Family in Town

We had Houston's Uncle Jim and his cousin Sarah in town for the Tostitos Bowl game in the first weekend of January. Sarah goes to the University of Texas and Uncle Jim is an alumni there, so of course they had to come out and cheer on their team. We don't get to see them very often so it is always a lot of fun when we get to see them. Sarah is such a beautiful and sweet girl!

A Day in the Snow

Houston and I took our little buddy up to play in the snow for the first time and he was so stinkin cute! He was pretty confused every time he would step in the deep snow and fall through. He wasn't quite understanding what was going on. It was really funny to watch. I'll try and upload the video soon. We love that dog more than we could ever explain. He truly is our little baby. Here are a few pics from the day.

SCC Dinner Reunion

Last night I had a great time with my girls from SCC. We had a little dinner reunion for those of us that were able to make it. Dinner included Nikki, Jenn, myself, Brooke, Bonnie, Julia and Kallee. It was so good to see everyone and catch up on life. It's crazy to think that it's been going on 6 years since we've played together. I absolutely loved playing with these girls and miss them dearly. I'm so glad that we try and meet up together a few times a year since we are all spread out all over the country now. I'm so thankful for each and every one of them in my life! Love you ladies!!!!!! Go Artichokes!

A Wonderful Christmas!

We had such a great Christmas this year and fortunately Houston had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. That rarely happens, so I was very excited! We went to my parent's house on Christmas Eve evening and had a great time there. The boys had their shot of slivo as the girls watched them make disgusted faces afterwards. My mom made a delicious lasagna dinner and we just enjoyed each other's company and hung out for a few hours. We went home and watched a movie in bed with our little black furry friend. The next morning Bear woke me up around 8:15am; usually he wakes me up because he has to go to the bathroom or he's hungry or thirsty but I swear he knew that it was Christmas morning and he wanted his 24in bone that was in his stocking under the tree! Eventually, we got Houston out of bed at a quarter to 9. We then opened gifts and put on some Christmas music. It was so fun! My husband spoiled me like crazy with a ton of stuff that I loved. I got him lots of tools, you can never go wrong with tools for him. We then hosted Christmas dinner at our house for Houston's sister and her boyfriend and my family. We deep fried the turkey and had a yummy spread of food for everyone. For dessert we had a pumpkin cheesecake and it was delicious!

'Tis the Season

Yes, the house is decorated for this wonderful time of year. Houston and I both love Christmas so much, which makes it a ton of fun for both of us to get the house decorated inside and out. He put up all of the lights outside and of course put up the lights on the tree :) He's such a perfectionist when it comes to that but I think it's so cute! He's such a great help and I love that he loves when I decorate the inside of the house. It wouldn't be as much fun if he didn't care about me getting the inside all festive. Here are a few shots of the holiday decor from the Todd residence. We hope that all of you have a Merry Christmas and enjoy time with family and friends! We wish that we were able to spend time with all of you over the holidays but just know that we send our love!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Well this Thanksgiving was a lot of fun, we spent time with both sides of the family and really had a great time. Fortunately, Houston had the day off which was a nice change. We are so fortunate to have great families and friends who love and support us. We have a beautiful home, the best dog in the world, great jobs and of course a wonderful marriage. We truly have a lot to be thankful for in our lives.

A beautiful AZ sunset!

I just thought I would post a few gorgeous pictures from a few weeks ago of a November sunset here in AZ. We took these pictures in our neighborhood with our friends Mike and Jen. It looks like there is a huge fire behind us! Fortunately, it wasn't though :)

Happy Halloween!

This year we did not dress up in our costumes like every other year. My best friend got married on Saturday, the 25th so we were busy that whole day with wedding stuff yeah! That same night our close friends had a great Halloween party at their house but we only were able to stop by for a little while. We were so pooped from the whole days events that we were just absolutely exhausted. So we didn't end up buying any costumes since we didn't know if we were even going to be able to make it at all. However, we did carve some pumpkins to get us in the Halloween spirit! Here are some photos of Houston and I and our beautifully carved pumpkins from a few nights ago. We sat in front of the TV carving away at our master pieces and watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". You can tell by the look on his face how much he loved it when I was taking pictures of him :) We had a great time though and had a lot of laughs while we were doing it. Just another wonderful evening with my love!

San Diego Trip

Houston and I just got back from San Diego this past weekend with Dan, Ellie, Dutch and Debbie. We had such a great time! It was just what we needed to get away from our hectic schedules and have some time to relax and just be together. I can't remember the last time that Houston and I had 4 whole days together...it's definitely been a while. So we left on Friday and just kind of hung out when we got to the hotel and then got ready for dinner. We went to an amazing Mexican food restaurant in Pacific Beach! Then we came back to the hotel and drank for a little bit. Dutch went to bed soon after we got back from dinner and then Dan and Ellie came over to our room to have a little fun. Then on Saturday morning, we went and ate some breakfast and then headed to Mission Beach. Dutch got to feel the sand for the first time and they put his feet in the water, he loved it! Houston and I played catch with the football for a little bit and then we all headed up to Cane's for some drinks and appetizers. It was a perfect location to day drink. After we left there, we walked around the little roller coaster park and then headed back to the hotel for a nap. We went down to the Gaslamp District for dinner that night to some seafood restaurant that was pretty good. Sunday was the best day of them all though...Dan and Ellie had bought second row tickets for the Chargers/Patriots game, so we headed down to the stadium around 1 and set up our tailgating area. It was crazy how the parking lot turned into a little Chargers town! It was really fun though and everyone was really nice (I'm sure all of the alcohol helped with that). We did some beer bongs and bbq'd while we were there. Then we headed on into the Chargers game which was so much fun! We had a blast and they totally dominated the Patriots, so we had a lot to cheer about. We were all very sad to have to leave and head back home but we were so happy to spend some time with the Jarrett's. Dutch is such a good baby and he's always so happy. He is such a beautiful baby boy!

Oktoberfest Festival

Not only do I love Fall for the cooler weather, but there are always so many great outdoor activities going on around the valley. Houston and I along with Rachael went down to the Tempe Oktoberfest Festival on the first weekend of October and had such a great time! We drank some delicious beer, ate some funnel cake, rode a few rides, ate some brats and much more! It rained on and off but it really was a perfect temperature all night. Here are a few pictures from the night...