Happy Thanksgiving

We headed to Beaumont the day before Thanksgiving this year. We were supposed to spend Thanksgiving with Kurt's family, but we got the best of both worlds this year and got to see both of our families over the holiday. We ate lots of great food with my family on Thursday and then met up with Kurt's family the day after. In addition to our Thanksgiving celebrate we also celebrated my Mom's birthday, which fell on Thanksgiving this year, and Hayden's 5th birthday!
Hayden loves Uncle Kurt, even when he's all pooped out!

Before we left for the holiday we put up our Christmas decorations...yes, before Thanksgiving, but it was worth it to enjoy them for a while. Cash was already interested in his stocking goodies.

Cash helping us put lights on the house.

Hayden's birthday cake, made by Mamoo with love

Celebrating my Mom and Hayden

Kurt & Ronnie trying to get everything just right

Me and my Mama

Chad & I...Kurt said something obnoxious that made us both laugh

Take 1 on the Christmas cards....

..and another

Happy Halloween - 3rd Annual Costume Party

We enjoyed ourselves again this Halloween at Lauren & Nick's 3rd annual costume party. Kurt dressed as a doctor, a gynecologist to be exact (Dr. Howie Feltersnatch) and I went as Flo from Progressive. There were tons of great costumes and yummy treats too! Cruela Deville & Dr. Howie

Peace, Love, & The Sloans

Flo & Howie

Wilma and sweet Elle

Broken glass cupcakes I brought for the party

Kurt & Kyle turn the big 3-0!

In September of 2011, Kurt and Kyle turned 30!! Kurt wasn't so excited about it, but he's embraced it so well. It already seems that his 30th year has proved to be one of the best thus far, both in his personal and work related ventures. We decided to celebrate the guy's big day at Yard House, which is a restaurant that was a good middle-ground meeting place for all of us. We had a great time with family and friends that were able to come out and help us celebrate their big day.

Kurt was very excited about his new jerky gun - it's already been used!

Darren & Brad

Kyle's sweet gift to his brother - an orchid! There's a story behind this plant for sure...I received one from a student last year in May and Kurt tried so hard to keep it alive. When it didn't quite make it, Kyle replaced his new-found love with another plant. Sorry to disappoint, but this one isn't here anymore either! We're working on the green thumb skills.

Obnoxious decor set out by yours truly!

Loved this

Welcome to the world - Luke James Collins

Our good friends, Kim & Charles Collins, welcomed their first baby, a sweet boy named Luke. Our close college four-some that often tries to get-together once a month decided to meet Luke and bring over dinner. It was great to meet him and see how well everyone was doing. By now, he's 6 months old and coming into his sweet personality.

The Coco's Head to Austin!

I'm going to try and re-live our summer last year, as I've gotten SO far behind on blogging but want to try and get back in the swing of things again, so here we go...

We all decided to get-together in Austin this summer, home to Margaret & David, Jane Anne, and Amy. We drove down to Austin the weekend after Kyle & Daphanie's wedding, and it was nice to visit with family and just relax. We ate some great BBQ and got to catch up with so many that we don't get to see as often as we'd like. We also got to cruise around Lake Austin on a beautiful, hot summer day. Hayden was also able to join us, which made the weekend extra special.

Can't believe these girls are getting so grown!

Kyle & Daphanie Get Hitched!

After a weekend packed full of activities, I'm finally recovered and getting around to making a blog post. We had a wonderful weekend enjoying the festivities surrounding Kyle and Daphanie's wedding. Thankfully the tropical storm missed us, so the weather was nice, but definitely HOT! We enjoyed getting to see everyone this weekend and visit with some of Kurt's family that we don't get to see that often. I brought my camera along for the rehearsal dinner, but Kurt grabbed my purse (containing the camera) and heels (thankfully) after the wedding ceremony and put them in the car so I didn't get pictures from the reception. I can't wait to see the photographer's pictures though. Enjoy these for now... Meggie, Lauren, and baby Elle at the reception...photo courtesy of Meggie

Kyle & Kurt, respectively, at the rehearsal

Davis, Kurt, Sally, & Connie

The soon-to-be Mrs.

Freddie, Kyle, & Kurt

Judy & Jim

The bride's dress and the many little black dresses that stood beside her...

The Birds

I just had to share this. Yesterday afternoon I decided to wash Kurt's truck and get outside for a bit during the day. I had Cash in the front yard with me and after 5 min of being in the heat, I heard this one particular bird in the tree making a loud, obnoxious sound. The bird was looking at Cash from the tree and squawking at him constantly. It even dive bombed him several times. He was totally oblivious to it until the bird got him in the rear!

When Kurt got home, I told him he had to see this. We went outside, and if you know our dog, he loves to grab shoes, remotes, or anything and just lay with it. He has grown out of the chewing stage, but loves the attention and the chase when he gets a "prize." As soon as we got outside, he grabbed one of Kurt's mowing shoes from the garage and took it with him in the yard. I was taking some of the pictures and the video below as Cash looked on. This bird has a nest in the tree in our front yard and definitely thinks that Cash is out to get her nest, although he just wanted to play keep away with the shoe. The bird got pretty close to him on several occasions, but he never moved from his spot. Such a funny dog!