Meeting Mr. Brooks

As usual, Cody and I had an eventful Valentine's week full of lots of work and not so much play. We have gotten pretty used to being apart for the day of love thanks to Bayer's yearly meeting in Austin at this time every year, so I was excited to meet Cody in San Antonio to spend some time with him and my family once the weekend rolled around. We did the usual eating too much, shopping a little, playing games and relaxing and it was absolutely wonderful. I just hate that the visits seem to go by more and more quickly every time we go. This time it was especially sad since we won't be back to SA until the end of June, but I'm sure that will be here before we know it.

To begin the photo montage for this post, I must share a picture of the cutest niece in all the land sporting her Valentine's Day onesie that Aunt Britt made for her. She's just a doll and I want everyone to know it.

While in SA, we also happened to be lucky enough to meet my good friend Morgan's sweet little bundle, Brooks, who is just over a week old. Morgan and I have been friends since  our Churchill cheerleading days, and it was wonderful to see her in all her mommy glory. She and her husband Nathan are already fantastic parents, and their little man was so handsome and such a good baby. When we got to the house, the dog barked and Brooks just slept peacefully without a peep. Talk about one chill dude! Morgan said that he prefers a little noise when he's asleep, and will often get upset if it's totally silent in the room. We had a blast visiting with Morgan and Nathan and meeting their sweet angel. It's still so hard to believe that we are old enough to be parents- seems like just yesterday Morgan and I were competing at Disney World for cheer nationals!

Brooks Richard Tondre

Morgan, Brooks and me. Love this sweet family!

30 and Fabulous

Last weekend, Cody and I were so excited to be able to join his family in Houston to celebrate his sister Katie's 30th birthday. Katie and I agreed that 30 sounds like such a "legit adult" and it's hard to believe that she's reached that milestone! Hopefully she had as much fun as we did celebrating her birthday and spending time together.

Cody headed to Houston on his way to a week-long conference in Austin this week, and I just happened to get lucky and have the best in-laws who flew me in at the last minute so that I could be part of the fun. The whole family was together for the first time since Thanksgiving, and we enjoyed lots of good food, visiting and relaxation. It's still like an out-of-body experience to be back in Houston, and I must admit, I miss it at times. Perhaps it's the green landscape, bodies of water, or the amazing shopping... oh well, guess it makes the visits that much more exciting since Las Cruces has a bit of a shortage on those things. :) We had lots of fun hanging out with the fam, seeing some old friends and spending some quality time with our sweet niece, Addison. She continues to grow so fast and it's so fun to see her change. I even tagged along on her 6 month photo shoot and got to get my clown on in the middle of downtown Houston. The things we do for those little ones! I wouldn't have traded it for anything, and turns out I'm pretty good at that clown act. (Surprise, surprise!) Excuse the dark quality of some of the pics- clearly I forgot how to use a flash.

The birthday girl! 

The Ginger trio

Uncle Cody and Princess Addie

Sweet angel!

So fab in her spring attire, ready to strike a pose.

Papaw and his princess

Too cute for words!

6 months old and the brainwashing is done. Whoop!

We can't wait for the next time we all get together. Once again, we're reminded of just how blessed we are to have not one, but two amazing families so full of love. Until next time!

Hey there, 2013!

It's hard to believe we're at the start of another new year. 2012 was pretty great for us, and brought a lot of fun adventures. Between occassional travels to Texas and Maine, visits from friends and family and working our booties off, the months really did come and go at lightning speed. We are so excited to see what 2013 holds for us, and think it's already off to a pretty good start!

I was pretty sad to take down all of the Christmas decor (as I am every year at this time), but excited to put up a few of the new trinkets for the house that I received for Christmas.

I absolutely LOVE the cute wooden chalkboard that my parents got us, as well as the glass jar trio from Bella Vita. Mom did a great job picking out things to help me complete the entry way, and I love the pop of color in the front of the house-- it was exactly what we needed!

I got this sweet sign that says "Let your faith be bigger than your fear" and I just love it. No words could be more true, and after all of the challenges Cody and I have faced, it's a wonderful reminder that faith can truly move mountains! It took its place on our antique sewing table, along with a few of my other favorite knick knacks.

We celebrated New Year's Eve and rang in 2013 with our good friend Ty and his sweet girlfriend, Lanna. Lanna was kind enough to invite us to stay at her family's cabin in Ruidoso, so we jumped at the chance to have a white New Year with some of our favorite people. Ty and I have been friends since 12 years old, and Cody and he really hit it off during and after college (he was a member of Cody's "book club"), so we were super excited to catch up and spend some quality time with them. 

 I could not have chosen a more perfect girl for our beloved Ty. She's the best!

 

Ty, Cody and the southwestern hairpiece (perfectly normal)

My New Year's kiss (for 6 years now!)

The boys again

Pretty much the definition of our relationship

Obligatory NYE prom pose 

Love these two!

They get along famously already. No surprise there though. :)

We were sad to say goodbye to our friends, but enjoyed every moment of our 2013 celebration, including the beautiful snow. Ruidoso was gorgeous and we can't wait to go back for our ski weekend in just a couple of weeks!

That week, we returned to reality and headed back to work. Cody was in California for a district meeting, but I was welcomed home with a TON of snow. Driving in it was a little scary, but I mastered it nonetheless and enjoyed the cozy evenings and the winter wonderland. This is the view from our front yard. If only you could see the mountains in the distance--that's my favorite part of winter here.

Our deck covered in snow (clearly it was way too cold to go outside and take a better pic)

The backyard

Rio and I watched the Cotton Bowl together, and he even marooned out with his new game day collar. He was spent by the end of it, as you can see-- we both did our job and yelled loud and proud for the 12th Man! It was a great game and we are super proud of our Aggies. Can't wait for next football season-- BCS Championship, here we come!

Here's hoping you're having as great of a year as we are so far! Bring it on 2013!!

Nothing like a West Texas Christmas!

Our final round of Christmas festivities took us to San Angelo, TX to celebrate with my dad's family. I have not been with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins on that side since last Thanksgiving (over a year), so it was a ton of fun to catch up with everyone. It's hard to believe we're all grown up now- my youngest cousin is in high school and another one is getting married soon. The conversations have shifted from "What toys I got for Christmas" to "What I'm majoring in", but we still have just the same amount of fun together that we always did.

Aunt Pat, Dad, Uncle Steve, Steph and Mom- just part of the crazy crew

Another candid shot of the gang

Pretty girls! Kaylee, Jordan and Carissa

So presh. Thanks, Uncle Steve. :)

Tyler and Kylie

Kirby, me and Carissa

Aunt Mel and two of her boys, Blair and Jaymie

We all split into three teams for a very intense gingerbread house building contest. Can't you just sense the competitive nature of every person in our family by these pics?

Our team prepping for construction

Aunt Kathy, Kirby and Charlie led their team to victory- clearly they have done this a time or two before!

Cody showing off his decorating skills. He has helped me a time or two when I have decorated cakes, and I must say he's quite a pro!

The gingerbread house from the "projects" (note the gang symbols and the "West Side"). 

Our house started out really well, but unfortunately, we excel in creativity and not engineering...thus leading to a leaning house. Not to worry though, we aptly wrote "Lean on me" on the roof and went with it.

After it fell, we sang "Lean on me" to salvage what was left of it. Points for creativity? I think yes. Our singing may have been slightly better than our house building skills.

The poster children for gingerbread house building, right here.

Kaylee and Aunt Kathy

Mima and two of her girls. Love her so much!

Hubs and me at our last Christmas celebration. It was a great tour of TX!

Ryan and Jordan

Tyler and Steph

Jeff and Cody- boyfriends for life.

Aunt Pat and Cade

Mima, starting off the Chinese gift exchange

Jeff taking his turn

Kaylee, Kirby and Bethany- thanks, Jeff for the photo bomb!

Brothers and sister

Jaymie, giving us an exclusive display of his championship level Magic Mike dance moves. Isn't this normal behavior when choosing a gift at a family Christmas exchange? In our family, the answer is yes. :)

Charlie making his choice in the stash of presents

Blair with his extra large Tootsie Pop!

Aunt Mel and her boys

The Steve Brown family

So, my eyes are closed, but I had to post the family pic!

The Chadwick clan

Aunt Pat, Charlie and Mima

I'm sad to say that this concludes the tour of Texas and all of our Christmas celebrations with my family this year. It truly was wonderful, and I have already begun the countdown to Christmas 2013. After all, family is what makes life worth living! Hope you all enjoyed the holidays as much as we did!