'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there

Some of you may have already opened presents but we'll celebrate tomorrow, at least this year. Tonight there's no children nestled, all snug in their beds. In fact no kids here at all today but we expect Justin in later this evening. The only creature stirring is Sam, who right now is curled up in front of the fire. He's in a Sam's Club-induced coma...he loves raw ground chuck from Sam's Club (and ONLY from Sam's Club) and he just had some. :)

Here's a bit of Christmas at our house.











He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Texas Turnaround

For the 2nd year in a row we made the Kelly Willis-Bruce Robison Holiday Show at The Mucky Duck. It was awesome!!! This year Jennifer came too, I hope Don makes it next year. There is NOTHING like live music. They wouldn't allow flash photos during the show and I wanted to take some video but my card was full. So rather than start deleting shots so I could make room, I shut the camera down and enjoyed the night. But here's a clip of Kelly from CMT (one of my favorites):

http://www.cmt.com/videos/kelly-willis/26395/if-i-left-you.jhtml

We went to the 9:30 pm show and yes, we had oh-so-close to the stage seating, reserved by Lou Ellen, as evidenced by her name on the card. Hey...the people that get the stuff are the people that show up and ASK for the stuff! ;)



After our waiter botched our first picture, a kind person at the next table got a good shot of all of us:





It was just cool. You may not know Kelly & Bruce, but if you don't...you should. If you love music. Or Texas.

Houston. I always complain about the traffic (the pits, mostly) but we managed to get around enough to have fun: a little shopping in Highland Village, went to Justin's new apt, drove in to River Oaks to eat at Chuy's, stayed up late talking after the show. The next day we wanted to head for shopping in Silver Lake but since the stinkin' cold rain continued, we headed for the Baybrook Mall instead. Can you say shop till you drop? OK, we didn't get that far but it was still good. Then Jen and I headed home, and that's where our Texas turnaround ended.

Let It Snow

"Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"

OK, so I'm a week late with this post but since I just learned how to make it snow on my blog, here it is. Yes, we had actual snow last week. It didn't last long, just melted into a slush. And now it's warmer here, but sloppy and messy still since we've had so much rain.

I want some clear, cold days where the sun shines!! Big doings this week....Jennifer and I are going to Houston...shopping, going to see Justin...shopping, having fun with Lou Ellen & Charles...shopping, seeing a cool show, Bruce & Kelly at the Mucky Duck...and, oh yeah, shopping. ;)

Pottery Barn, on the cheap

I'm not much into crafts, but when I read a blog about this project, I thought well, if I mess it up, no great loss, what the heck. The inspiration came from Pottery Barn; here's their bigger, nicer, pricey version:
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/typewriter-keys/?pkey=cwall-art

And here is the more modest, smaller, MUCH cheaper thing I was going to attempt to make:
Pickles and Cheese

It just looked fun! Before I could back out I bought all the supplies and...and...told people. It's one thing to say you might do something, but after you say you WILL, you just have to. So I did! Lisa made one too. Andrea worked on another project, for Santa.  Here's a few shots, in progress:



We got this far:

Then I did the stenciling and white circles.

Stained it twice and there it is, my Pottery Barn art project! I think it's cool. I may add some more stain...or not. :)

Veloma, from Cajun Country!

My nephew Matthew reports to the MTC day after tomorrow. He's been called to serve a mission in Antananarivo, Madagascar. He will teach the gospel in their native language, Malagasy. We're so excited for him!!! Here's his Mission Blog for those who want to follow: http://mattlovesmadagascar.blogspot.com/

He and Lou Ellen came to Louisiana a few weeks ago and we tried to have as much fun as we could....lots of delicious food was involved, including: cracklins, boudin, strawberry cake, and Andouille Chicken. Any more fun and we'd have ended up in the ER. :)

One thing Matt did that weekend was to sing in church on Sunday. I was so happy that he finally got to do that. He sang a beautiful rendition of "Whole Again" and it was awesome!!

I wish our whole family had been there, but it was still wonderful. Our group:
Don, me, Matt, Lou Ellen.

We love you Matt, we'll miss you!!!
Aunt Susan and Uncle Don ~

(fyi to readers: Veloma means "goodbye" in Malagasy)

The Best Day

The photo book I made is posted below, it's fun to listen to Taylor at the same time! ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpVo1hntbY0

The Best Day

Click here to view this photo book larger

Ghosts, Goblins, Witches and things that go BUMP in the night...

Ghosts, goblins, witches...it's the scariest time of the year, you know. I was looking at pictures of Halloween from long ago. I meant to scan some of our photos from when the kids were little, but so far I haven't gotten to it. Maybe later.

2007: Cowgirl (Katie Baxter Montou) and Marge:

Our grandgirls are old enough to get into the act. I just mailed them Halloween treat bags from us...filled with candy, a shirt, some stickers and pencils. I love fixing it for them and they love getting it! They have big plans for trick or treating, because that means even more C-A-N-D-Y.

2007: The Cowardly Lion (Kirra) and Dorothy (Alahna):

2008: Fairy princess ballerinas: (angels!)

With wings to match...

Fun Friday Photos

Just because it's Friday...

I love this, it's Jennifer swimming with Payton, summer 05. He's so cute. Is there anything more darling than a four year old???



This was after our moms & daughters lunch. These three girls were in the same classes, Spark and regular, from 1st grade on. They're smart as whips, sweet (mostly) and really fun to be around. It's cool to have friends that have known you forever...lucky girls!
L to R: Magen, Julia, and Jennifer.


Jason (center) on the day he graduated from the Los Angeles Police Academy. It was a stirring and solemn ceremony.


Justin, Jennifer and Jason...just hanging around.

This picture's for Donna...thought it might inspire you to make a sign for the U2 concert. I made this for a Keith concert in Salt Lake City in Sept. '05, painted it on a fabric scrap I got from Goodwill for $1. Bummer though, the venue would not allow signs, so I gave it to Keith's bass player. But I wish I'd kept it!!!

Kirra & Alahna, dressed up for Easter Sunday. One word for these grandgirls of mine...adorable!!

What do you do after you graduate from BYU and hear Vice-President Dick Cheney speak at your commencement? No, you don't go to Disneyland, you pose by the Cougar.

Then Clarissa and Jennifer pay homage to that symbol of all Cougars everywhere....Chocolate Milk from the Creamery! And yes, they actually DO hand out chocolate milk after graduation. :)

This is a picture the photographer shot outside the temple. I think it was one of those moments where if you'd been at a funeral, you'd try to contain yourself, but since it was a wedding...let the good times roll!
L to R: Kristin, Andrea, Rita and Gwen.

Red-neck Girl...for a day

"Redneck girl likes to cruise in Daddy's pickup truck
And a redneck girl plays her heart when she's down on her luck"

I was singing that tune last weekend! Hunting season is just days away and the guys on the Lease are ready. So some of the hunters decided to have girls day before the real deal begins. It was my first time there. I always pictured going on one of those glorious fall days - you know...clear, cool and dry, where the wind whips through the trees and the leaves fly through the air, my favorite kind of day!!! But that would be a perfect day, and last Saturday was not perfect.

We've had lots of rain lately so before I got there, my first thought was...how bad can it be? My second thought, after arriving, was...someone better have mosquito spray. All the guys kept saying what a good day it was. Well...if damp turning warm and muggy, and semi-muddy is good, then OK, I guess?? We girls looked slightly dubious when we got there:



The truth is that we were pretty happy to go 4-wheelin' with the guys. We went on a tour of the stands: Don's Harley Stand (all self-respecting deer hunters name their stands), his River Stand, his Box Blind, Billy's Cypress-Tree Stand (aka Bonnie's stand), his East Boundary Stand, and of course we took a whirl around Rattlesnake, and the Sand Bar, where rumor has it that the big cat (black panther) roams. But we weren't afraid, our guys were packin' heat. ;)




After lunch, we went shooting at the bridge. I'm not a bad shot, if I do say so myself. I think it would be fun to go to a shooting range and practice. Sounds like a plan.




Jennifer poses on Zack's tractor, it belonged to his Pawpaw. That thing may be old and ugly as sin, but Don says it gets the job done. A bushhog on the back comes in handy.







So, I'm not likely to give up shopping and pedicures and Keith Urban-izing for deer hunting, but still...being a red neck girl for a day was kinda cool.

Galveston

“Galveston, oh Galveston, I still hear your sea winds blowin”

This year for Labor Day weekend, we wanted to go somewhere fun but not too far away…I’m not a fan of long car trips. So Galveston was calling my name. We got a reservation, packed fast and hit the road. Jennifer & Chris came along too.

We left on Friday and drove straight there. We were meeting Lou Ellen, Charles and Matt at Gaido's, the world renown seafood restaurant: http://www.gaidos.com/

I knew it was pricey…I’d been there once before with Lou Ellen & Charles and had been blown away by the oysters. Good oysters are hard to come by and those were amazing. So we were expecting good stuff! The traffic was light, and the ferry was fast so we arrived first. Jen was reading the menu when she said, “Mom, I don’t see oysters.” And I, so sure of myself, said, “Well of course they have oysters.” Uh, no. Actually, they only serve FRESH seafood, and it’s not oyster season. No way!! Don't tell me that, I've been dreaming about those oysters for a month! We were so disappointed, at least the oyster eaters among us were (this did not include Don). It was a nice dinner, but not amazing. I had the shrimp but the lump crab cakes we had for appetizers was the best thing.

Having fun on the ferry.

Our gang at Gaido's.

Lou Ellen & I posing in front of the copper dive helmets on display. Yes, we look wild-eyed and bushy tailed. That's the Lyons in us.







The next day we went to Schlitterbahn. I’m a chicken when it comes to water, but I figured I'd sit in the sun and do the lazy river. Yes, sometimes you float, but many times you get tossed and thrown around like crazy, with fast moving water...uh, not sure about that, but yes I did it, several times.

After the waterpark, we met Lou Ellen & Charles on the beach for a cookout. They brought Guy, their dog too. We had a ball!!! I love the beach even though sand is a hassle. Charles grilled hamburgers and we just sat around talking. One drunk man came up and wanted to "talk" to Guy. What, he wants to talk to the dog?? Lou Ellen just told him that Guy (the dog) only speaks to family, ha! Hey it sounds good to me. We finished up the night at Yogurt Bear, where Guy licked all our cups clean. :)




Jennifer holding Guy, the family dog.

The day after we were kind of lazy. We got up, ate breakfast at the hotel and headed for Kemah around noon. Kemah's got such a cute boardwalk area, but it was too hot. I want to go back in the evening next time. There was a restaurant nearby that Jennifer wanted us to try but they were closed, so in our quest to ONLY eat at places that we don't have at home, we drove back to Alvin and went to Joe's Bar-B-Q. It was tasty! Then we went back to Lou Ellen's and I made gumbo for supper.

Our last day was Monday, Labor Day. We checked out of our hotel and met up with the gang in Silverlake...don't ask me what town that is, but that's what the area is called. The girls (Lou, Jen and me) hit our stores, and the guys (Don, Charles, Matt) went to Fry's and Bass Pro-Shops. We met at Gringo's for lunch. I found some good bargains (got a pair of bronze Born sandals for $17!) but we ran out of time.

So we had an awesome weekend and all I can say is that I have a new appreciation for Galveston and I AM going back. When Gaido's has oysters. I'll call first. ;)