UP WITH THE TIMES!!!!

This was a big day for me....and exciting day.

A most glorious and wonderful and splendid day!!!

I feel like a Jedi, like I have the power at my petite little keyboard and trackpad.

Now...I just need to transfer my PC thinking to MAC thinking and I might finally be able to utilize this most exciting, glorious, wonderful, splendid computer.

HARD LESSON LEARNED....And Christmas 2011

Those that are 'friends' with me on Facebook are well aware of the woe we suffered at Christmas. Yup...the Hard drive of our PC blew, gone, nada. Nothing could be restored easily from the hard drive. In fact BestBuy's systems crashed when they tried. We were told we could send it to recovery but it would cost upwards of $1600 with no guarantee of how many or what files could be saved.

sniff sniff, sob sob. Thankfully for blogging I have a lot of the memories highlighted. But of course there are the random pics that never made it to the blog that will be gone forever. There are the digital scrapbooking files, the recipes, resumes, church lessons and ideas, addresses...etc, that will be gone forever on that darn computer. And before anyone says it...NO, I did not have my computer backed up.

A HARD LESSON LEARNED for sure.

I've learned... and I'm smarter now. My new computer was backed up the moment I plugged it into the wall. I'm going to subscribe to Phanfare so that my pics are safely preserved on their server and backed up to another server and ANOTHER server.

Yes...I've learned.

On to Christmas 2011...we had a wonderful Christmas as a family. I made my signature Christmas Eve dinner and must say it was the best dinner I have had in a LOOOONG time. And I was brave enough to let the kids eat off the china this year. That's a huge milestone.

We all dressed up a bit. It was a special occassion, or course. Our traditions for Christmas Eve are simple, but we love it. We start the celebrations with dinner, followed by reading from Luke, a special story that we passed on from Brent's childhood, feeding the Reindeer, opening new jammies, desert and a Christmas movie - this year it was A Christmas Story and the kids loooved it.

The kids were spoiled. They always are. But this time it seems like even more for some reason. But we loooved what we were able to get for the kids. And they have been utilized a LOT since we purchased them so it's been a good investment(I have to use that wording to get Brent to buy in to it)

DURING THE BREAK...we got the chance to hit a San Antonio Spurs game, box seats. It was a lot of fun AND we won. 

Other than the sad sad SAD mishap with the computer, we had an amazing Christmas holiday. Though there were lots of gifts, we still focused on the true celebration of the holiday. And that is our Savior Jesus Christ. We taught the kids why His birth was so important and we taught it in THREE points. 

1) Jesus came to earth to be our example. To show us exactly what we could/should, and needed to do to return with our Heavenly Father.

2) He atoned for our sins. He sacrificed himself to pay the ultimate price for our sins. Because he did this we don't have to suffer through our wrong-doings. We can and WILL be forgiven if we truly repent.

3) Through Christ's resurrection he proves that we can and will overcome death. We can live with our Heavenly Father for eternity with a body of flesh and bones.

IF SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TOLD ME...

If someone would have told me a year ago, 5 years ago, or even 10 years ago, that I would enjoy a FULL day of cooking, I would have called them NUTS!!!

I spent the majority of the day today preparing and cooking for our family's annual Christmas Eve celebrations. And I loooooved it! I'm even making TWO pies this year. Who am I???

I'm so excited to sit down to a nice meal with the family and then spend the evening celebrating the birth of our Savior.

Ahhhhh....I love this time of year.

SIX FLAGS HOLIDAY

PULL MY LEG TO GET ME THERE...but we had a good time last night at Six Flags Fiesta Texas Holiday Extravaganza. The park was lit in colored lights, the rides were line-less, Santa Claus was taking requests, and the tree lighting was such a treat.

OK...this was HI-LAR-I-OUS!!! We were so excited to see an ice-skating rink at the park for the holidays. It wasn't packed, it looked like people were getting right in to skate and it was FREE so we were sold! We walked in and realized in 2 seconds why the things I just mentioned were so. WAX SKATING RINK!!!! We laughed out loud. We laughed so hard, we cried and the first thing I thought was...TOTAL REDNECK!

look at that wax!! You couldn't even skate because the flooring was so sliced and diced.

The Tree Lighting Street Show was fantastic. The group of six singers sang a Capella and held the tune the entire time. They sang favorite. They sang with joy. Between the tree, the lights around the park, the carols, and the crisp night air, it truly felt like the Christmas holiday. It felt peaceful, and warm, and in those moments I felt, again, how wonderful it is to have my family - and to have my family forever. The lights were lit, Santa appeared on the roof, and the blew artificial snow. It was awesome!

(can you tell...AWESOME!!!)

Are we all ready for Christmas. Spiritually, we've talked about it quite a bit sporadically. We are trying to instill in their minds the true celebration. And traditionally(or the monetary side of Christmas) we are pretty ready to. We've been having fun getting the kids a few new things. And for the most part we have stuck to the one thing they want, one thing they need, one thing they wear, and one thing they read. I think they'll be happy. 

HOLIDAYS GALORE!!

The holiday season is stuck in FULL THROTTLE. The kids are out of school now. We are enjoying each other(most of the time), and coming up with lots of fun things to fill up the two week break.

But for now...here's a bit of what has gone on since my last post. So what, like, a couple of weeks or so....

Of course I got our Christmas decorations up. Pretty early, I might say. I realized that I have a lot that I'm ready to recycle. It's time to change out a few things and add to others. I love the warm feeling of having the mantel lit up with lights and baby Jesus nestled in the garland. The stocking are hung, the trees are decorated, and the lights are hung outside. Well...they are hung but are no longer in use. With all the rain we've had, it power surged the socket and it won't work. Ooops.

One evening while I was at Young Womens, the kids and Brent decorated the "kid" tree. Looks like they had fun(obviously after showers...sorry for the shirtless boys).

 (Brian has his redneck teeth in...he hasn't ruined them that bad in real life yet)

Brian had his preschool program. It was totally cute. The kids were great. did the know the songs...not really. Was it super organized...not even. Was I the proudest parent there...YES-SIR-EE!! They sang songs like Joy To The World, Frosty The Snowman, and another one that was to the tune of Wheels on the Bus. But I think the BEST one was the finale song...I love Brian's preschool. I think they do a great job teaching the ABC/123, teaching them manners, social skills, and they do a great job teaching them basics from the Bible. But the last song in their program CRACKED me up...it was something like "clap clap snap snap, happy birthday...clap clap snap snap happy birthday. JESUS, its your birthday....HAPPY BIRTHDAY...etc etc etc." Too funny.

Our first trip to Austin. We took the kids to see a production of Beauty and the Beast over at University of Texas. Beautiful Campus; very nice theater right there next to the stadium. Marcus was a little disappointed we weren't going to a football game. "We're right next to the stadium though...".

 (The original Chuy's)

(Texas, our Texas...U.T. Stadium)

 (Bass Concert Hall, University of Texas)

 (Not a great picture from inside. That pinkish blob was the rose)

Breakfast at Lakeway Resort and Spa. What a fantastic hotel. We had a first...Brent had his holiday dinner with all his peers and his boss on Saturday night so we hired a sitter through an agency. The sitter came and watched the kids at the hotel. For four hours they played non-stop. I was so impressed that she kept them entertained in the confines of a hotel room. We will definitely keep this lady in mind for the next time(there won't ever be a 'next time', but still!)

Letters to Santa were written and mailed tonight. Tall order, I must say. Lot's of disappointment gonna be happenin' at our house come Christmas mornin'. LOL :) I think Santa will take care of the kids, and I know Brent and I will. They've been good kids this year, so no coal. Although, if I'm being totally honest, I have used that as a threat over the last few weeks.