White Christmas

For the holidays we traveled to Omaha, Nebraska (where Neal grew up and where his mom and sister, Carolyn, still live).  It was beautiful driving home from the airport a few nights before Christmas and seeing snow on the ground with the city all decked out in lights and Christmas decorations.  Arriving at Lynn's home was just as festive, as she had a decorated tree in the front sitting room and another one in the family room.  Stockings were hung along the fireplace and the scent of fresh baked cookies was in the air.  A visit to Lynn's house always means plenty to eat!  And boy did we do just that - EAT!  It was a wonderful time and a joy to be able to spend the holidays with family.

Snow!

Neal, Lynn, and I with the twins

Carolyn's Christmas nature tree.  I think this might be the coolest tree I've ever seen.  Over the years she has collected all kinds of animal ornaments and has probably every species known to man hung on this tree.  There's even a St. Francis to watch over them all.  I love it!    

We had a chance to stop by the Boyer's and chat for a while.  What fun they are!  We love you guys.

This is a picture of our house all decorated before we left for Omaha.  There is a distinct possibility that it may have been the brightest on the block.  :-)

Christmas Offerings

One of the upsides of living in Houston is that they have some of the best radio stations we've ever heard. Among our favorites is an amazing Christian station called KSBJ, which we listen to quite frequently. A few months ago they announced the Christmas Offerings concert for Third Day, with special guest Jars of Clay, that would take place in December. I was pretty excited, as Jars of Clay has been my favorite Christian band since college. Neal tried to get tickets but they sold out pretty quickly. 

Yesterday morning as I was driving to work I heard KSBJ talking about the concert, which was that night. They mentioned that another very special guest would be there - Logan, The Sky Angel Cowboy (who I will talk about in a moment). I called Neal and asked if he could check online to see if there were any tickets available at the last minute, just in case. Through the grace of God he was able to get tickets on Craig's List just a few hours before the concert started.

Not only did we get front row seats on the balcony but we found out that they were filming the show for a DVD they are releasing next Christmas. We're not sure if we made the video but we'll find out next year. :-) The concert was at the Fellowship of the Woodlands Church, a HUGE church with grounds that look like a college campus, including fountains and tall trees all around. They had it all lit up and it looked like a winter wonderland (minus the snow). Unfortunately, since I didn't know we'd be going to the concert, I didn't have my camera to take pictures of it all.

The concert was awesome and both bands beautifully depicted the Christmas season and its meaning. The highlight of the evening for me was when Jars of Clay came out to the lobby for a meet and greet signing and I was finally able to meet them after being a fan of their music for over 10 years and seeing them in concert 4 times. They were super nice and autographed for me their new Christmas Songs album. The unfortunate part - I didn't have my camera to get a picture! :-( It was truly a blessing to meet them though, and I was grateful for the opportunity to tell them that their music has made a difference in my life. 

Back to Logan, the Sky Angel Cowboy. A few months ago Neal told me about this kid that called into KSBJ and talked about having to put down his calf. Apparently what he said about death was incredibly profound and it set off a series of phone calls into the station with people saying that Logan had deeply touched their hearts, helped them heal from their own loss of family or friends, and in some cases, even brought them to Jesus Christ. Since then, Logan has become somewhat of a local hero, although he lives out in the country somewhere in Nebraska. His phone call has been broadcast from radio stations all over the nation and touched the lives of hundreds of people. 

Logan has since called into KSBJ for interviews and just to check in. People have been so affected by his faith at such a young age that KSBJ decided to fly him and his family to Houston for last night's concert. Before the bands came out on stage, Logan got a few moments in the spotlight to say "Hi" to everyone and wish them a Merry Christmas. He is an adorable 13-year-old whom the Lord has truly worked through to affect so many people. I wanted to share his phone conversation with all of you, as it truly is amazing. God bless, and may your heart be filled with abundant love and joy this Christmas season. 

Happy Birthday Christine and Carolyn!

Although we couldn't celebrate with Carolyn in Omaha yesterday, we were able to celebrate with Christine here in Houston.  We went to one of the best pizza places in town - Candelari's.  A fun time was had by all.  We love you both and wish you every happiness throughout the coming year.    

Bailey Holiday Party

This weekend we had our first holiday party, which also happened to be our first party at the house.  What fun it was!  With the house all decorated now, "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."

By just a few seconds, we beat Christine and Tony in the siamese twin gift wrapping game.  However, since we like mac and cheese so much, we forfeited our table gift for their wrapped box of pasta.  :-)  Later in the evening, they won their victory status back with....

....the sock guessing game.  I still can't believe that you guys not only guessed most of the 15 items in that sock but also won the tie-breaker by guessing silly putty!  Do you know that there is sock hair stuck all over that stuff now?  Seriously, that was very impressive.     

 

Aahhh...victory is sweet for Charles and Wendy.

Our neighbors - Mike, Lisa, Sarah, and Gibron

And of course, what would a Bailey party be without a little Rock Band?  Looks like we've got some new band members!

The host and hostess with the mostess  :-)

Here's Neal putting up the outside lights on Thanksgiving weekend.  What a hair-raising moment this was!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving this year was a lot of fun.  We hosted dinner here at our house and had a deliciously filling meal.  Everyone pitched in and added their own flavor to the day.  2007 has been a good year and we have much to be thankful for.  God has blessed us in so many ways, especially with our families and friends.  Although we are far from most of you, we're blessed to have the love and support that you have always given us.  Our health, our house, our jobs - all of them given through His grace.  Above all, we're eternally grateful to have found one another.  Having recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary, we have so many wonderful memories behind us already, and look forward to many more in our future.  Lots of love to you and your families this Thanksgiving holiday.

   Christine, Tony, and us before our feast.

Anyone who knows Neal knows that he is a huge video game buff.  And anyone who keeps up with the video game world knows that this was a BIG week for gamers since Rock Band made its debut in stores on Tuesday.  Naturally, Neal had been talking about this day for months so of course, I had to get it for him on opening day as an early Christmas gift.  He has been so excited to play every night and just had to show Christine and Tony how it works.  :-)

Go Honey go!  My husband, the rock star!

The nice thing about Rock Band is that it has something for everyone to do so multiple people can play at the same time.  With Neal on guitar and me on the drums, Christine and Tony braved the role as our lead singers.  Although this was the first time they had ever performed in front of a large audience, they rocked the house and were able to join us on our world tour.  We played gigs in Boston, New York, L.A., and we even won some roadies at our gig in Seattle.  Whew, being on the road is exhausting!

The Big 3-2

Well, yesterday was the big 3-2 for me. It's still weird to think that I'm actually in my 30's - I swear I was just 18 yesterday! Where does the time go? Anyhow, I had a great weekend and was humbled that so many people remembered my birthday. Thank you all for thinking of me! 

When he got home from work on Friday Neal surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of multi-colored roses. They definitely cheered me up, since I wasn't feeling up to par after being around my sick students all week. 

On Saturday morning he got up early and made a pile of presents for me in the family room. Here I had been feeling sorry that he had to work late the night before when really he was at the office wrapping gifts from my family, his family, and of course, his own. Sneaker! :-) 

After the big unwrapping fest we had worked up quite an appetite so we made our way down the street to our favorite breakfast hangout - IHop. They had some new holiday items on the menu, including pumpkin pancakes, which I naturally sampled. They were awesome!! I highly recommend them. 

Traditional birthday dinner at TGIF, the restaurant at which we have now become "regulars."

Today we met up with Christine for morning mass and then finally ventured out to a new restaurant that we've been wanting to try for months - Yia Yia Mary's Greek Kitchen. After our first dining experience there, I think we'll definitely be back.

Overall, I had a really nice weekend. It was even better knowing that my school gave us the upcoming week off for Thanksgiving! Aaahhh.....a much needed break.

"Bella"

We recently received a recommendation to see "Bella," a movie about faith, friendship, and life that was inspired by a true story. What a great recommendation it was. There aren't many movies these days that offer a truly good message and this one is definitely worth a look. The lead actor/producer, Eduardo Verastegui, has quite a conversion story. Up until recently he had been living "la vida loca" when he decided to recommit his life to God. He considered becoming a monk and devoting his life to prayer but someone opened his eyes to the fact that with his notoriety, his conversion could really do some good for the world. So, he has vowed to spend his time in the spotlight making only movies of true value. Bella is his first endeavor in that direction. Here is an article that gives more detailed info:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/eduardoverastegui.html

Balloons!

This weekend we went to one of our favorite places in Houston (NASA) for the annual Ballunar Liftoff Hot Air Balloon Festival. Neal is a huge fan of hot air ballooning so it was a real treat for him. It was neat to see so many balloons of all different shapes, sizes, and colors hovering in the sky. Watching them made me a bit more curious about the whole idea of actually going up in one. Who knows, maybe someday? After the sun went down they put on the best part of the show - the all glow. That's when all balloons are on the ground but still inflated and upon signal, all pilots fire the hot air into their balloons, causing a beautiful glow. It was pretty amazing to watch. Below are some pictures of what it looked like.

I'm also including a picture from our Halloween party last weekend. We had so much fun dressing up! I went as a Japanese geisha and Neal was technically a beer-belly biker dude. However, once he put on his moustache, everyone mistook him for Cheech Marin. What do you think? :-)

Christine looked great in her patriotic suit!