Stop to Breath!

I've been so busy the last three weeks that I haven't had a quiet minute to myself, much less had time to post. -- I'm not complaining, because I've been having a great time...just a jam-packed time.

First, Luke's parents came into town for a week and we were so happy that they took the time to come all the way down here! We had a great time showing them the sites around here and even made a spontaneous trip to San Antonio for two days. We loved having everyone and hope they had a great time too. Hopefully we left enough stuff out to warrant another trip! ;)

After the Werretts' visit, I left the same day for Utah/Idaho to spend some time with my family. Both Bethany and Neal are leaving for a mission in May, so I wanted to spend some time with them and say my goodbye's. I was able to go through the temple with Bethany the first week in the newly dedicated Rexburg temple and it was a great experience having nearly the entire family in attendance. Unfortunately it will be a while before we're all together again.
During the week I even had time to get one last day of skiing in at Targhee and, let me tell you, it felt so good! If I had to narrow it down to the one thing I miss about home, besides family of course, it would be skiing...It's hard to come by down here...except in my dreams. And I have dreamt a lot about it this year!!! (I'm pretty awesome in my dreams...)!!

Today, I started my personal training program and I think I'm really going to enjoy it. I was super nervous about it this weekend...almost doubting my decision...but the class is a good one and I can already tell that I'm going to learn more than I may be able to handle. Oh, and I'll probably be sore for the next 16 weeks straight -- but I think all the pain will be worth it. (Maybe it'll give me a little sympathy for my clients later.)

Thanks to Luke's family for a great week! And thank you to my family for all their hospitality! It was a great trip. I love you all and miss you already.

The Project

Emily and I decided shortly after we moved to Texas, that our kitchen was a little dark and a little too enclosed. Well, I thought, on T.V. they just knock a wall down and rearrange the floor plan, and they are always done in 30 minutes, and that's with commercials! Shouldn't be too hard right? Right. We knew that we couldn't do that, so we brainstormed some other ideas and came to a compromise. The following pictures show what we did, and yes I still have all my fingers, and no the scars are not that noticeable, and whatever you may have heard, Emily did not almost electrocute me . . .

BEFORE





Me Doing Electrical Work

"Okay flip the breaker and see if it does anything . . ."


Some Final Touches with the Gutting Job



Fun With Drywall



DONE!

Remember The Alamo!

Since moving to Texas, we've been thinking that we should take advantage of the cities within driving distance of Houston. First on our list: San Antonio. We purchased tickets to see Phantom of the Opera about six months ago, so we decided to make a whole weekend of it. My cousin Tad lives in S.A., and he was kind enough to let us stay at their house for a few days.

Friday morning we toured Sea World with Tad's wife, Jessica, and their two kids, Preston and Eliza. I had been to the Sea World in San Diego when I was about 11, but I'd forgotten how cool some of the attractions were. We got to see the famous "Shamu" in action as well as just about every other sea creature worth notice. In addition to the animals, they also have several roller-coasters and some really interesting shows. We spent the entire day quite entertained. If you ever get the chance to go, it's worth it!



You can buy a tray full of little fish and feed them to the dolphins. They were smart though, if you didn't have any fish, they totally ignored you!


This is a photo Luke took with his cellphone of the waterskiing/wakeboarding show. It was my favorite show of the day and it was absolutely amazing!


Saturday, we spend the morning and afternoon touring some of San Antonio's most famous attractions and landmarks including: the famous San Antonio Riverwalk, extremely old Missions and of course, The Alamo. I've heard the story of The Alamo a million times, but it was really cool to actually walk into the building and see where everything actually took place.
The San Antonio Riverwalk is also awesome. Many cities claim to have a "riverwalk" of sorts, but I doubt any can compare to the original. They have shops and music and restaurants all along the river on both sides and it is absolutely beautiful.

Here's a few pics of the Riverwallk:






This is the Alamo:


This is the Mission we visited. For as old as it is, it was in surprisingly good shape.




Pics of Eliza and Preston:




After our city tour with Tad and Jessica, we left on our own to get ready to see the show. Tad and Jessica recommended several excellent places to have a nice dinner on the Riverwalk, and we chose a modern restaurant called Acenar. The atmosphere was really cool and it was located only about 1/2 block from the Majestic Theater.

Dinner at Acenar:

Belated Posts

I was looking through our photos and I realized that I simply forgot to post about my birthday celebration and Valentine's Day, and Luke did such a fabulous job with both, he deserves a little bragging time. For my birthday, I opted to stay home and celebrate, so Luke made a four course dinner including my favorite entree, Salmon with Lemon Sauce, and for my birthday cake he made (from scratch) a double layer white cake with raspberry sauce and white chocolate! He slaved away in the kitchen all afternoon and it was amazing. I am very, very spoiled.







For Valentine's Day, we were thinking about going out to eat, but around here it would be next to impossible to get into any restaurant on Valentine's Day, even with reservations, so unless we wanted to eat at Jack In The Box, we decided it would easier to eat in.
Again, Luke slaved away in the kitchen and made an incredible steak dinner. It was fabulous! After dinner Luke surprised me with tickets to a play that I had been wanting to see called, "The Importance of Being Earnest." I had read the play for an English class in college and remembered really liking it, so I was hoping the live performance would be even more fun, and it was. It is silly English comedy, but was very entertaining.

Thank you Luke, for being such a great husband!

What? No Blizzard?

Barely escaping the blizzards and closed roads in Idaho, Dad and Bethany arrived last Friday night to a little warmer weather down here in Houston. We had a fabulous week together and I've included a few pics of the week.


We introduced everyone to the game Bocce, aka Lawn Bowling, and we had a good time playing in a local park:




Dad and Eva cuddling at the park:


Luke and I on the Tram at the Houston Space Center:


Posing with the giant chess set in Galveston:




The ice cream parlor in Galveston:




Galveston Harbor:


Playing disk golf:


Playing Bocce at the beach:


Even though the water was COLD, we still had the crazy idea to put on some swimming suits and jump in the ocean. We found that once your bottom half numbed up, you stopped involuntarily gasping for air and screaming when the waves splashed above the waist. We had a lot of fun in the water, but some hot, hot showers were in order as soon as we got home!

Dad and Luke catching some waves:


Bethany and I:


Bethany looks like a regular beach bum:

Christmas Highlights

It has been quite a while since the last time we have posted, but that's because we've been with most of you! We had quite the whirlwind trip and we arrived home exhausted, but we had a fabulous two weeks! Thanks for all the fun everyone! Here's a few pictures we accumulated along the way:


- AT THE WERRETTS -


Bowling a few days before Christmas:


Making gingerbread houses:






Opening the jacket Luke gave me for Christmas:



-AT THE HOOPES' -


A big welcome home from Matthew and Jadie:


Meeting little Jadie for the first time:


Luke and I were a little tired that first night in Idaho:


Trying out the "big swing":




Christmas for the Grandkids:


Isn't that a big bat for such a little kid?


The rush for the loot:


Whitney making sure her pockets are packed full:


Snowmobiling:




Luke's snowball fight with Matthew:


Matthew and Eva:


Happy New Year Everyone!