Anniversary in DC

Last week, Houston and I made a trip out to Manasas, VA to visit his mom, her husband and his sister. It was a very relaxing vacation and we did a lot of eating! Houston's mother is a great cook and she definitely made sure that we were fed well. We got to go into DC one day to see tons of monuments and museums. The whole area was really beautiful and seeing all of it in person makes you appreciate our military and our country even more. It truly was a humbling experience seeing the names of the thousands of men who sacrificed their lives in war for our freedom. We were very lucky to walk up on a memorial service for all of the 250 living veterans from the Pacific WWII that the HBO mini series is based off. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks gave speeches at the memorial and it really was moving to watch the veterans be seated. Most were in wheelchairs but some walked themselves. We all wished that we could have walked down there to shack every single one of their hands and thank them for what they did for our country. It was an honor to be present for that special ceremony. I posted a few pics from the trip but mostly from the day we went into DC. From what we heard, we just barely missed Cherry Blossom season. I'm sure it would look amazing during that time of year! Going to the Manasas battlefields was an educational experience too. Creepy almost because everything looks exactly the same as it did in the Civil War. Thank you to Bryan and Sherlyn for being such wonderful hostess'. Your home is absolutely amazing! You guys have done an incredible job with everything. Hopefully next time I am there I can actually drink some wine in the "wine room" and not chocolate milk :) It was great to see you three and to hang out and catch up. I hope it's not too long before we see you guys out in AZ. I know of a really good reason to come out in October...

Zac Brown Band Concert

A few nights ago, Houston and I went to the Zac Brown Band concert. We had a really great time and they were so good live! If you haven't heard of them before, you really should start listening to them, his story is pretty interesting too. Mike and Jen...we had a great time with you guys! As usual :)

Good Times in Vegas...and with Sheena!

This past weekend my mother and I drove to Vegas to visit my Godmother Sheena! What a great time we had. Us three can have a blast no matter what we are doing but when we make our way to the Strip of Las Vegas, things really get crazy! We are so lucky to have her in our lives and just absolutely cherish the time that we get to spend with her. She surprised me on Christmas morning by walking in my parent's doors saying "What's for dinner?" I was so shocked that she drove down that morning and so excited to see her. We had such a fun time during her few days her around Christmas.

It's always fun to go visit her in Vegas though and this trip was nothing less than fantastic! We went and saw Dear John on Sunday which I love and my mom and Sheena liked also. Then we went shopping for a little bit and I finally was able to see what all the hype about H&M was about. That store has so many cute work clothes! I fell in love. Sunday night Sheena made an amazing Italian dinner for us. She's an amazing cook! Then on Monday we headed down to the Strip to have a little fun. We started out at the Wynn and we loved everything about that place. They did an incredible job on the Encore too! We stopped by Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and had a great time there and tripped our way down to the City Center. We took the elevator up to the 23rd floor of the Mandarin which is supposed to be this ridiculously beautiful new addition to the Strip and it was just ok. Nothing too special. When we left there we came upon New York New York and had to stop by Nine Fine Irishman...or Fine Nine Irishman as Sheena would have called it that day :) We had two Irish Car Bombs which she had never had before and she discovered why I love those so much...tasty! I think when we left there was about the time that we got a cab ride back to our car at the Encore. (Things got a little fuzzy at that point.) We searched for quite some time trying to find our car and eventually found it. My poor mother had two drunks with her trying to find our car. Thanks Mom...we love you! Sheena of course whipped up an amazing dinner for us after we got back to her house, even if she was drunk :) It still tasted yummy!

The trip was amazing and such a short drive away. We couldn't believe how gorgeous it was out when we left on Sunday morning. The storm had just passed through the night before but the clouds and fogg were still lingering through the mountains. Then we had the sun coming up behind us... it was just so peacefull and scenic. On the way home seeing the Hoover Dam was pretty amazing too. It's so huge in person, makes you really appreciate the hard work that those workers put into building it. You wouldn't catch me up there working on that if you paid me.

Sheena, we can't wait to see you soon. We love you so much and thank you for having us!!!!

Cowboys/Chargers Game

The next day we got up early and headed to get our tailgate spot for the big game. After we set everything up, we made a big breakfast because we knew we would be drinking quite a bit that day. As you can see in the pictures that our dear friends are Chargers fans and us Cowboys so it made the trip a little bit more exciting and competitive. We played corn hole, did beer bongs, played beer pong, listened to great music, made some new friends, hung out with family and drank some more. We finally made it into the stadium a little bit before the game started and it was absolutely amazing! What a gorgeous stadium it is! If you ever have the opportunity to get to the Cowboys new stadium, do it because it is unlike any other. It's gigantic! The seats that we had were first row right behind the end zone. Sitting this close made the long drive well worth it! The Cowboys Cheerleaders were dancing right in front of us for parts of the game and they were all beautiful. Even though the Chargers won, we still had a great time at the game. Houston has always dreamed of going to see the Cowboys play since he was a little kid, so I was happy for him that he finally was able to be there.

The next day, we took off for El Paso to stay with Houston's Grandad and his wife. Hilde had baked and cooked weeks in advance for our arrival. We kept telling our friends about Hilde's tamales and how delicious they were. She definitely made sure that we didn't got to bed or leave the next day hungry. We thank you so much for that too :) Their house was decorated with tons of Christmas decorations and it looked so nice. It was wonderful getting to spend more time with them. It's too bad that it was only for one night.

Thank you to all of Houston's family for letting us stay with you and spend time with you. I am very lucky to get to call all of you my family now. Wish we all lived closer! Thank you to our great friends Dan and Ellie for an unforgetable trip! We love you guys!