Sarah's Wedding

Announcing Mr. and Mrs. Jake Kellen! Sarah got married two weekends ago in Brenham- gorgeous bride and wedding. My camera died, so all I have are memories and these pics from her photographer. We took several pictures outside the church and the photographer kept saying "don't look at the ice on the tree, think of sunny beaches and fires!" It was the coldest weekend since the 80s in this part of Texas (which made us come home to multiple broken pipes and bills). The church was beautiful and Sarah's bother-in-law Chris married them. Then we headed out to an old country barn for dinner and dancing- filled with little white lights, country decor and flowers. We saw several of my friends from college and Justin even ran into a few of his buddies. After the reception, Caleb and Liz, Jana and her sister, Justin and I, Megan and Chance and several guys from the wedding went out around town. I am a huge fan of the cute little town of Brenham now...and I am so happy Sarah and Jake will just be a short drive away!

Liz and Caleb's Shower

Last weekend Caleb and Liz had their couple's shower out in Katy thrown by the Rabons. It was a wonderful shower catered by Goodes BBQ, complete with a bartender and the football game! Caleb now has a full collection of tools and ladders- a man's dream. This weekend is Liz's bachelorette party, so I'm sure there will be lots more pictures to come. Two weeks until their wedding in Galveston!!! Here's a few pics from the shower.

Alamo Bowl

Our third day in San Antonio was all about the Alamo Bowl- Texas Tech vs Michigan. We went out to Denny's for breakfast and the 'Goin Band from Raiderland was there. For lunch, we went to a Mexican whole in the wall and the guys thought it would be fun to have the mariachi (sp?) band play for us. After lunch, we went to several grocery stores and gas stations buying all their tortillas in preparation for the game. We ended up with about 200 tortillas ready to throw! We headed back to the hotel and went out by the pool and practiced throwing our tortillas- some plain, some had a hole in the middle, some were shaped, etc. After finding out the perfect technique, we headed up to the stadium for almost SIX hours of tailgate. We were the first KA group there, so it was a good thing we all brought our own beer. We stood around each other awkwardly in a bare parking lot for almost an hour, but then were very relieved when trucks and food arrived. We met up with a bunch of friends and enjoyed the old college memories. The Hammonds were even at tailgate- both parents and three out of four of their girls were there; wish Brittany could have made it. After plenty of time outside in the cold, we were ready for our 8pm game! We realized how horrible our seats were when we got to the VERY top of the stadium before we got to our row...thanks Los. However, we still had a wonderful time watching the game and throwing tortillas! Those seats at the very top of the stadium allowed us to throw the tortillas and not get caught! I even got to see Kayla and Sara for a few short minutes- but we'll catch up soon at the river trip : ) After Tech's victory over Michigan, we headed out to celebrate on the town. Great trip to San Antonio with wonderful friends. 

New Years in San Antonio

We spent New Years Eve and the next couple of night in San Antonio with some of our college friends to celebrate. It had been quite a while since we all got together, so we decided to make a mini vacation out of the trip. We stayed in what we thought was going to be a nice, historic hotel on the river walk, but what we found out was the opposite! Justin had taken the initiative to just book for everyone, so our friends had to suffer in the dumpy hotel with us!! New Years Eve was so much fun! We had reservations for eight at a mexican place, but after we sat down, we realized it was a set menu and none of us wanted what was on it. Justin left to find another place for us. He said he found us a table right away outside because he tipped the waiter. So the rest of us left the mexican place, walked across the river and sat down at a wonderful table next to the river at Texas Land and Cattle. A few minutes later, the waiter Justin had tipped came over to him, gave him back his money and said he almost got fired over it, but we had to leave because there was a party waiting for over an hour for that table. Lucky us. We had already made reservations for the casino night at a bar for New Years Eve and we had to be there by 9pm. It was now 8:30, we were hungry, everywhere had really long lines, and we were in for a night of drinking. Things were not looking good. We went ahead to the bar to get seated for the night when we realized they had appetizers for free. Once we got seated at the best table in the house, there were several girls bringing trays of FREE food over to us. We ate like crazy and then enjoyed the rest of the night goofing around with our college friends. We thought we were going to have a very expensive night, but after all the free food, we got a nice surprise! Our evening ended, but the next day we continued to have fun. Six of us went to the Ripley's Believe It or Not Show and Wax Museum, followed by a wonderful dinner. We walked across the street after dinner to Pat O'Brien for a drink so we could figure out where to go for the night and found out that Pat O's was the official Texas Tech Alumni Bar for the bowl game! We ran into about 30 college friends there, along with Party Time Mike! Our luck just keep getting better. Another wonderful night in San Antonio. We headed back around midnight because the next day was the bowl game and we were in for a very long day since the game wasn't until 8pm! These pictures are not in the order of how the events took place  : )

Christmas in Breckenridge

I have never had a snowy Christmas like this before! I joined the McCoys this year for their annual trip to Breckenridge, CO. We stayed in a cabin at the base of the mountain and walked the town every night. I felt like I was in a movie with the snow covered colorful shops lining the streets, live nativity scene, Christmas music and snow flakes falling! We spent a couple days skiing (Justin skied EVERY day), a day at the spa with Kelly, and many afternoons at the local pubs playing counter top games, pool and sipping on the micro-brewed ice cold beer. When Justin was skiing alone, Kelly, Terry, Cindy and I were in the lodge drinking hot chocolate with schnapps and playing lots of cards. With the wind chill being -22*, the girls just couldn't ski everyday! We went to Christmas Eve service in a tiny little church where we all had to split up to find seats. Cindy and I sat in a chair in front of the front row. I felt like we were part of the service! We went out every evening for wonderful dinners around the town, usually followed by just going back to the cabin and sitting by the fire. On the last night, we went to another town to see Avatar and experience the 3-D glasses and special effects. Great trip and nobody got hurt! Thank you Terry and Cindy for a wonderful Christmas vacation!