I Want to Hold Your Hand...

Oh yeah, I'll tell you something
I think you'll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand


Four days after Christmas, and the day after our 35th wedding anniversary, my niece Sarah was married to Ryan in the Houston Temple. We had talked about this day for months. Well...the women of the family talked. The men mostly listened. Sometimes.

It was an awesome wedding. Here's a look at the reception...in other words, the party. I didn't get many good shots, the flash washed things out and without it, everything was dark, oh well. Back to the party, we had a ball...we ate and talked and danced. It was held at an event center, Joe's Banquet Hall, and it was so pretty. There was a wonderful catered buffet and a waitstaff to do the work. Amen to that!!!

Lou Ellen and I were watching something. We can't help it, we're observant by nature.

Me holding Ella (Clarissa's oldest). I fed her chocolate cake. She didn't complain.

Lou Ellen and me. Sisters. We look happy. We look sparkly. We look ready for a cruise!!



This was supposed to be a photo commemorating our anniversary. But that would be only half the story. It's really all about the dress. I call it my Oprah dress because it reminds me of the style she wears. And I love it. And it was perfect for dancing, very swishy!! :)

The bride kicked off her shoes and danced the night away.

Chris, Jennifer and Justin looked pretty spiffy too.

Adelynn howled for a minute but she was happier after we took her sweater off.

My temple pictures were much nicer. The day was overcast but the light was good. Sarah was a lovely bride and Ryan looked handsome too.

Clarissa holding Adelynn, her new baby girl, about 6 weeks old here. She is precious!

The Lyons girls

Wade & Clarissa and the munchkins.

Brady, Chris and Don. They were starving. They proved it later at Gringo's when they had ice cream when they walked in the door, before everyone else arrived.


It was such a sweet day!! And so much fun! I'll remember it always, and when I do, I'll think about Sarah and Ryan. And Lou Ellen. And our kids. And Don and I at our 35th wedding anniversary.

And my dress.

And The Beatles.
I wanna hold your hand...

Louisiana Christmas Day

Oh its alright, its gonna be ok
Your little boys comin' on home, come a Louisiana Christmas Day
Oh let the good times roll, Le Bon Temp Rouler
Your little boys comin' on home, come a Louisiana Christmas Day

That song by Aaron Neville always reminds me of Christmas in cajun country. One thing's for sure: our Christmas day was fun, with lots of good food. I still miss fudge on Christmas though...

We went to the movies (family tradition, the last few years) and saw The Blind Side, which was fantastic! Then we came home and got dinner ready...shrimp gumbo (family tradition dating back at least 25 years) sliced turkey, brisket, mashed potatoes, and more. We had lots of treats, but the Peanut Butter Pie, made by Jennifer, was SO sinful!! Yes, I ate it and I'm not sorry. ;)

My Christmas china is stacked, waiting for the table to be set.






Justin liked his new gumbo pot. :)

Happy hunting...the gift cards all say Academy!
Jennifer got the coolest Born boots...believe it or not, Santa had to detour to CA to find them.





Love my Crate & Barrel flatware caddy!


Wedding jewelry. Cruise bling. You never know.


Chris models his Invicta dive watch. We're all infatuated with it...even Chris.







And they weren't here, but we were tickled to get this shot of Alahna & Kirra sitting at the table Mawmaw & Pawpaw (that would be us!) sent them for Christmas. I love it, it's made of wood. And all little girls need a table...for coloring, snacks, playing school. Jason says they love it too.


So, on the day after Christmas, you just gotta GO. Go shopping (me). Go hunting (Don). And a good time was had by all!

'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. :)