Quick Update...

WOW!! So much has happened since I last sat down to post on this blog. Let's see if I can do a thirty second synopsis of our life since then...

Steven is in his 18th year with the Galveston Police Department. He currently works in the property room, logging in and managing all evidence from the department. He continues to work many additional jobs in his "off" time; usually working 7 days a week.

I just finished my third year as the principal of a K-4 elementary school. We have approximately 620 students and 70 staff members. Although the students and teachers are gone for the summer, my contract runs from July 1st through June 30th each year. I no longer have a built-in summer break! My campus will be undergoing major renovations this summer, so I have been packing up all my belongings and am preparing to be housed at a different campus all summer. It will be a little strange being away from "home"!

Matthew has completed his first year at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. He is back at home for the summer, and we are keeping him busy around the house. Next year he will live in an off-campus apartment instead of the dorms he has spent the past year in. I am afraid that having a comfortable, year round living area will limit his trips home! He is enrolled in an online math course this summer and has already registered for his fall courses at Tech. He is still seeing Nicole. She goes to school in Corpus Christi, so their visits are sporadic, but they are still very close.

Lauren was able to finish school a full two weeks before the official end. Her district adopted a "flex schedule" this year. Any student who was passing all classes, had a minimum of 90% attendance for the year, and passed the state mandated assessments was released two full weeks ahead of schedule. She is a relatively new employee of Cici's Pizza where she works with a good friend. She has been putting in lots of hours the past two weeks! We have adopted her good friend, Kahla. She spends nearly every night at our house and has started to call me Mom!!

Our family is planning a trip to New York this summer as well as the family vacation to a camping ground. It will be nice to be away from our "real lives" for awhile!

I hope to be able to make trips to Dallas and San Antonio this summer to visit my brand new nephew, Lennox, and niece, Masen. They are both so adorable!!

Prom 2009

Matthew took his girlfriend, Nicole, to prom tonight. They made a beautiful couple!! Very photogenic. I will post a few pix here and share more later. We met up with Nicole at her house and then drove to the park for pictures. They then went into Houston for dinner at Vic & Anthony's (one of my favorites!). After dinner, they drove to the San Louis hotel in Galveston where a driver picked them up in a Bentley and drove them to prom in style. Once the driver picks them up and they hop back into Matthew's car, they are going to go bowling in formal attire with a group of friends and then hang out at Nicole's house.

While they were doing that, Nicole's younger sister, Holly (One of Lauren's best friends) and Lauren planned a night out for Nicole and Holly's mom and me. We went to the mall and then out to dinner at Zio's. It was lots of fun and we are already planning on doing it again.

Matthew...All Grown Up

It is hard to believe that Matthew's graduation is right around the corner!! We attended his high school's award assembly the other night. He was honored for being an honor graduate in the top 10% of his class, first place in his school in computer science, and he also received a UIL Scholar award for participating in band and maintaining his grade point average in the top 10% of his class. We are so proud of him!!

Jumping Out of a Perfectly Good Airplane...

When Matthew was younger, we went with Uncle Tom to watch him jump out of an airplane. Matthew was fascinated by it and could not wait to do it himself. Tom told him he would take him for his 18th birthday. That day came much sooner than any of us anticipated!! So far he has tried to accomplish this feat on two separate occasions. The first time it was postponed due to high winds. The second time because of rain. I am hopeful that the weather will continue to cooperate until after his 30th birthday!!

It's About Time!!

We have finally found a contractor to fix the roof and interior damage caused by Hurricane Ike six months ago. We have a contract signed and he has been out to pick up a sample shingle. We hope that he will actually begin work on Monday. I will keep you posted.

Good News & Bad News

The good news is that Matthew has been accepted in Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. He is going to be in a Pre-Law major with an emphasis on Political Science. We have put the deposit down on his dorm room, which will be on the eighth floor of one of the buildings there. He will be staying on a floor designated just for other pre-law majors. He is going to be a Red Raider!!

The bad news is that Matthew will be attending college about 11 hours away from home. We hope that Cindi and Ron stay put for awhile--they are about half way between the college and Santa Fe and will most likely be our meeting place!

Thank you laundry fairy!

While I was visiting Cindi and family in Dallas this past weekend, Lauren introduced me to the "magic laundry basket". She said she would drop in her dirty clothes and they would appear washed, dried, and folded on her bed. Teasing Lauren, I told her I wanted to try it and dumped a large bag of my dirty clothes into the basket. I fully intended to take them out and repack them right after that. When I went back to take them out, they were gone...and appeared washed, dried, and folded on my bed. Thank you laundry fairy!!

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope Santa was good to all of you. I think he may have left some of your gifts at our house, because Matthew and Lauren sure did get lots of presents! Can't wait for the family dinner on Saturday! We will see you then!

Colorado!!!

Our last day of school before the holidays was Friday the 19th. I left just a tad bit early so we could make it to the airport on time. We arrived in Denver at about 9:30 PM and drove to our hotel on the outskirts of town. We got up early, grabbed breakfast on the way, and drove through a horrible snow storm to reach Keystone. The wind was strong, it was snowing, and the temperature did not get above about 7. Right after we arrived, they closed the road we had traveled. Even when we were on it, the signs were letting people know that a chain requirement was in effect for tires. It was pretty scary!

We were able to pick up our rented ski equipment and secure an early check-in at our condo; which was beautiful! We added multiple layers of clothing and headed to the mountain for Lauren's ski lesson and Matthew's snowboard lesson. When we arrived, we found out they started at 10 and it was 10:30. Instead of a full day lesson, we went out for pizza and then let them take a half day lesson. It probably worked out best because the weather was so very bad. They both did great at their lessons!

By the end of the day we were all exhausted! Steve and I went out and brought in dinner since we could not find a grocery store anywhere...That night the altitude hit Steve and Lauren. Both had a rough night. We woke up the next day and went snowmobiling. That was the hit of the trip!! Even Lauren got to drive her own! For dinner we treated ourselves to the Snake River Saloon. What a treat!! The food was awesome! We sure did sleep well that night!

Unfortunately, we could only stay two days at that condo, so we switched on Monday. In between checking out of one condo and waiting for the other one to be ready, Lauren and I took a one hour drive, on snowy roads, to Frisco where we dog sledded. Actually, I rode in a sleigh and Lauren drove a pack of 8 dogs. It was such an incredible experience! While we did that, the boys went on another snowmobile trip. This one was not as fun as the first and they drove along some very narrow paths next to cliffs in the mountains. I am so glad I went dogsledding instead!

That night we went tubing in the snow. It was snowing pretty hard and our hats, coats, and gloves kept freezing over! It was a very physical activity and a lot of work, but it was fun!

Tuesday morning we got up and got in some last minute shopping and then headed for the Denver airport. After some delays, we made it home at about 11:30 that night. I was expecting our dogs to be crazy and keep us up all night long, but since Nicole came over each day to tend to them instead of boarding them, they acted like nothing was different. It was really nice!!

Matthew actually has my camera with him with all the pictures on it. When I get it back, I will post some of the trip and will share the others when we get together. What an unforgettable trip!

Sick...again...

The week after I returned from Dallas, I got sick again. For some reason, when I get sick this year, I get really sick. I ended up with Strep Throat, a Sinus Infection, and a really bad cough. I missed almost the entire week of school. That was not a good thing because I had missed the entire week before due to my Dallas trip. I got really behind! Luckily, the antibiotics did their job and I was better for the final week of school before the holidays!

Business with Fun Time

The first week of December I had a school training session to attend in Grand Prairie, which is pretty close to Flower Mound. I decided to take an extra day before and after the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday training and spent almost a week with Cindi, Ron, Lincoln, and Lawson. I had such a great time just spending time with them! We took a walk in the cold to look at Christmas lights, went to a Rudolf play, read lots of books, made and played with play dough, went out for pizza, and built block towers. I can't wait to visit again!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

I can't believe that Matthew has turned 18! It just seems unreal to me! He received all of his birthday presents from us before his actual birthday. He got new headlights and tires for his car, an autographed Jeff Gordon race car, and a beginning deposit for his own checking account. The only thing he asked to have on his birthday is for Nicole to be able to go to dinner with us. We all got dressed up and went to Grotto downtown. Yummy!

UIL

Matthew's band did a great job at their UIL competition this year. They scored higher than any other area 4A band, although it wasn't a state competition year for them. It was a jazzy 20's theme production. Matthew had a total of 4 solos. He did awesome! My favorite part of the entire show was the very last set... You can see the entire show on You Tube. Just type in Santa Fe High School UIL competition and choose the 2008 one.

NASCAR

Immediately following our visit to U of H, Matthew, Lauren, and I departed for dallas. We arrived just in time for a great steak dinner with Ron, Cindi, and the kids. We even had warm cupcakes for desert in honor of Matthew's upcoming birthday.

We stayed the night and left the following morning for a Nascar race. It was a fun-filled, very busy day! We drove home after the race and all got up for school the next day!

University of Houston

The morning after the final football game, Matthew had a preview day at the University of Houston. He was able to experience a little taste of student life, talk to resident people, and sit in on a pre-law presentation. It was fun for all of us! Right now, I think he is leaning toward attending this school, although he is still going to visit a few others; such as Texas Tech. Personally, I hope he stays close to home. He will still either live on campus or in an apartment so he can experience life away from home, but it would be comforting knowing he is close by.

Catch-Up

The Final Football Game of the Season

I am going to try to catch everyone up on Santa Fe happenings over the past few months. The last entry talked about the end of the football season. The last football game was bittersweet. It meant that Matthew's high school marching days were over, but it also meant that his "friend" Nicole could finally officially go out with him. He surprised her after the half-time performance with a special rose and asked her out in front of the entire band, drill team, and family members (Mom, Dad, Grandma, Jen, Mark, Tom, Courtney, and Bristol)! We were all so excited that she said yes!!

Lauren and Nicole...also good friends!

Grandma, Matthew, & Lauren

Football Schedule

For all interested parties...

Time is running out. This might be your last chance to catch Matthew on the field. There will be a game next Friday, 10/24 in La Marque (a neighboring district), one on 10/31 at home against Angleton, and the last game will be on 11/7 in Pearland against Pearland Dawson HS. Actually, that one would not be too bad to come to since Tom and Courtney live in Pearland. We can even sit on the Pearland side so we can see the show toward us.

Matthew will also have his UIL marching contest coming up on a Tuesday evening. I am not sure of the date and actually time of performance. I will try to find out from him and let you know. I can't believe he will be graduating in just a few months!

Tag, you're it!!

OK...I admit. I only have one picture album in my picture folder. I have not sat down long enough to sort them into separate folders. So...here is the sixth picture in my one and only folder... This is a picture of Lauren just after she got her next to last haircut right before school started. So...now, "Tag, you're it!!" Post your sixth picture in your sixth album in your picture folder and tell us about it!

New family photo

Here is an updated photo of the four of us at a game. The dance team got new uniforms this year, so you may notice a difference or two...

This happened to be "Senior Night" for the band. Before the game, all of the seniors gathered on the sidelines with their parents and were announced along with all their accomplishments.

Sweet Memory

This is a picture of one of Bristol's first football games. I remember it was really cold on this night...and it probably rained, too! Last year, any time Tom, Courtney, and Bristol came to a football game, it rained!