Earth, Wind and FIRE

Last night was supposed to be February Book Club, but I had to cancel because no one could come.  :(  So, instead, Leslie came over and we made our first fire in the pit we got for Christmas!  It was a little cold, but we had a great time nonetheless.  Leslie even brought over s'more snacks and we roasted marshmallows and stacked them in between delicious dark chocolate and honey graham crackers! Yum.

Dash enjoyed the fire, too.  

Delish.  

Dedicated Dedication

This weekend Jay, Leslie and I were able to go to Rogers, Arkansas to see our other sister, Allison, and her family for the babies' dedication.  Mom and Dad were also able to come up and meet everyone there!  We got to leave Friday after work and arrived in Rogers late Friday where we just chatted into the night.  Saturday morning the boys went golfing and took Lucy with them!  She said she had some "good hits".

Daddy's a good teacher.  :)

The mini golfer with a legitimate putter. 

When the boys got back we all ate lunch together and then got ready to go swimming at mom and dad's hotel.  All the kids loved the water - especially Lucy!  She is getting to be such a good swimmer.  Amelia liked the hot tub the best and had fun with Popa going up and down the stairs.  I don't think Stewart really had any idea of what was going on.  After swimming, Mom, Allison, Leslie and I went to get our nails done!  First pedicure of the 'spring season'- thanks, Mom - they look beautiful!  We ran a few more errands and then came home to get ready for dinner at The Catfish Hole- a family favorite and so yummy!  Sunday morning was the big dedication of Amelia and Stewart at Fellowship Bible Church. It was so neat to see them up on the stage as a family of God.  Chris and Allison are such wonderful parents and we admire them so very much.  We were so glad to be there for such a special moment.

The happy family.

After church we went to lunch at Chili's- we pigged out and were not shameful about it at all!  We came back to the house and just chatted some more until we left.  I took a few cute/silly pictures just for the fun of it.  

This week is Jay's "spring" break and a short week for me!  We head to Colorado Springs, CO for the Physicians Discipleship Conference at the Glen Eyrie Conference Center on Thursday morning with Tim and Anna Dietrich.  We can't wait!  

She's Just Like New

Well, thank goodness for great body shops and insurance!  I got my car back today and she is beautiful!  I am just so excited to have her back.  It was kinda fun having the Mazda 3 but I realized how much safer and 'bigger' I feel in my "crossover".  Here are pics of the work done on the back and front (I'm pretty sure they washed it for me...):

It's almost like a mirror... :)

Hugs all around!  Ha ha

Thank You, St. Valentine

Well, as we all know, yesterday was Valentine's Day and it is just a lovely excuse to be extremely romantic!  This year was no exception!  Yesterday at work, Jay surprised me with a bouquet of flowers and my favorite candies - Peanut Butter M&Ms.  He made me feel so special!  After work I came home and we cooked one of our favorite dinners - Cajun Chicken Pasta with fresh asparagus and baked biscuits.  It was so delicious!  We had such a wonderful time together all evening.  My husband is the best ever and he made me so feel so special all day long!

Dinner and cards

Millie joined in on the fun

Yay for Valentine's! 

As a side note, for those of you who didn't know, I was involved in a 4-car wreck several weeks ago on the interstate.  It was quite an event but no one was hurt, thank goodness.  There was a little bit of damage done to my car and I was able to take it to the shop to get fixed yesterday!  I thought I'd post a few pics of my "new" sports car while I have it!  ;-)  We consider ourselves a Mazda family now... tee hee.

It is fun to be a little 'sportier' but I miss my Murano and can't wait to get her back!

Celebration by Food

Last night Jay and I celebrated our Valentine's Day by eating out at McCormick & Schmick's on the plaza! We did the same thing last year except this year we celebrated with some dear friends, Jonathan and Heather Sterk.  We had a wonderful time all together.  We ate so much!  We started with fried calamari and pork potstickers, then moved on to our main course - cajun corvina, stuffed salmon and lobster ravioli - and finished off with a chocolate bag, bananas foster and upside-down apple pie!  Wow, we were so unbelievable full afterward! I did take a few pictures, but they are from my iPhone so they're not so good.  Also, I am good about remembering to take pictures but it is always AFTER the fact.  In the case of dinner last night, I probably should have a taken a picture of us wtih our food and of our delicious chocolate bag; however, I did not remember to do that.  Plus, I probably could have remembered to bring my actual camera.  :) Nonetheless, I will post the pictures that I managed to take.

Today I went shopping with Mackenzie and Heather for some upholstery fabric for Heather's ottoman.  We found the perfect pattern at Hancock's and can't wait to see the finished product!  Jay has Endocrine finals next week so has been at the house studying diligently.  Dash has been good moral support and loves the hair dryer just as much as Daddy! 

He can't get enough.  Seriously, he is a hair dryer hog.

Sleeping doggie.

Super Bowl Bash

Sunday night was, of course, the Super Bowl!  We had a big YAMs party at Jonathan and Heather Sterk's house and it was really fun.  There was a great turnout and everyone who came brought something to eat.  We had so much food!!  I planned on not eating dinner because I knew there would be so much food at the party.  :)  I made buffalo chicken dip and it was definitely a hit!  Matt Looloian, the director of YAMs, planned a contest for scoring and we all entered our picks for the big game.  My guess was 27-13 Packers which was not even close.  Jay and I were rooting for the Packers though, so I am glad they won! We all enjoyed the game, commercials and of course, the fellowship with everyone!  Thanks for hosting, Jonathan and Heather - we had a great time!  Sorry folks, I did not take any pictures... 

Well, if you can believe it, we got more snow last night - about 3 inches!  I am very tired of winter, but I think I was much more prepared for it this year versus last year so that has made it much more bearable.  Work has been very very slow these past few weeks and I am definitely ready for some spring action!  This weekend's forecast is warm-ish and we are looking forward to some fun Valentine's Day plans and sunny days!

A Glimpse of Antarctica

If you were ever wondering what it might be like to live near the south pole, move to Kansas City.  I am telling you, I've never seen anything like it!  As I mentioned in my previous post we experienced a blizzard in Kansas City yesterday as did most of the nation.  If not a blizzard, then severe storms at the least.  We have been avidly watching the news and Monday they kept saying "Wait for the worst."  It has been something- to say the least!  Jay has been out of school the past two days and I've barely worked since there is not too much going on at the office.  It has been nice, but let me tell you- I am beyond ready for the spring!  Thankfully the groundhog did not see his shadow and we will be seeing an early spring (so they say).  Enjoy the pics :)

Dash was thinking: "How am I supposed to go to the bathroom?  The snow is taller than ME!"

Jay braving the blizzard and shoveling our path and driveway.

Just a nice picture of the blizzard.  Ha ha.

So. Much. Snow.

Jay at Pine Cove

This weekend Jay flew down to Texas for a men's conference at Pine Cove Camps.  Every year around this time my dad and a bunch of guys from the church and family meet up to share the weekend all together.  It was full of activities, speakers, praise music and of course, food!  He had a great time with everyone and got to connect with the guys from the family.  The speaker for the weekend was Tony Evans and the worship was led by his son, Anthony Evans who I'm told was very good.  :)  He came back sore after playing lots of sports with the guys and feels encouraged and refreshed.  Here is a picture of the lake off the Shores Camp.  Beautiful reminder of how awesome God is.

By the way, we are currently experiencing a legitimate blizzard right now.  Quite different from the picture above where it was 75 and sunny all weekend.  I got to leave work at 11:00 this morning and my drive home was simply terrifying.  I could barely see a thing and the roads were completely covered in snow.  I am glad to be home - safe and warm.  We'll see if we can get any good pictures but we won't be venturing out any time soon!  Stay safe and warm everybody! 

Book Club at the Circus

Actually it was at Shea's house, but we did read about the circus!  A week ago we had our first book club of 2011 and it was a great start for the new year.  We read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and it was a good read with lots of discussion points.  Shea had a great turnout at her house as she served fresh lemonade, in-the-shell peanuts, mini corn dogs, popcorn, animal crackers and to finish off- I made funnel cakes (thanks for the recipe Jennifer!)!  We all had a great time as we talked into the night about different topics that the book brought up.  Thanks for coming everyone!

Sorry Heather and Kristen.  I totally forgot to snap it before the fact!  :)