Troy's 2nd Birthday

Yesterday was Troy's 2nd birthday. We started out the day by baking and decorating a Mickey Mouse Cake with sister Kaleigh helping. Quite an adventure since we don't have a table in our kitchen - lent it out to stage kitchen in Phil and Brianna's house which is for sale. The kids stayed over for lunch and Troy took his nap then we went to the party. Catherine and James, "Pa" (Brianna's dad), Aaron, Meridith and Chase, us were the guests. We had BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, salad and Cake and Ice Cream. It was yummy. Troy loved all his gifts and showed great excitement as he opened each one, but his all time favorite was the bin with outdoor toys (golf, horseshoes, bowling set) and his bubble lawn mower. We gave him cowboy boots and hat and Brianna said he went to bed with his boots. He loves boots. We had a great time.

Spring flower planting

Thursday was work in the yard day. The Azalias @ Cosco were beautiful so we bought 2 of each color: Pink, White and Red and planted them in the yard. We are really happy with the way it turned out. We also found this yucky looking elephant in the trash pile as we went for a walk one day and I brought it home and repainted it black, red and gold - It was worn out brown all over. Looks great now. Today we went for another load of rocks to finish out the look around some of the flower beds. Needless to say, we were bushed and worn out and achy when we went to bed but felt a sense of accomplishment and we are proud of our yard - tackling the back yard is next.

Nanny's Birthday

Wed was Nanny's Birthday. She is now 95 years young. We keep saying "How I hope I feel and act that well when I'm 95" but in actuality, we want to be that alive now. She had cake and cupcakes, wine, soda, cheese and crackers and about 40 people helping her celebrate her BD including her roommate and best friend, Rosa and her family. Rosa's daughter-in-law made the cupcakes. She also received a Happy Birthday card from the President and his wife.

Trip to Austin

Its been a busy week. Paige and Troy left on Friday and it was a great visit. We went to Austin to Salt Lick and then to do some shopping at Fiesta Market and then to the outlet malls in San Marcos but we left there in a hurry. Too many people and no good deals. I've been helping out my kids with babysitting while they get their house ready for sale so that was part of the day Sunday and then we went to Floores Country Store for dancing. Yesterday was my day to sit for the kids while Brianna went to work in Pearsal. Today, we went to the gym, got Nanny a manicure(me) so she can be ready for her birthday tomorrow and on and on it goes. I need a job so I won'
t be so busy. ;-) We are truly blessed!

Paige and Troy's visit

Well, they fianally got here on Sunday night along with their new puppy, Beau. We were so excited to see them and have them stay with us. We stayed up till 2am. Monday we went to the gym and exercised for 3 hrs. I'm dying. Troy bbq'd some ribs and we had chili reyenos and salad with that. It was great! We played Sequence(card game) and yes, Mason played too (shocker)! We had so much fun and ate lots of munchies: m&m's, boston baked beans, jelly beans, cashews, pecans, peanuts, almonds, oreo shakes, rootbeer, and wine - we were bad.
Tues we only exercised 2 hours(these guys are obsessed with exercise - maybe thats why they are in such great shape and are so healthy, you think?) We went to see Nanny, had to do our taxes but afterwards we came home and Mason and I did the Chef/Sous Chef thing and made Green chili chicken soup, fajitas, sopiapillas, guacamole, salsa, tortillas, pineapple natillas(custard pudding), homemade oatmeal/raisin cookies. We did it in 1 hour - all from scratch. Usually its 20 min but we made so much stuff, it took us longer. P & T invited some friends and their 3 kids over and we all ate to our stomach's delight. We played Sequence with them and had a great time while the kids watched Disney movies. Went to bed at 3am.
Today we will go shopping for bargains-taking a break from exercising altho, after last night, we need it again coz we finished all 4 doz cookies with milk along with homemade granola and anything else we foraged.

Working in the Yard

Today we decided to work in the yard. It was a lot of work and tiring but having Kaleigh and Troy over to "help" made it fun. We are getting ready and are excited for Paige and Troy to come visit for a few days. They get here tonite. We hope to go to the Riverwalk, San Marcos Shopping, Dancing at Floores, introducing them to our "church family" at Oak Hills tomorrow, maybe Schlitterbaum-its warm but I don't think warm enough for that, visiting and lots of eating.

Today we went to see Nanny. She was getting her hair washed and curled. I cut it for her 2 weeks ago and she absolutely loves it short as it is easy to comb. She was sashaying as if to say "I know I'm beautiful" as everyone commented on how pretty she looked. Its amazing to see how spry and active and alert someone her age is (95 on 24th). We are so blessed by her. Paige and Troy will be coming to visit this weekend and next week and she is so excited to see "my girl and her husband". You see, Paige's first name is Arlyene just like Nanny.

A New Look

I just got surprised with a new look from my sweetie. I had never seen his top lip. He looks even younger than his 65 years of age with no facial hair. What do you think?

A new day

We've been gone from this blog for almost a week now. Mason has been working in the yard, its been raining, I've been babysitting and not feeling up to par. My neck and back were hurting so I went to my chiropractor and then yesterday I felt flu-like symptoms so we are now back. I took Kaleigh to her dance lessons and here are a few of her pix

One Happy Year!

Today is our First Anniversary. There were some up and downs with all the stuff life and the world hits you with but all in all, we have had a pretty happy year. The pictures are: Red, 1 yr ago; Blue, 6 months ago; Orange, today. We did a lot of traveling: 20 trips to Albuquerque, 3 to Las Vegas, 1 to Chicago, 1 to Stuttgard, Germany and the Czech Republic, 2 to Orlando, 7 to Dallas, 1 to LA, 1 to Ontario Ca, 1 to San Francisco, 2 cruises: 1 to Ensenada and Catalina Island and the other to the Bahamas - that's 39 that I can remember and we managed to have a porch/patio built in the back yard, Xericape our side and front yards and then replant grass, have our inside of the house painted, made 3 new quilts, took over 3 thousand pictures, painted our fence, matted, calligraphied and framed 8 pictures, helped mama move, helped Paige and Troy move, had lots of parties for our friends at church, cooked thousands of pancakes, sopapillas, tortillas, green chili stews, over 30 gallons of salsa, etc, got to be able to sit for our grandkids and visit them, got a new computer, took classes to learn how to use it and started this blog. Are you tired yet? And, we are just beginning.... We are very involved at church and we are starting BSF (which means we have to work our trips around that). We are so very blessed and I have the best husband ever. As someone said, my motherinlaw has a great massager, its called her son. This year we plan to do a short term mission trip to Guatamala with our church group and hopefully a trip to Europe (England, Spain, Italy, France) and we won a 3day, 2 nite condo in Cancun so we have to go there.:-)..... and the adventure continues......

Kaleigh's new glasses and Brianna's BD cake

Today was busy. Went to a BSF intro class and loved it. Did 9 years of BSF in Abq, NM a long time ago. While I was at class, Mason worked on the yard. We were really hoping we were hoping we would not have to do that kind of work anymore when we xeriscaped but then the HOA made us put the grass back. Then came home and made lunch for my honey and for Kaleigh, Brianna and Troy. KK and Troy stayed with us and while Troy took a long nap, KK and I made 2 cakes for her mom's Birthday. We celebrated it here and had dinner with them and her Pa. We had, chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, sauteed veggies and salad and german choc cake and icecream for dessert. The other little cake was for KK to take home so her mom could have it on her real BD, tomorrow. Tomorrow is our First Anniversary - time sure flys when you are happy and having fun!