to get our rental car. We got AWESOME directions out of town from the rental lady and were on our way. The streets in Italy are very small, especially in the center of the cities, which are mainly old stone buildings and cobblestone streets that were created centuries ago with the mind of only housing walking travelers. So, throw in a few cars, it gets a little hectic. Stephen did an AMAZING job and Karen and I were constantly thanking God that we were not the ones driving. : ) We arrived at our villa later that afternoon after a few detours (unwanted of course) and were overwhelmed with the beauty of the Tuscan countryside. The Pappini family was extremely generous and offered us complementary Red wine, Cherry marmalade and Lemionchello (lemon flavor liquor)..all made from their farm. Please enjoy the numerous pictures of our villa that we were so happy to have stayed in for 5 days and 6 nights.Our car. It was a Peugeot. The Italians are not NEAR as vain about their cars as Americans. It is all about economy.The villa, exterior. Apparently (we learned by reading the guest book) that the father of the household, Roberto, renovated and remodeled the entire villa with his son, Alesandro.
Stephen and I at the villa. They called their home Torrenpietra.The Papinni's home. It was not very far from the villa at all. Interior of the villa showing kitchen/living area. Stephen would write all the days happenings down each evening in a journal his mom had given him titled "Jots and Tittles", which apparently is a quote from a verse in the bible in good ole King James version. Matthew 5 :18, check it out if you have KJV. Pretty funny.
That is a tractor over there in the distance. It is not a motor bike. It was SO SMALL!
Stairs that lead to upstairs. It had one bath downstairs and one upstairs. It was a two bedroom and the windows opened up to the most gorgeous view in the morning.

Interior of the villa looking at the front door.
Their cherry tree that we saw one morning as we were leaving. We took a picture of it and Mr. Pappini saw us, walked over and offered us some. They were very good, ripe, but a little sour. That afternoon when we returned, the two grandmothers of the household had picked it clean.
The view from the villa at sunset in Italy. Those are vineyards. They were everywhere you looked, rows and rows of them. Just stunning.

So, the rest of the evening was filled with Stephen and I driving to a small town nearby and eating dinner, going to a small coop market and getting some groceries and another unwanted detour on the way back to the villa. Lets just say that there are not very many helpful street signs in Italy.
The rest of the post will be in itinerary form.

Sunday, June 15, 2008: Got up, ate breakfast that Stephen cooked. Eggs and toast with Cherry marmalade from our own villa's garden. YUM. Left for Florence. Karen's ETA is around 4 pm. So we are going to try to get as much done as possible before she arrives, because she has been to Florence before. Get to Florence with little problems, we feel that through our trials from previous evenings detours that we are becoming old pros at the Italy highway system. We get to the Duomo in Florence (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore) and are DEVASTATED to learn that because it is Sunday, the church will not open until 1 pm and close at 4 pm. We had not thought of this and were frustrated at first when most all churches (which house most of the artwork in the city) were closed on Sunday morning. We have an appointment with the Uffizi gallery at 2pm, so we piddle around town and spend some time at the Baptistery doors in front of the Duomo. These doors were created by Lorenzo Ghiberti and it took him 28 years to complete them. When Michelangelo saw them for the first time, he dubbed them the "Gates of Paradise". They have remained by that title since then. I have always loved them and was able to actually see the 10 panels that depict various events in biblical history. Good moment.The "Gates of Paradise"

We went to Uffizi gallery and were able to see some amazing artworks. Botticelli's "Primavera" and "Birth of Venus". We were also able to see a few works by Michelangelo and Da Vinci. It was an amazing collection and I was so happy to see those works that I have wanted to see since I laid eyes on the slides in my Art History classes. Unfortunately we were unable to get pictures, they are not allowed.
The replica of Michelangelo's "David" outside Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. The original was here from 1504 until it was moved to the Academia Gallery in 1873 to protect it from the elements.
The center of the Uffizi gallery corridor. It is filled with statues of famous Florentines who since the middle ages until the 19th century were distinguished in some way. There were quite a few that I knew as major contributors to history. To name a few: Vespucci (as in Amerigo), Galileo, Michelangelo, Donatello.

A parade was going on this day in Florence. I never found out what it was celebrating.

We met up with Karen right after the Uffizi gallery marathon ( it was a ton of stuff to see in a short time to see it) and went to the Duomo to sit for a while and find out where we wanted to go to dinner. I got a chance to check out the "Gates" again. : ) We had some time to kill since most all restaurants do not open until around 7:30 in Italy (they eat very late), so we decided to walk over to the Arno River since we were in spitting distance. Not a very pretty river. Very dirty. Anyway, we waited until 7:25 and we headed over to the restaurant.
The restaurant, "Trattoria dei 13 Gobbi" was recommended by one of the books we had. SO NICE. Was the best dining experience to date as far as atmosphere. We had a lemon tree behind us for goodness sakes. Our waiter was awesome. He was very nice and spoke really good English and he did not seem irritated by our questions at all, which is something we were beginning to get used to.

We headed back to the villa that evening pretty late. I did not get to see Duomo that day, but we discussed it, and my determination to see it brought us back on Tuesday of that week. I will talk more about that on the next post when I talk about our day trips to Sienna, Pisa, Assisi and many more. Sorry for the length, it was just so great, I hate to leave out too many things.

Hit the ground running....

2008-06-27T18:57:00.001-07:00

Well, we made it back from Italy. We got back and immediately started running again. Kaylee, our 5 year old niece, is staying with us this week. Needless to say, I have had no time to post. So, to catch up on what all has been going on....Going to Italy was an awesome experience and I cannot be more thankful for Karen, my sister-in-law, who so graciously offered us this opportunity. It is truly a remarkable and magical place. For those of you who are curious of the itinerary, here is a run down from day to day. I am starting with Rome, this will have to be a three part post. I will start with Rome, then introduce Florence and Sienna. Lastly, day trips in Tuscany. SO, here is a run down of Rome.
Tuesday 6/10/08 12:20 pm (Houston flight to Atlanta that was to then connect to Rome at 3:45) ( we missed that flight thanks to the lovely weather in Houston that day)
Tuesday night 8pm made the next flight, not as many passengers, got the middle three seats all to ourselves...SCORE. Still slept terrible. 11 hours... man, it was rough. And those of you mission people who have been on like 20 hour flights, give me a break, this was my first international flight.
Wednesday oneish- we arrive in Rome. Get to the hotel. Meet some nice people from San Fransisco on the shuttle (rip off)...not the people, the shuttle.
Wednesday 5 pm -first walking tour of Rome with an Aussi named Jo from Angel Tours Rome. Good tour, lots of info, visited the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Campo di Fiori and Piazza Navona to name a few. Back to the hotel after an interesting study of Rome metro system and city buses, got some cash and went back out to get some dinner. Went close to the hotel to a little trattoria ( small restaurant that serves home cooked meals, often the establishment is in the back of the owners home ). It was really good, the waiter spilled my drink on me and he looked terribly embarrassed. We were so tired and once we were well fed, we headed back for a much needed nights rest. Pantheon Trevi Fountain
Thursday 9 am -after our AMAZING continental breakfast ( with the best coffee I have ever had, yummy pastries, eggs and interestingly enough, Agar agar, an Asian seaweed dish) we
headed to the Colosseum, got hooked up with another tour company and signed up. Side note: As we signed up, we were told we would get a free picture with a guy in Roman Soldier get up. Stephen took my picture first, my glasses fell off and the soldier grabbed them, while apologizing to Stephen, saying he was only helping. When Stephen walked over to take his picture, the guy said, as he moved his sword in, (imagine an Italian accent with this), "do you know? Lorana Bobit?" I shot the picture, it was too hysterical to pass up. This tour was WELL worth the time and money. An unbelievable (probably one of my most memorable) moments, walking out from the metro, turning to the left and seeing something that massive, that was completed in 80 AD right in front of me in the year 2008. Crazy moment. We then had a short break after the tour of the Colosseum to get some water before the Roman Forum tour. AWESOME. Our guide was a local ( as was the Colosseum guide ) but he had a true love of history. He made the tour really great. Later that day, we walked across the city, and had lunch, saw President Bush's motorcade drive by (for the first time) then ended up going to a performance of the Georgetown prep schools choir at one of the churches. It was a nice concert. We then went to dinner and headed back to the hotel. Exterior shot of the Colosseum just outside the metro exit.
Jody's "Roman Soldier" pic
Stephen's "Roman Soldier" pic
Interior of the Colosseum. This is a picture of the underground working halls the gladiators and animals would emerge from using dumb waiter type systems. The Romans were geniuses. The Roman Forum. The guy in the straw hat was our guide, Eugenio.
Stephen and I in the Roman Forum, picture courtesy of a nice older couple from England.

Friday 9 am - Grabbed the metro headed for Vatican City. We enjoyed our Roman Forum tour guide so much, that when he began advertising for the tour of Vatican City the next morning, we said we were in. Found out once we arrived, we would have another guide, who was not so great, but we were OK with it. He was late. So apparently if you are late in Rome, you have to buy people drinks. So the guide company walked us down to a breakfast shop and we all got a free drink. It was nice. Afterwards we got to see St. Peters. CRAZY awesome church. Amazingly huge and makes you feel very small and unattractive...in comparison to its massive beauty. The pictures do NOT do it justice. We saw Michelangelo's Pieta. After that, we had a short break for lunch. We sat with a couple from Melbourne Australia that were really nice people. It was a nice lunch. We then went through the Vatican Museum, which according to our guide, if you spent 60 seconds on each artifact or piece of art in the collection, it would take seven years to see it all. NUTS! After all that we went through all the hallways to see the Sistine Chapel. I was sad to see it in such conditions, but understood the reasons. There were guards, shushing you constantly, because it is a holy place that requires reverence. There was very little light and the windows were not allowed to hold the daylight they could ( they were shrouded on the exterior of the building, so you could see the stained glass, but not its brilliance) This was all of course to protect the images from any damage or fading. There were hundreds of people in this little chapel with no furniture, only one row of seats along the walls. It just seemed to suck away the majesty of this amazing work of art for me. Anyway, enough of that. I got to go upstairs and see the paintings by Raphael, that I REALLY wanted to see. My favorite of all time, "The Freeing of St. Peter" and also the well known "School of Athens". Headed back to our hotel, changed and then went back over to take night pictures at the Colosseum. Had dinner, the best I had so far, Stephen and I shared a salad and four cheese pizza. Then went back to the hotel to pack.
St. Peter's Bascillica.
"The Freeing of St. Peter" by Raphael.
The interior of St. Peter's. The sun was coming through the upper windows and it was so angelic and holy. It really set a feel of reverence and beauty. I was so happy that the sunrays were captured on film.Last night in Rome in front of the Colosseum at night.
Stephen's awesome pic of the Colosseum at night.

Saturday 10 am - headed over to the train station ( not a far walk from our hotel ) to catch the train to Florence. We sat with a very nice couple from Pennsylvania. Stephen slept as I furiously looked through books to figure out what I wanted to see in Florence. I would love to go back to Rome later in life. Rome, for me, really was extremely magical. I kept visualizing how it all must have looked when Paul was there and how things have changed....and how things haven't. It is strange to be in a place that has history that can be taken back to those who lived in biblical times. I guess living in such a young country, I have nothing in which to compare. I truly enjoyed it and if you are one who loves history and wouldn't mind seeing some of it come to life for you, seriously, go to Rome. It was an awesome experience for us. See pics, and please forgive the long post, I just don't know how to condense such a great experience.

Play Dough and Printing...

2008-06-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little hectic in our household the last few weeks. School was coming to a close, Anna was home with Dad during the day and home with me at night, we have been getting prepared for our Italy trip along with preparing to leave Anna for 10 days straight. It takes a lot of preparation to send your kid to two different locations with all the necessary things for day to day living. Thanks to Granny, Grandpa, T-ma and J-paw for agreeing to keep Anna! Along with all the business in my family, my good friend Libby had her third child, Jack, who was a little early and has been in the NICU for about a week, so we have been preparing meals and visiting her in the hospital. All in all, we have been a little busy, with very little time to post...so those of you who have been waiting...if there are any of you who have, ( I hate to be presumptuous)...my apologies.

The last few days have slowed down a little, and I have been trying to get a concept of having a two ( almost ) year old at home for the summer. Needless to say, I have decided we need some things to do. : ) A few days ago, I found some print pads that I bought when she was a baby to makes prints of her hands and feet. I was very excited and thought...craft time! She had a great time, but this was a bad idea. This ink is not the kind that washes off. After scrubbing relentlessly in the bathtub, she still had pink hands. See pictures for proof.
I needed some other things that were not quite so messy or permanent. So yesterday, I mentioned play dough to Anna, and she freaked out. She was super excited! Apparently they play with play dough at school. SO, I was going to go buy it, and thought, NO, I am going to try something new and make it. We looked online and got a recipe and ran to the grocery store to get some cream of tarter and finger paint ( that is for another project and post ) and came home to tackle making play dough. So, I guess because my experience with home made play dough is the stuff you get at VBS that is not the cooked kind ( probably because hot stoves and Pre-K don't mix ). You know, the grainy and dried and cracked kind. So, when I followed this SUPER easy recipe where you cook it on the stove and it smelled, looked and felt exactly like the kind you buy, I WAS ECSTATIC! I felt like super mom. It was a nice moment. : ) Anyway, here is a video of Anna playing with the play dough. It is a little long, but there are moments you must notice. One: the new phrase, All Gone...which sounds like dalldonn. LOVE IT! Second, resiting the colors. Her little voice is too cute. Third, watching her actually create something. There is a small moment towards the middle of the video that she takes two pieces of red play dough and puts them on top of another piece of larger red play dough and it looks like some kind of animal. She then makes it hop across the table. I loved getting her imagination on film. My apologies for the dark look of it all...it didn't look that dark when we were filming it.

We will be walking the streets of Rome one week from now. We will definitely share stories and pics when we return. Have a great week!

The Many Faces of Anna Blair Summers

2008-05-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

First off, how great is this picture of Anna and Stephen?!
So on Mother's Day we went and had lunch with my parents at their house. Dad grilled steaks and Stephen made the sides. We had a nice time but later in the afternoon Stephen had to go to work and Anna and I stayed behind to hang out with my mom and dad for a little longer. While we were there Anna was wanting something or other, can't remember what, and she was making her normal, "I want this but can't get to it" frustrated face. Mom said, " Anna, you are going to give yourself wrinkles." Then said to me, "she makes the funniest expressions." This got me thinking and I started to look back at the photos we have of some of these expressions. So I present, the various expressions of Miss Anna Blair. Get ready, some are pretty hysterical.I love my daddy.

This is the face she makes when we pray. She doesn't like closing her eyes. So she kind of squints them. She also uses this when we ask to look at her eyes or clean her eyes.
Very happy to get something she wants.

She does this shifty thing with her eyes when she is doing something she isn't supposed to, like putting 8 orange slices in her mouth at once.

A very a dramatic bye bye.

I have NO clue. But it sure looks funny.

This is her normal face when she isn't happy or sad, just hanging out. Such a sweet girl.

How's that for expressive? That is what happens when we don't get what we want.

Sweet smile you get when playing games like hide and seek.

Forced smile. She almost grits her teeth she bites down so hard. Cheese ball.

So this is the scary Anna smile. I almost hear a maniacal laugh .

Oohh! Excitement and shock. This is one of my favorites.

This is the frustrated look I was talking about earlier that is going to give her wrinkles. : )

By far my favorite expressive pic to date. She doesn't even look like the same kid. Her teeth CRACK me up in this pic. She, Dave Letterman and Madonna have the same look going. She does NOT like to have her picture taken sometimes. She puts her hand up and says no and makes this face.
Well, I hope all is well with yours and that you have a great weekend!

A powerful experience...

2008-05-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

Today Stephen had to work a double, and his mother was very generous and came to watch Anna so that my mom and I could go out to eat and catch a traveling exhibition that is currently in town. She saw an article or advertisement in the paper about the show, and asked if I would want to go. I was all for it. We went to eat at Hester's, a little sandwich shop on the backside of a cute antique shop near six points. It was nice, I got a southwestern Cesar salad, that was YUMDIDY with guacamole and sun-dried tomatoes. I ran into an old friend, Jill Baugher, and her mother, out for a daughters and mothers family day filled with good food, pedicures and manicures. We had a very nice lunch, and just enjoyed the time for a while.

Then we went to the photo gallery on People's street to see the exhibition. It is a smaller gallery, but very nice. The show they are currently hosting for the next two months is called "Eyes from the Ashes" a collection of photographs from Ann Weiss. Ann Weiss is not the photographer of the collection, however, the author of a book in which she shares these photographs that she mistakenly found while taking a tour at the Auschwitz-Birkeneau concentration camps in 1986. The photographs were not supposed to be seen. These 2400 photos were images brought to the camps by the prisoners in hopes of holding onto an image of a loved one or a time when things were better. Personal items such as photographs were confiscated by the Nazi soldiers at every camp and shipped to a crematorium at another location to be destroyed. Apparently it was important to Hitler to not only destroy the people themselves, but their spirit and memories along with every bit of evidence that claimed they ever existed. Somehow, the photos confiscated at Auschwitz-Birkeneau were saved and lie in a room for 40 years until Ann Weiss found them with the help of a museum worker and his golden key.
My mother and I had the pleasure of speaking with Ann Weiss this afternoon and heard stories that would bring tears to your eyes. At one point, I did get emotional. Her sacrifice to travel and share these photographs, 2400 that remain out of millions that once existed, to cities across the US, Europe and even to Israel has healed many wounds, and had many people reunited with pictures of loved ones that they thought they would never see again. It truly is an amazing and powerful experience. She has a website and I encourage you to check it out. She also has a book that has most of the images in it with stories of these people and who they were before the evil that came and took it all away. I sat and read about it this evening and am all the more moved.

Ann is a wonderful lady with a huge heart for her people. We ended up spending a good two hours with her and I truly enjoyed every minute of it. It is an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. The show was completely free to the public and she is supported solely by donations. If you are in the place to donate, I feel compelled to ask you to think about doing just that. It is history. I read today at the show that Hitler knew that to destroy a people group it was important to take out two groups first, the old and the young. The old to kill the wisdom, the past. The young to destroy any hope of a future. In reading that I wanted desperately to help this woman give the joy of memories to anyone who was still living. To help one person see a loved one that they thought would only be seen in their dreams. One man wrote after finding a photo of his first wife and child who had perished at Auschwitz, " I could show my family, THAT is who I was, THAT is where I came from! It was my revenge on Hitler!" I hope you all have a wonderful week and hope you find time to visit this website and see the beautiful pictures of a beautiful people who were snuffed out by such a terrible force.

Oh yes, our daughter is a genius, or an artist, or ....is having visions

2008-05-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

Don't get all bent out of shape with the visions thing, it was a joke. Once you see the picture Anna drew lately you will see my point. She drew this at school and with no help mind you. What do you see? I know...I know, it is all just a bunch of lines here and there. But if you look for content, you will see the right side of her brain must have been working over time. We saw an angel wearing a scarf serving up some sort of dish that is flying off the plate. Or it could be a release of a dove with a halo or something...the jury is still out. Either way, we thought it was cool. At least I did...my kid is going to grow up to draw pretty pictures. : ) Or maybe she won't....and that is ok with me. I periodically see those parents on "The Soup" where they show clips from Show Biz Moms and Dads..and it puts me in check...those people are NUTS! : )

Anyway, so we went down to my parents house for Parker's birthday. Parker is my brother Jered's son. He is SO precious and hysterically opposite of Anna in every way. I absolutely love it. He weighs about 5 pounds but he is all boy, super into trucks and wheels, very independent and itty bitty in the cutest way. He hates to be away from mom, but the minute you catch his attention with something, he is all yours...which makes it all the sweeter. I like to win over attention sometimes, the challenge is nice. I think that is why I like cats. Anyway, we really enjoyed getting to see him and be there to experience his first birthday. He wanted very little to do with the cake, other than to destroy it...like I said, ALL boy. Here are some pics from the weekend.Sweet little hand full of destruction.
I love this face...he is so happy to get cleaned up...Anna would be screaming right now. Such a sweet happy boy.Can't you just hear it in the background....Bond, James Bond. Look at his eyebrow and little puckered lips...HYSTERICAL!

Anna having a good time racing down the hill courtesy of T-Ma.Uncle Judd raced her down the hill next and I just love this pic. She could model wagons. Uncle Jered is teaching her some tips on batting. This was Parker's birthday present, she couldn't wait to get her hands on it! : )

OK, these next few pictures make me happy that cameras exist. Mom and Anna on Friday evening, after playing hard outside and Anna and Dad the following day, feeding the koi fish of a neighbor down the street. They make me want to cry, because I know she will cherish these photos for the rest of her life. I know I will.
And last but not least, Anna's cheesy school pictures. She is barely smiling and isn't giving off that cute girl feel we know she is capable of. So, Stacy, this is what I was expecting, your boys pics from school are WAY cuter. I blame the photographer...not my sweet girl. Have a great week! : )

“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God....I could be eating a slow learner.”

2008-04-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Quote by Linda Montgomery...awesome.

So Stephen has been working really hard on his Salon for school. Salon is not something that involves hair. Salon is the yearly food competition where students create the most interesting and complex recipes and painstakingly work to have a killer presentation. Taste is not a factor...which I think is stupid. But what do I know. Because their menu is decided by their current "salon" class, Stephen, who is presently in Garde Manger, ( see previous post with pics of food for definitions) had to choose between cold or hot appetizers. He decided he wanted to go with hot appetizers and decided to work with shrimp. For real though...this is a serious competition. There are all sorts of rules about things looking "beautiful and attractive to eat". So the solution, (whoever came up with this really needs to rethink it in my humblest opinion) is to cover anything moist ( i.e. liquid, veggies, fruit, meat...ect.) in a gelatin film called aspic to "preserve" it's scrumptious aesthetic quality. YUK...that's all I have to say about that.

There are medals given to the highest scores and Stephen was hopeful. Unfortunately hope was not enough, although he did receive a very high score and was within 1 and half points of getting a medal. All the medals went to the desserts. The upswing was that Stephen's food became local celebrity later that evening with a newscast about the competition. Stephen's food is ALL OVER IT and I was very proud. See pics below of Stephen's food all plated up. Shrimp Nori Strudel Rolls

Shrimp Toast with Jicama Slaw

Grilled Shrimp Cocktail with Romesco Sauce

and our favorite.....Chipotle Shrimp Tostada Stacks ( doesn't that pic look like something out of Bon Appetite?!!)

Here is the video we are so proud of. : )

And just a little slide in...here are some pics from Anna recently swinging in her swing that her J-Paw made her. She loves her swing and her Daddy.There is that cheeseball grin again! Have a great week!

Memoir

2008-04-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

At the request of my sister-in-law Holly, here is my six word memoir.

Jesus, Stephen, Anna, all I needed.

The rules: Write your own six word memoir, and post it on your blog. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post, if possible, so that it can be tracked as it travels across the blogosphere. Tag at least five more blogs with links. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

I tag...

Jessy, Jeremy ( cause I know you will rock this ), Kristi, Corrie L, and Candi.

And for real if you don't want to do this, I ain't mad at ya...your choice. If you are curious where this came from, check out this link....it's a book...pretty cool. Some of the memoirs are pretty sad but on the same token quite hysterical.

Beauty for ashes...

2008-04-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

So I watched the Diane Sawyer special on the gentleman who has terminal cancer and is known world wide for his You Tube video titled "The Last Lecture." This man is an amazing professor, a phenom of a father and husband from the way they portrayed it, an all around awesome human being and he is going to die in give or take two months. I sat watching this program wanting to know why on earth the good Lord would allow this man to be taken from us, knowing all the good he could do, while the drug dealer on the corner would probably live to be 100. I know that sounds cynical, but it is hard not to be when you see a story like this one. The end of the program brought some clarity for me. There were about 2 dozen people who gave interviews or wrote letters talking about how this video had completely changed their lives. (The video was actually only recorded because there were some family members who were not able to attend the lecture). The video has had over 15 million hits. One woman wrote that she had thought of taking her own life 10 days ago and since seeing his lecture, is thankful for every breath she is given. That 2 dozen was just the tip of the iceberg in the masses he has reached with this lecture. The scripture came to me, and I was very much happy with God's answer to my question. Romans 8:28...and we know in all things God works for the good....
As I am watching this, Stephen is in the other room talking to his sister. This is how the story goes.
Karen ( Stephen's sister ) has a friend named Marcus. Marcus' brother Nick was diagnosed with a brain tumor in November of 05. He was 29 years old with a sweet young family. He had surgery and things looked good. The next October, it had returned and things did not look so good. He passed away two months later in December. His family, obviously devastated, decided they wanted to raise money to fund a research grant in Nick's name. Apparently this tumor is the most common brain tumor that afflicts young people, including children. Nick, prior to his death, had traveled to Italy with his wife and some friends and they had a wonderful time. A friend (I believe...it may have been a family member) purchased a trip to Italy to honor Nick and raffle off to raise money in order to fund this research grant. Karen (my sister-in-law) purchased some of these tickets. And oh yeah, you know what I am going to say, she won it. She, being the AWESOME person she is, has traveled quite a bit, and has lots of frequent flyer miles. So, she would not have to buy a ticket to Italy....and the trip is payed for two....and the stay is in a villa with two rooms....SO WE ARE GETTING TO GO TO ITALY! WOO HOO! All we will have to pay is sight seeing and food. AMAZING! I am SO pumped I cannot even explain. I have wanted to travel to Italy since I fell in love with Renaissance art in my art history classes freshman year of college. Karen is an amazing person for giving this gift to us. We would not be able to afford this in a million years...or at least till we were retired. Of course Stephen is so excited about the culinary opportunity in traveling to that part of the world...the food is crazy amazing. Needless to say we are overwhelmed and SO excited. Have a great week!

This picture was taken on my way to work...even though the quality isn't that great ( camera phone ), you can see how amazing that sunrise was. God was definitly shining that morning.

Examples and responsibility.....

2008-04-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Anna has been pretty sick again lately. She got another ear infection Easter weekend and we have been trying to re coop. In the midst of that, she got a virus, probably from the stupid playground...oh well. Anyway, she has been home mostly this week and today I was taking her with me to Rockport so my mother-in-law could watch her at the vacation house. As we were driving, I was putting on my makeup, yeah yeah I know...but I was running late, so back off. Anyway, as I was putting on my makeup I saw her in the rear view mirror mimicking me. She was rubbing her face like I was...she was doing what I was doing. It hit me like a ton O bricks that she is emulating me, that everything I do, she will want to do it too. SCARY. I mean she has copied me before, but I guess it took her doing a female thing for me to realize that I have a different role than Stephen. She is going to look to me for knowledge on how to be a woman. That is an EXTREMELY overwhelming feeling just in case you were wondering.

So, I stopped putting on my makeup and prayed for some strength and guidance. I want to do the best job by letting Jesus be her example and letting Him make me the best woman I can be and by proxy teaching Anna to be the best woman she can be. It is a huge responsibility and I don't want to look back years from now and see the sins I have passed down to her, but the blessings God has bestowed upon her because of my obedience to Him. Anyway, thought I would share that....it was a pretty heavy 40 minutes to work this morning, but WAY worth the lesson He shared with me.

SO, on another note that is kind of in line with this post, talking about responsibility and all... Not to get too political, but I saw this today and was a little frightened. I am not sure about the connection with Obama, but the stuff that comes straight from the horses mouth is pretty scary. My mom sent this to me in an email titled, "what do YOU think?"

And I am asking the same question, out of curiosity....so if you feel like it, let me know...
http://heartofflesh.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/the-church-of-oprah-exposed/

Have a great week!

Playgrounds and Horses....

2008-03-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

As Anna gets older, we have really enjoyed each new adventure with her. She is now, as I said in the previous post, really stretching her new found Independence. We have been frequenting playgrounds a lot more now that she can walk up the stairs and go down the slide by herself. We went to the private school playground that is across the street from our house (which rocks!..no pun intended ) and took some pictures with Granny's camera before I had to take it back the next day.

It looks like she was flying down that slide...she was actually still! The wind was blowing really hard and she was laughing!

Having fun riding the see-saw horses.

Down the slide on her belly backwards, smiling at mommy.

Okay, she LOVES rocks. She picked them up and yelled "rocks!," and Stephen captured this picture which does just that. I LOVE IT!

Here she is, giving me her rocks.

On another note, we went to my parent's house last Saturday and had dinner since we were not going to be spending Easter Sunday with them, and Anna got the chance to ride a horse. My dad has bred and broken Quarter horses as long as I can remember, and it really is a labor of love. I think he always wanted my brothers and I to share in his love of horses, but he has never said it and never forced it onto us and unfortunately we just aren't into horses as much as he is. After dinner, Dad asked if I would want him to saddle up Gabby (the calmest horse to ever live ) and see if Anna would want to ride with him. I was all about it, cause really, I just wanted to see what she would do. She is fairly wimpy about some things, so I was just curious if she would actually get on the thing. Plus, I knew it would make him happy if she was into it.

So he saddled Gabby up and we spent some time petting her before I actually handed Anna over to dad. She was a little skeptical at first, but once she was on the horse and knew she was with J-Paw, things were great. They rode for a minute, (he just walked Gabby ) and then I let Anna get down, so she could watch J-Paw run the horse. After that, he rode back over to us and I asked her if she wanted to ride again. She said, yes, and lifted up her hands to go to J-Paw. Dad beamed, and gave her a kiss and said, "You don't know how happy that makes me baby." I think more than anything, just the fact that she wasn't scared made him happy. And it made me happy too. Hope you have a great week and enjoy the pics.

Checking out the horse, while T-Ma pets her. Not too sure...

Giving her a pat. Nice and soft....not too scary.

Having a good time with J-Paw

Second ride, much more comfortable sitting on the saddle, and holding the horn.

Ode to Family and a Little Independence (LONGEST POST EVER!!)

2008-03-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

Alright, DISCLAIMER!! I know this is long, but I can't help it...there was A LOT to say and show you!

My mother-in-law's birthday was on Friday the 21st. We decided this year we were going to celebrate Easter and the big six O birthday of Peggy Summers on the same day. : ) SO, this is my Ode to the Summers Family. They rock on so many different levels, but here are a few, please see pictures below if you don't believe me.

They love to sit around and chat about things like levers and fulcrums, amongst other things.

( no picture for proof, but if you don't believe me, ask my brother Judd, who as a science teacher, was the authority we called to settle the debate).Pat Summers, Julie Click and Sherman Click (Stephen's aunt and uncle)

Tiaras are involved in your birthday, regardless of age, and multiple people must wear it during the day.Anna and birthday granny in a pretty tiara

Kaylee sporting the tiara

Karen (Stephen's sister ) sporting the tiara

They love each other regardless and come together on holidays and special occasions for each other. (the kindness abounds!)
They like to have fun and most of the time, food, GOOD food, is involved.
Anna seemed to get really fussy once we got to Rockport (see her TOTALLY losing it in the picture with the confetti above..and Stephen's concerned look). She had a 101 temp under her arm (which means it is actually higher..apparently the armpit isn't a good gauge for internal temp). She hunted eggs and did OK once we had her all hopped up on Ibuprofen, but she wasn't her funny self. So, you can see how excited she is in these pics. LOVE the diva "don't mess with me" look.

Anyway, after being on antibiotics for a few doses she is perking up. Stephen took Monday to stay home and I stayed home today with her (her fever has to be scarce for 24 hours before she can go back to school ) and got some hysterical pics of her eating yogurt. She is in the independent stage where she wants to do everything herself. So, here she is making a mess, but, she is eating yogurt by herself. Notice the large ghetto bib. I had regular ones, but didn't think it would catch all the spillage...and man was I right. : ) My mother-in-law left her camera here so it could finish downloading pictures the other day and man was I having a ball playing around with that thing. It is amazing how much clearer a digital SLR is compared to just a regular ole' digital camera. Anyway, enjoy the pics and have a fabulous week!How sweet is that face! UH!

Weekend with Kaylee...part deux

2008-03-17T17:46:00.001-07:00

I had to pay homage to I love the 80's on VH1. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, it really doesn't matter. Anyway, I flew to Dallas this weekend with my niece, Kaylee. She has never flown, and man was I excited about that experience...really...I was. She is so funny and it was really cute. She had a great time, didn't freak out, and was fairly charming to those on the plane around us. Here is her picture as we were about to take off.
We had a good time. We had a connecting flight, where we just stopped in Houston and never got off the flight, just waited for new passengers to get aboard and head on to the next destination.
While in Dallas we had our eyes checked by Dr. Karen Summers ( my sister-in-law) and I was good, no glasses needed ( yet). She says I will need them when I hit around 40. Kaylee however was in need of glasses for reading and school work, so she will get a new pair of purple glasses in the next few weeks. I will post a pic later....she looks pretty cute. I like the way glasses look on me ( isn't it the way it goes, if you need them, you don't want them...if you don't, you are itchin to wear them. ) so Karen let me wear a pair that had a small prescription on Sunday when we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. OK, let me just tell you, this is ONE ROCKIN ZOO. I had a BLAST. Every animal you could think of, except Panda's, only in San Diego I discovered, and it was just a very NICE zoo. See pics below....

This is Kaylee in front of the male lion that we saw. He stood up while we were watching him and started to roar....yes that is what I said. I bet you are thinking...that is so cool, I wish I could have seen that. WELL....lucky for you, I had my video camera. I was SO stoked that I captured this majestic animal on film doing something most don't get a chance to see.

He sounds kind of wimpy on camera, but in person, it was pretty amazing and VERY loud.

Last but not least, the story of the weekend. Kaylee has a Barbie that her Aunt Karen got for her. She is like a beach Barbie or something, with a bathing suit and glasses and all that. First of all, she wanted everyone to wear the Barbie's glasses, including her, see picture below. Also, she named her. The story goes like this. We are all laying on Karen's bed watching Wonder Pets, which is a HYSTERICAL show if you get the chance, anyway, she says about her Barbie,
"Her name is Hannah." Which we think, ah, what a pretty name. Then she says ( with a strait face mind you), "that's her last name, her first name is Cockstube". Karen and I about wet our pants. She had been gibbering randomly earlier and apparently came up with Cockstube, and liked it. So also shown are some pictures with Karen and Kaylee and Cockstube Hannah. (notice how Cockstube Hannah is waving at you) Sorry about the red eye...my removal thing on my computer is on the fritz. Last but not least, the flight home, she looks SO innocent. Love it. I wish the people who sat in front of her that she inadvertently kicked most of the way home could have seen this. She really is awesome. You just have to take two breathes and remind yourself of it sometimes. : ) Five year olds are relentless and if you are a parent of one, or you teach Kindergarten (Tommie I don't know how you do it! ) let me know and I will pray for you often. : ) Have a great week!

Weekend with kaylee...part one

2008-03-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend, Kaylee, my niece, came to visit. As you know from past posts that Anna absolutely adores Kaylee. As do I. Here are some reason's why Kaylee is the best...around. (If you are singing the Karate Kid theme song....you ROCK)

#1 She makes Anna laugh ( see previous post and laugh really hard)

#2 She says things like," have a lovely day!" to random strangers. ( how awesome is that?
What 5 year old uses the word lovely?)

#3 She is amazingly resilient. This is a little girl who lost her mother a year ago this week, and
was uprooted and moved across the nation with a new family, with a new school and new friends. She learned to read in 9 months and can spell her full name when she couldn't tell you what an "A" looked like last March. (WOW.)

#4 She is part of one of my favorite memories that speak to the sweetness of a child. Quickly:

She came to visit one weekend after we had just moved to corpus, and she was having problems with associating the appropriate word in the right place, like, she would say "WHO are we having for dinner instead of WHAT are we having for dinner. She had these issues with the five W's. So she is visiting and I put her to bed in Anna's room. At about 3 in the morning I wake up because someone is talking. I hear in the monitor, Kaylee say, "who am I?" Then, she says, in a very sweet voice that sounded soothed, "Anna." I realized as I lay there that she meant, WHERE am I. She woke up and didn't know where she was, and seeing Anna's crib reminded her and she was comforted. UH...it was GREAT. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

Here are a few pics of Kaylee Marie that are my favorites.

And I HAVE to add these, because they are SO cool! You may think they are scary, but this is ALL natural, no filters or messing with the color contrast in Adobe. These were taken in the slide at Chic-fil-a this last Saturday. I love the way they turned out and I am thinking about painting them for her room. Very fun! I like how the pictures look like they are in progression.

Anyway, i hope you don't have nightmares about my red-orange child....but I think they are cool. : ) Have a great week..you will get more pictures of me and Kaylee soon and I am sure some stories, since we are flying to Dallas to hang with Aunt Karen next weekend.

A few things that make me smile....

2008-03-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

The weather has been really pretty here lately, and in the evenings we will take Anna outside and let her play for a while. This really makes me happy. When I was in college I would eat lunch with the squirrels on campus during the spring and have a chat with God. Being outdoors always makes me feel closer to Him, and I love that feeling while spending time with my family.

We took some pictures the other day while outside and some turned out ok, but the main thing I want to point out about these pictures is why we took them. Anna has refused to have anything to do with girly stuff like putting up her hair. I find this is true with most toddler girls because they are too fussy to let their mothers touch their hair, so I try not to come down too hard on her. : ) However, when I see Tessa Grace with her hair up, I sigh a bit, because she looks SO cute and I know Anna has all this cute potential ready to be unleashed!

Anyway, the day of the pictures Anna had let her teacher at school put up her hair in pig tails. Anna had actually requested it by grabbing the rubber bands and taking them to her teacher. YEAH! This made me SO happy because there are now possibly some "hair up" days in my future! Apparently some of the other girls were getting their hair put up. ( they were having a "salon" day ) Who says peer pressure is a bad thing?! Anyway, the pictures unleashed the cute potential I knew was within her. : )
And lastly. You. You all make us smile. In moving to Corpus and with all of the sickness going around, socialization has not been something we have had a lot of time for. I have though, at night, when Stephen is at work, had time to blog and look at your blog. It does my heart good to see you and know that things are going good or bad, to read encouragement in comments and feel encouraged by your stories. I think this whole bloggin thing has really been a great blessing for Stephen and I. (thanks Holly) We LOVE to share our precious child with our family who lives far away, whether you are blood or not. : ) And we LOVE having the window into your world to know how you are doing.

How sweet is this picture?? I just love the "feel" of the lighting.

Precious moments on film.....

2008-03-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

Here is the video I promised a post or two back showing Anna and her cousin Kaylee. Like I said, Kaylee makes her laugh. In fact, after videoing her and her Great Granny, I have
figured out that most everyone makes Anna laugh.

We went to East Texas this past weekend to visit my Granny. ( My mom's mom. ) Mom had to do double duty on this trip and spend some time with a dear friend who had just lost her mother. While she was in Whitehouse, we spent some quality time with Great Granny. Apparently she cracks Anna up too.
She was perfect this weekend, sleeping when I wanted her too, eating all food prepared for her by Great Granny ( which I was nervous she would be picky and hurt feelings) and was SO personable.
She was abnormally SUPER good. Not that she is normally bad, but she was literally perfect. I had no moment where I was aggravated or embarrassed. Anyway, it was a really good weekend. Hope you enjoy the videos, I think they are sweet. It is nice when you have those little moments in life. Anna was sitting with my Granny on the window box in the early evening and the lighting was pretty, ( even though it did not video well ) and they were having fun together. It makes for a very nice memory and I am glad I have it on film. : ) As cheesy as it is to use that overly marketed phrase, "precious moments", they really and truly were and I am glad that I will always have them. Hope you all have a great week.

The whole thing was very interesting...

2008-02-25T18:15:00.001-08:00

We were watching Anna as she was looking at this bug on the sidewalk yesterday. She was staring at it, and as we have never seen a bug like that, we told her not to touch it. She walked over to it, looked at it closely and then, stepped on it. Stephen basically said, "alright" a little amused.

She then did something that caused us both to crack up laughing.

She leaned over to look at the squished bug, stuck out her hand and simultaneously waved at the bug and said with her mouth, "bye, bye".

We were so sad that we didn't have a camera in sight, cause it was PRICELESS. Thought you would enjoy that little story. Have a great week.

Its' all about love....

2008-02-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

Anna got over the flu and I wish I could say we are all well in the Summers' household. She has moved on to a cold. The coughing is the worst part. She has a hard time sleeping through the night...but we are on the mend. Daycare will rough you up man. I have always heard the stories of kids in daycare having a hard time shaking being sick, but this is eye opening. Anyway, on to other things....we had a busy week the week of Valentines.

For Valentines day, Stephen made me dinner...so appropriate. : ) It was DELICIOUS. He also got Anna the best Valentines day present EVER. See pictures below. Fun was had by all who entered our doors.

Sadie and Tessa Grantham came to visit one evening while their mommy and daddy ( Libby and Tyler) went out for their Valentine's date.

Also shown below is Kaylee, my niece, and Anna at Granny's vacation house in Rockport. We went to see them on Sunday. They have so much fun together. When you even mention Kaylee's name, Anna smiles super big. Kaylee makes her laugh. I have some video of this that I will post later this week when I get time. All in all we had a great week spending time with those we love. Who could ask for more?

Hope you all have a fabulous week.

Anna having a TON of fun with her balloons. I am not sure what happened with the camera, but I love the "airy" effect of the picture. It seems so dreamy.

Anna and Kaylee having fun.

Anna and Tessa hangin out at her coloring table. They look so relaxed!
Looking at the card Daddy got her from he and I.

Tessa and big sister Sadie having fun playing with balloons!

Perspective....

2008-02-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

It's everything I have recently learned. Our little family has had a rough go as of late with illness and life and money and time. Anna is finally on the mend, no more flu, teaching is good and Stephen is really enjoying school. Finances are strapped, but that is what happens when you go to school full time. We had a rough weekend and I found myself thinking and praying things like, is it ever going to get any easier... Lord, I don't understand....why does this sort of thing have to happen. I mean, we are fine...I know these thoughts sound a bit dramatic, and this is where the title of my post comes in.
So Sunday night I get online and read an email from a woman that I just recently met in our Sunday school class, titled, "Day by Day". She is about my age and has three children under the age of five. She and her husband are the cutest couple; full of energy and I thought to myself the morning that I met her, that she was really someone I would love to befriend in the near future. Her husband just left this past Sunday for a 6 month deployment to Afganistan. When I saw the title of her email, my reaction was....oh dear. I thought she would be wailing about the woes of being a military wife and how hard it would be. And don't get me wrong, she had every right to do that, I was just expecting a negative email is all I am saying. It was the very much the opposite. I have never felt so uplifted by an email as I was by her writing about how the Lord would sustain them, and even though she may lower her eyes at times, she would continue to look towards the hills, from where her comfort came. UH! I was humbled by the strength of this woman in a trial I could not even begin to imagine.
Then, about an hour later, ( apparently I had not learned my lesson ) we get another email from a man who we knew from Man 2 Man ( the men's ministry Stephen was involved with in Victoria ) who had just been in a wreck that morning with his wife and two young girls. They were sitting still at a light and someone rear ended them going 80 miles an hour. There poor precious little girl had massive head injuries that by all means should have done MAJOR brain damage, but through amazing work from surgeons in the Dallas area and our gracious Lord, she looks to be out of the woods and on the road to recovery.
Needless to say, I am VERY thankful for what I have and I will let God take care of the stuff I can't handle, because I know He is big enough. But, he knows me and knows every now and then I need a little reminder about perspective. : )

Stick a fork in me....

2008-02-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

Anna woke up Tuesday morning and was pretty snotty and was coughing a fairly deep, wet cough. She was burning up and I was positive that she had an ear infection. SO...I called in and we went to the doctor. She said her ears were great...and before I could let out a sigh of relief, the nurse came in and said that Anna's swab came back positive for Flu A. WHAT???!! was my response because we had a flu shot. Anyway, lucky us, she got it anyway. The good thing was, that we caught it in enough time for her to take Tamiflu. ( If you are unfamiliar, it lightens the load...makes the bad guys of the virus have a hard time multiplying) So, her symptoms are not really that bad, the only bad thing was she had to stay out of daycare for the week...so that meant more time off for me. All in all, it has been kind of a blessing, because I have been able to spend time with her the last two days and we really have had a blast. Stephen's mom is helping out tomorow and my mom is taking Friday, so it all worked out. But needless to say, I am SO done with my child being sick.

In other news, we have been promising pictures of Stephen in action for months and yet to have a picture in his chef garb, however, to make it up to you all we have some images from his "Garde manger" class ( basically it is learning how to prepare cold appetizers, salads, soups,
ect. )
The little movie is from his first class, learning how to do fancy garnishes...he also shows you some from other students.
The picture is from a more recent class where he had to make a cold salad, "Salad of Crab and Avocado"

He continues to have a great time and is learning a lot. He is still waiting tables at Cafe Aeby a couple of days a week and is in the kitchen now when he isn't in the front of house. He is learning a ton from Chris and really enjoying his job. Hope you all have a great week.

Once again...

2008-02-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

Our child is injured. We have had a rough go the last few months with all the illness and then the scratch of a lifetime, and I do not think this is the end of it. BECAUSE..she is SUCH a brave child. Yes, this injury was self-inflicted. She was apparently trying to climb a pole on the playground and lost her footing....and her face slid down the pole. See cheeseball pics below to see her lovely nose. Yes, we have also realized when the camera is around and cheeseball smile has emerged. I love it though...she smiles on cue now. Cheeseball or not...she is still the greatest thing and cracks us up.
She also has this new thing with washcloths. Somewhere in her little mind, washcloths mean time to go nigh nigh...so she will get one off the couch ( when I am folding laundry..this isn't the normal place we keep washcloths ) and she will lay it on everything and then lay down like she is going to sleep. It is pretty funny, because as are most things with my daughter, she is VERY serious about it. She is not being silly...she is really into this. Anyway, check out the SUPER dark movie to see her in action. I apologize if you can't see much...I guess that is what I get for videoing with a digital still camera. Don't mind Stephen in the background...he was excited about the new voice of beef...it used to be Sam Elliot (one of his favorite actors).

In other news....I was reading another friends blog and they suggested readers should check out this post from a friend of theirs; that it was really funny. Can I say, YES, YES it REALLY was. You should check it out as well. It made me laugh out loud. I am anxious to find out where the pants are......check it out here.

Have a blessed week...

The first fight....

2008-01-24T16:46:00.000-08:00

I was expecting it sometime in elementary school, maybe from a boy....but in daycare with my 18 month old daughter? They called around 3 on Tuesday to let us know that Anna had been in an "altercation" with another child at school. Apparently this other unnamed child wanted a toy that Anna had in her hand. Anna refused to turn loose of it and this unnamed child "scratched her on her face." They said she was fine, that they were just calling us because it broke the skin a little and they are required to let us know when that happens. We talked about it after we heard and chalked it up to a little minor scratch...daycare wounds that every child will more than likely deal with in time. Well, Stephen picked her up from daycare that day and before they walked in the door, Stephen prefaced their entrance with, " Are you ready, mommy?"

I was SHOCKED to see the "scratch" may child got. She looked like she had been in a bar brawl. The pictures below show the horror. All drama aside...I am fine with it....I still believe that it is a daycare wound that some children will more than likely deal with in time when they come into contact with the wolverine child. MAN...the damage this kid did with fingernails is NUTS! For real though...all funniness aside, Anna is fine, she just looks pitiful. I am fine, I laughed more than anything else after I saw her just because of the shock of this kid and his powerful nails. The pictures really don't do it justice and I am sure that there are parents out there that have some that could top this...and if you do...please let me know. I would love to hear about it.
Until then........

Jerry had the right idea....

2008-01-22T09:05:00.000-08:00

For those of you Seinfeld lovers out there....8 years is a good run for not throwing up. Since my pregnancy with Anna, I had to put all bets aside. BUT, before I was pregnant, I had gone about 2 years without throwing up. Not that anyone enjoys this activity, but I ABHOR it. So when the daycare my blessed child attends, told me that there was a stomach virus going around, I was afraid, VERY afraid. But, the week went on, and we seemed to dodge a bullet. I was thrilled.

Then it hit, 5 am Saturday morning, Anna woke up dry heaving. This went on until 8 am...SO MUCH FUN! Poor baby, she just wanted me to hold her while she slept, but that would include me holding her when she threw up ( and yes, dry heaving includes bile ). My apologies for those of you out there with weak stomachs. But the funny thing is, as gross as it is describing it now, at that moment you don't think about that, you just do it. It's your baby, and all you want to do is make it better for her, so you take care of her and get grossed out later.

Not to go on and on with the details, she got sick later that afternoon and I got the real deal. NOT FUN. OH...and can I mention that Stephen was at work during this...aren't I lucky??

Sunday was a day of promise. On the BRAT diet ( Bananas, Rice, Apples, and Toast) with help from gatorade, we had no instances of throwing up occur.

That is, until I started feeling icky that evening. YEP....I got the beloved stomach virus.
My friend Kristy had a blog post not too long ago about being sick. Granted, she had pink eye ( which is different from this but on its own, not a very attractive illness) however, she had a pic with her blog post and she was gorgeous! I looked like grizzly adams with a hangover. MAN, it was bad. Anyway, after a day of missed work, things are looking up. At this juncture Stephen has managed to escape this terrible virus and hopefully things will be well for a LONG season here in the Summers' household. We have had our share of illness lately and I have had my fill.

We will post some pics when things are a little more organized and attractive. : )

Hope you all have a blessed week!

18 months....

2008-01-11T19:06:00.000-08:00

She will be 18 months in two days. It is CRAZY to me that a year and half ago she came into our lives. It seems like yesterday. I wanted to post this little video so you all could see what a big girl she is. I seriously cannot believe that she is this big. She was an infant 5 minutes ago. She can eat with a fork, drink from a little cup, she calls us by name and uses like 20 different words. Before too long she will be in a big girl bed. Hold on to each day my friends with new babies, because while you are wishing they could talk to you and could sit up and engage with others...they grow up. You turn around and they are no longer babies. I marvel at how quickly they mature and how fast time flies. God gives us the day and it is gone before you know it. I am so happy at the place we are in and the places we will be going and I fall deeper in love with her day by day. I know Stephen and I's life will never be the same and are better off because the Lord has blessed us with her. I never knew but am SO happy I know now what a true blessing it is to be a mother.

I know it is a lot of pictures...but how can I choose just a few when she is THAT CUTE!??!

2008-01-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

I still am minus some funny/sick/agitated pics from Christmas in Victoria, but I will give you what I have. Some show the attitude we were getting from our little diva and some just show pitiful she really felt.
Also are some pics from this past weekend when we all got together for Christmas with my parents in Corpus. A big thanks to Aunt Holly for taking SO many CUTE pictures of Anna.

Why do I have these things on my feet?

This was what we got when it came time for pictures.....

Christmas in Corpus feeling better (but you can't tell)
She is giving Stephen the stink eye...he's the one behind the camera.

This past weekend....post cold. Can't you just hear her - look out world...here I come!

Anna in her Christmas dress. She was too sick in Victoria to even ATTEMPT pantyhose.
Look at her little shoes! : D

She kicked off her shoes and got comfortable.

Stephen's mom got a Nikon D40 for Christmas and she came to visit a few days. Here are a few pics with her new camera and Anna on her new Radio Flyer bike thingy...it has four wheels so it isn't a tricycle either. It's some new hybrid.

My Niece, Kaylee. ( Stephen's brother Kenneth's daughter)

I am not sure if she wants to be holding that leaf.

Happy girl!

Every body loves a little dirt now and then...

2007-12-31T17:38:00.000-08:00

Anna's day in the dirt...

Especially children. : ) We had a wonderful day yesterday. Stephen was off for the day and we got to do a variety of errands that went surprisingly well. Anna was great, traffic was great so therefor Stephen was great, and we were able to get a lot done in a reasonable amount of time.

I received some pots for our front porch for Christmas so one of the errands was to get some plants and dirt. When we got home we sat on the front porch and planted the pretty greens and then allowed Anna some time to play in the dirt. She had so much fun. Hope you enjoy the pictures and the little video of her playing.

Anna having fun in the dirt.....and leaves. : )

I wanted everyone to see the front of our house...kinda. Check out the plants in the corner.

Close up of the seriousness of moving dirt from one pot to another. She was not playing around. : )

There's just something about that name.....

2007-12-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

So, Christmas was good. We spent time with Stephen's family in Victoria. Things were great until Christmas Eve, when the cold came to visit...and I don't mean weather. Yep, you got it - we all got a cold. Anna started strong with a runny nose and cough. I came along second with a scratchy throat and stuffy head, and Stephen followed up the rear with all of the above.

Anyway, it wasn't a very photogenic Christmas...Anna was NOT having it when it came to camera time. I will post some of these because you have to admit they are funny, but I will wait until I have all of them...some are on other cameras.

Today was a fairly rough day. We are still trying desperately to get over this cold to no avail. Anna was not really having any of it...all she wanted to do was sit in my lap and watch Baby Einstein all day...which, as comforting as that sounds cannot be good for her. So when she pointed at the tv and said moh moh...which is Anna for remote (she knows the remote makes the dvd player work - smart girl!) and I said no, she flipped her lid.

So, the last hour of the evening, I really tried to spend some quality time with her. It was great. She was positive and played and smiled and made me smile. We threw a little plastic football and she was able to say two words together (which we have been working on). I kept saying over and over, "Good throw Anna!" A few minutes later, she said, gooh toe! I was so happy. : )

Then when it was time to get her to bed, I rocked her and talked with her (can't sing as I normally do because I am sick ) about how I loved her and Daddy loved her and Jesus loved her. I looked at her and said, "Anna, can you say Jesus"? And she said it....SO clear it shocked me. So much that I just started crying. It was an amazing moment to hear my child utter the most important Name in the universe. I am so thankful for the life I have and the life He has entrusted to Stephen and I. It is pretty humbling...and makes you want to be the best parent ever. Made me think of the old hymn....and I agree, there's just something about that Name.

Poh Poh.....

2007-12-20T17:45:00.001-08:00

I am not resurrecting terms we used in high school for the cops and this is not me trying out a Kevin Fedderline song. The title of this post is my child's rendition of the large animal we all know as a hippopotamus. We have been watching Baby Noah in the evenings as we are getting ready for bed and she just LOVES the hippo. She will walk around the house just saying it over and over...poh poh....poh poh....poh poh. It gets quite funny. She is also really getting into children's songs...you know, the ones that drive you mad and create a desire in you to scream. I sit there and tell myself over and over; this is good for her, it is for her development....she is learning. But there is only a certain number of times you can listen to There's a Hole in the Bucket before you get a little crazy. I just wish that toddlers at her age didn't need so much repetition. She wants everything, again. Ghin mah..ghin. ( again mama, again) This is what I get quite often. That or Moe. ( translation, more.) But back to the children's songs...she has started to sing! Stephen and I are tickled to death. She will sit in the car and bob her head to Row, Row, Row Your Boat and after they start singing the words she cannot say, like, "gently down the stream"...( a little advanced for my 17 month old) she will start saying Woah, woah, woah....which makes the horrid song drown out a bit and then you smile and tear up. They get so big, SO fast. It really is great to watch them learn every day and see what they can remember and recognize and repeat....even if it does mean listening to stuff you don't like.

In other news, Stephen finished his first semester and made a 4.0. I am so proud of him...he really is working hard. He is still at Cafe Aeby and really likes the people he works with and the knowledge he is gaining from being in a semi-upscale environment. If you ever come to Corpus, you must check it out, it is definitely worth it.

Tomorrow is the last day of school before the break...WOO HOO! The kids are about driving me nuts and I need a break. The last few days have been quite interesting in school, and if you want more details, it isn't appropriate to post so you will have to call me if I have caused enough intrigue.

I will be uploading a video of Anna dancing like a rapper as soon as I can figure out how to get it off of Stephen's phone. She was gettin' down too....you will have to look for it. Until then....here are a few pics of late....

Who doesn't love baby airwalks??

Hangin out with Dad.

Close up with a non Digital SLR...but I am not bitter.....

Music..it rocks my socks off....

2007-12-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

You will notice a new addition to our blog. I was wandering around in blog world, hopping from post to comment to new post, when I discovered someone had music playing when you opened up their page. I was stunned. Was it possible to have music on a blog? Yes, it must be.. because there it was! So I did a little investigating and found this lovely website where you can create a playlist and upload it to your blogpage. They have a great philosophy about legally sharing music. You must check it out.
http://www.projectplaylist.com/
At the same time in my life I have recently heard this song by Relient K on the radio...which is apparently not a new song. It was created for the film The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. You can also hear this on my playlist. : ) That really does make me happy...my playlist. Anyway, it features quite a bit of piano which reminds me of Bend Folds a lot...which also makes me happy. I am really into the piano. ( especially jazz ) Stephen normally gets fussy about my love of melancholy music. It makes him sad but it makes me happy. : ) Even though this song by Relient K has some sad lyrics and undertones, the lyrics aren't what make me happy. It is the wicked melody of this song. ( every once in a while I like to pretend I am from Boston.) Anyway, back to the song... I just love the music. It has been in my head for about three days and it hasn't gotten old yet. But I am not listening to it around Stephen because he says it makes him depressed. Whatever the style, when it all comes down to it...music rocks my socks off and puts a smile on my face. (A big one...with teeth showing. ) and I am SO pumped that I can share that with all of you because of this website. : ) Hope you like some of the tunes on my playlist. Stephen is still seething about Paul McCartney...oh well.
: )

On the road again...for friends and family

2007-12-11T07:10:00.000-08:00

Stephen was working two doubles this past weekend, so Anna and I decided we would go hang out with Parker and Holly in Waco. Jered was on call this weekend, so he was going to be there, but with limited time. So on Friday we got packed in the car and headed north. One of the hardest things about moving is the realization that things are not as close as they once were. Waco used to be a three and half to four hour trip for us when we lived in Victoria. Now, living farther south, this trip kicks in around five hours. ROUGH! That is all I have to say about that.
But, thanks to Baby Einstein and a trusty portable DVD player, it was MUCH more enjoyable for everyone involved.

We all got up on Saturday and went shopping. We did not choose the right time for this. Both Anna and Parker were not in the best of moods because they are on different schedules. When Parker napped in the early morning, Anna was awake ( and loud ) and woke Parker up. When Anna went down for her mid-morning nap, Parker was awake ( and loud...he is really into his voice right now..so cute!) and woke Anna up. So, the odds were stacked against us, but we braved shopping anyway. After a melt down of dramatic proportions, we went home and put them down for a nap. Jered was the adult left in charge. Holly and I hopped back in the car to head back and finish up our shopping day. She called on his cell and at home when we were headed back and there was no answer. We got a little freaked and raced home. Well, Jered was an outstanding Dad and took charge. Anna did not nap....imagine that? When you want a child to sleep they do not. Jered got her up after about 10 minutes of pitiful whining. Then, 20 minutes into his nap, Parker woke up screaming. So we drove up to the house and all three of them were hanging out in the front yard. I guess when all else fails, take the kids outside! Good work Jered!

Before we left Waco, we had to go see Ms. Eleanor Rhodes. She was beautiful and SOOO girly! She is so pretty! There is NO doubt she is a girl. Very feminine attributes.
Below is a picture of Anna checking out her new little friend. Congrats Jeremy and Nikki, she is perfect! OH and by the way, the letters were all they said they would be. : )

Anna and Eleanor! She is only 6 days old here weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz. Just so you all know...Anna weighed that 2 weeks before she was born. Eleanor was SOOO tiny!

Everyone likes a bath pic. But this one is best because it displays her new thing. She always puts her hands up like this when you ask her ANY question. It is pretty funny. Jeremy and Nikki got a big kick out of it. : )

Blankets anyone?? Also notice the THREE pacifiers within reach. We don't spoil her ONE bit.

Couldn't resist the tree pictures. Stephen picked it out this year. I think he did a wonderful job. I also had to put in this blurry pic because I love the way the tree looks when it is lit up and the flash does NOT give you that warm glow feel.

Thanksgiving...a Time for Food and Family

2007-11-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

This year we planned to be with my parents for Thanksgiving, but before we headed that way we had a few things that needed to get done. Stephen was getting ready for his last few days in class, and had to create a dessert for a pot-luck lunch in his leadership class. He decided to tackle the tart. He looked around and settled on a Butternut Squash tart. He made the dough from scratch, which is supposed to be really hard to work with....and it was. He had a time getting it to fit the pan without it getting too sticky, but the results were wonderful. You can see the pic below. He also played around with another tart recipe using apples, strawberries and brie cheese. All I have to say is YUM! It's not featured in picture which is a shame because it was SO pretty. It was so good, it was devoured before it could be photographed.

We went out to my parents and had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Anna had fun riding in her wagon and playing with her cousin Parker (my brother Jered's son).

Anna being pulled in the wagon by Mom.

Stopping for a picture. It was pretty windy!

Anna and Parker. Isn't he SO CUTE! She loves to give him kisses... here she is going in for the kill..

She also had fun playing in his carseat. He has some cool toys!

We finished off the weekend by getting a little hair cut. I only trimmed off about a 1 inch lock from her bangs but it has seemed to make a dramatic difference in the way she looks. Oh well, at least her hair won't be hanging in her face anymore.

Anna during her "first" hair cut. The after pic with bangs down.

The after pic with J-Paw and Uncle Judd reading her a book!

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Thanksgiving as Stephen, Anna and I had. We are incredibly blessed with wonderful family on both sides and thank God for them on a regular basis.

Thanksgiving Dinner with Anna

2007-11-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

Mashed potatoes are GOOD!!

Today was the Thanksgiving dinner at Anna's school where parents are invited to come and eat with their child. Stephen and I made arrangements to be at the school for lunch. Anna was so happy, it really does make your day when she is just standing there, not really showing much expression until she sees you....her mommy. I just love her smile and how happy she is to see me. Not to leave Stephen out, she was equally happy to see him, and lately has favored him in the evenings. They like to sit and read or watch her Baby Einstein video before she goes to bed.

Back to the lunch, Stephen and I arrived and went into the lunch room where they had all their tables set up. They feed them family style, with all the food on the table in large bowls. The teachers give each child a portion and they eat it up! I was very impressed to see her teacher, Ms. Frances grab Anna's hand before she scooped up some mashed potatoes and put them on Anna's plate. She was mimicking how to scoop potatoes for her. It is really nice to have a daycare system in which they teach your child a curriculum, not just babysit them.
All the adults sat on the floor around a table that is two feet from the ground. The children sat next to their parents and we all enjoyed a very nice lunch.

She loves her Daddy!

We had a great time spending time with her during the middle of the day. She did pretty good when we had to leave and go back to work, she cried a little, but settled down for a nap pretty quickly after we left. Before I got on the road to travel back to Rockport I went to the restroom. While Stephen waited for me he went back to check on her...she was sleeping soundly.

TAEA...a weekend full of fun!

2007-11-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went to an Art Educators Conference in Galveston. We had a very good time...I had a chance to catch up with some of the people I have taught along side in the past. I also got the chance to meet some new additions to the VISD art team. Saturday night we all got beaded up for an evening on The Strand titled Arti Gras. Evelyn had brought some masks with her from Marti Gras the year before and we were going to adorn these along with our beads she brought. We found out before departure from the hotel that they were going to provide masks that we were to decorate as we toured the shops on the strand. SO...we opted to leave the masks ( that were AMAZING ) in our room. BAD decision. The masks they gave us were Robin masks...like on Batman and Robin, but worse because the ones we were given were cardboard. You can see my distaste in this lovely photo. All in all, we had a great time. It is always good to see old friends.

Here is a picture of me and my new buddy Renee'...see how the the large mannequin is checkin' her out. Pretty funny.

Picture of us all with some random large gorilla. Why not? And the woman hiding in the back, that is Daisy. Funny lady. Also, I did not realize that I would look like such a dork in that pose...I really was just very happy to be there.

And on another note, while I was out, Stephen was slaving away at work while Anna stayed with T-Maw for two days and then another two with her Granny. Here are a few new pics that just make me laugh. The one where she looks like a drunk man at a pub was taken in Victoria at her Granny's house. So funny!

Anna, so happy watching Hi-5...her favorite show on tv.

Well...it is the next best thing....

2007-11-03T14:32:00.001-07:00

We couldn't do Halloween because we were
recovering from ear tubes, but this Saturday
we decided to dress up and take a few pics. Stephen had already gone to work, so these are without mom and dad. Hope you enjoy. She REFUSED to put the cat ears on....hence the picture of her with cat ears screaming. She also rubbed all the make-up off her nose when we tried the ears, so she looks like she is dirty. Pretty funny. It will be a good story for her to hear and see one day. The post man walked up and looked a little confused until I explained. Oh well...you hate to waste a cute costume!!

In Recent Days....

2007-11-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

The ear infection was our enemy. We had a wonderful day on Saturday with a garage sale with mom in Calallen. We made money...which never hurts. Anna was a perfect child and napped when I put her to bed, she ate great at lunch and had SO much fun outside with us on a GORGEOUS day to be outside.
Then Sunday, it hit with no warning. Fever, 103. She stopped eating and was very unhappy. We worked with the fever, called a nurse and got it down using baths and fever reducing meds. Monday took her to the PCP and she referred us to a ENT. All these acronyms make me laugh. At the time though, it was no laughing matter.
Her ears look real bad was his diagnosis, she will need tubes in the next few days. So I was looking at more time off...which was NOT good. ( I have been out a lot lately fighting this enemy, the ear infection.)
Miraculously, they had an opening for the next morning...and I had already called in for the next day! So Monday night we went home to cope. She was so pitiful. She had thrush from all the antibiotics ( due to the enemy) and could barely sleep. She would only sleep on Stephen or I. She was a drool MONSTER...her throat hurt so bad, she wouldn't swallow. It was so sad. We could not wait to get her feeling better.

Monday the surgery went great. She was calm, and our Anesthesiologist was a Christian..we found this out when he placed his hand on her tiny back and said, in Jesus' name we pray she will have a safe surgery. Stephen and I both about lost it! We had prayed that morning for God to watch over her and we really feel like He gave us comfort in that doctor.

Her recovery was, to say the least, outstanding. You can see the change in her after 24 hours. CRAZY! So our enemy was thwarted for the time being and we have our happy girl back!

Retroactive...

2007-11-01T18:24:00.001-07:00

I have to go back...these moments are too hysterical and must be mentioned.

This was Anna on her first birthday with her first cake. Doesn't she look so excited to eat her first birthday cake? It took unbelievable convincing for her to eat it. But once we started, there was no going back.

She was into the cake!!

It must be in the water....

2007-11-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

No we are not pregnant...we are just joining the blog world. Stephen and I have been very involved with MySpace this last year in order to keep family updated with pictures of our daughter Anna. But I want to talk about our lives too...and it is much easier just to blog. So...here we are! I must say a thank you to Holly for getting us started!