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. :-)