Sunday, October 16, 2011

Dallas in October

We arrived in Dallas late on Friday night, but otherwise unscathed. Of course the kids were in bed asleep, so we didn't get to see them until the next morning.




Leo loves his bank, in which there is some serious change. He likes to dump it all out on the floor, then replace the lid and put all of the money back through the slot. A tedious process.



We have really been enjoying see Miss Clara. Her little personality is starting to show, and she is too cute, and quite delicious in general.

We had a fun Saturday that included breakfast at a Jewish Deli and Restaurant, some grocery shopping (it was Saturday after all), a trip to a middle eastern bakery to buy pita bread still warm from the oven, some tasty but scary looking rice pudding and a shared falafel sandwich, and finally a Tex-Mex dinner at Chuys.



We decided to go to the Dallas Arboretum to see the fall pumpkin display and take a few photos. We had a wonderful time, the arboretum was beautiful, and full of people so lots of interesting things to see.

We got a few good photos, but the kids weren't particularly cooperative. I am sure Laur got some better images than I was able to get with our little travel camera.



You can see that it was struggle to get both kids paying attention at the same time.



Miss Clara wouldn't smile, but she sure looks pretty in polk-a-dots in the middle of all of those pumpkins.

We had a nice middle eastern pita sandwich and fennel slaw for our dinner. It was yummy. Then we walked the neighborhood. Tomorrow, the Texas State Fair.

Buboppy

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Who's So Big?



Miss Clara is celebrating her first birthday today. She IS soooo big! We love this little girl and are nearly over the moon about being able to see her, and Big Brother, no later than Saturday morning of this week.

Happy Birthday, Clara! We love you, too much.

Buboppy

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Major's Meetings and Conference Weekend

On Thursday afternoon, after I finished teaching my afternoon chemistry class, Bubb and I headed north so that I could attend an annual, statewide meeting of all of the higher education majors. We arrived at Sarah and Aaron's house late in the evening, but still had a chance to see all the kids.

We were graciously offered their bed for the night, however, it comes with some conditions. We had nocturnal visits from Lydia (whose Daddy whisked her away as soon as she was discovered) and Maggie (who spent a good part of the night glued to my back). The events reminded us of the good old days when Sarah and Daniel used to wander the house all night and be found nearly anywhere, but most often in bed with us.

Friday was a teacher contract day for the kids, so to make things interesting, Babs decided to have a Smurfalicious holiday.



This was the breakfast fare. Note the blue milk and Smurfy action figure.



Of course all of the kids were appropriately dressed in serious "blueness". M' Chee is diggin' the concept.



Maggie was loving the pink cream cheese on her chocolate chip bagel (Ewwww!).



Pretty Kate was very festive and one of the prime agitators for a major celebration on this particular day.



While I attended my meeting, Bubby and kids were on the town. They went to Toys 'R Us and who knows where else. I joined them at the Olive Garden for lunch once I finished my meeting. That was a hard decision, a box lunch provided by Salt Lake Community College or some soup, salad and a bread stick from the Garden.

We had to rush home to Cedar City so that Bubby could attend the soiree associated with Cedar City Music Arts and the performance of the Utah Symphony. We left Smurfish activities behind (I think a cartoon marathon was planned) and raced home.

Bubby was resplendent in new soiree wear and while she did her thing, I picked the garden (still going crazy) and did some other chores. We had decided that even though we were headed to the condo for conference weekend, we would wait and leave on Saturday morning.

We got to St. George in time to have breakfast at our new favorite (the Golden Corral breakfast offering on the weekends is awesome!), and had a meeting with our investment councilor. The meeting caused us to miss the first session of General Conference, but we recorded it at home.

We had a wonderful weekend in St. George. It was beautiful, and we just enjoyed the trouble free nature of staying at the condo. I missed having someone to attend priesthood session with, but afterward, we hooked up with the Englesteads and made a trip to Kraves for some frozen goodness.



On Monday evening, a neighbor couple who had been appraised of our quest for the ultimate fish taco in San Diego invited the Englestead's and Bubby and Poppy to try their version. Pictured above is their offering which tasted pretty darned good. They used frozen tilapia from Costco, and their secret sauce was great. We had a wonderful evening together talking about travel and Triple D locations we have visited.



Bubb insisted on this shot, although I can't think of less attractive face to have to end this post with.

Buboppy