Mom & Dad's Visit

My parents came out for a week to visit! It was so nice to have them here and fun to show them some other parts of Texas. Here are our adventures....

Mom & I

We spent Thanksgiving two doors down with

Mike, Lisa and their family. It was great to have

a big Thanksgiving - I miss those!

Dad helping Mike get the turkey in the deep frier.

My parents absolutely loved that deep fried turkey!

Lisa cooking their infamous stuffed artichokes. Yum!

The next day we took my parents to Brazos Bend State Park.

We promised them alligators and we delivered! This guy is

scary looking - wouldn't want to be chased by him!

"Reflections"

(above and below)

Swooping crane

Snack break

Dad & I

I love the fall colors of these trees

That night Christine and Tony came over for dinner and

surprised me with a birthday gift. Thanks guys!

Saturday was mom's birthday so I got up early and made

Eggs Benedict for breakfast.

After breakfast we drove 3 hours to San Antonio for a little

fun on the Riverwalk and some Texas history.

All that remains of the Alamo

Random fact: Did you know that since Phil Collins has

mostly retired from the music scene he has become the

world's largest collector of Alamo memorabilia? He claims

that he grew up reading Davy Crockett too, which sparked

his interest. Who would have thought?

The Riverwalk was absolutely magical at night, all decked

out in holiday lights dangling from the trees. Boats with

carolers floated by and everyone seemed to be in such good

spirits. We took a boat ride ourselves, which allowed us to

see the whole length of the Riverwalk.

Dinner at the Iron Cactus

Dad and Neal hanging out on our hotel balcony

There were these beautiful trees lit up all along the

water up against our hotel. Here is mom capturing them.

Before leaving San Antonio the next day, we couldn't pass

up a quick trip to the Natural Bridge Caverns. These caverns

were discovered by a group of college students hiking the area

in 1960, and they are amazing.

Descending into the depths....

I call this one "The Jellyfish"

Mom nicknamed this set of stalagmites "Vatican City"

It takes 100 years for a stalagmite or stalactite to grow

an inch, so when you see the size of some of these, you can't

help but be amazed at their age.

We had planned to have an early Christmas gift exchange

the following day, but dad was too excited to wait and

suggested that we open gifts upon our return home that

evening. Who can argue with that logic? :-)

Me examining some salts and minerals my parents

brought us from their trip to Israel.

On their last day we made a trip to Best Buy and caught

my mom playing the new Rock Band Beatles display.

Naturally, we had to get her back on the drums when

we got home. :-) The four of us played a few songs

and had a blast.

Dad sung his heart out and scored pretty high. Go Dad!

We had such a fun time with you both - thanks, again, for coming out. Can't wait to see you again soon!

Brazos Bend

We went to Brazos Bend two times this month! Guess we were in need of a nature escape. This park is so big - there are so many trails to walk, animals to see and trees to admire. I had a lot of fun with my camera on these trips!

On our second trip we met up with a friend of mine from work.

She had done a 10-mile hike with her church group and invited

us to come along, but we opted for the later hike which turned

out to be an unexpected surprise. The hike was led by a

professional photographer and all of us on the hike were photo

enthusiasts. Since there were only about 6 of us, we got some

serious one-on-one time with him and were able to get some

great tips. It was really neat, especially since the weather

was perfect and the leaves were changing colors.

Spanish moss hanging from the trees

This tree was so unique - it looked like a giant snake was

wrapped around the trunk.

An oak tree! Reminds me of my old home of

Thousand Oaks.

On our way back we saw the most amazing sunset -

the colors were brilliant

At night we went back to the main camp where there is a small outdoor theater, and we watched the Brazos River Pickers perform. It was so country yet laid back and fun. People brought their dogs and their families and hung out under the stars. When they had finished we walked up the hill to the observatory and saw some stars and planets through the telescopes. It was such a fun day and a great escape into nature.

U2 360 Tour

This past April tickets went on sale for U2's latest tour - 360. I bought two tickets to surprise Neal for his birthday in May, only to find out that he had also purchased tickets to surprise me. Great minds think alike! Luckily, we were able to sell one pair of tickets on Craig's List. This was Neal's fifth U2 concert, my first, and I have to say that it was a pretty "Magnificent" show. Being the age we are and having grown up with their music, you can't help but enjoy a U2 concert.

We were lucky on this tour because it was the last night for opening band Muse. As with every other woman (or man!) in their 30's, 40's, and 50's who knows who Muse is, it's only because we've all read the "Twilight" series and have seen the movie scene in the baseball field where they play Muse's song, "Supermassive Black Hole." It was fun rockin' out to that one.

Bono gives a shout out to NASA and the astronauts

One of the best songs on their new album

Anniversary

Yesterday marked the third year of our married life together. What a wonderful three years it has been! We had an official celebration today with the coincidental timing of "The Wedding" on our favorite TV show, "The Office." Pam and Jim tied the knot - finally!! This was such a momentous occasion that we had Mike and Lisa (also big Office fans) over for make-your-own-pizza night and to celebrate our anniversary, as well as Pam and Jim's wedding. :-)

New Mexico

Mike and Holly's big day finally arrived! They got married this weekend in Santa Fe. It was my first time there as well as Lynn's, so even with the wedding festivities we took some time to tour around and experience the flavor of the city. Everything from the location to the wedding was so unique and beautiful. We had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend!

One of the most infamous sites in Santa Fe is the

Loretto Chapel, which is home to the "Miraculous

Stairway" pictured here. When the chapel was

completed in 1878 there was no way to access the

choir loft. Due to the small space of the chapel

the Sisters were told that the only way to get up there

would be by way of a ladder. The legend goes that

after that the Sisters prayed a novena to

St. Joseph (patron saint of carpenters) and asked

for a solution to their dilemma, on the ninth and

final day of their novena, a man appeared with a toolbox

looking for work. Months later, the stairway was

completed and the man mysteriously disappeared

without pay or thanks. What is miraculous about this

staircase, however, is that it was built without any

nails or glue to hold it together. It remains standing

by the sheer genius of its construction, a design

which other carpenters have tried to create since and

have never been able to duplicate. Even stranger,

the wood used to build the stairs did not come from

New Mexico, and researchers have yet to be able to

trace where it came from. The railings that you see on

the staircase today were added later for additional

safety, though the Sisters used the stairs without a railing

for nearly 100 years.

Over the weekend we were also able to tour

the Georgia O'Keeffe museum and see some of the

most influential artwork of the 20th century.

The bride and groom had asked Neal to be the

emcee for the rehearsal dinner, which he pulled

off like a pro. It actually made him the hit of

the weekend, as dozens of people came up to

him afterwards to tell him what a great job

he had done. I was pretty proud of him too. :-)

The wedding took place on the rooftop of our

hotel - La Fonda - and had the beautiful

St. Francis Basilica as the backdrop. The weather

was perfect, the clouds made for a spectacular

sky, and the scenery was almost magical.

In the spirit of Santa Fe wedding tradition,

Mike and Holly, along with all 100 + guests,

followed a Mariachi band in procession around

the town square.

Neal and Mom

Lynn was like a second mom to Mike

growing up, as was Mike's mom to Neal.

She was very proud to be there to see her

surrogate son get married.

At the reception, we experienced the most

ironic thing. A man approached Neal to, once

again, tell him what a great job he had done the

night before at the rehearsal dinner. When they

got to talking - asking where we were from, etc.,

Neal discovered that he happened to be the

Chairman of the Board at the company where

I work! We've actually met several times but

didn't recognize each other since it was so out

of context. It turns out that he has been good friends

with the grooms parents for over 20 years! He lives in

Colorado, is neighbors with Mike's parents at their house in

Arizona, and we ran into each other in Santa Fe.

What a small world!

On Sunday there was a post-wedding brunch at

the house of a family friend. This house, which

is spectacular, was recently featured in

Architectural Digest magazine.

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/homes/homes/archive/bacchieri_article_102006

Awesome views, delicious food, and good company

made us not want to leave!

With the happy newlywed couple

"Clouds"

On the way back to the airport in Albequerque....

Before our flight we had a couple of extra

hours to spare so we ventured out to the

Hot Air Balloon Museum. Neal is such a huge

fan of hot air ballooning, I think he would

move to New Mexico just to be more involved

with it. Back in the day he was part of a "chase"

crew that would help set up balloons for flight

then follow them in a chase vehicle to pack them

down after touchdown. Yet, he's only been on one

actual flight. Hopefully we'll get to go

together someday, though I've never been

and am a little nervous to try!