Valentines Day

Today was our Valentines Party at school. Lots of sugar and screaming kids makes for a C-R-A-Z-Y time! When I picked my kids up from lunch, one of my parents was heading to the office. She told me the office had called my room and said there was something for me, and she asked if it would be alright if she picked it up for me. When I got to my classroom I had 12 red roses waiting for me from Mat. What a sweet husband I have! Happy Valentines Day!

New Addition to the Family

This weekend, Mat and I were able to drive through Bryan, to pick up the newest member of our family, George. He is a beautiful 2 month old yellow lab puppy. George did great on the car ride and has enjoyed exploring his new home.


I think he is missing his mom and sisters right now (and also reacting to the shot he got this morning) because he has spent a lot of the afternoon sleeping.

Mat and I are both excited to have a dog, but Mat has been talking about it for a long time. After we got married, Mat told me he wanted a house, a dog and a kayak. We're 2 for 3 on his list, but I think it will be a while before he gets that kayak!

Our Weekend

It's been a while since I've posted anything. Mat and I have been busy trying to settle back into normal life after the holidays. We finally have the house back to normal, and I think we're both glad to be back in to our routine.
We spent this weekend in Houston. It was a busy weekend and we had lots of fun! We got to meet our new niece Cameron Kay Koteras. She made her debut a few weeks early. She spent a few nights in the hospital trying to coordinate her eating and breathing, but she is home now and doing great. She's tiny and big sister Kadence isn't quite sure what to think about it all!

We spent Sunday morning cheering on Marilee and Carrie at the Houston marathon. We had fun chasing them around town and cheering for all of the runners. I think part of Mat wished that he was running with them, but I think that he also enjoyed getting to see the other side of a marathon. We are so proud of them! After the race, we celebrated the girls' accomplishment and Mat's dad's birthday at Lupe Tortilla! Yum!

Kadence and Cameron cheering on Aunt Marilee




The Marathoners and their medals


We left Houston Sunday evening and drove to College Station to pick up a special package...more on that in a later post! It was a wonderful weekend, but it went by WAY to fast!

A Look Back at 2008

Mat's 1st Marathon


Our 1st niece Kadence is born


Moving in to our 1st home


Matt and Chrissy's Wedding in Nashville (I'm not sure what's up with these guys, but I laugh every time I look at this picture)


Meemaw's 80th birthday


Alaska


Rob and Sarah's Wedding in Oklahoma City


Lots of work on the house


Visit from great friends


Pumpkinfest 2008


Thanksgiving in Galveston (There used to be a sandy beach here, but after Hurricane Ike, the water now comes right up to the rocks.)


And multiple (very merry) Christmas celebrations with our families


What a year it has been! The Lord has blessed us this year, and we are excited to see what He has in store for 2009.

Merry Christmas

This year, Mat and I spent Christmas day in Kingwood with the Kelsos. We had a lot of fun playing games, including a lot of Wii, eating lots of good food and catching up. Mat and I also enjoyed spending time with our niece, Kadence. She is at a really fun age right now, and we enjoyed our time playing with her. She even took her first steps while we were there! What a great Christmas present that was for the family.

One of the presents Mat and I got was a card of Wii points. I didn't know anything about them, but Marilee showed us how to download old school Nintendo games onto our Wii! We spent a lot of time playing Super Mario Brothers 3 and Super Mario World. It has been tons of fun and has brought back lots of childhood memories for both of us.

Later this week, Mat and I are headed out of town again for New Year's and Christmas with my family. Even though our time off has been busy, we are loving all of the time we get to spend with our families.

An Early Christmas Gift

As a teacher, I have been blessed to receive many special gifts from my students and their parents. Today I received an awesome early Christmas present- dinner complete with dessert. We had homemade lasagna, salad, bread, and 2 different chocolate desserts. It was all so delicious. In fact, Mat even said he wanted to sign his own name on the card because he enjoyed it so much. :) It was such a treat to have dinner provided, especially on such a busy week!

Only 2 more days...

Weekend Fun!

My weekend started early this week. I took Friday off with my friend Sarah and spent the day Christmas shopping. It was somewhat productive and a lot of fun! I got to sleep in, eat a normal lunch (and spend more than 20 minutes eating it!), and miss out on some of the craziness that would be found at the mall on the weekend.

Friday night, Mindi, Megan, Kennedy and I went to see the Nutcracker. My family went to see it a few times when I was little, and Mat and I went to see it the night we got engaged. I love going to see the Nutcracker, and it was especially fun to get dressed up and have a night out with the girls! We had a great time, and I think Mindi, Megan and I all enjoyed watching Kennedy's excitement almost as much as we enjoyed watching the ballet!

Saturday, Mat and I laid around and enjoyed being lazy ALL DAY LONG. Well, I take that back. Mat got up and ran 12 miles and then spent the rest of the day being lazy. I just spent the whole day being lazy. So lazy that I didn't even change out of my pjs until 4:30! We spent the day watching movies and playing Wii.

After church on Sunday, Mat and I finished up most of our Christmas shopping. As crazy as it is during this time of year, I love finding the perfect gift for each person on my list. We also headed downtown to look at some Christmas lights with Jeff and Mindi Sunday evening. We saw some light displays that I'm pretty sure you'd only find in Austin...a giant Bevo, milk jugs and whiskey bottles with Christmas lights in them, and even the Austin skyline made out of Christmas lights.