The Browns Come to Town

It had been quite some time since my family had made the long journey to Las Cruces, so I was incredibly excited when they decided to spend last weekend with us. We ate well, shopped a little, saw the Great Gatsby, visited a local winery and played lots of darts, per Dad's request. Rio was thrilled at the opportunity to have not two, but five people to shower him with affection and attention all weekend, and he even scored a San Antonio getaway out of the deal. (He is there this week while Cody spends the week in Harlingen, and I will be meeting them both in SA for the Memorial weekend.) I loved every minute of that quality time with the fam, and I can't wait to do it again next weekend! 

Mom and Kirby, clearly proving they've got some kind of game (in Kirby's case, especially).

Let the dart game action shots begin...

Dad had been looking forward to our family dart tournament for quite some time. He and Cody made full use of the dart board and outlasted the girls, continuing their tournament into the wee hours of the morning. They're hardcore.

So photogenic!

Just making sure Cody is mentally prepared for his next throw

Rio did a fantastic job of refereeing the dart tournament, and was on call for chasing stray darts and two stepping to the sounds of our Cory Morrow background music, as he and Kirby display in this photo.

A little nervous about the outcome of the boys vs. girls dart game

Mom, Cody and Kirby displaying the utmost sophistication post-wine tasting

Prepping for the photo op to ensure well-balanced wine glasses...

...and mission accomplished.

The hubs and I never pass up the chance to spend an afternoon in the sun at one of our favorite places!

If I learned anything this weekend, it was a valuable lesson: the family that talks smack plays darts and drinks wine together, stays together! Thanks, Mom, Dad and Kirby for bringing your fun, fabulous selves out to the desert!

Gone Huntin'

Well I'm a little late on this post, but it is finally here.  On the way down to the Valley for Thanksgiving I made a pit stop at my dad's deer lease for a little bow action.  Unfortunately  I was not successful however I had a great time and on the bright side Cale was able to smoke a few nice pigs.  I was also fortunate enough to go on a great duck hunt over Thanksgiving this past year with good friend and guide Ryan Falls on his air boat with my dad Lynn, brother Cale, and Brother in law Jason.  We had a great hunt and good memories.  Here are some pics from our hunt.

As part of my job I get the privledge of taking some of my clients on hunts.  This past year we went out with High Flying Outfitters in Dumas, Tx on a pheasant and goose combo hunt.  Here are some pics of our trip.

Easter in New Mexico: Volume 2

We celebrated our second Easter in New Mexico this weekend, and are just amazed that we are nearing the two year anniversary of moving to Las Cruces. This is officially the place that we have lived the longest during all of the stops we've made in our almost three years of marriage, and time just continues to fly so quickly. We have learned to make the desert home, and while we still miss our friends and family greatly, we have met some wonderful people here that help us to cope with being so far away. Easter Sunday was a great example- though we missed being with family, we are creating our own special traditions by cooking Easter lunch at our house. This year, our friends Will & Blaire and Quincy, Amanda & sweet baby Maddy all joined us to celebrate the most special of days.

We continue to stand in awe of God's faithfulness as we see all of the amazing ways that He continues to work in our lives. My health is still great, and I grow stronger everyday. I am able to go running again (which is super exciting), and eat most of the foods that I thought I would never be able to enjoy again. Cody's job is going well, and he has received great recognition from upper management lately for his management of various situations. Our family has been blessed with the addition of a sweet niece since last Easter, which was a huge answer to prayers and a special miracle for Cody's sister Katie and her husband Jason. It has been so fun to watch her grow over the past few months! The list just continues with all of the blessings from the past year, and we can't wait to see what else is in store for us. As we remember the resurrection and the miracle of the empty tomb, we are so thankful and humbled for a savior that made the ultimate sacrifice for us. We hope you had a wonderful Easter and got to celebrate that miracle, too!

The sun was a little bright, but we had to get our annual Easter family pic!

I was so excited to pull out all of my fancy serving supplies, including the china!

A closer look at the centerpiece- Rio was clearly impressed. 

 

Love my hubby! 

The Hambrick family let us help them celebrate Maddy's first Easter!

Amanda and Maddy

A Very Successful Surprise

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am not the world's best at keeping my lips zipped about special surprises or celebrations. Basically, when it's something that I get excited about, I just want the whole world to share my excitement, often leading me to let the cat out of the bag on things such as birthday presents, Christmas presents, parties, accomplishments, etc. May I just assure you that I am fantastic at keeping important, confidential things to myself, so as not to worry any of my friends or loved ones that trust me with their personal secrets. But there's just something about birthdays and gifts that gets me every time.

I begin with this explanation so that you'll understand what a tremendous accomplishment it was that I was able to plan a surprise party for Cody to celebrate his 26th birthday. His official birthday is not until April 1st, but being the firm believer that I am in dragging birthdays out for as long as possible, I decided Cody deserved to wear the birthday crown for a few extra days. We had planned to go to the Eli Young Band concert, and I happened to convince the hubs that we should take full advantage of a date night and eat at Texas Roadhouse before the show. Little did he know that I had gotten our friends together to help us celebrate his big 2-6 with a birthday dinner at one of his very favorite restaurants. I felt so much joy seeing the look on his face and how happy he was to have his friends there to celebrate him, and he kept telling me that he was just so happy and had never dreamed of having a surprise party. He was also quite impressed that I was able to plan all of this without making a peep to him about it, as were my parents, sister and best friend, Carrie. :) I am so thankful that God brought Cody into this world 26 years ago and even more grateful that he became my Prince Charming!

Happy birthday to my hubby!!

Cody was a good sport and rode the saddle, per Texas Roadhouse birthday guidelines.

Most of the crew at dinner, just missing Will and Blaire. Blaire did a fantastic job getting everyone seated in time for our arrival, for which I am so thankful!

Our sweet friends Amanda and Quincy got to come out for the first time since their little girl was born, and we loved hanging out with them! Doesn't she just look amazing? 

I think it's safe to say that this was one memorable, and successful birthday celebration. Now onto Easter!

Turquoise, Terracotta and the Big 5-0

Last weekend, Mom, Grandma, Kirby and I took a fun girls trip to Santa Fe to celebrate Mom's 50th birthday. I am still in strong belief that my mother does not look a day over 30, and she truly defines the saying "50 and fabulous". I can only hope to be half of the mom that she is one day, and I'm so thankful that God blessed me with her! We had so much fun seeing the sites of the northern part of New Mexico, feasting on AMAZING food and just getting to visit. It's so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, and I am thankful for times like last weekend to just play and enjoy the company of some of my favorite people. Due to technical issues, the collection of great pictures that I took on our camera is not available, but I was able to salvage a few of them along with some always reliable iPhone pics.

We started the trip with dinner at La Choza, a delicious, authentic northern New Mexican food restaurant. I of course stayed away from the green chiles, but the margaritas were amazing, the food quite tasty and we even received free soapapillas at the end of the meal! It was like they knew we were coming.

Mom and her girls at dinner

Kirby, Mom and Grandma at La Choza

The next day, we headed out to enjoy the sights of the Santa Fe Plaza. We took in every bit of art and culture possible, including the Georgia O'Keefe art museum, a couple of other art galleries, some shops and the Farmer's Market. We walked enough to justify all of the delicious food that we ate over the course of the weekend, which is always a plus. :)

This was our favorite painting from the Georgia O'Keefe museum. I loved learning more about one of my favorite artists and seeing her work in person.

                       

Our journey around downtown Santa Fe took us to the Plaza, where we used our sweet tooth radar to locate the local cupcake shop. We decided that cupcakes were the perfect birthday lunch to celebrate Mom, a woman who stands by the mantra "Eat cake for breakfast (lunch, and dinner)".

Outside of the Plaza, there was an amazing display of these metal sculptures, which twisted and turned in the wind like pinwheels.

We had heard stories of the beauty of the Loretto Chapel, which was truly incredible and worth seeing. The legend goes that the nuns could not find a way to build a staircase from the sanctuary to the choir loft in this gorgeous cathedral. They consulted every kind of construction expert and were told it just wasn't possible. After many years of praying for a miracle, a stranger appeared one day and built the impossible staircase-- without nails or anything to hold the wooden stairs together. The man only worked at night, and when the construction was complete, he disappeared and was never heard from again. To this day the people of Santa Fe believe he was a miracle sent from God. It was truly incredible to see such an amazing story come to life!

Outside the Loretto Chapel

The gorgeous architecture

The famous, miraculous staircase

There really weren't any nails holding it together!

On Saturday night, we went to La Casa Sena Cantina and enjoyed the live musical performances and wonderful food that they had to offer. This was one cool restaurant- the waiters not only served us our dinner, but they took breaks in between to perform some of the most famous Broadway songs! It was the perfect ending to a day full of art and culture in the Plaza, and we enjoyed helping them sing "All that Jazz" from Chicago, the musical. 

Kind of blurry, but the restaurant had just as much character as the food and wait staff. It was the perfect combination of rustic and elegant, complete with wooden beamed ceilings and crystal chandeliers. Plus, the lemon creme brûlée was to die for, which was just the icing on the cake!

I was sad to say goodbye to Kirby, Mom and Grandma when we returned on Sunday, but always look forward to the next time we can all get together. Hopefully Mom enjoyed her birthday as much as we did! 

Sugar, Spice & Everything Nice

Over the weekend, I was excited to help host a baby shower for my sweet friends, Blaire and Amanda. Both of them are expecting little girls this spring and I of course could not wait to help shower their little princesses with lots of gifts and love. Our Bible study group threw a fantastic celebration, and I was lucky enough to head up the decoration department. I had so much fun collecting items to go along with the "spring" theme, and I loved the way that everything looked when it was all put together. It was a wonderful day of spending time with the girls and celebrating two little miracles that will make their grand entrance into the world in just a few weeks. Can't wait to see them all decked out in the goodies that they received!

Instead of a guest book, we had all of the guests write a wish for the baby girls and place them in a decorated mason jar. The mommies were able to take the jars and will share them with the girls as a keepsake.

The entry table

Butterfly and tulip decorated sugar cookies made a great party favor, along with the cute "Sweet Baby Girl" tags that I found on Pinterest (naturally). And yes, the pun was intended!

The Gift table and fancy table cloth, also compliments of Pinterest.

One of the girls from our Bible Study group, Angela, is an amazing cake decorator. She truly outdid herself on this one and it tasted as incredible as it looks!

The appetizer spread

Drink station

We played several fun games, including a competition to see who could undress and change the diaper of a Cabbage Patch doll the fastest while listening to the sound of a crying baby. This is me in action, though I am sad to say my diaper changing skills definitely have room for improvement. :)

Another shot of the cake table

The guests of honor, Amanda and Blaire

The mommies and me

Blaire showing off one of the many fabulous outfits that Hannah received. 

We can't wait to meet Hannah and Madelyn very soon, and are thankful for these friendships that we have made through the Young Married's group at our church!