Thursday, December 18, 2008
Renn Faire trip to Houston
In October we did our annual trek to the Renaissance Faire with the kids in tow. Sadly Kolter didn't make it down so we made sure to have enough fun for him too! Kip and I have been luck enough to have been to the Faire a number of times before we got together and then have done so every year since. We headed out Saturday with Kodi Brandon, Cameron Karli and Erica, B and Cam followed behind us for the 3 hour road trip. Every time we get together as a family we have bowling night so this trip was no different! The next day we put our Renn Faire costumes on (I had a bit of an issue with my socks) and the Kids captured the "Damsel in distress" photo of my lord helping his lady in the parking lot of the hotel that I just had to include in the slideshow. Then we were off to enjoy the Steins of beer, huge turkey legs, Jugglers, Jousting and other events at the show. We spent the entire day there and ended with the huge Fireworks display and dinner. We were all so exhausted we all went straight to bed that night! We talked all the way home about what we want to do there next year... its an annual Hodges event!!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
House Renovations
The "Before" and "After" pictures of the outside of the house are finally ready YIPPIE! I have to apologize for the quality of the pictures, we didn't get pictures taken before we began however it turns out Google did LOL. Kip googled our address and there they were, pictures of the house that appear to have been taken around Feburary right before we started the remodel. Its nice we have the before pictures (except for the back of the house) but its creepy that anyone can key in anyones address and see panoramic views of the house right? I took the "after" pictures myself this weekend because the house is being transformed for Halloween having difficulty with the sun so I'm sorry these pics aren't as good with lighting as I would have liked but we ran out of time because for the next 3 months our house will be decorated in some fashion! I put captions on each picture all though I sure hope you can tell by looking if its the before or after LOL.
Anyway, about the remodel.... We put in all new windows, siding, facia, shutters and re-landscaped. We hired the experts to do everything except the landscaping which we designed and did ourselves. It was a LOT of hard work but turned out so nice that we almost forget the blood and sweat that was put into it! I will be posting Halloween pictures next.
Anyway, about the remodel.... We put in all new windows, siding, facia, shutters and re-landscaped. We hired the experts to do everything except the landscaping which we designed and did ourselves. It was a LOT of hard work but turned out so nice that we almost forget the blood and sweat that was put into it! I will be posting Halloween pictures next.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Montana Vacation
Brace yourselves this is a long post but I wanted to tell all about what happened in Montana. As most of you know by now our vacation to Montana was not just a vacation for us but a surprise party for my mother and father in laws 60th wedding anniversary! It took months of planning by the entire family and the surprise was a complete and total success.
We arrived in Bridger on Thursday the 18th, Mom and Dad knew that Kip and I were going to be taking them to Big Sky ski resort for the weekend to visit Kodi and her boyfriend Walt. We stopped in Bozeman to get groceries for the homemade lasagna dinner that I was making that night. Kip is keeping dad busy picking out deserts and mom is with me doing the rest of the shopping. I know I’m making dinner for 15, she thinks I’m making dinner for 5-6. She thought I had lost my mind with the amounts of everything I was buying including drinks. I told her that Kodi had asked me to make an extra lasagna to freeze and that I was planning on leaving any left over snacks and drinks with the kids as well. She bought it hook line and sinker! Kodi had gotten us a KILLER deal on two condo’s at Big Sky. They each had 3 floors, 4 bedrooms and we counted enough beds in each condo to sleep 15! Remember, they think just the 4 of us are sleeping in the condo (and have no clue the rest of the family is gathering over at the a second condo) so they are again taken off guard by why we needed such a HUGE place.
We explained that we wanted a room with a hot tub and this condo was such a great deal and did have the hot tub… again… they bought it. While I kept mom distracted helping me make my sauce for the lasagna Kip was upstairs texting and talking out the window to the rest of the family while we waited for the last of them to arrive . Then they all came wondering through the front door, Jean stood up right away as the first of the troops walked in however it took awhile for Earle to realize all of those people shouldn’t be there! Then Kip took the floor announced to the bewildered parents that we were all really there to celebrate there 60th Anniversary and that Kay and Tom would be there later. There were happy tears everywhere and we spent many hours going over all of the “stories” we all had to tell Jean and Earle to pull this party off. Kay and Tom arrived later which and capped off the evening for a now mentally exhausted Earle and Jean. For those of you wondering, the lasagna was a huge success in fact Kodi put in an order for another one when she is here for Halloween.
The next day Kay and Tom headed up the cast of chef’s for that nights meal which was 3 Prime Rib. Lori also spent most of the day cooking with Kay and Tom ( I’m going to be doing a separate write up soon in the blog about Kay and Tom’s web site and how they are BBQ champions). The kids had gone golfing and site seeing in Big Sky while the adults were visiting, cooking and testing the wine LOL. After dinner we had a champagne toast and took the parents downstairs to surprise them with one more thing… a slide show of their 60 years together, put to music along with a top 10 list of why dad parks his caps so high on his head LOL. But first… we had to show the finalists of the “Bed Head” contest and announce the winner. Kip had told everyone the night before to take pictures of themselves first thing in the morning and we would elect the best Bed Head. He had purchased a truly Ugly mustard yellow hat to present to the winner so they could cover there bed heads. Kirk judged the contest as it was determined that his crew cut wasn’t going to change be much by the morning time! Little did Kip know when he bought that ugly hat that HE would win it in the contest! Yes folks, the secret is out, My gorgeous husband has the best worst hair in the mornings EVER. It makes me chuckle every day but he usually covers it with a hat before leaving the bedroom. Few have seen the likes of his hair do’s but the world will see it now LOL.
After all of the slide shows and contest we went upstairs for the cake cutting and enjoyed the rest of the night reminiscing. It was such a great time and we hated to leave that next day especially those that we won’t be seeing again until next year. After we returned to Bridger Kip and I took a trip over the Beartooth pass to Cooke City. We can’t go to Montana and not take that trip at least once, we usually take it multiple times as it is there that we do most of the camping and fishing during our normal trips to Montana. It was such a clear day we got some really beautiful pictures of Pilot and Index Peaks and of course I had to have my picture taken with the now famous Cooke City Bear! Kip was able to spend Thursday with Kolter fishing, they didn’t catch any fish but for Kip it was all about spending time with his son.
Those that could join us gathered in Billlings for dinner the night before we left. It has become a tradition to gather family and friends for one last hurrah before leaving town. As usual we laughed during dinner and as always cried when we left. Its always so hard to say goodbye they are such a wonderful group of people. Jean and Earle have truly done a magnificent job raising this family to be the most kind, generous, understanding and loving group of people I have ever had the honor of knowing… We love you all! Enjoy the slide show, it covers all of the events I described above and then of course a second slide show that is the Bed Head finalist and winners!
We arrived in Bridger on Thursday the 18th, Mom and Dad knew that Kip and I were going to be taking them to Big Sky ski resort for the weekend to visit Kodi and her boyfriend Walt. We stopped in Bozeman to get groceries for the homemade lasagna dinner that I was making that night. Kip is keeping dad busy picking out deserts and mom is with me doing the rest of the shopping. I know I’m making dinner for 15, she thinks I’m making dinner for 5-6. She thought I had lost my mind with the amounts of everything I was buying including drinks. I told her that Kodi had asked me to make an extra lasagna to freeze and that I was planning on leaving any left over snacks and drinks with the kids as well. She bought it hook line and sinker! Kodi had gotten us a KILLER deal on two condo’s at Big Sky. They each had 3 floors, 4 bedrooms and we counted enough beds in each condo to sleep 15! Remember, they think just the 4 of us are sleeping in the condo (and have no clue the rest of the family is gathering over at the a second condo) so they are again taken off guard by why we needed such a HUGE place.
We explained that we wanted a room with a hot tub and this condo was such a great deal and did have the hot tub… again… they bought it. While I kept mom distracted helping me make my sauce for the lasagna Kip was upstairs texting and talking out the window to the rest of the family while we waited for the last of them to arrive . Then they all came wondering through the front door, Jean stood up right away as the first of the troops walked in however it took awhile for Earle to realize all of those people shouldn’t be there! Then Kip took the floor announced to the bewildered parents that we were all really there to celebrate there 60th Anniversary and that Kay and Tom would be there later. There were happy tears everywhere and we spent many hours going over all of the “stories” we all had to tell Jean and Earle to pull this party off. Kay and Tom arrived later which and capped off the evening for a now mentally exhausted Earle and Jean. For those of you wondering, the lasagna was a huge success in fact Kodi put in an order for another one when she is here for Halloween.
The next day Kay and Tom headed up the cast of chef’s for that nights meal which was 3 Prime Rib. Lori also spent most of the day cooking with Kay and Tom ( I’m going to be doing a separate write up soon in the blog about Kay and Tom’s web site and how they are BBQ champions). The kids had gone golfing and site seeing in Big Sky while the adults were visiting, cooking and testing the wine LOL. After dinner we had a champagne toast and took the parents downstairs to surprise them with one more thing… a slide show of their 60 years together, put to music along with a top 10 list of why dad parks his caps so high on his head LOL. But first… we had to show the finalists of the “Bed Head” contest and announce the winner. Kip had told everyone the night before to take pictures of themselves first thing in the morning and we would elect the best Bed Head. He had purchased a truly Ugly mustard yellow hat to present to the winner so they could cover there bed heads. Kirk judged the contest as it was determined that his crew cut wasn’t going to change be much by the morning time! Little did Kip know when he bought that ugly hat that HE would win it in the contest! Yes folks, the secret is out, My gorgeous husband has the best worst hair in the mornings EVER. It makes me chuckle every day but he usually covers it with a hat before leaving the bedroom. Few have seen the likes of his hair do’s but the world will see it now LOL.
After all of the slide shows and contest we went upstairs for the cake cutting and enjoyed the rest of the night reminiscing. It was such a great time and we hated to leave that next day especially those that we won’t be seeing again until next year. After we returned to Bridger Kip and I took a trip over the Beartooth pass to Cooke City. We can’t go to Montana and not take that trip at least once, we usually take it multiple times as it is there that we do most of the camping and fishing during our normal trips to Montana. It was such a clear day we got some really beautiful pictures of Pilot and Index Peaks and of course I had to have my picture taken with the now famous Cooke City Bear! Kip was able to spend Thursday with Kolter fishing, they didn’t catch any fish but for Kip it was all about spending time with his son.
Those that could join us gathered in Billlings for dinner the night before we left. It has become a tradition to gather family and friends for one last hurrah before leaving town. As usual we laughed during dinner and as always cried when we left. Its always so hard to say goodbye they are such a wonderful group of people. Jean and Earle have truly done a magnificent job raising this family to be the most kind, generous, understanding and loving group of people I have ever had the honor of knowing… We love you all! Enjoy the slide show, it covers all of the events I described above and then of course a second slide show that is the Bed Head finalist and winners!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Deck, Labor Day, Dan's Birthday pool party and BBQ
So...its done.. the deck is done... YIPPIE! After both of us suffering near heat stroke in the 100+ outside temps with 50% humidity Kip and I, with the help of Lily, Brandon, Dan and many onlookers we finished the deck right after labor day. We were still working on the finishing touches on the railing when the party guests for labor day and Dan's birthday arrived so the guys finished off and the party began! Erica always makes for a great rocket being launched in the air, Cameron's long gangly body makes the better splash! Lily is always entertained by "her" ducks and turtle (they are really chlorine tablet holders but we put rocks in the ones she plays with). We had a blast swimming and stuffed ourselves on a great feast. Thanks everyone for your help and for sharing Labor day and Dan's birthday with us. Sorry this write up is so short but we are fixen to fly to Montana tomorrow which is also Kips Birthday, its midnight and we haven't even started packing! When I get back I will HAVE to tell you about the best burger joint dive in Austin we all went to tonight for Kips birhtday. We saw it on the Food Network and just had to try it and its going to be our official birthday hang out! I will send a new update when we get back which is the weekend of Sept 29.
Cancun trip Updated
For those of you who had aleady viewed the pictures of the Cancun trip I recieved and uploaded some more fun pictures of the event so scroll down below and ... Enjoy!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
First Wedding Anniversary
Just as you would expect, my husband pulled out all the stops for our first Anniversary which was June 21st. Neither of us could take more than a day or two days off work so a long trip was out of the question. All wedding anniversaries have a traditional gift, the first anniversary traditional gift is paper.
In keeping with this tradition, 5 days before our anniversary Kip handed me a large envelope. Inside was a beautifully put together detailed plan day by day of what he was planning for the following weekend to celebrate our anniversary. By giving me the plan on paper (Kodak picture prints so they will last forever) he had kept in the tradition of paper! So here was the plan, the first day we were to drive to San Antonio where Kip had made reservations for a hotel Suite for the weekend. On day two which was he had tickets for Sea world but only until 4:00 p.m. as we had to get back to the hotel to get ready for a dinner at one of the 5 star restaurants right on the River Walk in San Antonio and our Cadillac Escalade limo was going to pick us up at 7:00 and Champaign to begin at 7:05. Day three Kip had scored a VIP box at the outdoor Verizon Amphitheater in San Antonio to the Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift concert!
Needless to say I was totally shocked with his planning although I should be used to it by now. We had such a great time the entire weekend and since the VIP box had room for 4 we invited Katie and Juan to join us for the concert. We ordered food and drinks right at our table and had servers that brought it all to us which was a totally different concert experience for me LOL. Just so you know along with the main gift I gave to Kip, my "paper" portion of the gift was having a message in a bottle built and shipped to him that had a scroll inside with a heart felt message to him from me but its top secret :) I can't wait until next year Baby!
In keeping with this tradition, 5 days before our anniversary Kip handed me a large envelope. Inside was a beautifully put together detailed plan day by day of what he was planning for the following weekend to celebrate our anniversary. By giving me the plan on paper (Kodak picture prints so they will last forever) he had kept in the tradition of paper! So here was the plan, the first day we were to drive to San Antonio where Kip had made reservations for a hotel Suite for the weekend. On day two which was he had tickets for Sea world but only until 4:00 p.m. as we had to get back to the hotel to get ready for a dinner at one of the 5 star restaurants right on the River Walk in San Antonio and our Cadillac Escalade limo was going to pick us up at 7:00 and Champaign to begin at 7:05. Day three Kip had scored a VIP box at the outdoor Verizon Amphitheater in San Antonio to the Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift concert!
Needless to say I was totally shocked with his planning although I should be used to it by now. We had such a great time the entire weekend and since the VIP box had room for 4 we invited Katie and Juan to join us for the concert. We ordered food and drinks right at our table and had servers that brought it all to us which was a totally different concert experience for me LOL. Just so you know along with the main gift I gave to Kip, my "paper" portion of the gift was having a message in a bottle built and shipped to him that had a scroll inside with a heart felt message to him from me but its top secret :) I can't wait until next year Baby!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Valentines Day 2008
I know that Valentines Day was 7 months ago but remember…I’m trying to capture the main events of my life getting caught up to current events. Ok, so I was traveling for work (big surprise) and at the last minute my stay got extended so I was now not going to arrive home until Feb13th. I had made romantic dinner plans but I was bummed to not be home and able to plan something extra special for Kip. As luck would have it I had major flight delays and didn’t get home get home until 3:00 a.m on Feb 14th. This was a great disappointment but at least I made it home and was going to be able to enjoy the special dinner I had planned.
Kip picked me up at the airport like usual and along with the wonderful traditional flowers he brought me some Valentines balloons. When we got home I was walking towards our bedroom and could see an odd glow, I opened the door and was shocked to see that my adorable hubby had been busy using 2 tanks of helium to fill over 40 balloons that were hanging from the ceiling and attached to the bed posts. He also had candles, chocolates, some crazy socks and some heart shaped red lights hanging on the wall above the bed! I could not believe all of the planning he put in to decorating for our first married valentines day.
I took a couple of pictures but they were in the daytime and can’t capture all of the balloons and wonderful atmosphere he had created and of course it made me cry. He had shown Karli the room before he came to pick me up at the airport and it even made HER cry! He is such a romantic… I’m a VERY lucky girl, THANK YOU BABY!
Kip picked me up at the airport like usual and along with the wonderful traditional flowers he brought me some Valentines balloons. When we got home I was walking towards our bedroom and could see an odd glow, I opened the door and was shocked to see that my adorable hubby had been busy using 2 tanks of helium to fill over 40 balloons that were hanging from the ceiling and attached to the bed posts. He also had candles, chocolates, some crazy socks and some heart shaped red lights hanging on the wall above the bed! I could not believe all of the planning he put in to decorating for our first married valentines day.
I took a couple of pictures but they were in the daytime and can’t capture all of the balloons and wonderful atmosphere he had created and of course it made me cry. He had shown Karli the room before he came to pick me up at the airport and it even made HER cry! He is such a romantic… I’m a VERY lucky girl, THANK YOU BABY!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
SURPRISE! A new addition makes an early entrance in January 2008
As most of you that know me heard back in January we had the most precious gift delivered to my Nephew Jason and Niece Tawni when Tawni gave birth 11 weeks early to Stella Avery Smith. She was born on January 11, 2008 and was 2.4 ounces and I don't think the pictures can express how tiny this little angel was. After many weeks of diligent visits by loved ones and prayers by all Stella (or miss THANG) as I like to call her got stronger and was able to go home much earlier than I had ever thought. I haven't even had a chance to suck her little cheeks yet I hope to some day soon. I will have a "special" picture of her to post in the next week or so for football season so stay tuned!
We love you Stella!
We love you Stella!
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