Update on Rebecca

At the request of Rebecca, we have decided to dedicate a post to the youngest sister. In honor of this momentous occasion, we created a slideshow to show some pictures of her apartment in Amarillo. After graduating from A&M, Rebecca moved back to Amarillo and got a job managing clinical trials. Being in Amarillo, Rebecca is able to help out with Anne and Will, which is a great situation. We are really proud of her and grateful for her commitment.

B&B in Granbury

We took a weekend trip to Granbury, Texas to celebrate Valentine's Day. It was a nice getaway because its only about 30 min from our house, but we still felt like we were on a vacation. It was a very laid-back trip....we didn't even take our camera. We just looked around in some of the shops on the square in Granbury, then we saw a movie, and went out to Line Camp Steakhouse. At Line Camp I got by far the best steak I've ever had (Line Camp was included in Texas Monthly's recent list of best steakhouses in the state). Even more, it was an interesting experience because the restaurant was 4.5 mi outside of Granbury and then another 2 mi down a county road. Literally in the middle of nowhere. We would not have known about it had our innkeepers not recommended it. If you are ever within 60 miles of Hood County, it is definitely worth the drive for some great food.
Iron Horse Inn was a special place to stay and we definitely enjoyed it. The hosts Bob and Judy do a great job of really giving the guests an authentic bed and breakfast experience. (Disclaimer: my expert opinion is based upon two (2) stays at B&B's). We stayed in the wine cellar room. It was cool.

Update on Amber

We talked to Amber last night, and she told us that she has decided not to move to Fort Worth. Instead, she has decided to stay in the Beaumont area near the rest of her family. While we were disappointed, we agreed that it would probably be the best situation to have the rest of her family nearby who would be able to help out with Sam more than we could. We also think it is a positive step for Amber to be patient in the decision making process and trust God to provide for her. We'll keep you posted if anything changes.

Busy

We haven't been posting, because we have been busy. The biggest thing on our radar right now is our sister Amber and her son Sam. They are considering moving to Ft Worth, so we've been trying to help out as needed with that. Amber has a job tentatively lined up at the Harris Methodist Hospital as a nurse. The main issues remaining to be worked out are childcare for Sam and living arrangements for Amber. Beyond that, Jennifer has been at an all-week meeting in Frisco for work. She returns on Thursday.

Also, we have a slew of home improvement projects that we are trying to get going on our home. At the top of the list is a new roof for our house. We have some hail damage and the recent high winds in the Metroplex have blown several shingles off. We are wading through the insurance process, trying to make progress. Next, we are getting estimates to get the exterior of our house painted. We have some parts of the eaves that are starting to peel, so we are moving quickly on that as well. Then, we are considering new countertops in the kitchen, which will likely happen in the next couple of months. The good news is that we have a weekend trip planned to a B&B in Granbury (Jennifer is uber-excited). To those who we haven't talked to lately, don't give up on us, we're still here, just busy!

Friends in the Hill Country

Last weekend we had the opportunity to meet up with friends in Gruene and hang out. We had a great time seeing everyone and the weather was perfect. Afterwards, we went to Kim's dad's house in Boerne and relaxed. It was a great weekend. If you have not had the opportunity to visit Gruene, we highly recommend it. We posted some pictures below.

The legendary Gruene Hall, which has been frequented by the likes of George Strait, Willie Nelson, & more!

Evidence that we actually visited Gruene hall....

We ate at the famous Gristmill, an open air restaurant overlooking the Guadalupe River

The crew

Making the Switch

We have officially made the switch to reusable grocery bags. That’s right. We purchased 15 reusable grocery bags on Amazon.com and used them for the first time today. Why did we make this switch? Consider these facts from Reusable Bags:

• Globally, over 500 billion plastic bags are consumed each year (~100 billion in the US alone), and about 4 billion of those end up as litter.
• Plastic bags are made from petroleum—it is estimated that 12 million barrels of oil is required to supply the annual US consumption of plastic bags.
• Only between 1% and 3% of plastic bags are recycled—the rest go to landfills or become litter.
• Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food.

In the end, it was a simple decision because this was a very simple way to help the environment (i.e., better manage God's good earth and its resources) at a very small cost to us.

Christmas Vacation

It's been a while since we've posted, mainly because we were so busy during the holidays. We left Ft Worth on Dec 21 and went down to Evadale. We stayed in Evadale until Dec 26, except for the afternoon of Christmas Day when we went to Devers. We left Evadale the evening of the 26 along with Amber and Sam and we headed to Ft Worth. We arrived late that night, then got up the next morning and drove to Canyon. Once we arrived in Canyon, we had a rushed gift exchange before jumping in the car to head up to Angel Fire, NM. We had a nice vacation in the mountains and returned home on Jan 1, just in time for work on Jan 2. Needless to say, we were exhausted. We were so excited because Amber and Sam decided to stay until the end of that week. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Pictures below...

This is the toybox that Jennifer and I made for Sam for Christmas

Sambo checking out his gifts on Christmas morning

Christmas PJ's !

He's a cowboy (read: belt buckle and boots)

Amber and Sam in the truck waiting to leave

On the mountain in Angel Fire--can you tell who's who?

Jennifer and Scott in Angel Fire

Blue is always up for another opportunity to get people food, even if it is baby food!