Maddie's Birthday Party

We are on our way to Maddie's Birthday party at Carousal Acres where the kids will have the opportunity to ride a horse. We are driving Dada's truck so that we can get "LuLu" the GPS to lead us there.
We finally made a little progress and got Cassandra finally to agree to sit on the horse. Way to go Cassandra!

Maddie and Talina were not scared at all. They were ready to go!

Nope.....Jase, says, NO, NO, NO, I don't want to go!

Come on Jase, ride with me! NOPE....it's not going to happen!

This is Maddie with her Mom and Dad (Kay and Tody Holmes)

Yea......we have a big girl, finally ready for a ride. She said, she held on really, really, really tight. We were thinking about having Cassandra's party at this same location, but now....Cassandra wants "little pony rides" NOT "big horsey rides". So....I'm on the lookout for that type of set-up, if anyone knows of a place, please let me know! Happy 4th Birthday Maddie!

Jase at Post Oak Mall

I was told earlier this week that Jase's picture was in the display case at the Post Oak Mall by advertising by Specialties Photography and sure enough....there he is...

That's you Jase!
In November he was in a baby contest, held by the Eagle, and he ended up being in the top 12. So, a calendar was made and then the calendar was sold as a fund raiser for newspapers in schools. Anyway, we also signed an agreement that his picture could be released for advertising and promotion purposes. Not all 12 winner's pictures were on this display case, only 4 or 5, so, I was proud that his was and it's a 11x17 portrait. Isn't he handsome?

Awe....anyway.........I've got MOM'S BRAGGING RIGHTS REGARDLESS ;-) I think he is handsome (like his Daddy, of course)!!!

ET Phone Home

DaDa left a message on the answering machine and the kids loved it. Watch...

Jase's 2nd Birthday Party

My little monkey face turned 2 years old. I'm so sad....no more little baby boy! He is a little man now. He is growing up so fast. (and may I add....he keeps getting cuter and cuter every day ;-)
We had him talking like a monkey during his Curious George Party. Uuugh, uuugh, aw aw

He loved his Whack a Mole Game.

I told you he was cute! (the mask helps, LOL)

We had hired a party planner for his Curious George party because we were on vacation and I didn't have time to do it myself. I think the lady did an awesome job in setting everything up but she was a little quiet interacting with the kids. But none the less, I was grateful for the good turn out and we had a lot of fun!

Our little talking monkey.......

Holiday Vacation, Part 9 of 9

THE END of our Holiday Vacation. It was a blast and it is so nice to be home! Come on kids....let's go home!

Yea Mommy....does this mean no more COLD toilet seats?

Holiday Vacation, Part 8 of 9

The following day, Jan. 2, 2009 I had the opportunity to watch a Fairy Tale wedding unfold right before my eyes.

Melissa Rivers was the most beautiful bride that I had ever seen and she was so happy!

This is her Proud Mom, Brenda Rivers who I grew up around as a child in high school. She had three very beautiful little girls and I was always playing with them, giving them piggy back rides, helping them pet the cows. They always loved visiting the country.

Melissa is as beautiful today as she was as a little girl. She also has the sweetest personality!

Now, this is a very special lady, this is Brenda's Mom (Melissa's grandmother) Clara Page. She was like a second momma to me and my two brothers. If we were not in school or at home asleep, we were at Clara's house. She was the best cook! She was always so good to us!

I feel so blessed to have both of these two ladies in my life. They helped mold me into who I am today! THANK YOU!

Can I say it again......isn't she a beautiful bride. Her whole wedding seemed like a fairy tale. A princess marrying her prince, Captain Brennan Speakes.

Brennan's favorite beer is Shiner Bock and this was the groomsman cake. Yep, it's all cake even though it looks like a metal bucket. Is that cool or what?
Yes, this was a very beautiful wedding, it even had an ice sculpture. Sweet! I wish Melissa and Brennan a lifetime of happiness together!

Relax Brenda if you are reading this, it is not a movie clip of you dancing, it's of the lovely couple's first dance together. AWE, so sweet!!!!

Holiday Vacation, Part 7 of 9

Yes, that is right, we went through the Carlsband Caverns on New Years Day.
There were some amazing formations. A definite wonder of the world!

Yes.....I asked some poor sole to take a group picture of us again. He was more than willing because, I started off asking, would the two of you like a picture together and they said, sure. (they fall for it every time, and then I come back would you mind taking ours?)

ONLY TOUCH THE RAIL JASE!!!!!

Why Momma? Can't I go down there and walk around???

NO

Holiday Vacation, Part 6 of 9

Okay, I think we are on Wed, Dec. 31, 2008 in Carlsbad, New Mexico now. We basically drove all day and got there about 2 p.m., got another hotel with an indoor swimming pool and then went and visited this zoo. We were not too sure what to expect except a bunch of cactus, but we were plesently surprised.

Okay the birds are nice.......lets keep going and see what else there is to see!

a mountain lion

buffalo

a prairie dog....isn't he cute? Look at all the vegetables that they gave them to eat. I could have made myself an entire salad with all the food that they had laying around out there for them to eat.

Well, there were a lot more criters but I don't want to bore you with too many details. We enjoyed walking through and saw a black bear named "Maggie" who the zoo keeper said was an artist, that she painted with her paws. It was pretty cool! Then, after we left the zoo, we went to eat at a BBQ place which wasn't as good as it it in Texas, but it was enough to make us feel full and ready for bed because that is what we ended up doing on New Year's Eve night. We were in our pajammies and asleep by 8:30 p.m.

Happy New Year EVERYBODY!

Holiday Vacation, Part 5 of 9

I think these pictures were taken at this restaurant that we found out in the boonies of Taos, New Mexico called the SteakOut. It was a very, very, good place to eat. I had gotten a beet salad before my meal and later on discovered that the salad alone was $14 bucks. Just a little too pricey for me but MAN it was delicious! Well, the kids of course didn't like anything that they served. So, that was a waste of money for them.

And of course, we were able to get one family snap shot before the food arrived at the table. Go me, you know it was me that was asking the poor ole waitress if she would be so kind to take our picture! LOL

I think Cassandra took this picture. She is a chip off the ole block, don't you think?

And this is a short clip of Cassandra skiing on the second (and last day) of our ski trip. Cory said that she did really well at getting on the lift (in other words, she wasn't scared or not wanting to go). She was willing! And then they went up a second time and both times, she enjoyed it. So, we thought this was promising for our future trips skiing!

Holiday Vacation, Part 4 of 9

I only took my cell phone up with me on the mountains, therefore this picture memory card doesn't have any pictures of skiing. So, you will have to believe me when I say that we skied a bunch of black diamond trails and that we didn't fall down at all. Haha......well, I think I only fell down one time but Cory came really close to hitting a tree once and then another time, he did a complete flip from head to toe. He was proud of himself but he was covered with snow. I'm more in control when I'm skiing where Cory just coast along and goes for it. He even skis backwards. Well, enough about how great a skier we are.....check out these pictures of our little sledding buddies. Cassandra really had fun and like it a lot.

Isn't her hat cute?

She wasn't scared at all....she went by herself a few times.

Now Jase on the other hand, wasn't too sure about this.

He didn't even like it when Momma road with him.

Or when all three of us went at one time.

Weeeeeeee........

Now these pictures are on the second day at the ski resort. Cassandra like going with her Daddy.

Even Jase had a better second day at sledding.

Of course Cassandra wasn't going to let them go without her climbing on board.

And here they go........