Yummy loquats

When we moved to Texas, the first thing I did was plant a loquat tree. I grew up eating loquats in Argentina and I LOVE THEM. Yum, yum. When my brother moved to California, I got him to ship a few to me in Utah but they don't ship well. My tree bears yummy fruits. I tend to be impatient and pick them a bit green but this week, I finally reaped good fruit. They are sweet, juicy, delicious. I'm so happy!

Rodeo Cook Off - LeeAnn Womack

Dain's company puts on a big show for Cook Off. Rodeo is HUGE in Houston and it goes on for several weeks. Cook Off happens right before Rodeo starts. Cox Radio has a huge tent during Cook Off where they host clients and have a dinner/party every night. The first night of Cook Off, our entertainment was LeeAnn Womack! We had a private concert. She was actually sick that day so she did a limited appearance--I think she sang maybe 8 songs? Still, it was cool to be in a small group of people, eating dinner, and listening to LeeAnn (did I spell it right?).

Ronald McDonald House

I went with a women's association group to the Ronald McDonald House to serve lunch. We do this yearly. It's such a cool place .... I made chicken and funeral potatoes. They couldn't get enough of the potatoes! So funny .. lol There, I called them sour cream potatoes because it seemed more appropriate.

Shelley's Baby Shower--I'm such a DORK!

My cousin Mike and his wife Shelley are having their first baby!!! They live in Richmond and last Friday, I was invited to Shelley's shower. Here's a picture of shelley opening the gifts we got her:

And one of Shelley and me:

Now here's my mess up: I was bringing part of the food and somehow, who knows HOW, I wrote it down for an hour later so I SHOWED UP ONE HOUR LATE. I walked in and thought how odd that all the food on the table was gone. I'M SUCH A DORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol My only relatives in the area and I'm late. EEEEK!

Mardi Gras

We celebrate Mardi Gras every year at home. We have a box full of beads and masks which we have collected over the years. Dain's mom used to live in Baton Rouge and that started the tradition. She used to send us a king cake every year. Now we send one to her when we actually remember to do so ... lol We make jambalaya and other things. It's fun! Growing up in Argentina, we always celebrated Carnaval. Now THAT was fun. :-)

Emi Band UIL Ensemble

Emi's ensemble did an informal presentation to the parents. They are competing this weekend. Good luck Emi!!! (Took pix with my phone and they're a bit fuzzy)

My missing half

So while I sit in Texas, Dain sends me this of himself ... so jealous! As a certified ski instructor, he has to teach so many days a year and be employed by a ski resort or he loses his PSIA certification. So he goes back and teaches a few times a year.

V-Day Grant a Starr

Dain sent me flowers ... Then Emi and I ran a 5K together

This is Emi with her friend Kim who was at the race

I forgot to take a pix of me so I took a pix of my #!!!

The crowd before the race started. From Commonwealth Elementary to Sugar Land Memorial Park, around back to the school. The day was beautiful!

After the race, Emi stayed behind to help clean up (for JHS service hours) and I went to get a nice pedi. We finished the day by going to see a chick flick. The boys were gone so Emi was my date. It was a great day!

Twas the night before V-Day

And Lelani was at the range shooting at a bad guy ....


since Dain left for Utah to teach skiing over the long weekend .... So I'm treating myself!

Cowboy Boots

I have been wanting a pair of cowboy boots since moving to Texas. Every year, we go to Rodeo with clients and such and I want to look like a hot cowgirl. :-)

So I went shopping and found these great Lucchese boots! I love them! They are SO comfy and look very cute on.

Family Fun

Some of the fun times together:

My Birthday-Finally!

This is our delicious cake. Alyssa had a strawberry and sprinkles cake back in Utah.



This is one of the many times we ate out. We ate out a ton. Bad, bad, bad. lol We really had a good time! The best part was having Alyssa show up as a surprise on Friday night!!! Next, I'm posting the funny pictures we took plus a couple of videos.

Beautiful Flowers

I have received so many flowers these past two weeks ... I received these today:

I received these the day before my anniversary.

I received two of these. One on the 15th, for our anniversary. The other one a few days ago.

Let me explain what is going on. Dain always sends me flowers for our anniversary and then for my birthday. They are a whole ten days apart (I know, great planning). Well, the flower company is doing business with the radio station. Last year, when they started doing business together, they asked him for our "special dates". And this year, they sent flowers both dates. The one before our anniversary to both of us and the tulips today for my birthday on Sunday. The roses a few days ago were to say "welcome" to the new contract for this year. lol So I'm surrounded by flowers!!!! He officially gave me red roses on the day of our anniversary. His were long stemmed and beautiful. When the second set came, I put some in our bathroom and the rest I mixed in with the old ones. The second set were short stemmed. Hey, I'm not complaining.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Over the years ...





Today is our 9th anniversary. I love you Sweetie!!!

P90X Core Synergistics

So for Christmas I received the P90X workouts. I had been dying to try them. I'm now doing week 2 and THEY ROCK! I'm so excited. I have noticed a difference right away. My body is sore in a different area every day. The workouts are made to challenge a different set of muscles with each workout and thus helping you get stronger and not hit a plateau. I can tell that having done a lot of power yoga helped me as well. So here's to a better, stronger and more fit 2009!!!!

Family Time

Little by little, I'm finishing our Utah trip. I didn't realize we did so much! We were lucky to spend time with both sides of the family. The Pickett's and the Craig's. It was wonderful!!!!

Homeless Shelter

One of our Christmas traditions is to go to the Homeless Shelter in SLC to help out. We were there on the second day of our trip. Dain had been going there for years when I met him. He went with the radio station. They broadcast from there and ask for donations. It was like a family reunion since Dain used to sit on their board of directors. Great tradition!

Skiing Rocks

So here are a few snapshots of us skiing. I took more video than pictures. I'll put them on youtube and link them as they're pretty large files.

The whole famdamly! We had so much fun and skiied SO hard ... Emi was our ripper this year. Now that they're older and can keep up with us, we get to hit the good runs. Emi discovered powder skiing so we were off piste most of the time. Lots of fun! Dain is in his ski instructor uniform here. He taught several days.

In this picture, Dain was blocking Alyssa so I asked him to lean back. Alyssa thought that meant her too. It turned out pretty funny.

Christian is smack in the middle in the white helmet. He was the only one on a board this year. None of us even took our boards up.

Aly cheesing it for the camera.

Emi, Dain and Christian in the chair in front of us. This is the Snake Creek lift at Brighton.

Christmas Ducks

We rented this awesome house that had a deck over a stream in the backyard. The stream was full of ducks!!! Emi played outside and made a snowman too.

Spam Christmas Catch Up

Phew! being gone for two weeks is hard to catch up on!!! So I'm starting with our early Christmas in Sugar Land before our trip. We opened presents on the 21st before leaving later that day for Utah .... It was a lot of fun! Dain bought matching Spam tops for everyone.




Phew! being gone for two weeks is hard to catch up on!!! So I'm starting with our early Christmas in Sugar Land before our trip. We opened presents on the 21st before leaving later that day for Utah .... It was a lot of fun! Dain bought matching Spam tops for everyone.