It's Officially Christmas!

Yes, it's official...it's Christmas at my house. The tree has been up, the decorations out and the spirit in the air, but now it's definitely here. Santa's helpers (Robin and Alex) spent the past two days wrapping all of the gifts that we will be delivering to family and friends this year, and it was intense! You can see from this picture. The Charlie Brown tree has almost been overtaken with presents.

It's Snowing In Houston!

Believe it or not these white spots are snowflakes. If this isn't crazy enough I was wearing shorts and flip flops yesterday. Not sure if I'm going to have a snowball fight with the neighbor kids or build a snowman first.

Tell me more about this global warming thingy.
Sad cold grill

Cold plants

Astros Owner, Drayton McLane

Recently I was able to attend a luncheon honoring Drayton McLane, Astros owner, for ethical leadership. Local schools were invited to bring representatives and a student to the award luncheon and a dialogue prior to the award with the recipient. Drayton said many great things during the talk and I was very impressed by the discussion. He was inspiring in the discussion and he talked much about the influence of his parents, his morals and Christian values. Check out the following link, http://instantnewswestu.com/.

Robin, IWA Student, Drayton McLane Jr, Sr. Lauren (President of IWA)

Smoked Turkey

When I was at the grocery store they had turkeys on sale for 39 cents a lb. I've never made more than a turkey sandwich, but for this price I figured what the heck. Since I don't really mess with the oven I decided I should bust out the smoker and see what happens. To my surprise it was one of the best turkeys I've ever had. Maybe I'll need to make another grocery store run before Thanksgiving.

Prepping the turkey
Taking his temperature on the smoker

The final product

Sam's new sweater

Today I went to the Nutcracker market with my Mom Carol and Aunt Donna. Alex and I have noticed that Sam has been shivering outside in the recent cold weather. I told my mom about this and we found a few dog shops at the market. She bought Sam an early Christmas present- the beautiful sweater he is sporting in this picture. He looks very studly in his new threads.

Bowl-A-Rama!

Friday night we went bowling with a group of friends. We all had a great time and snapped some good pics of the action. If you'll notice on the last picture, I beat Alex in the first game! Unfortunately, I think he beat me the next round. But there are no pictures to prove that!!

Excellent technique.

Ready to roll.

Scoreboard!

Disgusting or Delicious?

I grilled up some burgers last night and had a couple of leftovers so Robin suggested we make some patty melts today. Not sure why but I decided to put a fried egg on top of mine. Robin told me I was sick, but the joke was on her.

Delicious!

Missouri Game

We headed up to Austin Saturday afternoon to watch the #1 Longhorns play. Most experts thought this would be a close game as Missouri was ranked #11 and had national title aspirations. What do they know? Before they knew what hit them it was 35-0. They had no answers for us and we could have beaten them by 50 if Mack had wanted to. Hard to believe how good we are when this was supposed to be a down year.

Robin posing in front of the ESPN Game Day van.

Halftime

Backyard BBQ

On Saturday we decided to have a BBQ and invite some friends over to watch the Horns. I moved a second TV into the living room so we could get our football overload. Robin made stuffed jalapenos that I put on the grill and her famous 7 Layer Dip. I grilled some brats and smoked some ribs and a pork shoulder. Everyone enjoyed the grub and the girls hung out in the backyard and talked about fashion and boys while the guys watched the Horns dominate Colorado. Wish everyday was Saturday.

Pork shoulder smoked for 15 hours.
Shredded to make pulled pork.

Quite possibly the world's greatest pulled pork sandwich with Robin's cole slaw and homemade BBQ sauce.

Farmer's Market

After cleaning out the fridge post-Ike it was time to restock with some healthy foods. We decided to load up at the almost completely Hispanic farmer's market, Canino's. I don't have a lot to compare this to, but this place has to be one of the biggest farmer's markets anywhere. If you're looking for lots of great fruits and vegetables for cheap and your Spanglish is at least so-so like mine this is the spot.

The Mustache

There are a lot of things you can do after a hurricane that you normally wouldn't when you lose your power. You can catch up on sleep, play dominoes and hangout by candlelight. When your power is out at work and you're working from home there's one thing you must do. Grow a mustache. Yesterday our Mexican friend Johnny told me that I look like a Mexican. I think that is as big a compliment as he could give a guy.

Hurricane Ike

While there was not any damage at my house, we did encounter some stinky trash during clean-up. I had to put on a special mask to avoid gagging and help Alex.

Not a good picture, but there were several branches around the yard and all around the neighborhood. Power was restored at my house on Wednesday night.

Tour de Pink 2008

We enjoyed our first bike ride this morning. We rode the Tour de Pink, a ride benefiting Pink Ribbon Project that supports breast cancer research and survivors through the arts. There were multiple mileage options and we chose 23 miles, and we were on mountain bikes. We were exhausted by the end, but it was a really great experience. I am ready to get a road bike now and want to join a bike group in Houston. I'm not sure if Alex is as pumped as I am yet, but I am ready to ride!! After the race there were many things going on; the main stage had a few bands, a preview of a musical about cancer and other dancers and performances. The MC of the events was Cynthia Cooper, former Comet and now head coach of Prairie View A&M women's basketball. Coop was very entertaining and we were able to meet her and take a picture. All in all it was a great time and I think we'll be doing it again.

Go Alex, Go!
Nice and refreshed after a pit stop where we got ice cold pink bandanas to cool off with.

Cooooooop!

Brontasaurus Ribs

College football season is here so I had to break out the smoker. I've only done pork ribs before so I figured I'd try some beef for a change. They were good, but I think I'll stick with pork from now on.

Eat your heart out Fred Flintstone.

Easy Grilled Chicken Salad

-Marinate chicken breast in Girard's Light Champagne Salad Dressing, cilantro, salt and pepper
-Grill chicken, corn and bell peppers
-Mix with lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and any other vegatables you want to add
-Add a little more salad dressing
-Dig in

Poooooooor Sam :(

We spent the Labor Day weekend in New Braunfels with cousin Stacey and Carl. Sam came along and he spent a lot of time with River, Carl & Stacey's yellow lab. He really likes her, but I think she got tired of him...we left them alone for a while and came back to find Sam's bed shredded with the cotton stuffing scattered about. Fortunately, Sam is not too picky and still slept in it all weekend.

"That's okay, River. I'll be dreaming about you." -Sam

Happy Anniversary --51 years

Happy anniversary to Granny Liz and Jimbo! They celebrated their 51st anniversary on Saturday night with family in Victoria. Alex and I were not able to atted, but I did get to talk to Granny and wish her a happy day. Fifty one years...pretty amazing! I found a photo of Granny and Jimbo from our family cruise last year. We went on a 7 day Carribean cruise last summer to celebrate 50 years; it was a great trip.

Granny & Jimbo
Dad, Mom Carol and me-- squeeze together!!
My parents, Howard and Carol, on the cruise (2007).

Ralston, OK

These pictures are from my Papa's grave in Ralston, Oklahoma. He passed away December 13, 2007. My Aunt Louise took these pictures and sent them to the family. Mema is going to Ralston for a family reunion and will get to see the headstone and bench in person for the first time over Labor Day weekend. We all helped her pick out the picture on the front; I think it looks awesome.

Cowtown

We visited my parents in Fort Worth this weekend. We hung out with family, some high school friends and ran around town. There's a lot more to Fort Worth than cows, but the Stockyards make for amusing pictures.

Twice a day everyday there is a cattle drive down the middle of the Stockyards.
Coolest government job in town

Longhorn

Cattle drive

Big cows on big steakhouses

THE boot shop

Welcome to the Stockyards

Campechana

We decided to see if we could make campechana like we love ordering at Goode Company Seafood. Shrimp, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, avocado and our version of some cocktail sauce. I think our version may have been better.

Only In Texas

Robin and I were passing through Schulenberg on the way to Hallettsville when this sign caught my eye. As if this isn't ridiculous enough they also offer a drive thru.

"Yeah um, gimme a couple sixers of MGD, a bottle of Jack and one of them there Smith & Wessons."

Fishing Tournament

Two weekeds ago Alex and I participated in the 6th annual Readin', Writin', and Reelin' Fishing Tournament in Port O'Connor. We fished with our friends Lauren and Chad from Houston. The tournament benefits my elementary school in Victoria, Nazareth Academy.

We ended up winning 1st place in the Sopt Pot by having a redfish with 11 spots. We also placed 5th in the combo stringer (5 trout and 2 reds) with a combined weight of 19.3 lbs. We had a really great time fishing and we made it all day with no illness! The last two fish we brought in were caught by Alex and me as we were racing to make the weigh in. There was much excitement!

My first catch, but out of order...Alex actually caught the first fish of the day, please see below. numero uno Fortunately, the next few were keepers.
Alex and I hooked up fish at the same time. It was really fun! We were racing to bring them in.
And here they are.

Oregon Part II

Mmmm......cheese.

Inside a shipwreck at appropriately named Shipwreck Beach.

Alex having fun off the trail.

The gang

Kennedy checking out the sights while hiking with Robin. Gayle, Shelly, Mema, Kennedy, Stacey, Robin, Sheryl
Having fun by the fire before roasting hot dogs.

Shelly and Robin

The beach at sunset.

If the airlines didn't have a 50 lb. weight limit this rock would've been mine. Talk about a bargain.

David, Gayle and Sheryl

Gayle, Ryan and David in the forest.

Stacey and Mema taking a break from hiking.

The ladies keeping warm on a cold July day at Cannon Beach.

The Haystack