Happy 30th Geoff!

Months ago I planned to make Geoff's 30th birthday extra special....it started with the surprise visit from Kristin and Tim and ended with a surprise trip the day of his birthday...We drove to Ft Worth that morning, for what he thought was dropping off Jerra at my parents - when SUPRISE! he finds out we are all going! Yes, Geoff, Jerra, myself, mom and dad all hit D/FW for a plane to VEGAS!!!

We stayed at the Flamingo and had a great time! Jerra LOVED the stuff we did during the day - visiting the flamingos and the fishy's at the Flamingo, the Lions at the MGM Grand, the aquarium in Cesar's. The Bellagio fountains scared her a bit though... Overall, she did really well and I think more than anything was happy to be there with Nana and Papa - she is still calling their names days later!

Wednesday night, Louis flew in and we surprised Geoff again when we "ran" into him at the Luxor. Geoff was SHOCKED and SOOOO happy to see him. I think it really made the trip for him.

We had a great visit, minus the fact that we didn't win big. (Dad had a good run for himself though and I know he came home in the green!)

MGM Grand Lions

Visiting with Auntie and Uncle Tim

As mentioned in the NKOTB post, Geoff's sister Kristin and her hubby Tim came in for a visit last week. It was soooo great having them here and I wish for so much more time with them. We planned the trip months ago, and it was a surprise for Geoff's birthday. They flew in Wednesday night and we showed up at Geoff's weekly show at Hornbeck's. Tim walked in first and you could just see the confusion on Geoff's face! He was sooo surprised! (and very happy to see them!)

Jerra loved having them here as well. She finally learned to say "auntie" and we are still working on Uncle Tim.

I love spending time with them! Kristin and I bonded over the New Kids and Tim just keeps me laughing! I can't wait for our next visit!

going in for the hug....

NKOTB, baby!!!!

This past weekend was extra special because Geoff's sister and brother in law came in for a birthday surprise for Geoff....I will post more on that later, but it was even EXTRA special because while she was here, we (her, I and my friend Cari) got to go to the NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK concert in houston! It was soooooo freakin' good! It was really, really good!! Those 'boys' can still move after all these years!(and they sure did age well!!) It was so fun to go back and feel 12 again! Enjoy the new blog music, I am in a NKOTB mood! Thanks Cari and Kristin for such a great night!

She's our 'big girl' now!

Well, we have passed yet another milestone in the growing up of our sweet JJ...today we put together her 'big girl bed' and she could not have been more excited! She was crawling all over us as we assembled it and played peak-a-boo with us under the covers once we had it all set up. She kept getting on and off it and saying, "mine!"

We are not moving the crib out just yet, we just want her to have time to get used to the new bed and we will make the move slowly over the next couple months, and by the time she is 2, we will take down the crib. But for now, she is loving having it in there!

Pumpkin Patch...sorta...

This weekend for my Photography business I had a bunch of mini-sessions with a self-made pumpkin patch....basically I bought a bale of hay and a bunch of pumpkins and set everything up at a local park....I had a time slot open today, so Geoff brought JJ up and we got a few shots of her....

She has a VERY short attention span when it comes to these types of photo set-ups...you would think she would be used to it, since I have been doing this to her all her life...but nope! I have about 3 minutes of good time before she has a melt down and is just done with it.

At least today, we were at a park that had ducks, so she got to feed them and that made her happy!

The Holiday dinner problem is solved!

So...this is actually pretty funny.

If any of you reading this has been lucky enough to spend any quality time with my side of the family (meaning my mom, dad and brother) you know that we have several long standing 'inside jokes,' if you will, between all of us....the "red sweater" which is a holiday must - "he hates the cans....there are cans in there!" (I could go on and on with this example....if you got it by that line, hopefully you are saying the rest of the lines in your head and laughing out loud as I currently am...) - "I only had 2" - "Aunt Sue made those for ME, don't touch them" - etc, etc....

Well, one of the MUST HAVES during our family dinners is hard boiled eggs....I am not real sure where this started or why it has continued, but it is just a must have. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner are just ruined without them....my mom actually made the mistake one year of forgetting and we never let her hear the end of it....Although, on a side note: my dad HATES those egg platters that hold the hard boiled eggs...its strange, I know....But, back to the point....

...One of the problems of always having these hard boiled eggs, is the actual peeling process of said eggs....you know what I mean: half the eggs comes off with the peel, the peel is in a million little pieces, etc, etc....It really is a pain for the one stuck with the job....

BUT - I have found the answer to our problem! Holiday dinners will forever be changed! All thanks to this little video found on you tube:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2gYHJNT3Y


All this time - who knew!?