A Big Apple Birthday

Last weekend, I met my parents in New York for my mom's birthday. My mom and I have always wanted to take a girls' trip to New York, and it was so fun! My dad didn't want to miss out on the fun so he came, too. We really missed Karson and wished he could have been there, but it was still such a fun little weekend getaway!

Here we are enjoying our morning routine of Starbucks and hailing a cab.

On our first night there, we took my mom to see the opera Carmen. My mom loves the opera, so I thought it would be the perfect birthday present for her. My dad and I enjoyed it also and we were very grateful for the English subtitles.

It was SO cold, but we found warm places like the MET to keep us warm.:)

While we were there, we also saw the New York City Ballet perform the Nutcracker. It was AMAZING!

Here is my mom enjoying Patsy's Pizza. My good friend Molly recommended this place to Karson and me when we went to New York last year, and it was just as good as I remembered it being!

Of course, we had to visit Rockefeller Center...

And what would Christmas in New York be without the Rockettes?

We watched Mamma Mia! on Broadway on our last night there. It was so entertaining! At the end, the whole audience was standing up clapping and dancing...super cheesy, but SUPER fun!

It was such a fun trip and I felt so blessed to see my mom on her birthday. It has been 10 years since I spent her birthday with her, so that was a very special and wonderful time! I hope your Holiday season is a blessed one! XOXO

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season as much as we are! We enjoyed Thanksgiving this year with Karson's family in Seminole, Texas. His family hosted a terrific Thanksgiving as always! As usual, we were not great about taking pictures of our holiday with family. He did set up his tripod one night and he took some family portraits. Here is the clan:

Karson's brother Korbin and his wife Amy and Karon's parents, Kerry and Marilyn

Amy and Me

Korbin and Amy

The boys and their wives.:)

Karson's grandparents Doris and Hughie

Happy Holidays!

Taking One For The Team

I am SO blessed to be a part of an AWESOME second grade team. Not only are they awesome teachers, but every one of them is a very dear friend. They are always helpful and kind and they know how to have a good time!:)

Today was no exception... Before I tell this story, I need to first say that this might possibly be one of those stories that you "just had to be there" to see how funny it was. I'll take my chances and tell it anyway.:) We go to a Turbo Kickboxing class on Saturday mornings. It is SUCH a fun class. It has a lot of fun choreography and it is a LOT more "dancy" than regular kick boxing. It is probably the most fun that I have ever had working out.:) Today, in the middle of a dance move, I lost my balance and completely ate it. While I was trying to get myself put back together and rub my sore ankle (and regain my pride :) ), my teammates must have done a little quick planning. Just as I was getting up, they all started throwing their hands up in the air and then they all fell on the floor and started rolling around. At first, I was thinking, WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THEY DOING??? and then I realized they thought I would feel a little less silly for falling if they were on the floor as well. Now that's a true friend, don't ya think?:)

What Happens in Vegas...

Goes on the blog a REALLY long time later...:)

A few weeks ago, Karson and I went on a little weekend getaway to Vegas. Both of us are HUGE Garth Brooks fans, so when his tickets went on sale in June, I made sure to get us some! I had three cell phones and a computer ready and waiting and I was determined to surprise Karson with these tickets! Neither of us had ever been to Vegas before, so I didn't know quite what to expect. We stayed at the Trump Hotel and were very pleased. It was a very nice hotel for the price and we liked that it was at the end of the strip in a little less busy area.

We don't usually take pictures of bathrooms, but we had to capture this bathroom mirror complete with TV in it.:) I've never seen Karson spend so much time in the bathroom...just kidding!:)
Every morning we were there, Karson made me breakfast in bed. I think that might have been one of my favorite parts!

We arrived on Friday and on Saturday, my parents drove in from Cali to join us for the concert. They only stayed the one night, but it was fun to see them if even for a few hours!

This is a sweet picture of them before the concert. Aren't they cute.:)

And us at the Wynn before the concert...

And then, it was time for the big night. I must admit, I was a bit giddy when we picked up our tickets. I have wanted to see Garth since I was a little girl, so this was soooooo fun!

And then, we sneaked a little picture before the concert...

My parents after the concert...

The next day, we just enjoyed the shopping and walking around the city. We also saw O and La Reve, which are both Cirque du Soleil shows. We really enjoyed O, but I have to say that I think that La Reve was my favorite.

We also enjoyed the fountains at the Bellagio. They were really exciting!

Overall, we really enjoyed the weekend. We can't wait to go back and see Garth again!:)

My Top 25

As most of you know, Karson and I had a little second honeymoon in Europe this summer. We had sooooooo much fun! We felt very blessed to be able to do this! I didn't really know where to start...so I decided to do a TOP 10 list. My Top 10 soon became Top 20 and it just went on from there.:)

Here they are in no particular order...drum roll please:)

1. We loved the music! Whether it was listening to a concert in Salzburg, enjoying Irish pub music, or enjoying an open air concert in a park, we had so much fun!

2. Driving. It is just different driving over there...:) 3. The Luge ride. I didn't get a picture of us on the actual luge ride, but this is the lift up there. It was so fun!

4. Castles. Whether it was ruins or not, it was so fun to see these historical places. Ehrenberg Ruins in Austria

Mad King Ludwig's Castle in Bavaria, Germany

5. Hiking. We did SO much hiking! It was so fun!

Bacharach, Germany

St. Goar, Germany

Rheinfels Castle, Germany

6. Fun times with Friends. We just happened to run into some of our friends, Matt and Eleanor. We ran into them in Rothenburg, Germany and it just so happened to be my birthday. We enjoyed a fun little birthday dinner...
...and we ended up having the exact same itinerary for the next few days, including the same flight to London. Crazy, right?

7. Watching Karson take pictures. Karson gets so excited when he has a camera in his hand and I think it so endearing that he will stop to take a picture of some little creature or flower when there is a gigantic castle behind him.:)

8. Being a hobbit in Halstatt, Austria...:) One of our favorite things... Beautiful, right?

9. Karson pretending to be John Wayne at the Quiet Man Bridge in Ireland.

See the resemblance? :)

10. The Irish Coast.

Cliffs of Moher

It was a little windy.:)

11. European swimwear...just kidding.;)
12. Irish countryside. It was so beautiful!

Rock of Cashel

Ashford Castle

Kylemore Abbey

hiking up Conor's pass

13. The rain in Ireland.

14. Taking part in magic shows...

15. Seeing really old stuff...

Bath, England

The Baths

Stonehenge

16. The food. We loved it all...

a full English breakfast in London

The Naschmarkt in Vienna

enjoying the BEST ever lamb sandwich...

17. Schonbrunn Palace in Austria.

18.Visiting the Lipizzaner horses in Vienna, Austria. This was a particularly special day for us because our very first date eight years ago was to see the Lipizzaners in Abilene, Texas.

19. The Vienna State Opera. What an experience!

20. Wandering the streets.

The Shambles in York, England

Main Market Square in Krakow, Poland

21. Visiting Auschwitz. This was an unbelievably humbling and moving experience. We were so thankful to be able to visit and remember those who lost their lives as well as those who lived through their time here.

The gas chambers

22. Watching a play at Shakespeare's Globe in London.

23. The Beefeater Tour at the Tower of London. It was so entertaining and informative!

Tower of London

24. Quaint Medieval Cities

Rothenburg, Germany
25. Watching Les Miserables in London. This might have been my favorite night of our trip! We went to see Les Mis on our anniversary and the whole night was just so romantic and perfect! It was such a special evening!

We felt so incredibly blessed to be able to take this trip and we were so thankful for this time together. Our love for each other grew and we were able to make so many wonderful memories! Thanks for letting us share our trip with you!