Friday Night Fun

We had a fantastic sushi dinner with our friends on Friday night! It is always nice to get a sitter, go out and enjoy some adult conversation!

Retirement

Ryan's dad just announced last week that after 34 years with bp, he will be retiring. He was in town when the announcement came out, so Ryan, Jack and I joined him for dinner to celebrate!

Grandpa and Jack are in deep talks about Jack's future, the stock market, the price of oil, 34 years worth of bp stories and other such things....

The month of December

Well, the Christmas season came and went pretty quickly in our household! Here up some updates on all of the fun adventures that we had!

We had a great visit and dinner at our house with some of our Baylor friends: The Adair's, the Rose's and the Hutchinson's. The Adair's will be moving to London the first of the year so we decided to have a little get together out our house to wish them well! Their daughter is there in the exersaucer...isn't she precious? We had a wonderful time! Why we wait to get together until someone moves is still beyond us!

We had our annual Christmas dinner with the Stotler's. We have been doing this over the past 5 years....each time we check out a new place to eat. We always have such a great time together! Christmas just isn't the same without this special dinner.

Jack and I headed to Indiana the week before Christmas, and Ryan joined us the weekend before Christmas. It was nice to celebrate an early Christmas with the family and spend time with my parents, sisters, nieces and nephews. All the grandchildren are sitting with my parents in their finest Christmas Pj's. They had a blast together!

While in Indy, Jack learned how to push Grandma's walker. He is not walking yet but he had a blast pushing whatever he could around!

We had fun cramming into Lisa's car to go to lunch one day! Joe loved Grandma's "special" car seat that Lisa and I randomly found in the basement. =)

Jack loved and admired his cousin Olivia!

David, Jack and Gretchen had fun playing together!

While in Indy, I got to catch up with my HCS friends. We had a great lunch at Jann's house and all the kids enjoyed playing with each other. We missed you Bari!

Back at home, Jack, Ryan and I celebrated Christmas together on Christmas Eve.

We then headed to Sonora to have Christmas with Ryan's family. Ryan's mom had her house decorated beautifully!

Jack loved his off roading vehicle that Grandma & Grandpa gave him!

He also loved his shape sorter from his Uncle Michael, who Jack now calls "Critter." It is so cute!

Thanksgiving

Jack with his daddy

A rose among the thorns (cactus patch!)

Just another day at the ranch fixing a sprinkler head

Getting ready to work some calves

Jack walking with his Grandparents (the bad bottom buggy is in the background)

Jack with his buddy Baylor

Jack with his Grandma & Grandpa M

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at the ranch! The weather was great so Jack got to go on lots of bad boy buggy (a.k.a. solar powered golf cart) rides with his Grandparents. He enjoyed (although he was a little scared of) the cows and now that we are home practically everything is a cow and everything goes "Mooooo." He is so funny! He also learned the word "sweet roll" and enjoyed eating them with his Grandpa M.

Catching up....

Jack with his Great Abuelita and Grandma

In early November, Jack and I went to San Marcos to meet up with Ryan's mom and Jack's Great Abuelita. (Ryan was in South Dakota with his dad pheasant hunting.) We had a great time, and Jack loved playing and spending time with both his Grandmas. His Great Abuelita is full Navajo Indian. How cool is it that Jack has that heritage in his ancestry! We need to take the time to sit down with her and listen to her stories so that we can share them with Jack as he grows older.

A week after we returned, Jack got pretty sick. It started out as a cough and then he began throwing up. He was so weak and fatigued and lost a lot of weight...as a mother it was so scary to watch my poor baby. I was so worried that he was getting dehydrated because he would not take any fluids. After about a week, he finally started to feel better. We had to keep his diet pretty bland for a while, so now it seems that all he likes to eat is starches and fruit! He used to be such a great eater! =)

Ryan's mom happened to be here during that time because she was going to babysit while Ryan and I went to the Randy Rogers concert mentioned in my previous blog. Because Jack was so sick, Ryan and I decided not to go so we will have to catch the next concert!

Texas Country Music

Randy Rogers Band

Wade Bowen

Jack Ingram

My favorite music to listen to is Texas Country. Ryan introduced it to me back in our Baylor days with the likes of Pat Green and Robert Earl Keen. We began listening to Jack Ingram the summer before we got married when we went to Austin to listen to the band that ended up playing at our wedding (The Harris & Ryden Band). Jack played after Harris & Ryden, and he put on an awesome show! Last Friday he was playing at a place called Mo's that was literally 5 minutes from our home. We were so excited! My parents watched Jack so we could enjoy the concert. It was so much fun! You will have to take a listen to one of his songs below. It is an acoustic version of "Good Night Moon;" one of our favorites! Listen also to the music by Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen...my 2 favorite Texas Country artists! When I was on their websites getting pictures I noticed that they both will be playing at House of Blues in Houston on November 17th! I want to go so bad! Maybe Ryan and I can find a sitter!

Halloween

A view from the top

The penguin with Mommy & Daddy

The penguin with Grandma & Grandpa

Cute Penguin!

Erin, Blakely, Jack and I at story time

Jack with Grandma & Grandpa at Story time

Jack and Blakely

We had a fantastic Halloween weekend and what made it especially special was the fact that my parents came into town for the fun! We started the weekend off at the library for story time where all the kids dressed up and there were lots of goodies to eat. Jack began as a bear, and I soon realized that I should never order a costume online because it turned out to be a little too hot and itchy; making Jack's already sensitive skin turn red. My mom and I found the penguin outfit on clearance, and Jack seemed to enjoy wearing it. He loved crawling around the front yard in his costume; watching the other kids come by for candy. We got many a good laugh looking down on him in his costume when you could not see his face! He really brought the costume to life!