Trip to Texas...

We made a quick trip to Texas for a wedding in Austin. Before the wedding, we stopped in San Antonio to try to figure out where we want to live when we move there in July (yes, that is the word right now from the military...San Antonio). Law school friends of mine had us over for pizza and wine (although heavier on the wine than the pizza) and the kids got to play together. The two below are known as the "Bar Babies" as they were conceived as soon as we found out we passed the bar (I went to law school with Robin's dad Kip). The girls played until midnight and then sacked out...

And here they are when they were almost 2 years old playing in San Antonio...wow, they sure have grown although Robin still beats Alexis in height!
And here is their latest addition...Kipling Jr....I think he was checking his diaper to see if he pooped in this picture...

And here the kids are playing with another law school friend of mine (Bob) - he is talking on a play phone and I think the girls have swords of some kind...they chased him around the house (this was about 11 PM).

Then we headed to Austin after mommy rolled out of bed...Sara Brady (the oldest daughter of Eric's old Army boss Dr. Brady) was getting married. The rehearsal dinner was at County Line (BBQ) and it was awesome! Here is Alexis at the dinner...

We spent the morning with another law school friend of mine Sheri and walked Congress St. in Austin and then had lunch outside... Here is Alexis with Sheri...I don't think she wanted to say good bye...

We rested for awhile and tried to get Alexis to nap (don't know why I even tried...) and then it was time to get dressed up...Alexis bought this dress about 2 months ago and has been dying to wear it...she even had a matching headband and a fancy white purse.
Posing on the steps at the hotel...

Close up smile!

Someone offered to take a family shot and Eric actually smiled!

Alexis wore her shawl outside...

The wedding/reception was at Green Pastures in Austin...they had peacocks walking around the side lawn...Alexis wasn't too sure about them...

And here is a picture from the wedding held outside...it was a bit chilly but it was a beautiful setting...

Then it was time to party...Alexis got her Shirley Temple and of course asked for additional cherries! The reception was beautiful and the food was absolutely delicious...our favorites were the potato station, chocolate fountain, and Bananas Foster stations.

I think this is the longhorn sign that she was doing...Sara and her sisters all attend(ed) UT...

Here are Sara and Aaron dancing their first dance...

And Sara dancing with her dad Dr. Brady (Eric's old boss)...

Then it was time for Alexis and mommy to dance...Alexis sure did have the moves... Alexis dancing around the perimeter of the dance floor...

Alexis found a flower and decided to pose...

After all that dancing, she decided to take a break and make a call on her princess cell phone...not a very lady like position with a dress on but I guess she will learn as she gets older...
Alexis' first attempt at catching the bouquet...she didn't get it but she managed to get a rose from the bouquet and the first thing she did was walk over and give it to me...so sweet!

Alexis was in there dancing with the big girls...who even picked her up to dance with her...she was having the greatest time...

But then she said her feet started to hurt and when she put her head down, she was out for the count...

She found a cozy place on the floor to sack out!

And now we are back in Denver waiting for some snow...

Fun at the Neimen Marcus outlets...

We went to the Colorado Mills outlet on Sunday and decided to go into Neimen Marcus even though we can't afford anything in there including their "clearance" Valentine's chocolates...well, anyway, Alexis wanted to try on sunglasses and started to pose when she tried on each one...from Elton John to Jackie O, she was hip! I only had my cell phone camera so the shots are little blurry. I don't think the ladies appreciated what we were doing but they shouldn't worry because they had the $300 glasses locked into the rack...these were the $150 glasses she was trying on...

Happy "Balentine's" Day...as Alexis says

Hope you like the collage of pictures...I got this idea from a friend of mine I met in Temple, TX who is an awesome blogger...Alexis did gymnastics in Temple with her daughter Aubrey and they are spending the year in a cold climate like us for a fellowship (Iowa...). The pointing picture is for Addy (Aubrey's sister)...right back at you...be my Valentine...


Well, we ended school today with a big party...the kids exchanged Valentine's and had lots of candy, cupcakes, and cookies. Here a few pics from the celebration...
Here is Alexis being silly...And here is the sugar load in her hand...this pink icing was on everyone by the end of party time...but the kids had a blast! Then they went outside to burn off all of the sugar...here is Alexis doing "underdog" with a boy at her school...



And here is another one of her buddies pushing her on the swing...

Then we came home and decided to make red velvet cupcakes some of which are supposed to be hearts...here are the tins filled with the batter...looks good (you will see I mean that literally later...Alexis kept wanting to save half of the batter for her to lick or drink!!!)
Then we realized that we probably filled them a little too full...oh well...The top 6 are supposed to be the hearts...not bad...Then we put the icing on...mommy glopped it on (isn't that the best part) and Alexis carefully spread it on like butter...And luckily we were just making these for us (don't know why we made this many, but...) because Alexis was licking more icing than she was getting onto the cupcakes...Now it was time to decorate...and instead of buying Valentine's sprinkles, etc. that we would probably end up throwing away when we move in July, we decided to use the Halloween and Christmas sprinkles we still have left...Alexis dumped a little too much on this one, but that is ok, all the better to eat! And here are the Christmas/Valentine's cupcakes on the left and the Halloween/Valentine's cupcakes on the right...and yes, they are delicious!
Like I said earlier, here is Alexis licking the batter...don't know that red was the best idea...After licking as much batter as she could, Alexis posed with the red roses daddy sent us...


And here she is with the roses again with as cleaned up of a face as I could get! HAPPY VALENTINES EVERYONE!!!

Pittsburgh Steelers...Six Pack Superbowl Champions!!!

What a stressful game...I thought Eric was going to have a heart attack on some of those plays by the Cardinals...but the Steelers pulled it off thanks to Big Ben and Santonio Holmes!! We were at a party so Eric was a little under pressure to keep his cool but we were screaming for almost the last 3 minutes of the game. I woke poor Alexis up, but she was happy the Steelers won. We didn't eat the cookie until they scored the last touchdown... Here is Little Ben...

And Bailey saying please can we get this over with...

Mommy and Alexis dressed for the game...

Honest Scrap...25 Random Things

My friend Jenn Watkins tagged me on her blog to write "Honest Scrap" which is 10 random things about you...I am also on facebook and a similar thing is going on there to write 25 random things about you...so I will post my 25 random things about me:

1. I am so blessed to have my daughter Alexis after I had two hospital stays during pregnancy and a post-partum ER/ICU stay…Alexis was 4 weeks early and was thankfully healthy. She brightens every day with new discoveries and sayings and her sweet charm. She does have her "moody" moments but don't we all... I thoroughly love to spoil her.

2. I am a terrible migraine sufferer…however, Botox injections in my forehead, temples, and neck have been my saving grace. They are painful but not as painful as having migraines every day.

3. I enjoy doing Tae Bo for exercise…I hope someday to teach aerobics again. On warmer days, I like to walk a few miles for exercise.

4. I am a patent attorney and wish there was more work for this profession out there right now.

5. I love Disneyworld…I love the magic that surrounds you and there are no worries…and I love to see Alexis’ smile when she sees a princess or a character and she gets to hug them. I have to admit that I love to hug them too.

6. My heroes are all of the soldiers fighting overseas and the military docs and medical personnel saving lives everday over there. I also admire all of their families at home who worry 24/7, but manage to hold down the fort while their loved one is fighting for peace. I will support our troops 'til they all come home!

7. I love big SUVs…I don’t know if I could ever give up my Ford Expedition.

8. I am married to my high school sweetheart and have been with him for 19 years…wow, that is a long time...there is never a dull moment with him in my life...and he has great taste in flowers and jewelry!

9. I love the Rocky Mountains, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Niagara Falls and Williamsburg at Christmas time!

10. I love rum…dark rum in particular.

11. I hate fast food…particularly French fries and McDonalds – I cringe every time Alexis wants “Old McDonalds.” I recently gave in to buying this food for her in 2008. My choice is always Panera for a salad, which she does like too.

12. I enjoy taking pictures of anything, but especially of Alexis and my two hound dogs. I hope to take photography classes someday.

13. I look forward to Girl Scout cookies every year and the rest of the year I indulge on those icing sugar cookies you can get at Walmart or Target.

14. I usually only buy clothing and shoes if they are on sale and I love to shop the clearance racks. Outlets are a hotspot for me.

15. Christmas is my favorite holiday…I love the decorations, lights, giving gifts, and I just love to see Alexis’ face after Santa comes.

16. I am addicted to Chapstick…lipstick just never works for me, so I always carry my Chapstick…it is as important as my wallet and sunglasses.

17. I enjoy converting recipes into healthy meals…especially enjoy converting dessert recipes using whole wheat flour…still experimenting with a few so they don’t get so dry. My latest meal was whole wheat corn bread with buffalo chili…Eric even liked it and he hates cornbread.

18. I wish I could visit family and friends in Pennsylvania more often. I really enjoy when family and friends come to visit us.

19. I am a huge Penn State and Pittsburgh Steelers fan!

20. I am getting very good at preparing a house for a move…here we go again in July.

21. I appreciate my mom for all of the scrapbooking she does with the pictures I take! I hope to have the time to scrapbook someday.

22. The best jobs I have had were my two judicial clerkships…I would do this job the rest of my career if I could.

23. I love Starbucks decaf coffee...I hope it is not true that they won't brew it anymore after noon.

24. I love to get away or go out with Eric…these nights/weekends are too far and few between.

25. I played drums in my junior high and high school bands and treasure all of the memories of band camp, football games, and band competitions (and meeting my husband).

Ice skating...getting better

Alexis and I are slowly getting better...Alexis can stand much better and is starting to understand gliding. She uses this cool walker when we do free skate because I know she would just pull me down with her when she falls. We both now have our own skates, which makes a huge difference. And I now wear a helmet too...just in case. I managed not to fall this past Saturday...still have huge bruises on my knees from my fall the prior week... Here is Alexis waving to daddy who has not ventured onto the ice yet...