Ski Trip 2008

A post by Leigh: An adult only vacation - finally!! While we missed Miss Riley Paige - we were pumped to hit the slopes with our good friends & neighbors who were soon to be moving to Chicago - Brad & Dana. They flew to Denver from Dallas after they dropped the boys off with the grandparents in Dallas while Matt and I dropped Ri Ri off in Lufkin and flew out of Houston. We met in the mountains and were so excited for our vacation to start. While we were waiting for our shuttle to take us to Winter Park - Dana & I decide to go get coffee - after all, based on our calculations we had a good 25 min until the shuttle got there. We leisurely make our way over to the coffee stand - then decide to hit the ladies room - then cheer on some soldiers coming back from Iraq and all the sudden our cell phones are ringing. It's the guys "the shuttle is here - where are you?"....we were at where we thought we had left the guys...outside baggage claim looking at the street. Matt says "cross over and you should see us"....due to the fact Matt messes with me all the time I say "Matt - there is no way the shuttle is already there, we just left, we don't see you. I have crossed the street...where are you?"...so just for all of you who haven't been to the Denver airport - there are two identical sides of baggage claims and sure enough,Dana & I had managed to get to the opposite side and the shuttle driver had threatened to leave b/c we were so late. Sweating and laughing we finally race to the other side of the airport and make it to the shuttle - after which Dana & I decide we would not make a good pair on the "Amazing Race" and settle in for the 2 hour shuttle ride. After that fiasco - the rest of the vacation was cake. We had so much fun cruising the slopes. The weather could not have been better - we had beat the Spring Break crowds - just awesome all the way around! And we went tubing one night also - a bit of a shady place, "cash only", no waivers, so if we happened to crash and burn on the tube - no record of us ever being there - but it was so much fun - felt like a kid again! We also ventured into the town of Winter Park a few nights for some good eats. One night the restaurant was so crowded with a long wait - Dana and I sweet talked the waiter into serving us at the pool tables where no one else was getting served. We'd like to think it was our good looks that got us the special service - but we also slipped him some cash - so maybe it was a combination :-) All and all - a wonderful ski vacation - full of fun, good times, good food/drinks and actually some rest too - and a good parting trip with our friends.

Riley's Shrek Party

So here's the first of the catch-up posts. I'll get some more up this week for sure...lots been happening as of late. On February 8th, Riley turned 2 years old, and we celebrated on the 10th with a Shrek themed birthday party! We ended up just hosting it at the house and had friends and family over for a couple hours. I have to give Leigh ALL the credit for throwing a really good party! Who knew you could get so much Shrek party stuff?? Leigh even ordered Shrek t-shirts for her and I, and an outfit for Riley that had Shrek on it. The decorations were all Shrek related and there was some green "swamp juice" for the kids refreshments. Riley was still a little more interested in playing than opening presents, but it looked like she had a really good time. It's still hard for me to believe that she is now 2 years old! Here's a few pics...

Blogger be slacking

Not sure if anyone actually reads this blog (leave a comment if you do), but we've definitely been slacking as of late...sorry about that. We're actually going skiing in Colorado this week, and I'll be sure to add pics from the trip and from Riley's birthday party earlier this month. Until then...

Riley turns 2!!!

Seriously, time is really flying by now. I can't believe Riley turns 2 years old today. It's just doesn't seem like that long ago we were in the hospital delivering her. It truly amazes me how much a child develops in such a short time. Especially right now...it's something new every day!

We're having a Shrek birthday party tomorrow evening, so I'll be sure to post some pics afterwards. I'm not sure she understands Shrek movies, but she LOVES to watch them, and loves the characters.

Have a good weekend!

It's Been Awhile...

since we've updated our blog! It's Leigh again - taking over the keyboard. While we haven't been up to much - seems like we've still been busy. A couple weekends ago we had a night on the town to celebrate Dana's birthday. 3 couples in total - us, brad/dana & adria & mike went to the hip part of our side of town - sugarland town square. We dined at an italian restaurant and went through our fair share of wine which made our story telling more animated and loud and we are definitely sure the people around us wish they sat further away. We ended the dinner with a round of shots - which I smartly didn't take mine and matt went against better judgement and took both :-). We ended the night with loud music listening to soulja boy on brad's patio - which we actually got a call from the neighbor to turn it down - I guess we are still trying to act like we are in college.

My folks came to visit last weekend and we had a great time. Riley loved seeing her Gigi and Deks and it is always entertaining to see Dad and Matt challenge each other to the wii. Mom and i lunched and shopped and just really enjoyed being together.

I am still sad I can't run the marathon - I went back to the doctor for a follow up visit and my fracture is healing - albeit i tried to run yesterday and it was a mess. I am still in pain and the dr said that the moment I feel it - i should back off as it will only make it that much longer to heal. I reckon i will be cycling away on the stationary bike for quite sometime while my leg continues to heal. We are going skiing with brad and dana at the end of February and I am hoping my leg doesn't give me trouble. But hey - if it does, dana and I can hang out at the warming hut while the guys tackel the mountain :-)

We are preparing for Riley's 2nd birthday - we can't believe our little angel is already 2!! We are planning a Shrek themed party as that seems to be Riley's favorite character. She is constantly asking "where's shrek? donkey? princess?"...let's hope i can pull it off and get all the party supplies in time!

This past weekend I was due to go to Arlington for my sister-in-law's baby shower. I was SO disappointed i couldn't go - i came down with a cold and I took riley to the dr the day before our travels and we decided it was best not to risk us all being too sick and getting my folks sick as a party favor for our visit.

Not sure of our superbowl plans but we'll be sure to update the blog after the weekend.

Leigh's Promotion

I am happy to announce that last week Leigh got promoted to Director at her company, Sirius Solutions! She insists it isn't a big deal, but it is! Director is a high-level position in her firm and they have recognized all her hard work over the last few years. I'm extremely proud of her! In addition to Leigh, her good friend and co-worker, Ashley, got promoted to Director as well!!

Christmas '07

Another holiday season came and then flew by yet again! For whatever reason, this year more than ever seemed really fast...does this mean I'm getting old?? Regardless, it was a great time. We spent the holidays up in Arlington with Leigh's parents. On the way up, we went right through the cold front pushing south, and it ended up a 35 degree difference from when we left Houston..and 0f course I was wearing flip flops and shorts. It ended up being perfect cold weather for the season and made it feel like Christmas! I did some traditional Christmas Eve shopping and then we shared the day with Leigh's parents, Rob (Leigh's brother), Erin (Rob's wife), Hanah (Rob and Erin's daughter), and Leigh's Uncle Traci. We fried a couple turkeys, ate a wonderful meal, and ended opening presents later that evening. Riley seemed to understand Christmas a little more this year, but watching Shrek and Barney was still more exciting that opening presents :-) Here's the pics from the holiday:

Daddy reading The Night Before Christmas

Stealing Santa's cookies!

Baby Shrek

Mommy and Riley

Bubbles, bubbles, and then more bubbles!!!

Riley and Gigi

Preparing the bird!

Leigh and Ri-ri

Rob and Erin

Deks and Gigi

Hanah and Riley...dancing machines!

Shirts?? Who needs shirts??

"Check out my new skirt"

The Chefs!