Go Rangers

Sunday night, Meg and I went to the Rangers game with our dear friends Aaron and Sandra.  (I really should have asked Meg to get a picture of the grown ups).  We had a great time with them. 

Meg and I met Aaron and Sandra at swimming lessons.  There are two other kiddos in swimming lessons (Lauren and Ben).  Aaron, Lauren and Ben have been taking swimming lessons since they were itty bitty.  Meg was lucky enough to join this group 3 years ago.  They all became fast friends, as did the moms. 

***Aaron***

***Meg***

***Self portrait by Meg***

***Our seats were awesome – the Lexus Club***

***Self portrait of Aaron and Megan***

***Game over, Rangers win***

A Family Tradition

On Monday, I received a package in the mail and was so excited.  Even though I wasn’t aware what was in package, it’s always nice to get something that isn’t a bill. 

Imagine my excitement when I opened the package to find a photo book from Shutterfly.  The photo book was a collection of wedding portraits dating back to July 22, 1925.  “The Howe Handkerchief” – a family tradition that began in 1925 on my dad’s side of the family!  The handkerchief is carried by brides on their wedding days.  The photo book contains pictures of 43 wedding days.  What a great way to capture such an amazing tradition. 

Here are a few pictures of the photo book. 

 

 

***Catherine Howe married James R. Thomas***
***July 22, 1925***
 

 

****Catherine Mott married Forrest Jordan***
***August 5, 1942***
***my grandparents on my dad’s side of the family***

 

***John Russell Jordan married Suzette Wray***
***May 23, 1971***
***my parents***

 

Jarrad & I, Taylor & Ruth were right next to each other in the book.  Kyle and Sheryl were on the facing page.  It’s cool that we were so close to each other in the book. 

***Allison Jordan married Jarrad Ramsey***
***April 26, 2003***

***Taylor Jordan married Ruth Huber***
***July 25, 2003***

 

***Kyle Jordan married Sheryl Peters***
***February 26, 2005***

 

***the back cover of the photo book***

This is definitely a tradition that will carry on for generations to come. 

BEAUTIFUL (girly) GIRLS

Last Friday, Meg asked if she could have one of her friends sleep over.  Of course I said yes.  Megan and Rebecca have become fast friends.  Rebecca and her family moved back to Mansfield from China in January.  As soon as these two little girls laid eyes on each other a bond was formed. 

They are so much alike and so different in so many ways. 

They are both going to be starting first grade this fall.   

They both love to scream like only little girls can do

They are both girly girls (although Meg can be rough and tumble too)

Megan is an only child; Rebecca has two older sisters.

Megan speaks English; Rebecca speaks English and Chinese.

Megan is a dare devil and has no limits; Rebecca is more cautious. These two little girls are turning out to be great friends.  I know how special a life long friendship is and hope that Rebecca will be to Megan what Jamie is to me!  There is nothing more special than a life long friendship! 

Dixie & Meg

While Meg and I were watching SYTYCD, I looked down and noticed that Dixie had curled up next to Megan and Meg had covered her with a blanket. 

Meg and Dixie have had a difficult relationship.  Dixie isn’t much for kids.  She likes her own space and doesn’t like to be bothered.  When we brought Meg home from the hospital, Dixie didn’t know what to make of her.  She sniffed her, but didn’t go out of her way to know her. 

 

However, after a few weeks of adjusting to a new way of life, we would find Dixie sleeping in the doorway of Meg’s room.  It was every night, but it happened more nights than not.  It was a cute little thing that made me think Dixie was finally coming around.  As Meg has gotten older, Dixie has tolerated her more and more every day.  I have loved watching their relationship develop. 

A little know fact about Dixie – she has Addison’s Disease.  Addison’s Disease is a condition in which a dog’s adrenal gland doesn’t produce enough adrenaline.  Dixie was diagnosed on July 2, 2004.  I was 7 months pregnant with Megan.  Addison’s is misdiagnosed almost 100% of the time.  The day I took her into the vet, she was throwing up and wouldn’t eat.  She was diagnosed with Renal Failure. 

Dixie had to spend about 3 days in the hospital getting fluids and being observed.  We brought her home on a Friday evening and everything seemed to be fine.  Friday night, she was her adorable perky self.  Saturday she was starting to get sick again…I even remember telling Jarrad that I thought she was “trying to die on me”.  Keep in mind I was 7 months pregnant – Jarrad’s response was “I think you’re right”.  It about pushed me over the edge.  She stayed pretty stable thru Monday night…

On Tuesday, she started to throw up, so I helped her out of the house as quickly as possible.  When we got to the front porch, she collapsed.  I didn’t take any chances, I loaded her up into the car and headed straight to the vet.  I called them ahead of time to let them know I was on my way and that Dixie was very sick. 

 

Dixie’s vet wasn’t working that Tuesday, so she was seen by a new vet.  The vet immediately put her fluids and told me she had an idea of what was wrong with Dixie and would cal me with the results.  She tested for Dixie for Addison’s and it came back positive.  So, we had a diagnosis and it was treatable! 

Dixie gets medicine every day, and blood work every 6 months.  If you were to look at her today, you’d never know she is sick.  We have had one relapse where she had to spend 24 hours in the hospital, but other than that, she’s been her normal perky self. 

Frisbee

While Meg and I were shopping one day, she asked if I would buy her a Frisbee.  Since, the Frisbee was only a dollar, I agreed…only if she was a good girl for the rest of the shopping trip :)  I’m definitely not above bribing Meg when we’re having “one of those days” grocery shopping. 

That night, Meg and her daddy went out into the backyard for a lesson.  I grabbed my camera and we headed outside.  Meg is a lefty, and dad taught her to throw with her right hand.  It was very frustrating for her, so eventually I had to point out that he needed to show her with her left had.  After that, she had a couple good throws.

Once she got tired of throwing the Frisbee, Jarrad played fetch with her.  Yes, fetch.  Jarrad would throw it across the yard and she would bring it back to him. 

 

***Proud Meg***

Playing around with PSE

Playing with PSE

Poor Meg

While we were on family vacation, Meg’s eyes got irritated.  I think it was just her allergies giving her trouble, but it could have been the salt water, sand, and the fact that she was exhausted.  See below – her right eye is almost swollen shut. 

Family Vacation 2010 {Part Seven}

Jarrad had to leave out on Monday, so before his flight, we went to the Texas State Aquarium.  Jarrad, Megan, Kyle, Sheryl, and I headed into Corpus after breakfast. 

Meg was very excited about going to the aquarium.  Kyle and Sheryl had been to the aquarium before, I was so excited to experience it thru Megan’s eyes. 

***Meg at the entrance***

***Meg with a turtle***
 

***Kyle, Sheryl & Meg***
 

***Isn’t this guy cute***
 

***Meg, looking at the alligator***
 

***Meg and Daddy touching stingrays***
 

***Meg loved, loved, loved this dolphin***
  

***Kyle, Meg, Mommy & Daddy***

***The Family***

***Meg and the otter that Uncle Kyle bought her***

We had a wonderful time at the aquarium.  After the aquarium, we had to take Jarrad to the airport.  We were sad to see him go home a day early, but it was important for him to get back home to see one of his oldest friends that was in town for the day on Tuesday. 

After dropping Jarrad off, we headed back to the house in Port A for our last afternoon of vacation.  The wind was so bad that we decided to head to one of the pools instead of fighting the “breeze” at the beach.  We had a wonderful afternoon.

Monday night, we cooked burgers and stayed in.  After dinner the Boones/Koppes came over and we sat out on the balcony telling more stories and laughing.  It was a perfect ending to the perfect family vacation!

Tuesday morning, we had to pack up and head back to the real world!  I was so sad to leave, but am glad we have such great memories.  I hope that family vacation is something we will do as the years go on! 

Family Vacation 2010 {Part Six}

Sunday evening, we headed over to the Boone/Koppes place for a shrimp fry.  The food was great, the company was even better. 

My parents have known Brenda since high school.  The Boone Boys (Landon, Ryan and Justin) are the same ages and my brothers and I.  Landon and I are the oldest (three weeks apart), Ryan and Taylor (five weeks apart) and Justin and Kyle (five months apart).  I don’t have many childhood memories that don’t include the Boones. 
That evening, we cooked, visited, laughed, ate, drank, laughed some more, and told stories.  Some stories were true, some were half truths, some were plain old lies. 

For instance, one of the lies that may have come up involved the accusation of me biting Landon when we were little kids.  It is believed that I bit Landon when we were little kids because he stole my plastic donut.  The story claims that I bit Landon on the forehead and left teeth marks.  Believe what you will, I claim my innocence. 

Megan fell completely in love with Ryan.  One point while dinner was being fried up, I went looking for Megan.  I found her, Ryan and Emmy dog swinging in the hammock on the balcony.  It was such a great photo opportunity.  They looked like they were solving all the world’s problems….knowing Meg and Ryan, they were. 

Sunday was a GREAT night.  Nothing is better than good food and GREAT friends. 

Last post to come soon :)