Jack's Birthday Party

Yeehaw! Saddle up and come have some fun! Our little Buckaroo, Jack, is turning one! Can you guess what the theme was for Jack's first birthday party? Cowboy! We had such a wonderful time on Saturday night! Ryan spent two day smoking and cooking a delicious array of meat; brisket, ribs and chicken. Both sets of Grandparents worked hard in helping me decorate and serve our guests! Thank you so much Grandpa & Grandma M and K! Jack enjoyed everyone singing Happy Birthday to him and clapped with delight. He was not quite sure what to do with his cake. In fact, he did not like the fact that the icing was sticking to his fingers, and he wanted it taken off. I do think he enjoyed the cake part later with his Grandpa M. He enjoyed opening his presents and has had such a great time playing with all of the new toys. Happy 1st Birthday, Jack!

Hurricane Ike

That Tree that we loved

Pictures from the ranch while Hurricane Ike was barreling towards Houston

Well, the Wednesday afternoon before Ike hit, the bp campus where Ryan works closed; so Ryan, Jack and I decided to head out of town for a long ranch weekend. Fortunately, we headed out before the big rush Thursday morning. We enjoyed a nice weekend at the ranch far away from the storm and spent some good quality time with Grandpa & Grandma M and of course, Baylor, the dog. Jack loved Baylor and even said her name a few times. We monitored the storm from there, and then decided to head back on Monday after hearing that we had power back on in our house. Fortunately, there was no damage done to the inside of our house. We lost a few flowering trees, and there was a lot of debris in the yard that took an entire day to clean up. All in all Katy fared pretty well and was up and running in no time unlike Houston where some of our friends are still without power. Our prayers our with the people of Galveston who lost so much and have experienced so much devastation from Ike.

On a side note, I must share a funny story that happened while Ryan and I were cleaning up the yard. We lost one of our favorite trees, and although we are not sure what type of tree it was, we called it our mesquite tree because it reminded us of one. Anyhow, we were trying to save it by pushing it back up and tying it to the fence, but once we did that the tree snapped and broke. We decided to clear it away in the hopes that it might regrow. After all, there is still a small shoot of leaves coming up from the ground. While Ryan was clearing the tree away, he managed to step on and smash one of our day lily plants. I got upset with Ryan and told him to stop stepping on the day lily. He stopped, looked at me and said, "I don't care about that plant.....I, I loved that tree." I couldn't help but laugh...it was so cute and so sweet how he loved that tree so much! So, enjoy the photo of that beautiful tree that we miss and loved so much!

My 30th!

Wow! So hard to believe that I am now 30! I had a fantastic day and what made it extra special was the fact that it fell on a Saturday, so Jack, Ryan and I got to spend the day together! I went to one of my favorite aerobics classes in the morning, enjoyed a nice, relaxing pedicure, enjoyed another ice cream cake from Ryan and Jack (I love ice cream cake! I better watch out now that I am 30!), opened presents and cards from friends and family (even a card from Baylor the dog), was surprised with a bouquet of flowers, and received messages and phone calls from friends and family. The day ended with Ryan and I going to Brenner's (a steak house) for a nice, romantic dinner. We had a great time at dinner except for the fact that Ryan was told by our waiter that he looks like Joel Osteen, which happens one too many times for his liking. We always get a good laugh out of it or, at least, I do!

Indy Visit

........ playing with bubbles at Grandma & Grandpa's house

...... Grandma, Gretchen, Rachel, Joe, Olivia, Grandpa, David, Jack and Luke

.......... Jack and David (they are only 3 days a part!)

.........Grandpa with Jack and Rachel at Crooked Stick

.....Aunt Lisa (the photographer of the family; she took all of these great pics!) and Jack

Jack and I had a great visit to Indiana! We enjoyed spending time with Grandma & Grandpa K, as well as his aunts, uncles and cousins. As usual, the time went by too quickly! Jack enjoyed his first hair cut, and I was able to do some birthday shopping with my mom. I also got some quality sister time and was able to have some girls nights out with Katie and Lisa and then again with all my sisters and mom. Jack played with his cousins, watched them in amazement and even tried to chase and keep up with them a time or two. He loved playing with all of the cool toys at Grandma's house. What made the trip even more special was the fact that I was able to celebrate my birthday with my family. I have not done that in over 10 years! We had my favorite cake....an Oreo ice cream cake! Yum! We all even enjoyed a delicious lunch at Crooked Stick, while watching my dad complete the club tournament. Jack took a tour of the locker room with his Grandpa and was able to check out his Grandpa's golf locker. Jack was fascinated with his uncles and Grandpa and referred to them all as "Da."

Jack's 1st hair cut

Before....

During....

Baby Mozart....

The Final Product!

Jack had his first hair cut last Thursday! He looks like such a little boy now! Jack has always had a full head of hair since he was born. I tried to trim it myself from time to time but it was beginning to look like a fine mullet, so during our visit to Indy Grandma K and I took Jack to Cookie Cutters for his first official hair cut. He behaved so well! Of course, Baby Einstein's Baby Mozart (he loved that DVD and had not seen it in a while!) was playing on the t.v. so that helped to keep him distracted from the scissors.


Check out the link for his certificate: http://www.haircutsarefun.com/Certificates/preview.asp?CertificateID=5994


We had such a great visit to Indiana! Jack enjoyed his time with his Grandparents, aunts, uncles and many cousins. I will post more about our visit later!

Rodeo Round Up

Here are some pictures we took of Jack yesterday at the ranch in his new Wranglers. To get him to laugh and smile, we were clapping our hands saying "rodeo round up." We probably looked ridiculous, but he loved it!

Camp Grandma and Grandpa M

Jack had such a wonderful time with his Grandparents while Ryan and I were in San Diego! He enjoyed riding around the ranch with them, playing with Grandma's Tupperware, looking at Grandpa's birds (he even learned the word "bird"), snuggling with Grandma and Grandpa, petting Baylor, and he even got to enjoy the rodeo on both Friday and Saturday night. His Great Grandma, Great Aunt Debbie and Great Uncle Dean even came in for the weekend to enjoy some time with him. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa M for taking care of Jack and providing him with so much love and care!