My dad is 50!!

Last week my dad turned 50...I can't believe it! We started the weekend off right, celebrating at medieval times! We had such a good time, her are some pictures to document!

My parents with their best friends Tom and Kathy

My brother is a pretty pretty princess!

We had a good time trying on the medieval hat wear.

My dad is being hugged and comforted for being soooo "old"

The birthday boy being knighted

My family

The whole gang!

Having a good 'ol time!

My sister and I with our knight, sadly he did not win.

My mom and Kathy with our knight

Drew and I...we are getting pretty good at our self portrait.

On Monday night...my dad's actual birthday, I hosted a birthday party for him with all of our family.

Here are the yummy cupcakes I made for his birthday...they were amazing, I will post about them later!

My sister, mom, and Kathy

Singing happy birthday

I hope he made a good wish!

The self portrait!

Such a good time celebrating with friends and family!

Thankful for sisters

On Thanksgiving day, I was probably most thankful for my sister's safe arrival home. She has spent the last 3 months in Brazil as a missionary for YWAM (Youth With a Mission), studying at the Children at Risk school. She has been in some very dangerous areas working with children as young as seven who are addicted to sniffing glue and most of them have AIDS or are HIV positive. She has spent time in gang infested areas and just all around dangerous situations. I am so thankful that God watched over her and brought her safely home. She leaves in April to go back to Brazil for a year so I will be praying again for her safety and the work that God has put her in.

A weekend in D.C.

About a month ago Drew and I took a mini vacation to D.C. We had such a great time. Drew's roommate from college, Jeff and his wife Megan live in Virginia, opened up their home for us to come and visit. We had a great time getting to catch up and see D.C. and Virginia. We flew out of Dallas early Friday morning and got into D.C. around 1pm.

The first place we headed was Arlington National Cemetery. It was such a somber experience seeing all the men and women who have fallen for our freedom.

While at the cemetery we saw the tomb of the unknown soldier and we got to see the changing of the guard. Such an amazing tradition.

Robert E. Lee's house is on the property of the cemetery. It was interesting to learn the history of the home. During the Civil war, Lee left his home and the Union army took over his property and they turned it into a grave site. He moved back home after the war, but he couldn't stay there because it was a grave site. So from then on it has been property of the government and became a cemetery.

After leaving the cemetery we briefly headed over to Iwo Jima. It was freezing cold and there was an out door wedding being held as we saw the monument.

Saturday morning we headed out to D.C. to concur the National Mall. We started with the capitol and ended at the Vietnam Wall.

We took a tour of the capitol, the dome is so beautiful, what looks like carvings of people around the dome is actually a painting. It looked like a carving not a painting. While we were there I kept thinking that the Texas Capitol is 14 feet taller...I'm proud to be a Texan!

We got done with our capitol tour and high tailed it to the opposite side of the mall to the Washington Monument. We got done with our tour at 12:30 and had tickets to go up in the monument at 1. I had shin splints for the rest of the weekend.

So we hurried over to the monument only to wait in line for about half an hour before we could go up, but we enjoyed the rest.

The view of the National Mall from the top of the Washington Monument.

We walked passed the White House after leaving the monument on our way to lunch. We were starving after all that walking.

After lunch we headed back to the Washington Monument area and went to see all the war memorials. We saw the World War II memorial, and walked passed the reflecting pool (unfortunately it was in the process of being drained, so it didn't look that pretty).

We headed over to the Lincoln Memorial...

and then onto the Vietnam Wall.

We finished the day by heading to the D.C. Aggie Club to watch the Aggies Beat the hell outta Kansas...that was a neat experience. We did the War Hymn at half time and all the natives from D.C. were looking at us funny. But you know the saying, "From the outside looking in you can't understand it, and from the inside looking out you can't explain it."

Sunday we had a Virginia day and headed over to Mount Vernon. I can see why George Washington called it home, the property was absolutely beautiful.
Jeff, Megan, Me, and Drew...I think our only picture of the four of us together.

I enjoyed the beautiful fall scenery on the property.

We had such a great time and would definitely love to go back...maybe during the cherry blossom festivals!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving everyone, right now I am yelling for the Ags to BTHO t.u. I would liketo take a minute to list out what I'm thankful for...

Jesus, thankyou for giving your life in place of mine so that I will have everlasting life.

Drew, thank you for your love and kindness that you show me every day and the leadership you provide for our family.

Buttercup, thankyou for your constant companionship,snuggles, and hours of entertainment you provide when fetching your ball on the wood floor!

My family, thank you for your constant support and love. You have always been there for us!

Our wonderful friends, thankyou for the wonderful fellowship and tasty food.

We are so blessed!

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
and give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and His name endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100:4-5

A day at the fair

A couple of weeks ago Drew and I spent a day at the fair. It was great to just spend the day together, look at cool cars, and eat lots of yummy junk food. Here are some pictures from our day!

Eating fried smores...fabulous!

The largest farris wheel in the US!

Me and Big Tex!

Yummy fried frito pie...it was pretty tasty with the sour cream and hot sauce

Drew in his truck

Watch out, I'm in my Camero and I'm ready to go!

Ready, set,...FALL!

This is kinda two posts in one. This summer I went on a mission trip to Brazil, when I came home Drew had surprised me with quite a few updates to the house. Also in this post is my house all ready for fall, because when I took the pictures of our updated house it was after I got ready for fall. Get ready to see my pumpkin collection...I LOVE pumpkins and decorating for fall :)

Here are two before pictures of our living room...

And here are the after pictures...as you can see there are many new items and we rearranged the living room. When I got home Drew surprised me with...new floors, media center, end tables, and a console table. Ya gotta love having a garage sale! I think that the floors are what make the biggest difference.

We got a new set of couches from Drew's parents, they didn't want them anymore...thanks! We updated the floors from that icky carpet to wood and got an area rug!

Drew got the TV with points he had saved up from staying at holiday inns...the only benefit to all of his traveling.

The mantle all fall ready

The new console table that Drew got...he did good. The side tables look just like this. We will eventually get the coffee table that matches, but that is down the road.

This is the newest addition of my pumpkin collection, made with copper leaves.

My welcome sign to visitors!