Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2011.  Seems just yesterday we were thinking about the year 2000 and all the technology chaos that would happen.  Time goes by fast.  I can't believe Matt is 5 already.  And although Marlie is only 3 you'd think she was 5 too.  As another year goes by I am so thankful for my family and my friends.  Doug and I have great jobs (in case you didn't know he starts a new job with KPMG tomorrow so keep him in your prayers!) and we are blessed to work with wonderful people.  God is great!! 

You may have seen these pictures before.  I was so proud of myself that I took them and they turned out great.  Of course I had to take million just to get these few, but hey...as with all of us, we just try to get better every day!  One step at a time! 

Baylor is in the Texas Bowl!

So after 16 years Baylor made it to a bowl game!  And lucky for us, they were invited to the Texas Bowl that was played here at Reliant Stadium.  So we had to go! 

The kids were excited!  Dad surprised us all with new Baylor shirts for Christmas.  He got us seats up close so Matt could see the game easily and Marlie could see the cheerleaders.  It was super cool!

I know we should not have had high expectations but we always do and then get disappointed.  It's stressful being a Baylor fan.  Although the bears lost we had a blast.  The highlights of the game were 1) that Marlie danced, like no one was watching, the entire time the Baylor Band was on the field.  Everyone around us was watching and laughing.  Some of her moves were really good and others...well she must have learned them from Dad!  2) Dad got to see Kascie and Brandon, good friends from Baylor that he ran track with.  As Doug was trying to introduce Matt to them, Matt was bothered and just wanted to watch the game.  He has an unhealthy obsession with football right now and so he loved being at the game.  Thanks Dad for taking us!!

Christmas is here!

Our highlight this Christmas was in my last blog post!  We had a nice Christmas Eve at our house.  Doug and Uncle Jay fried the fish the boys caught on their trip and it was SO good!  Not your typical Christmas Eve meal but Matt was excited to eat the fish that he caught! 

The kids put the "reindeer food" out on the lawn that Matt got from his teacher (she is awesome - looked like oats with a little bit of green glitter so the reindeer could find it). 

What was really neat this Christmas is that the kids were so excited to give each other the gifts they picked out for the other.  Marlie spotted this Ironman figure at the store and knew it was the perfect gift for Matt.  We wrapped it and she was excited to show Matt all the buttons on it.  Matt got Marlie a Ken Barbie and she thought it was funny to have a "boy" Barbie.   

This was the first year we were at home for Christmas so it was nice to see the kids come down the stairs Christmas morning and see that Santa had stopped by.  He ate most of the cookies we made and even left a note! 

Then it was off to SA to spend the holidays with the rest of the family.  Matt really wanted a football uniform for Christmas which he was lucky to get.  And he wanted to make sure cousin Tim got a Texans jersey too. 

Gram bought each of the families a karaoke machine and it was a huge hit!  All the kids had fun singing.  Marlie and Tim were reluctantly taking turns...she has been singing Taylor Swift on the mic every night!

We did something else different this Christmas too...we stayed downtown at the Hotel Contessa and took the kids to the riverwalk and of course on the boat ride.  Of the million times we've been back to SA we have never done this.  It was lots of fun! Here are all our cousins waiting to get on the boat!

I love this picture of Matt and Maggie.  They are close in age and used to fight like brother and sister, non-stop!  Now they have fun together and it's so fun to watch!  

It was getting dark and the Christmas lights came on.  I love the riverwalk at Christmas.  It brings back lots of good memories.  I was so glad the kids got to see it this year. 

We also got the special treat of an adults night out and we got to hang out with our friends that we've known since junior high - the Hatters!  The kids loved that Grandpa came to the hotel to hang out with them and Grandpa was more than happy and came with cookies and popcorn.  It was a win-win for all. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Thank you to Jesus for letting us share this special day with him!