Congrats Christine and Tony!

They're engaged!  We're so happy for you both and look forward to a beautiful spring wedding next year. :-)

Neal looks like a very proud big brother.  :-)

Look at that ring sparkle!  

Dad's Visit

On his way back from a business trip to Atlanta, my dad swung by Houston to hang out with us for the weekend. We had so much fun! Here are some of our memorable moments.

For our first dinner out we took Dad to our favorite local

Mexican restaurant - Las Rosas.  The food is delicious and 

every weekend they have a live band playing.

This is a historic moment:  Dad's first time ever on a bike!

We took him around the neighborhood and he loved it.

For as long as I can remember, my dad has wanted three things:

a Porsche, a red and white '56 Chevi, and a Harley.  This Harley 

store was right up his alley and he had a great time checking out 

the bikes and gear.  To remember our trip to the Harley store, 

he bought himself a Harley hat and he bought Neal and I our 

first Gremlin Bells.  Gremlin Bells are a biker tradition where 

you hang a bell under your bike to ward off bad spirits.  We're

not superstitious like that but thought it would be fun to 

participate in the tradition.  Wherever we ride now, we'll carry 

a little Harley with us.  :-)  

I'm quickly falling in love with Harley myself.  Not only do

they have the cutest biker gear but now I discovered they

have a bike that fits me too!  Uh oh....  :-O

It was such a beautiful day that we decided to venture out

to Kemah - Galveston's bay and boardwalk.  

On his visit, Dad not only went on his first motorcycle ride

but he joined a band too - Rock Band that is.  He held his

own on the mic.

Boys and their toys.  Neal borrowed Tony's jigsaw so that he

could cut down the windshield on his bike.  I love this photo - 

he looks like a man on a mission with a dangerous weapon.

The Stallcop tradition (and quickly becoming the new Bailey

tradition!) is to take advantage of some good ice cream whenever 

possible.  With Dad in town, we just had to make a quick stop at the

gelato shop on the way to the airport.  What a great way to end a trip.

Years ago, after finishing a difficult project at work, my dad

was rewarded with his choice of nice gifts they had for him

to select from.  He chose the Harley Davidson black, leather

jacket.  It was his pride and joy but since he has never owned 

a bike, figured that it should go to someone who could wear

it riding.  This weekend he passed this beautiful coat on to

Neal, who is already enjoying it on rides.  Thanks, again, Dad,

for everything.  We had such a great time with you and we look

forward to our next visit soon!

Lake Tahoe

This week we joined my parents and sister for the annual ski vacation in Lake Tahoe.  The weather was chilly enough to make for fairly good snow conditions and we had clear skies for amazing views. Neal continued to improve his skiing, and after only his second ski trip, is starting to look like an old pro.  We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with family.  

View from our room - the face of 

Mt. Heavenly

On our first day out, we took a lunch cruise on the M.S. Dixie II

around the lake.  It was a gorgeous day and we got a nice

view of our surroundings.

Dad loves hanging out with his son-in-law  :-)

The gals

My sister, Ana, is quite the piano player.  

Every year she plays at the resort for fun and 

always has a crowd of admirers.  This year her 

skill grew to a level of professionalism and her 

admirers became paying customers.  She earned

$16 in one night!  She makes me proud. :-)

Family dinner at our favorite Tahoe restaurant -

Villa Roma.

Welcome to Nevada!  Neal, dad, and I making the most of a 

beautiful day, crossing the mountain from California to Nevada.

Here is a view from the gondola.  You can barely make out

the "strip" with the casinos down on the right.

My sister joined us the second day out.  She was the only

brave snowboarder.  :-)

There's Neal - he's a pro!

A trail we took all the way down the mountain

Although we were surrounded by casinos, we preferred to

entertain our kid at heart and play in the arcade.  

They had a fun motorcycle game at the arcade so of course,

we had to try it!  It's so much easier to ride a bike in real

life than to play this game.

Here We Go Again....

For as long as I've known him, Neal has owned a sport bike but has always talked about getting a cruiser. After I got my Rebel, he was the only one in our neighborhood biker "gang" who didn't have a cruiser, and so he made the decision to sell his sport bike and get one. Apparently, it was meant to be since our neighbor's friend (who's name is also Neal) just happened to be looking at buying the same bike Neal was selling. He bought the bike with no problem and we were able to go out and get Neal the bike he wanted - a Yamaha V-Star 1300 touring model. It's a beauty and Neal has already has such a good time riding it the last couple of days. We've gone out with the "gang" to explore a bunch of the nearby country roads and are impressed with how much driving you can do without even getting on the highway! It's liberating to be out on the open road with just you and the air, feeling the temperature changes and smelling the air around you. We're enjoying this much more than we ever imagined.

Neal's bike in beautiful black cherry

Ready to ride home!

Neal's lookin' good on the bike :-)

Today we went out riding with Mike and Lisa and she was gracious

enough to pass on some of her Harley Davidson apparel.

This picture is in honor of the bike Neal just sold.  We had some fun

times on this bike, like the time here in Virginia when we drove up

George Washington Parkway to visit Mt. Vernon.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!  We had quite a busy one, as we were blessed to spend the day with family, friends, and some new friends whom we just met this week.  Between the great company and delicious food, it was quite a memorable day. 

Here we are with Tony and Christine at her apartment.  

After mass she made us a wonderful brunch.

For the last few days we've been hosting a group of college aged

kids who are part of a Catholic group called Net Ministries.  They

travel by van around the country putting on retreats for youth in

schools and parishes.  Our next door neighbor, Barbara, has a

daughter who is leading one of the nine groups they have nation-wide.

For Easter they came to Texas to visit her family and while the girls

had a 5-day slumber party next door, the boys hung out at our house

playing XBox and swimming in the pool.  After brunch today some of

the group came over for a dip in the hot tub. 

For dinner we went to Mike and Lisa's (a couple doors

down) and spent the evening with them as well as our 

other next door neighbors, Sarah and Gibron.  

Back at Barbara's to say "good-bye" to the girls

The whole group together

On Saturday we joined the group for dinner at Salt Grass

before they headed off to Easter vigil.

Out 'N About

Today we spent the day with our neighbors, Mike and Lisa.  They're super nice people and coincidentally, are also bikers too.  :-)  Mike already owns a Harley and Lisa, having ridden her whole life, has been wanting a new bike ever since she sold her last one before moving here.  When she saw my Rebel (and sat on it a few times :) her desire to get a new bike sort of grew exponentially and within days, she had herself a black one!  So, now that we have twin bikes we decided to ride around the neighborhood (can't go too far until I get my official license).  The boys came along too and we had a blast!    

Rebel biker chicks

This one's for you mom!  We do definitely wear helmets.  :-)

After our bike adventure, we hopped in Mike and Lisa's

Hummer and drove to Brazos Bend State Park, a 

local park that is great for camping and hiking.

One of the highlights of the park is the opportunity

to get up close and personal with alligators. 

Here is a baby one.  They're kind of cute when they're

not big enough to eat you.

This is a sign outlining proper alligator

"etiquette."  My favorite rule is not on this

sign but on the brochure.  It says that if you

are fishing and an alligator gets a hold of the

fish you've caught, it's best to give it up and let

the alligator have the fish.  Can you imagine 

someone actually trying to fight an alligator

for a fish?!  Too funny.

As we were walking along the trail, we noticed an

alligator in the swamps, quietly watching people pass.  

Hmmm....this might be a little too up close and personal.

A crane we saw on the trail

Us with Mike and Lisa

This is the best sign of all.  :-)

This might just look like a random field with scattered 

dirt piles, but these are no ordinary dirt piles.

These are all ant hills - RED ant hills.  We saw them

everywhere driving home from the park.  I wouldn't

want to step on one of those - yikes!

The following photos were taken by Mike.

I thought they were really cool so I'm including

them here too.

"Gutsy"