Valentine's Day 2011

 I am almost caught up. I can't believe it. This year, we decided that we would go to the zoo for Valentine's day. It was a great time for just Jonathan and I to spend together. We had both been so busy with trips, projects and work that we needed this day for us. To celebrate us as a couple. We may have done the unconventional thing and gone to the zoo and then gone for BBQ afterwards, but to us it was a great time to spend together.

 We found this picture and the name of the lion appropriate and funny all at the same time, so of course we had to take a picture of my Jonathan underneath it and then we decided we better take one of the really lion Jonathan. Which do you think looks more fierce?

Mural

In January I was finally able to finish up a mural that I had been working on for a friend's daughter. It had taken me a little while to finish due to the fact that I didn't have a lot of time and she was busy with shuttling two kids around and keeping them busy. Here are some of the pictures of the mural. Enjoy!

Jonathan's family

This new year also brought time to visit Jonathan's family again. Unfortunately, the first visit was due to the death in the family. It is always good to be with family during these times. I was able to meet Jonathan's cousins, aunt, and uncle for the first time this year. It was nice to talk to them and get to know them more.

Then later this year, Jonathan and one of his cousins were able to go back to the St. Louis area, again for a death in the family. The boys (Jonathan and his cousin) had fun driving the mustang back to St. Louis and everyone was able to get caught up on each others lives.

Pictures I forgot to add

Here are some pictures that I forgot to post.

  Cookie and Dad with her Uncle in front of his car at the George R. Brown Convention center in Houston over Thanksgiving weekend.

 The picture that had to be taken so that all of her siblings back in Phoenix could be jealous of her. She grew up here in Houston and always remembered Shipleys donuts, so in order to make her siblings jealous this was taken. I have to say that they got on the plane with a donut for her sister, but from my understanding it didn't make it to Phoenix before it got the best of her and my dad. Sorry!

 Fun times over at my brother and sisters house. We were goofing off with the kids on the weekend of the wedding. It was a good time to get to know my niece and nephew again.

 Isn't she just adorable. Such the photogenic little girl! Gotta love it!

Then there is mister blue eyes and all sorts of mischief. He reminds me a lot of my little brother when he was this age and they will have their hands full if he follows along my brothers footsteps. Love you brother!

The New YEAR!

Well, the new year has come and gone, but I am just getting around to blogging about it. Oh, well!! The year for us did not start out to well. I ended up having to go back to Phoenix the beginning of January to due a death of a dear sweet friend. It was unexpected and we later found out due to some of the medications that she was on. Jonathan was not able to come out until later due to his work schedule, but since we had already planned on come out as is our usual trip in January, he was able to make it.

This trip to AZ was a little unusual for us too, as it was the first trip back to Phoenix where there was another woman living in my dad's house. It was good to see, but also hard to see as everywhere I looked there were reminders of my mother. So with my dad and Cookies' permission we took down the big drapes in the living and dining room and repainted the walls. We also bought new blinds for both the living and dining rooms to get rid of the old verticals that were so weather rotten that they were falling apart. It turns out that this was just the first of many painting jobs that were to come for my dad and Cookie.

Jonathan was also able to go skiing for the first time in almost four years. He went with a good buddy Isaac. This skiing trip just might have to turn into a regular thing for him. He told me later that he really missed skiing and since we all know that there are no ski slopes anywhere close to us. This just might have to do. He also told me that he looks forward to teaching our kids how to ski. I on the other hand stayed home and spent the day shopping with Cookie and enjoying some time to relax. I don't ski. I have taken one ski lesson and that was over six years ago. I may take it up again in the future, but we will have to see. Notice in the picture that Jonathan is wearing his Fire fighter turnouts. He doesn't have any ski clothes anymore, but found out that these work really warm as they are water resistant and really warm.

Since my dad and Cookies house is now getting full with furnishings from two homes, it was also decided that on this trip, Jonathan and I would bring back my antique furniture. This included a bed, dresser, high boy, two mirrors, and a desk and chair which were not able to make it in the truck. We have a big shout out to friends who loaned us their truck for the trip as we don't have a vehicle that could have carried this furniture back with us. I was also able to load up about a dozen more boxes of stuff that will eventually make it back to our house here in Houston. Hopefully, if my dad and Cookie drive out this year some time, they will be able to bring some of the stuff with them as well. Otherwise, we will be bringing it back with us every time we come out to Phoenix, since we almost always drive out in January.

December 2010

In December, we were able to visit Jonathan's parents outside of Asheville, NC. We were able to find really great ticket prices straight from Houston to Asheville, which is fantastic as otherwise we would have had to drive. Which in reality I don't mind, but overall, would prefer to have less travel time. In the past, we have had to fly into Nashville and then drive about five hours to reach them. Now, there are straight shot flights. This makes it much nicer.

While we were there, we were able to see snow, the Biltmore, and just the general Christmas spirit. It was also fun to see Jonathan's mother sing in her Senior Choir at a Christmas performance that they had while we were there.

This picture of the Cardinal on the bird feeder is one of my favorite shots. I might just have to use it for a Christmas card this next year. I stood just inside the back door at my in-laws house with the camera posed for awhile before I finally was able to get this picture. I think my in-laws thought that I was crazy, but to me it was the perfect shot. I think they agreed after they saw it too. It was fun to be in the cold weather for a little while, but it was also nice to get back to the relatively warm weather of Houston.

Thanksgiving

To my delight, my dad and his new wife (Cookie) were able to come  out to Houston for Thanksgiving. They arrived on Thanksgiving day, which was great and we were able to enjoy them for almost a week. As usual, we had a project for my dad and Jonathan to do while he was out here. We can't have my dad out and not have a project of some sort for him to work on. It just wouldn't be right. We were also able to fit a nice visit with Cookies Uncle into the trip. He was working and showing his car at the George R. Brown convention center and gave us tickets to get in. The little fire engine is one of three little cars that her Uncle has restored for his grandkids. Of course being a fire fighter family, we had to have this shot.

We also enjoyed having some fun at our neighbor sons expense. He has been parking his truck in front of his parents and our house for a long time and it was the first time that it was gone for awhile. So since we happened to have this sign in our garage (don't ask). We decided to put up the sign. Of course we had his parents permission as well as our other neighbors permission. It was fun to see and it was really fun to see him come home and run over the sign because he got so mad at it. I have to say, I think there is a little friction between him and the neighbors with regards to his parking habits. Not to mention the truck is really loud.

The project that my dad and Jonathan worked on while he was out here, was of course the garage. We had purchased a new door for the back of the house, so that we could put the old door from the back of the house on the back of the garage for easy access from the garage to the back yard. So, with my dad's help both doors were installed in one day. I don't have any pictures of that though. It was a good time and thankfully the weather held out for us too.