Meeting Santa

I LOVE Christmas time! My house always feels so much warmer and festive when it's all decorated. It's a good thing i started decorating before we left for Disney otherwise I am not sure if I could have gotten it all up!

This year, we started an advent calendar countdown to Christmas and I was surprised at how the kids have loved opening up each day to find out what activity to do. Sometimes there are two activities so we can do one in the evening with Lance. Here is one activity, having a picnic by the tree. ;)

Last week, we attended the Christmas parade downtown Ruston. We were able to stay warm at Donnie Bell Design and then step outside for the parade action. It got a little loud and crazy inside so i think we were glad once the parade started!

We were able to meet Santa on two different occasions. The first was at Lance's bank and the set up for pictures with Santa was soooo good! Much improvement from the last few years. Then on Saturday morning, we did our annual visit with Santa at Squire Creek with Breakfast with Santa. I was proud that Kennedy did so well with Santa. She was a little hesitant, but Landon was a great big brother and talked her through it.

Little snack before seeing santa at the bank

Breakfast with santa:

After breakfast with Santa, Kennedy and I went to a ginger bread making party while the boys went to the duck camp. We had a blast celebrating our sweet friend Landry Grace. It didn't take us long to bake the cookies that she gave us for a party favor!

Birthday girl, Landry Grace and her mama

Aren't these aprons adorable?!?

This past weekend, we were able to meet up with my brother, Klint and his family. They are spending Christmas with her family during Christmas so we exchanged gifts with them. They are expecting their second child this May and I am so excited for them!

This week is basically hanging at the house and doing different activities. The kids are super excited about the upcoming week and for Christmas to get here. Letters have been sent and I was shocked that Kennedy is requesting only ONE gift and it's a bat costume...i know, weird, right?!? Her inspiration is from Animal Kingdom when she one a stuffed black bat at one of the games. Should be interesting this Christmas! ;)

Disney 2011

Our first family trip to the magical place of Walt Disney World was absolutely fantastic! It really exceeded all of my expectations and I am really looking forward to planning another trip there. Early on, I was having some anxiety about having lance's, my family, and my parents going and worried about all the different personalities and needs of everyone. But it couldn't have worked out better. We were all focused on what the needs of the kids were and it all fell into place. It also didn't stop anyone from riding the thrill rides (me, my mom and landon couldn't get enough of these!!!). I knew going in, that most of the group didn't like the big rides. But there are plenty of other things to do for the entire group.

Here is a recap of what we did (if you want to be spared of all the details, just scroll down to the pics and I won't bore you with details!!) ;) I want be able to record all we did so I can look back on it!

We did the direct flight from Jackson and I thought it worked perfect and highly recommend doing that. Probably my two favorite things about disney were how each 'cast member' or employee was extremely nice and how I never had to deal with my luggage (arrival and departure). This is golden when dealing with two young kids and 7 checked pieces of luggage. We arrived around 5:00 to our hotel (the Polyonesian) and got settled in before our dinner reservations at Ohana at 8:00. We had some time to kill so we looked around our resort and then hopped on the monorail to the Grand Floridian resort to see their large gingerbread house. After dinner, the kids and i went to the beach to watch the fireworks at 9:30 (everyone else was pooped and getting ready for bed) and this was a special memory i will have watching that with both kids in my arms.

Day 1 had to be a Magic Kingdom day and it was perfect. We had lunch at the castle and that was absolutely priceless. My favorite quotes from Lance this week was during the princess lunch, he said, "Whatever the cost was for this trip, that moment just made every penny worth while. I will never forget Kennedy's face." And, fyi, this was probably the third time i had cried on that day (the first was when we got to see Mickey 'open' the park). AFter a few rides following lunch, we started to get rained on. The Hall grandparents went back to the hotel to stay dry while the rest of us threw our ponchos on (thanks Suzanne!) to stick it out. I thought it was perfect because it cleared out the crowds and we were able to watch the afternoon parade right in front of the castle with no one around us. Even with this being our first parade, i still knew how lucky we were to have that opportunity. All the characters would come up to the kids and i got a huge kick out of it. Kennedy was very particular about who she wouldn't hide her face from (see pictures). I got a great video of it, but too bad I will never see it (that's a whole other story). The rain stopped and we were able to enjoy the rest of the evening there at Magic Kingdom.

Day 2 was a morning at Epcot. We didn't get up in time to be there when the park opened but we were still able to beat the crowds. Actually the crowds never got too bad. We had lunch in Norway at the Akershus Royal Hall. Looking back this is one reservation i should have canceled, but i know better next time (we had just seen these same princesses the day before, but i was told they would be new ones). Still good, but we could have done without. after lunch we went back to hotel for naps so we could be rested up for the Mickey's Merry Christmas Party. This was fantastic. We all loved it and I was glad we all got naps in because we didn't get back in until 12:30am. The highlight of this night was the dance party with Woody, Jesse and Bullseye. No one was there and we just got to dance the night away with them...just picture this in your mind right now: landon singing every word to Justin Bieber's song, Baby, to Jesse. It was priceless! This is also the night i will remember because i lost my phone somewhere. I am sick about the videos that will be forever lost. :(

Day 3 was Animal Kingdom. The kids really loved this...all the animals! And the most pleasant surprise favorite was eating breakfast at the Tucker House. We all loved it. The food was amazing and it was our first time to get to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Daisy. The kids were so cute. We spent the entire day at AK (it closed at 4:30) but we missed the 3:45 parade, which was supposed to be awesome. We had Chef Mickey dinner reservations at 5:00 and i was afraid we weren't going to get back in time because everyone leaving at once and us having to take the bus. Looking back, i think we could have made it...oh well. AFter dinner the kids were done....they went to sleep about 7:15 while Lance and I went downtown (believe me, we were VERY tempted to go to bed too, but we wanted to suck it up and experience as much as we could!). Downtown was nice (didn't care for the 35 min bus ride there and back). We did some shopping, drank hot chocolate, and admired the lego displays!

Day 4 was Hollywood Studios day. This is the day i was looking forward to. I would totally do this day differently, but you learn as you go. We didn't get off to an early start, which messed our timing on eating and the schedule we followed. But it was still fun. We had to eat our dinner at 2:45 so we could get the Fantasmic package. That would have worked out great but no one was hungry after our lunch. But it was worth it once we watched the show that night. I worried that Kennedy would get really scared (it was a bit scary), but we prepared her for it and I would totally do it again. Very impressive! And Kennedy enjoyed it way more than i thought she would. AFter the show we went to see the light on the Osborne Family street and this too was so impressive. I don't have any great shots b/c of the lighting, but i know it wouldn't do it justice.

Day 5, final day there, the kids got to choose and they wanted to go to Animal Kingdom (we originally were going to go back the MK, but we heard that justin bieber and other singers were there shooting a christmas show there and we didn't want to fight the crowds. As it turned out, we really enjoyed our 2nd day at AK. We didn't feel rushed and were able to do some things we missed the first time. After most of the day there, we decided to rest up and go back to the Christmas Party at MK for our last night. it was just as good the second time around! I loved not having any lines and the parades were really good.

That was our trip in a nut shell and it was great. Landon's favorites were: riding all the big rides, especially space mt, splash mt, mt everest and thunder mt. By the end of the trip, he was a pro and holding his arms up through all the rides. Kennedy's favorites were meeting the characters, watching the parades and the dance party was jesse, woody and bullseye. the 2nd christmas party we were able to dance with Pluto, chip n dale and goofy. My favorite parts were watching my kids faces during the parades, the fireworks and light shows, the thrill rides and character meals. Lance's favorite parts were the fireworks and lightshow, the parades and the toy Story Mania ride.

Here are some of the pictures i took. There were so many to choose from so this was hard!

Day one

Day 2, Epcot and Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom

And the coolest dance party ever and probably the best kept secret at the Christmas party!

Day 3, Animal Kingdom

Day 4, Hollywood and Fantasmic show

Day 5, Animal kingdom and Christmas party

Thanks for looking and huge big thanks to my buddy suzanne for letting borrow some clothes, bags, thoughts and ponchos!! ;)

Thanksgiving 2011

I hosted my first annual Turkey basketball clinic in Ruston and it went fantastic! The number of kids was ideal for the lesson plan I had for them. The kids were great listeners and I feel very confident that each of them walked away with more basketball knowledge and smile on their face. Mission accomplished!

Now, it's time to focus on some turkey and then our trip to Disney!!! We haven't told the kids yet and to be honest, I don't even know when or how we will do it. All I know is I can't wait! 4 more days!!! Tomorrow for Thanksgiving, we plan on eating lunch at Squire Creek with lance's parents and then we may meet up with my family out at Bodcau for some turkey games and eating!

Big congrats to Shelley Parker and her family for their new addition to their family. John Cole Parker was born yesterday, 7 pounds 1 ounce. So glad to hear they are both doing great. Although, I may have to wait until we get back to meet the sweet lil man! :(

Our sweet friend, Jake Tyler, had his 5th birthday party this past Sunday and they kids loved visiting Papa Simpson's farm. It was a beautiful day and great to get outside and eat some yummy cake! Big thanks to Jake for inviting us!

My boy, Budke

This has been a rough week and I really didn't feel like blogging about it, but what better way to honor someone who I worked closely with for 5 years. I lost my former boss and coworker to a tragic plane crash last Thursday evening. Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna were aboard a private plane that went down while traveling to go recruiting. It spiraled out of control and crashed into the hills of Arkansas on a cloudless day. There wasn't a distress call so it's hard to say what happened and it pains me to think about those last moments and what went through their minds. We may not ever know, but hopefully they will shed some light on it 9-12 months from now when they will learn more about why it crashed.

Kurt and I worked under Coach Barmore at La tech for 2 years and then when Kurt got the head job, he promoted me to recruiting coordinator for 3 years. When you are coaching any sport on the college level, you become closer to your coworkers than most anyone in your life, including your family. You spend countless hours together in the office and then there are the numerous trips for games and recruiting. You learn a lot about each other (more than you care too) especially when things don't go as planned (losing games, delayed flights, long 18 hour WAC travel days or losing recruits because of the weather that weekend on their visit...yes, all the above really happened!!!)

Kurt and I immediately hit it off as soon as we met. And who wouldn't!? His personality was warm, friendly, and inviting. We may have had some rough days while he was the head coach but probably more so because we were so close. But who doesn't, right? At least it never affected our friendship. We remained close, even after his departure to Oklahoma State. I loved seeing him on the road recruiting and at the final four. He always took the time to call or hang out with me.

I know this entire post is mostly about Kurt, but I can't forget Miranda. Her poor mom. She was very close to her mom and nephew and I can't imagine what they are going through. Miranda and I only worked together for a year, but she was very pleasant to be around. She had the biggest heart. I have never seen anyone work as hard as she did and oh how she loved her players. I only wish we had more time together.

My favorite memories of Kurt:

1. watching him scare anyone that entered the office with his plastic snakes

2. video taping him while I hid a real python snake (small) in his filing cabinet. Someone had to get him back and boy did I! He wanted to have me arrested for attempted murder!! lol Wow, i really wish i could find that video....

3. staking signs into his yard on his 40th birthday and all the pranks I pulled on him that day

4. team dinners at his house with his wife and kids. He taught me the importance of family and that they always come first

5. playing the fishing slot machines with his parents on all the Reno visits. His parents were his biggest supporters and came to most games even though they lived in Kansas

6. listening to all his stories over a few beers on the recruiting trails

7. His prayers before each game

8. His weird thing with his newspapers....no one can look at his papers until after he has and he always kept them. His favorite paper was the Dallas Morning news

9. the big kahuna burger joint in hawaii that he would always treat his staff to every year.

10. his christmas gifts

They will be missed and may they never be forgotten

Father, God, may you wrap your arms around Shelley, Sara, Alex and Brett. And his sweet parents....how I pray that I will never have to bury a child. Please comfort them and look for positive memories to carry them through each day. I pray that they know it's ok to cry, laugh and get angry, but that they never turn their back on you. Give them comfort by knowing they will again see Kurt face to face and meet you when you call us all home. And I pray that his team and staff will honor him each day with their efforts on the court and throughout the season. In his glorious name I pray, Amen.

From Nashville to Oxford

I have to say that the last 7 days have been an amazing journey for me. There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank my precious Savior for all the blessings he has given to me. But this last week, I have to admit that I was counting my blessings every hour.

A good friend of Lance's gave us tickets to the CMA's in Nashville. Lance was unable to go due to work and lack of sitters during the week. So, he convinced me (oh yeah, like that was hard!) to go without him and just meet up with a dear friend of mine that lives in Nashville. Well, come to find out, the day before the show, she can't join me and I was stuck without someone to go with me. And I should have not been surprised when another friend of mine, Shannon Roberts, booked her flight within hours of talking with me over a pedicure to fly out the next morning.

Long story short, we had an amazing time! I do believe everyone should attend the CMA's at one point of their life. Such a cool experience of watching the all-star cast of performers and legends all in one setting. My favorite part of the three hour event was seeing how things went on during the commercials, watching the wardrobe changes, and each live performance. They were all fantastic. I have two favorites of that night: 1. luke bryan singing 'Country Girl'...only because i knew every last word thanks to Landon since it is his favorite song (i also enjoyed seeing him perform at the after party too!!) and 2. Taylor Swifts new song that she sang...so talented. The setting on the stage for her was so breath taking.

Here is a picture of Shane and his wife, Sarah, who gave us the tickets

And Sarah was a HUGE Jason Aldean fan and she had to take this picture after the show (of course it's not real!)

After coming home the next day (thursday), it was time to unpack, kiss the kids, and take off again the next morning to head to Oxford, MS to watch the Tech bulldogs beat up on the Rebels. This was the first house divided game Lance and I have ever had and it was interesting to say the least! And with my connections I had in Oxford (I worked there for one season of basketball), it still holds a special place in my heart. I enjoyed seeing the changes since i was there in 2000. And even though it was a down year for the Rebels, I still enjoyed seeing the grove and listening to their Hotty Toddy song. ;) Which, by the way, lance 'claims' that he never sang while in college...blah, too-cool party pooper. I had to refrain myself from wanting to sing along!

Here is our Ole Miss group outside the house we rented: The kilpatricks, Becks and Smiths (and no, a child did not take this picture...just Hunter's handy work with the timer on the camera)

The girls: Sarah, me, Becky and Jana

And my sweet hubby...still smiling even though his rebels were getting dominated at this point (prob 2nd quarter!!!!) Ha!!!

It was great seeing former Oxford faces and familiar Ruston faces too. I especially enjoyed catching up with Hannah Lee, who i haven't seen in over a year! But to top the weekend off, the Dawgs whipped up on the Rebels and I was so proud to be a Tech fan. Let's just hope we can hold onto Coach Sonny Dykes a little longer!

Halloween week...

This past Halloween weekend was a whirlwind and I am still paying the price! Friday night I was able to catch up with lots of my relatives in town for the visitation and funeral for my Uncle Bill. Even though he lived in Tucson for the past 20 years, he was laid to rest in Shreveport next to his parents. This also made it easy for most of our family to get together and celebrate what a wonderful, Christian man my uncle Bill was. He will be missed.

Saturday morning, landon and I got up early to head back to Shreveport for his first swim team race and he loved it! They did warm ups for about 40 minutes and when that was over, he came over to me and to ask if the race was over and to see if he won! ;)

He competed in three events: 25 freestyle, 25 butterfly and the 25 back stroke. I was most impressed with his backstroke and was proud that he stayed on his back the entire way! Who knows how long he will want to swim, but for now, it is a lot of fun and great exercise! Here is a picture of him and his buddy, Jake, before the race.

Here is a video of his backstroke:

Then we met back up with the rest of our family to spend time with all the cousins for the remainder of the day. The kids were excited about seeing all of them and spending the night with KK and Papa Kenny. I can't believe I didn't get one picture of all the relatives that were in town! :(

Monday was Halloween and the kids were geared up to go trick or treating. Kennedy wanted to be Tinkerbell for ballet class and stayed in that for the rest of the day (she had been Princess Peach for all other halloween festivities). We joined a group of friends who lived in Wedgewood subdivision and it was a CRAZY and WILD place for trick or treating. There were so many people and I can only imagine how much candy these houses went through. But I was so proud of our kids for listening and having a great time. Thank goodness they didn't get too much candy! ;)

This was taken before school

Before trick or treating

here is a picture of kennedy wearing Landon's mustache (she had been begging for one every time he wore his costume). She loved it! She also got some strange looks that I enjoyed getting a kick out of!

So, it's November! wow! The leaves are starting to turn and it's gorgeous! I do love this time of year! Happy Fall!

We're Baaack!

Yes, i am alive and yes it's great to be back! I have lots to report but I will make this the short version...lol! You know i love my lists that eliminate me having to write!! ;)

1. first and foremost, we are all happy, healthy and alive!

2. Right after my last blog (mid sept), I poured water on my laptop and had to replace it. :( I finally got the new one 5 days ago and I finally feel like I am back among the living! ;) I sure missed it and missed not keeping up with everyone and vice versa.

3. The kids' mermaid and pirate party was a huge blast and the weather was perfect (whew)

4. Landon turned 5 on Sept 27th. He got a battery operated four wheeler that has been a huge hit (via my parents, lance's parents and us). I'm too lazy to download pics from my phone. ;)

5. Kennedy started dance and she absolutely loves it. Landon is doing swim team and art

6. We adopted two stray dogs that showed up at our house while i was on my chicago trip. We have named them Gumbo and Brownie. Brownie is the puppy below and they have been super sweet (except they love to bark at night). grrrr! But I have learned it's because they are super protective and territorial so I guess that makes it ok. At least it keeps away the big dogs and deer that love to roam our neighborhood.

7. Kennedy now has to wear glasses the next four months in hopes that it strengthens her left eye. It's been an adjustment, but definitely more for me and lance. I am glad she doesn't fight me on wearing them. I did not notice anything to make me get her tested. She failed a stigma test the past two years at her MDO school. I am so glad i took her in and catch this early! I have pics on my phone, but here is the only one I have from my camera

8. They are going to be Mario and princess peach for halloween (as seen above)

9. The kids started preK 3 and 4 this year at Temple and they love their teachers: Landon has Mrs Teresa Mann (awesome!) and Kennedy has the same teacher L had last year, Brooke Martin.

10. Lance is currently in dallas watching the cowboys this afternoon and then the rangers tonight. He is a little kid in a candy store right now! At least I get to watch it on tv while i catch up on blogs!

11. i got the new iPhone 4S and it's amazing!!!!!

12. We took a quick trip to the beach for the long Columbus Day weekend before it got too cold. The water was still cold, but we had a great time! No pics from that trip! Bad mama!

13. I have been an organizing FOOL! I totally got motivated from a blog i found on pinterest (my other obsession). It's iheartorganizing and definitely worth checking out here.

14. And finally, on a sad note, we lost my uncle Bill last night to his battle of brain cancer. He was diagnosed this past January and it was pretty aggressive. I feel bad that i haven't blogged about this or asked for any prayer support through our church. I am not always comfortable sharing and asking for support on things such as this. This the husband of my mom's oldest sister, Donna. They live in Tucson, but the funeral will be in Shreveport this week. They are such a wonderful family and strong christians. He will be missed but we all know he is in great hands now.

That about wraps up our last month and a half. Hopefully i can keep up now! ;)