Father's Day

I am lucky to be surrounded by incredible dads. The men in my life who are fathers have been such amazing examples of love, kindness, patience and caring. This is my dad, to the left, holding me (yes, even as a baby my hair was curly) and my brother Paul. I still have that dress in my baby box. I have admired my dad for as long as I can remember! My dad has the incredible talent for being quiet and a great listener, something I tried hard to develop. It's so nice to have someone who can lend a listening ear without offering unsolicited advice. He taught me to love spaghetti with ketchup. Yup, it's true. In Argentina, people assumed that's what American's ate and here in the US, people assume it's an Argentinian thing.It's neither, it's a Bob thing (my dad's name) and my siblings and I all love it. My dad is the best ever.

I love this picture of Dain. He might kill me for using it here. Dain has been such a great teacher for the kids. He has a talent for being organized and looking into the future and preparing for it. That is something that is hard to teach and he has been able to teach that to all of us. He loves hard work and being proud of what you do. In this day and age, when kids don't do nearly as many chores as we used to, it's refreshing to know our kids can do whatever is required of them. He's a great dad!

Memorial Day Fun

For Memorial Day, we got to go see The Bangles in concert (and meet them) plus spend time at the Aquarium at Moody Gardens. We also saw the Imax film about surfing ... oh, what's it called? lol Can't remember! But it was fun! Our pictures didn't turn out awesome as the lighting wasn't the best and you can't use a flash.

I love seahorses! They're so tiny and so cute.

And even though the kids have touched stars and such many times before, that's always their favorite!

And that's me with the Bangles. They look so good! These women are my age (well, maybe younger, lol). Still, I was impressed.

Shooting the Bad Guy

Shooting a Glock 40 ... it was a bit too much power for me. Last time I shot a Glock 19 and it was much better. But I still shot the bad guy. :-)

Dain Shooting the same gun ... He did awesome!

The Mission Wait is Now Extended

We found out yesterday that his student stake President lost part of Christian's mission papers and didn't say anything for 3 weeks ... yup, we've been waiting in vain. He asked Christian to redo the medical docs and resubmit. This is going to take FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still Waiting ...

Yes, we are STILL waiting for Christian's mission call!!! It takes sooooooooooooooooo long, doesn't it??? Or am I just impatient? :-)

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

Christian's 19th Birthday, Spring Concert, Mission Papers

We went to Brenham on 5/1 for Christian's Spring Concert. This was the first of many trips to Brenham ... and keep in mind we've been there a few times the last month. ha ha

This is his band on stage.

And we went back again on 5/8 for his 19th birthday. Notice he's holding a Chuck Norris book .. yup, be prepared. If you keep in touch with him somehow, expect to hear Chuck Norris jokes.

He has also turned in his mission papers this past week .... So it's going to be a big year for him (and us).

Pineapples, Geckos and Tomatoes

Our pineapple plants are finally growing fruit!! We have two plants and we've been waiting for a few years ... yes, years. After the winter freeze, we had to trim some leaves as they were burnt and voila! the pineapples started growing. Our tomatoes should be ready soon. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago. We have a lot of geckos this year. Plus our lime and orange trees are full of fruit.

I will next post pictures of our loquats and the jam we bottled. It's delicious!

Chappell Hill, Brenham and Blue Bonnets

We flew to Brenham to see Blue Bonnets and also made our way to Chappell Hill (sp?). So pretty!

I think the red Indian Paintbrush flowers are just as pretty ... I never got a picture of the yellow fields.

This was on a building in Chappell Hill .. .ha ha ha made me laugh!! Had to share it.

These square dancers caught my eye ... I think that's a funny dance with funny costumes.

Some diners at Must Be Heaven .. our required stop for lunch in Brenham. :-)

Happy Birthday Dain!

It was Dain's bday this week .... Here's a belated Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He turned 19 ... no 29 ... no 39 ... ??? I lost count. And yes, he's crossing his eyes ... He crossed them in every single picture! lol

Emi's Stress Fracture

Well, Emi has been complaining of pain right above her ankle in her left leg. I took her this week to get a bone scan and she has a stress fracture (doctor said it has been there a while) plus shin splints in both legs!!! Poor baby girl! So she starts physical therapy next week and will continue for 6 weeks. During that time, no running!!!! Her coach was upset that we didn't allow her to run district but now I'm glad we made that decision. She was already in enough pain.

Check out my new blog!

I decided to start a new blog ... I have maintained a workout routine over the years and it's become a part of my daily life. Almost every week I receive an email from a friend/acquaintance wanting to know about my workouts, what I do, how I do it, etc. So I decided that it would be easier to just blog my workouts and share with everyone.

Check it out! It's called A-Fit-Tude and let me know what you think. I would love suggestions on how to improve it.

Emi's track meet

Emi's last track meet of the season. She's having a bone scan next week because the doctor thinks she has a fracture. She had been complaining of pain. We assumed it was shin splints but we were wrong! Her orthopedist allowed her to run this last meet. Now for the scan ... She won't be able to run for district (for which she qualified). She's bummed but safety comes first.

Easter

Blogger isn't letting me upload pictures .. odd. So I will add pictures to this post later.

Easter was weird because it was just the 3 of us. It's a difficult weekend for Alyssa to come home because it's a ways to travel for a couple of days. She spent it with my parents. Christian opted to go visit a friend at college who wasn't going home, so he went to San Marcos. That left Dain, Emi and me. It was nice. We colored eggs, had a yummy meal, and I even made Emi go a hunt. When she woke up, I announced that she had to find her Easter chocolates. She looked at me and said, "so did you hide them or dad?" I asked her why and she replied, "because if it was dad, it will be hard. If it was you, it will take me seconds." ha ha Well, it was me and it took her seconds.

Pho

We LOVE pho, so we decided it was time to just make our own. We added a couple of things (broccoli) to make it more veggie friendly. It was YUMMY. In fact, we've made it several times since. YUM!

Keith Urban and me

I have been bugging Dain and his co worker to get me back to meet Keith Urban .. and it happened! lol It's funny because I have met several recording stars but this one left me speechless ... and I'm not even a huge country fan! ha ha ha

Emi's 15th birthday

I can't believe Emi's 15 ... She's our "green baby" as she was born on March 17. We love you!

Receiving her birthday spankings ....
Going out for Hawaiian food ... her fave ..

And at her request, a yummy guava ice cream cake!
Happy birthday baby girl!!!

Weekend Flight

We decided to take the plane out for a spin a couple of weeks ago. We flew to Brazoria, a small town close to the gulf. This is us landing at the airport ...

This is my reward for being such a good co-pilot ... YUM

And this is me, happily flying home. The End.

Dinner with Alyssa

I had to go visit my office in Utah in February and I was sooooo happy to have the chance to have dinner with Alyssa one night!! I met her in Brigham City. I know this is way late in posting but I just downloaded the picture! I love you Aly!!!

Ronald McDonald House

Every year I go with an association to which I belong and prepare and serve lunch at one of the Ronald McDonald Homes in Houston. Houston has 3 homes and all 3 are invited to lunch that day. It's a humbling experience! I'm very grateful for this privilege.

Houston Rodeo Cook Off

Dain has to go to Cook Off every single night for his job. I tagged along a couple of nights. We were also invited to the House of Blues tent and I have to say, I was impressed. Very well decorated! Wish I had pictures. Most tents are like a bar. Theirs looked like their restaurant. I was invited by a client to their tent but never made it there. We always leave early. ha ha

Grant-a-Starr 5K

We did it! Second year for us. It was a chilly day (for Houston) but we got up early and headed to Sugar Land Memorial Park for the 5K. Of course, Emi and Dain kicked my butt. lol

Woman of the Year Nomination

So Alyssa was nominated at Utah State University for the Woman of the Year Award. I'm so proud of her! She's in her third year of college and working hard to keep her grades up. She's also on the Dean's list. Yay Aly!

My baby brother

This is my youngest brother, Ryan, and his girlfriend Alycia. They got to go to the Grammys (lucky). Ryan was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had major surgery yesterday to remove nodules and lymph nodes. He will be at Huntsman Cancer Center for about a week and then starts the treatments and recovery. Weird thing is that this is my second brother to get it. My other brother, Andy, was diagnosed, treated and recovered about 4 years ago. What are the odds .... So as I sit here thinking about Ryan and wishing for a speedy recovery, I thought I would share a cute picture taken about a week ago.

Italy!

Dain surprised me with a trip to Italy where we went to celebrate my birthday and our 10th anniversary. I need to make a collage of photos because I have way too many!!!! We spent time in Italy in Turin and the valley of Aosta (our fave), a day in Chamonix, France, and a quick trip to Martigny, Switzerland. We so want to go back and spent a ton of time there!!!!!!!!!!!!! We loved the Alps and spent a day skiing Bardonnechia, one of the resorts for the 2006 Olympics.

Christmas 2009

We had a great trip to Utah!! We had so much fun and it was so nice to see everyone. Here are some pictures of our trip. First one, we took the kids for a family dinner at The Roof Restaurant and they gave us the corner table overlooking Temple Square. The view was amazing. It was a great dinner.

This is from Christian's ordination as an elder (yes, can you believe it?). We waited to do it in Utah so we could be with all the family. He had both grandfathers there along with uncles in the circle. It was very nice. I forgot church clothes and borrowed some from my niece (Thanks Sara!).

Last and never least :-) we got to ski. We had such a blast!!!