Neil and Kaley Visit and St. Patty's Day Parade

Neil and Kaley were on Spring Break last week and spent a few days with us.  They came early Thursday and went to the Dallas Aquarium until I got back into town.  I have been wanting crawfish and thankfully they were up for it too so we went to eat crawfish Thursday night.  

Brett had to miss out on the Thursday night fun.  He was supposed to come home but instead got to spend his 2nd night (or hours) in a row on a couch at the hospital because they had a surgery go until 3am that night.  

 After crawfish Neil decided we needed some frozen yogurt so we went to Yumilicious. He got the largest cup available and filled it up! 

I had to work Friday morning so they went to the zoo until  I was done.  Then we went to the Arboretum that afternoon.

The feature at the Arboretum is tulips right now.  There are thousands and they are so pretty.

We had to go to the Apple store later that afternoon and were early for our appointment so guess what is next door-  Wild About Harry's!  At Neil's request (not mine for once) we had to get some frozen custard.  Neil and I  decided the love for ice cream must be genetic because we both could it multiple times a day and never get tired of it!

Neil went overboard again with the largest serving possible!

Friday was Neil's 20th birthday which I can hardly believe!

He wanted to go to Dave and Buster's.  We had a blast. 

Kaley and I couldn't stop playing a game where you drop coins into a big pile of coins and try to push them over edge for tickets.  She hit the jackpot and that was so much fun!!

Focused

Saturday morning Neil and Brett went in the jeep to pick up breakfast tacos.

Neil and Kaley had to head home Saturday morning so they missed out on the parade fun.    

Headed to the parade

Resting during the parade

Green and people everywhere!

"The Green Dog"
People were hilarious about Dot.  She was a hit.  Probably 50 people commented on the green dog.  I colored her with food coloring.  

Every year several miles of Greenville gets blocked off for the parade and all of the bars and restaurants have green beer and food and people have block parties and house parties.  It is crazy but lots of fun.  

After the parade we walked back down Greenville to 2 different house parties.  

Here are the dogs at the 2nd party.  We probably walked 4-5 miles that day and they were totally exhausted.   

We met up with Nelson and Winston at the 2nd party.
It was a long but fun day!

Babies!

Lots of babies in our lives these days!

This precious boy, Gavin Reese Montgomery, made his appearance at the beginning of February.  Ryan and Randi sound like they are loving life as parents and send me cute pics almost daily.  I hope we can get to Kentucky to meet him soon. 

Clayton and Jackie were planning on getting one of Bandit's puppies but somehow ended up with two at the last minute!  They are super cute and playful.  

Roux

Gumbo

I stopped on the way back to Dallas last week and got to hang out with this growing boy.  Drake will be 6 months in April and loved chillin' in my lap!

I don't think this is news to anyone who reads the blog, but speaking of babies we are having one of our own in August! 

We are so excited!  This is from the 12 week U/S.  I'm 16 weeks this week and we find out the gender next Friday!  

We both think it's a girl for some reason but of course we are just praying for a perfect, healthy baby no matter the gender.

Lately

Brett has been working a lot lately (nothing new) so I have been finding things to keep myself busy.  I pulled out my sewing machine Aunt Rachel gave me and some fabric I already had and made this table runner.  I'm still trying to figure out what to put on top of the table.  It took me forever to make because I'm slow at getting the machine set up but I like the way it turned out.  

My parents got tickets to see Kid Rock one Wednesday night in Shreveport that I was working in Center.  I was worn out but it was a good time.  He puts on a great concert and the people watching was even better.  Don't ya love dad's real coon skin hat?  

David and Mariana hosted a sushi making night.  Always lots of fun to make your own sushi rolls and if you have never done it, it's much less expensive than going out.  

I have been riding to Fort Worth with Brett on the weekends he has to do rounds.  We go have coffee and breakfast at a coffee shop there.  Even though I don't get to sleep in Sat/Sun we get to hang out and he has company on the drive for a change.  

The random warm days we have tried to spend outside.  We got the jeep out and went for a ride one weekend.  It didn't have the backseat in for a long time so Brett put it back in a while back.  Dot loves it because she now has a perch in the middle which is her favorite riding spot! 

We have a busy few months coming up.  Showers, weddings and even a few trips to look forward to!

December

We have had a busy December.  Lot's of Christmas parties and other fun things.  

Here are some some iPhone pics of the first part of the month.

Dot posing by our tree.

Our 3rd Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange at Rachel and Brandon's

A new park recently opened.  They covered the interstate and turned it into a park to connect "uptown" and "downtown" Dallas.  It is really neat.  Gourmet food trucks park along the side and there is a playground, dog park and you can play games like table tennis, croquet,  and there is a putting green.

Brett's parents came in for the night to be "Santa".  We made these cookies and I took them to the Christmas parties we had that weekend.

Brett was on call for the weekend in Ft Worth and Nelson and Winston had a Christmas party there that night we wanted to go to so we decided to spend the day and night there and take the pups.
We went to the park.

Stockyards

Brett and Nelson with "Margarita".  Nelson got her when we all went to Costa Rica.  We carried her around with us and pretended like she was a part of the group when we were on that trip!

At Nelson's Christmas party.  I can't find the pics I took of their decor but it was awesome of course!

We stayed at the Sheraton and this was right across the street.  It is called Fort Worth Water Gardens.
There were 4 different "water gardens" and it was really pretty.
The Sheraton allowed dogs at no charge.  Something good to know if you travel with pets.  La Quinta doesn't charge either.

On our way home we went to Bass Pro to do some Christmas shopping.  The dogs shopped til the dropped!

Christmas Tree 2012

 We went to get our Christmas tree Friday night.  We got a Fraiser Fur this year.  Not sure of the differences, but I liked the way the needles looked better than the Noble Furs there.  

Here is the blog post from last year about our first tree. 

Brett holding up the one we chose.

The line to cut the base was really long so Brett decided he could do this part himself.

So, he cranked up the big, loud chainsaw and went to work. 

All to slice off this 1/2 inch piece of wood.  We both cracked up when he was done because it was a big production for barely anything.  I got him to drill a hole in it and I made an ornament with 2012 written on it so we could remember this funny moment.  

Headed inside.

Brett puts the lights on.

I decorate and Brett watches from the couch.

He tops it off with the star.

Self timer family photo.  Dot must have been worn out from all of the decorating.
We have decided that Sassy is scared of flashes because she tries to run when a camera comes out.

Merry Christmas!