December 27, 2007

The actual "Christmas Day" is over, but I am still in the birth of Jesus celebratory mode! This year, more than before, I'm aware and in awe of what Christ did for me by coming to earth in human form. It goes beyond my imaginative grasp, but I'm thankful!
We had a great Christmas w/my family from Houston and my grandmother from Indiana. It was so good to get together again and see each other and laugh. Our house was full, but it was a good kind of full ;-)
Christmas Eve at my Mom and Dad's house was great, too. It seemed more relaxed this year, not sure why, but it was good. Christmas Day morning was just the four of us reading the Christmas story and opening our gifts. It was the first time in a long time we'd done that, but Betty and Bob wanted to spend time with Ryan (and Kayrene and Jeff!) for his first Christmas morning. That afternoon we went to Jeff and Kayrene's to have Christmas celebrations there. More food...we got to play with Jeff's new Wii. It was a lot of fun! I wasn't sure it would be that big of a deal, but it was fun. Our family now wants one when the price and novelty wear off a bit!
Now we are spending time w/Betty and Bob before they head back to Indiana on Sunday or Monday. Getting a lot of movie watching in!
The girls are gearing up to go to Colorado on Sunday. Shelby is excited, Alix is hesitant as usual ;-) I'm excited for them and know they will have a really good time. I can't wait to hear all of the fun things they do while they are there!
That's what we've been up to. How did you all survive the holidays?
I look forward to hearing from you!
m

Christmas

Hi to all who are reading my blog after getting our Christmas card! I hope you are all doing well, staying warm and getting ready for the blessed Christmas season!

I try to keep this updated at least weekly. My intentions were to do it daily, but with homeschooling, it's gotten pushed aside! And yes, you read that I am homeschooling. Shelby and I are spending some quality (?!) time together this year before she heads back to Northwest High School in the fall. It was a HUGE decision for all of us and it's a HUGE step, but hopefully we are getting her where she needs to be to go back and not be totally in a fog. It's a good thing, although somedays I may give you a different answer! Shelby also got her drivers permit this year and is working part time in the cafe that is located in the building where Mike works. She enjoys the job and gets to see some "stars" in the making in the theater class that is held there. That story in one of the older blog archives if you want to look for it! It's about Cody Linely. (if you have tweens, you'll know who he is!) She's very involved in the youth group and loves to go to any and everything that they do!

Alix is very involved in all the activities she can be in while in the 7th grade. She was on the volleyball team, she's cheerleading (like mother, like daughter!) and she's wanting to get into National Junior Honor Society. She's received straight A's for the first 2 Six Weeks and she studies hard so she can do well. She also LOVES to spend time w/her friends, especially going to the movies. It's a good year for her so far and her schedule has kept us all pretty busy.

Mike and Shelby spent some time in Honduras in June. They left the day after school got out for the summer and came back the day before Shelby's birthday. It was a life-changing experience and they are both eager to go back! We have some friends there who are missionaries and Mike and Shelby went to help out for several days. They have quite a few stories from their experiences and are always eager to share if you want to hear about them!

We all went to several concerts this year which is unusual for us! It seemed like we were going all of the time! We went to see Kenny Chesney (country singer) who also had Sugarland and Taylor Swift as opening acts. They were at Pizza Hut Park which is an open air venue and it poured down rain most of the night! What's cool is that they all won BIG CMA awards this year so we were glad we saw them all in one evening! That's a whole other experience, let me tell you! (I will if you want to know about it! )

Mike and I went to see Martina McBride (country singer) who had Little Big Town w/her. That was a great show-loved both acts! Oh, and I won those tickets on the local country radio station! Mike, Shelby and I went to see Chris Daughtry (former American Idol contestant-bald rocker, same season as Carrie Underwood). He was great! That concert was at the American Airlines Center in Dallas after the Texas Stampede and Rodeo. Lastly, Shelby and Alix went to the very infamous Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus w/the Jonas Brothers concert in Fort Worth. Of course, tickets were sold out and selling for thousands of dollars, but we were able to get some from Ticketmaster the night before the concert for face value of the ticket and they were great seats! They had a blast-the highlight of their year! Alix actually tried to see the Jonas Brothers at the Texas State Fair when it was Public School Day and all kids get free tickets. It was hot and totally packed and she was so crowded in that she almost passed out! Oh, and Mike went w/Shelby and one of her friends to a Six Flags concert to see Skillet, Grits and Kutless (Christian rock bands). Mike showed his age by wearing ear plugs =-) I know there are more that Shelby went to, but those are the highlights! Way too much money on concerts this year, huh?!!

We welcomed a new nephew/cousin in July. Mike's sister, Kayrene, and her husband Jeff, had a precious little baby boy, Ryan Jeffrey. He's a sweetie-smiles all of the time (well most of the time!). He's a doll and we are so thankful to have him in the family.

Our big highlight of the year was going to NYC in October for our family trip. It was suppose to be Alix's 13th birthday trip and we all got to tag along. We had a blast, but needed much more time there! There's so much to do and see that it's overwhelming. We came back thoroughly exhausted, but so glad we went. We saw Mary Poppins the Musical on Broadway which was fabulous and of course hit most of the tourist traps. If you've never gone, you need to. You'll love it!

We are getting ready for the holidays now. My grandmother, Nanny, is coming in town this Wednesday and staying w/us until Saturday. I don't think she's ever stayed w/us so it should be interesting! Mike's parents are coming next weekend and will stay the first leg of their trip at Kayrene's so they can spend time with the grandson and then will come here the day after Christmas. Shelby and Alix are going to Colorado December 30-January 5 w/the youth group (and Mamaw and Papaw are going!). They've never been and really want to try skiing, so they are heading out to see how they like it! Mike and I will be stuck at home, all by ourselves... =-)

We will be thinking of you all as we go through the season. If you sent a card, it's up in our entryway so we can see it daily and remember you all. Hopefully we'll see you all again very soon, but until then, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

m

December 1, 2007

December already...what more can I say? Thanksgiving was good, it's over and now we are in the homestretch for Christmas! WOW!

Shopping for gifts is in full swing. I started the day after Thanksgiving...online! I wasn't ready to face the masses on Black Friday, so I got up at 5 a.m. and did some shopping online! I got a lot of it accomplished that day, but am still in the search for a few things. How about you? Still working on it, done, or haven't yet started? Now getting my Christmas cards out is a different matter all together! They are still in a nice, neat pile on my desk awaiting pictures to put in them. Trying to get the four of us together long enough to take some pictures is near the impossible factor, but hopefully we can get it done this weekend and get our lovely, smiling faces out to you all!

I haven't posted any pics for a while so I'll include a few that reflect our lives in the last month or so!

I pray that you all have a Merry Christmas season...don't let the scrooges of the world take your smile!

M

November 20, 2007

The Hannah Montana concert w/the Jonas Brothers was quite a hit w/the girls. They had the best time 2 sisters could have screaming their heads off for an entire evening! Seriously, all you can hear on the video they took is of the screaming for the Jonas Brothers! They each have their favorite, Alix likes Nick and Shelby likes Joe. Then they watched them on the AMA's and saw Joe trip and fall onto the broken glass that was part of the prop for the song! It was hilarious but I'm sure he was very embarrassed. I mean, come on...it's the AMA's! Funny stuff...you can probably watch it on YouTube somewhere!
We're preparing for Thanksgiving. Thursday we will be going to a restaurant in Grapevine to have dinner w/Kayrene and Jeff and precious boy Ryan. (I saw him today...so sweet and happy!). Then on Friday we will be going to my mom's house for Thanksgiving w/the Gant side of the family. Food and more food...just what I need!
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and actually do take time to reflect on your blessings and be thankful for all that God has done in your life. He's so good, all of the time!
Giving thanks for all of you
m

November 14, 2007

Mike and the girls are on their way to the Hannah Montana concert! Yes, we got tickets late, late last night from ticketmaster! They were releasing some through the evening/night and we snagged some good ones! The girls were excited, Alix especially, but Shelby was just as excited! The Jonas Brothers are going to be there, too. If you don't know who any of these are, you must not have kids in the "tween" years!
I'm not brave enough to hit downtown Fort Worth w/ that many crazy parents on the loose! They haven't sold out the convention center like this since the year 2000 when KISS was here! 12,000 attendees w/700 parking spaces at the center! No way, but thanks!
I'll fill you in on the fun tomorrow!
m

November 12, 2007

So we went to the Texas Stampede/Rodeo on Friday which was followed up by a concert by Chris Daughtry (from American Idol). (The above video is of Chris-the sound wasn't the greatest and it was shot w/our still camera, but you get the general idea!) We had a really great time. It was Mike and myself, Shelby and a friend of hers. I always love the rodeo, except for the calf-roping. To me, that's cruelty to animals! Anyway, I love the bull riding, bronco riding, etc. One of the bull riders got thrown off and stepped on which scared the pooey out of us...He was down for several minutes, not moving. Eventually he got up and walked out. I read on the website that he got a concussion BUT he rode on Saturday for the full 8 seconds! What a cowboy!
The concert w/Daughtry was great. He did a great job. The sound wasn't the best, though. They didn't pipe it through the big main speakers but through the little sound system that Chris's band uses. It was just fun to see him and watch him perform after watching and voting for him when he was on Idol.
I think that's it for concerts this year! Quite the year! Although Alix is still working on getting to the Hannah Montanna concert this Wednesday! I'm listening to KSCS trying to win some. Who knows? I've done it before!!
Have a good one and I hope you're all doing well!
m

November 8, 2007

Not a lot of change on the homefront. Each day is busy in itself but I"m thankful for each day I get! It's never boring, that's for sure!
Trying to gear up for the holiday season, gift-giving in particular! It seems like we just had Christmas and now it's here again! Anyone else got a jump on their shopping? I have a couple of little things, but still trying to figure out gifts to give.
We watched the CMA awards last night. (that's Country Music Awards for those not into country music-shame on you!) Anyway, when it was all said and done, we realized that in one concert event we saw the Horizon Award winner (Taylor Swift), Vocal Duo of the Year (Sugarland) and Entertainer of the Year (Kenny Chesney)! How cool is that?! We know how to pick our concerts, huh?! Tomorrow night we are going to see Chris Daughtry who was on American Idol a season or two ago. Love, love, loved him then and continue to enjoy his music. Even though he's a rocker, his songs are good & clean. We are really looking forward to seeing him at the AAC after the Texas Stampede and Rodeo. I'll fill you in on it next week.
I guess that's it. Just sitting here waiting for Shelby to finish up her Geography lesson so we can review. (my least favorite subject =-(
Hope you are all well!
See you later!
m