Amarillo Weekend

Audrey and I went to visit our friends, Rebecca and Callie, for the weekend. Audrey and Callie became friends when they were 6 (I think), then we moved away. Callie's family then moved from Houston to Amarillo last year. I thought Audrey needed a break after her big DI tournament, and there is no bigger treat than Callie time, so we drove out west on Friday and home on Sunday. We started our trip with dinner at a hibachi restaurant, where a nice pastor and his wife surprised us by paying for our dinner!

The next morning, we went to the Discovery Center in Amarillo, where they had an exhibit all about owls and raptors, which was super exciting! Audrey was loving every minute.

Sunday morning, we snapped a few photos, and had to document Rebecca and my prolific friendship bracelet creations. She had a kit that she wanted to figure out and we ended up spending hours talking and friendship-bracelet weaving. How awesome are we.

Those Amarillo winds stopped just long enough for Ed to snap a photo of the four of us!

Grateful Sunday

Audrey reading Trooper a book, after he had a traumatic incident in the backyard (see below).

This week has been great. Audrey and I just safely returned from a road trip to Amarillo (6 hours each way) to see our friends, Rebecca and Callie. Photos of our girly time to follow! Today, I'm grateful:

• that Trooper is okay. He got himself tangled in our trampoline net on Monday, and a large patch of his back fur was ripped out! When we first discovered it, there was a big, bald, bloody spot on his back, and it looked so terrible. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, so we put him in his crate and Audrey comforted him by reading a wolf book. Neal came home later and found the big bundle of fuzz all twisted up in the net on the trampoline. Poor guy, we feel terrible that we were not around to help him in his moment of need. And now we say things in our prayers like, "please help Trooper's fuzz to grow back."
• that Audrey and I had a safe trip. I get kind of nervous on a road trip without Neal. I was worried I'd blow a tire or get into car trouble and wouldn't know what to do. But we were fine, hooray!
• for our friends, the Lelands for hosting us in their beautiful new home.
• for safe boys and daddy while we were gone.
• for sunshine and spring time.

Grateful Sunday

Audrey and her friend, Macie, at their DI Awards Ceremony last night. They owned it.

Today, I'm grateful for:

• See's chocolate. Neal found me some at the temporary kiosk in the local mall, and though I try to limit myself to one piece per day because of my silly heart beat thing, I'm relishing every piece. Yum.
• friends who collected sand for me! My friend, Rebecca, recently visited our old honeymoon spot, Grand Cayman. Since I wasn't collecting sand when we went in 1998, she graciously remembered to get me some. My friend, Diana, brought some back all the way from Thailand and completely surprised me with it. I was so excited. Thanks, ladies!
• Audrey's determination. Her Destination Imagination team took first place in their category yesterday at the regional tournament. They're moving on to the state competition in Lubbock in a month or two. They (and their dedicated manager, one of the moms) spent hours and hours (and hours) on their challenge/production. We were all so excited when we found out they won!
• Parker, who did a great job in a mini-recital for the piano today. Cool as a cucumber.
• friends who helped me with preschool suggestions this past week. I think I have found the perfect bridge class for Miles for next year. I'm excited about it, and glad we have so many options in our town. (I had planned on keeping Miles at this current school for a three-day program next year. I recently learned that their three-day program follows the same curriculum as the two-day program he already attends, and his teachers suggested he move into the four-day kindergarten class. The next year, he'd attend the public kindergarten. We were afraid we'd regret that decision, and were hoping for something in between, which I believe I've found.) I'm grateful for friends who are teachers, and for moms for sharing their knowledge.
• Neal, for taking the boys to the BYU basketball game yesterday. They had a lot of fun, and BYU won, of course. :)

Grateful Sunday

Our computer crashed at the end of 2005, so I have only a few pictures from that year when we lived in California. It all seems like a dream now! But this is one of my favorite shots: Audrey and Parker sitting outside a restaurant in Venice Beach. They were so tiny and cute.

Today, I'm grateful for:

• good friends and fun times. We've had some fun nights out with friends these past couple of months. I'm grateful that we live where we do and have fallen in with such wonderful couples and families.
• sunshine! Today was gorgeous, I'm hoping for more of the same this week.
• Miles' great preschool teachers. They threw me for a loop this week when, in a parent conference, they suggested that he forego another year of preschool and head on to kindergarten. We're not ready for that, so we're exploring our options. But they understand him well and are on my team no matter what we do next year. I'm grateful for their loving ways.
• my Valentine. He makes me laugh and I love to be around him. We're happy together, and that makes life wonderful.

come on spring

We are counting down the days until baseball season starts around here. The minute the sun came out and the snow melted away, these boys were in their "uniforms" and hitting the ball around. Miles will have his first chance to play on a real team this year. The prospect of a uniform and a team and a trophy and his own baseball bag is the most exciting thing to happen to him. Ever.

Grateful Sunday

Snow is bright.

This has been the weirdest week ever. Everything came to a grinding halt in our town, it was very bizarre, but we'll take it!

Today, I'm grateful for:

• my friend, Natalie, who celebrates her birthday today, exactly two months after mine! I am so grateful to have her in my life. Although the miles separate us (she lives in Virginia), and we haven't seen each other in a few years, I know that she remains my friend through thick and thin. And I can't wait to go see her in April! Happy Birthday, Natalie!!
• Perler Beads. Seriously, my kids spent hours with these things this week. Audrey has become a total addict. I'll have her make a post with all of her creations some time. She is super imaginative and makes all sorts of things.
• our warm home. Last year, we lost power during a large snowstorm, and were therefore without heat. This year, we were blessed. No frozen pipes, no power outages, complete warmth and comfort in our little home. And we appreciated it so much more!
• Stake Conference today. I love Primary, but it really is nice to have a break from the stress of it all a couple of Sundays a year. Baby steps till General Conference . . . :)

snow day

 On day four of no school now. At least we finally got some play-able snow overnight rather than the ice that fell earlier this week! We've been out enjoying it today.

tiny

So we're on Day Three of no school because of the ice outside. And it's supposed to start snowing in the morning. I wonder if life will ever get back to normal! The other day, Miles and I were fruit shopping at our favorite store, Central Market. They had the cutest little mandarins for sale; look how tiny they are compared with a clementine!

mid-week weekend

Today is the second "ice day" here in our town. The kids are out of school, and, since most of Neal's patients and all of his office staff are affected by that, he's home from work, too. An unexpected two days off in the middle of the week! It's supposed to get down to 10 degrees tonight, so none of the icy roads are melting, but I'm assuming school is back on tomorrow. I don't think they'd have 3 days off in a row! I stocked up on groceries before the storm hit, so we're laying low, and maybe going a little stir-crazy!