Dallas Arboretum Field Trip

The residents at Garnet Hill got the opportunity today to get outside and enjoy this nice weather on a trip to the Dallas Arboretum.  I had the opportunity to go with Mom to meet them out there.  MaMa did not expect me to be there, and it was fun to surprise her!  Aunt Kathleen was also there, and Mom's cousin Debra came out to meet her.  We all had a great day looking at all the pretty flowers and having a picnic lunch together!  We couldn't have asked for a prettier day or better weather to be outside.

While we were there, they were starting to set up some of the exhibits for the Chihuly Exhibit that opens next month.  I definitely want to come back and check it out!

Avery and Allie

Avery and Allie came over this afternoon to hang out and spend the night with us while Mommy and Daddy had fun with their friends.  We had fun playing in the back yard this afternoon!

Avery brought over her tee-ball set that we got her for Christmas.  I think she had more fun chasing the ball than hitting it, but we were okay with letting her run around and wear herself out!  :o)

She did hit a few balls and did great!

Amazingly, I think this may have been her best hit!

Allie hit a few balls but was mostly excited to set the ball on the tee and have it stay put.  She was very excited the first time she realized her success!

After dinner, we went for a walk around the block.  We "borrowed" the Avances' dogs so that the girls could walk them.  They enjoyed that.

After we dropped the dogs back off at home, Avery and I found lots of "helicopter" leaves on the way home.  She had fun playing with those and packed up a bag of them to take home.  Hopefully they aren't a bunch of crunched up leaves by the time she unpacks them!

Jen and Rashaun's Wedding

The reason for our trip to Salado was that my cousin Jennifer was getting married at The Inn at Salado.  Last night, we jumped in the car for the 2-minute drive to the inn.

The ceremony was outside under a gorgeous tree.  It was a little windy, but an otherwise perfect evening.

The reception was great.  All the decorations were so pretty, and the food was wonderful!

Entrance and First Dance

Bride's Father Daughter Dance and Mother Son Dance

Groom's Dance

"Bouquet" and Garter Toss (Look at those shoes and bling in the second picture!)

Jen and Rashaun seemed to have a lot of fun, and all the guests enjoyed it as well.

In addition to the green decor, there were a few less subtle hints that they got married on St. Patrick's Day!

It was great to be there to celebrate with the happy couple, and it was wonderful to see family that we haven't seen in a long time.  I'm so glad we were able to be there.  We had a lot of fun at the wedding, and everything was beautiful!



Somehow, I didn't get any pictures of my my aunt and uncle (other than when he danced with my cousin) or of my other cousins that were there.  It had been a long time since we'd seen them.  It was so good to see them all and meet some of their children for the first time.  I'm glad we were able to be there!

Salado

Yesterday morning, Michael and I headed down to Salado with Mom and Dad for my cousin's wedding.  We stayed at the Stagecoach Inn, which was built in 1860.  It was a really neat hotel.  I loved all the historic aspects of a hotel that old that was originally built along the Chisholm Trail.  Very neat!

We had several people tell us that the food at the Stagecoach Inn was really good, so we ate lunch in their yummy dining room.  We were not disappointed!  The food was fantastic, and there was lots of it!

After lunch, we walked down Main Street.  We wished that it would have worked out for us to see a show at the Silver Spur Theater.  This theater built at an old feed store was so cute!

We enjoyed window shopping and walking through some of the novelty and antique shops.  We also enjoyed some delicious homemade fudge!

Baby Shower

This morning, I went to a shower that some of April's friends planned for her.  The diaper wreath and other decorations were really cute!  After having two girls, I think April had fun getting boy things.  I didn't get pictures of the opened gifts, but she got a lot of cute clothes!

Super Birthday Party!

Tonight we got together with friends and family to watch the Super Bowl and celebrate Candy's birthday.  There were birthday decorations and lots of birthday gifts.

We had lots of yummy Super Bowl finger foods.  We were more excited about the Super Bowl commercials than we were about the game.  We enjoyed the company!

We had yummy birthday cake that Melody made, and Candy opened birthday gifts.  Happy birthday Candy!

Jackson Christmas - 2011

Mike and Paula came over to our house around 9:30 last night.  It was good to visit with them a little bit before bed.  Of course, Michael also loved getting to guess what his new presents under the tree were.

This morning, we got up and had Christmas morning with them.  We all got great Christmas gifts.  I think Michael was most excited about his SwiMP3, and I was excited to open a Kitchen Aid mixer.  I never expected to get this off my list.

We had breakfast casserole and got ready for the day.  Then we went to see Mission Impossible 4, which we all enjoyed.  After the movie, we headed to Carrolton to pick up Avery and Allie and took them to dinner at Abuelo's while Chris and April had dinner with some friends.  Allie wasn't so sure she wanted anyone to talk to her for a while.  She just wanted me to hold her, and she just sat with her head on my chest.  When the waitress came to the table, she would sit up just enough to turn her head the other way.

Once food arrived, though, she decided to let Grammi feed her a little bit.  Then she was ready to have fun and play with everyone.  Avery ate like a champ and enjoyed coloring on her activity menu.  She even showed me how she can write her name!

After saying goodbyes, Mike and Paula got ready to take the girls home, and Michael and I ran some post-Christmas errands.  We got some good sales on a few decorations that I had been wanting for the dining room and some other items.  I don't even remember what all we got, but I think we made 5 or 6 stops and bought at least one thing at every stop!

Once we got home, we settled in for an episode of Bones and finally got to try Blue Bell's Spiced Pumpkin Pecan ice cream.  It is even more delicious than I had imagined!  It was like Pecan Pralines 'n Cream with pumpkin pie flavor...delicious!

This morning when Michael opened his SwiMP3, I told Paula that I gave him a week before he had them on in the shower.  He couldn't wait to go to the gym to try them out, so he opted to test them in the bathtub tonight.  He was really excited about how well they worked!

Reeves Christmas - 2011

We had a great time celebrating with my family this year.  After lunch with MaMa and the rest of the family on Christmas Eve, we went home for a little while and got to open one present each.

We left a little later and went to the 5:00 Christmas Eve service at Watermark.  It was really good.  We were on the third row for a up close view of everything!

With the busy day we had today, we ended up not pulling through with the Christmas Eve movie tradition.  Instead, we had a great dinner at TGIFriday's and then headed home to open presents.  Good thing we decided to draw names this year.  (I don't think Santa got that memo.)

Rather than pass out all the gifts this year, we just picked one to start.  Whoever it belonged to got to open it and then pick the next one.  It was a fun way to change it up.  We all got lots of great gifts!

Santa did good this year!  I love my new clothes (which were my gift from Mom...I'm glad she drew my name!), make-up brushes, cookbooks, gift cards, hand mixer, and gadgets.

Christmas morning we woke up and had a yummy breakfast casserole before digging into our stockings.

After stockings, we baked some goodies.  We made a cherry pie and some bite-sized chocolate pies.  The chocolate pies were yummy and didn't last long.  We saved the cherry pie and a coconut pie from Christmas Eve for later.

We spent the afternoon watching the Mavs raise their championship banner, resting, and relaxing.  Michael and Aaron decided to hit a few golf balls in the back yard.

We had an amazing Christmas dinner and watched A Christmas Story to end the evening.

Dad had to work today, so while Michael and Aaron played real golf, Mom and I got out to check out a few after Christmas sales and then met the boys for lunch.  I had fun hanging out and spending the day with Mom.  This evening, Mom, Aaron, Michael and I played some intense Skip-Bo while waiting for Dad to get home from work.  After losing, Michael and I will be practicing for next time!

We had a nice family dinner and then packed up to head home and get ready for another Christmas tomorrow!  You can never have too much Christmas!