Lauren & Nick's 2nd Annual Costume Party

Kurt's cousin and one of my good friends, Lauren and her husband Nick, had their 2nd Annual Costume Party last night. Like last year, it was a blast. We really loved seeing everyone else in their cosumes, especially some that were really unique. We had no idea what we were going to be this year, so we decided to go cheap and use some of our props from last year (i.e.- the pregnant belly Kurt's aunt sewed for me). We went as Juno and Paulie Bleeker from the movie Juno. Lots of treats and eats and great fun with friends. Katelyn - Vampire from the Twilight series

Juno and Jersey shore star

Juno and basketball referee - Leslie's tummy is real! She and Dusty are having a baby boy in Dec.

Jersey shore meets Michael Jackson

Very clever costume!

Lovely pirate pair

Vietnamese goddessJuno and Bleeker

Lots of treats

Cookies I made for the party

Early Teal

Teal season started last weekend and so far it has been pretty good. We have hunted a few spots that are only 10 minutes from the house and have also hunted in El Campo and Bay City. Below are a few pictures from the hunts. I can't wait until big duck season!!

Dusty and I got our limit by 7:00 a.m. - Brookshire

Lissie Pond - 15 birds



Lissie Pond

Red Lake 9/21/2010

Red Lake - El Campo ( 36 teal in 15 minutes)

Mamoo's Country Cottage

Mamoo's house is almost finished! My Dad and Chad have been working so hard in this hot summer heat to make sure she has a wonderful new place to call home. She finally moved on Monday, and I drove in to help her for a few nights. We got everything put away and cleaned up. I told her I knew where we put everything, so if she forgot she'd have a back up! She seems really happy here, and I think she's going to love it. She told me this morning that she had some early morning visitors - the turkeys. They came up on her front porch and were looking through the glass screen door into her living room. The only thing missing from these pictures is her sitting on her front porch! She just reclined in the chair, but I thought you all would enjoy seeing her new place.

Living room/kitchen area as you walk in through the front door

Living room looking at the front door

Her cute little kitchen that I'm sure will be cooking up some good stuff soon

Extra bedroom

Bath...Chad and Dad hung an extra storage cabinet over her toilet and one on the wall as you enter.

Utility area and side door w/small porch looking from the master bedroom

First Annual Couples Trip

Last weekend we met up with some of our college friends, who are all married now too! We booked a house in early Spring for all of us to get together and hang out in Wimberley. We saw some picture of the house on the internet, and it looked pretty, but I think we were all surprised at how nice it really was when we got there in person. We really had an awesome time with everyone and just picked up where we left off last time we were all together. There was so much to do at the house that we never had to leave...some of us didn't all weekend long! The guys floated the river on Saturday and some of the girls went shopping at the outlet mall nearby but other than that we were there all weekend long. Everyone brought food and two couples cooked each night...it was a blast and I'm sure we'll do it again! Our group note in the guest book at the house before we left on Sunday

The gang

Roasting marshmallows and making smores

We surprised Kristen with a small baby shower on Friday

View from the back of the house

Our bedroom for the weekend

Happy Birthday Rhonda & Wanda

We had Kurt's Mom, Steve. and her twin sister Rhonda along with her husband Terry over for dinner last Wednesday to celebrate their birthday, which was on Friday. They were leaving for a weekend out of town, so we decided to celebrate early. We made mexican food for dinner, and I decided to bake a cake. They refused to let me put more than 2 candles on top - we had lots of fun! Happy Birthday!

Dogs Just Wanna Have Fun

We are finally getting neighbors next door, which we are very excited about. Cash was very excited about the construction going on, and decided to take a swim. Apparently, the workers had to dig a large hole to connect sewage/water lines for the new construction next door, and the rain that fell over the weekend (last weekend) filled up their hole. Cash decided he just couldn't resist the muddy water. We were about to give him a bath as he dove in and started swimming small laps in the water hole. We finally had to take him in the backyard, because he was having so much fun!

Gobble Gobble!

When we were in Beaumont this last weekend, we witnessed the birth, or hatching, of 6 baby turkeys. The Mama turkey has been sitting on her eggs, as any good mother turkey should, so patiently for 4 long weeks. Last time we were in town, we saw her sitting on them but no one was really sure how long she had been there. Johnette found her when she was weeding in the flower bed, and she would only leave her eggs to eat and drink.
On Sunday morning I picked up Mamoo so she could get out of the house for a bit and we all headed over to the Coco farm. We heard the little chirps as we walked up and saw 6 baby turkeys in the flower bed. Dad and I took the newly born babies into the incubator in the chicken coop so that nothing would get to them at night. They were so cute. I wanted to take one home with me, but I'm not sure Cash would have been up for that. After talking with Mamoo today, there have been 3 more babies born and the Mama has left her eggs in the flower bed and is now sitting in the chicken coop under the incubator where her other babies are staying safe. She must have just known that's where they were! The other eggs are being transferred there for safekeeping...what a good Mama!

Mamoo and I with the newly hatched baby turkey!

Finished with furniture projects - at least for a while

This weekend we finally finished the hutch for our dining room. It was quite a project. I forgot to get the camera out and take some pictures of what it looked like when we bought it from the resale shop, but it was stained a very dark color wood. The bottom of the hutch was almost completely rebuilt by my Dad and Chad after we got it home. We sanded it first, and the most awful musty smell came out when we started. It was like you could smell the house it used to be in...yuck. After sanding it, we put a primer on it. We bought a paint sprayer to complete this job, and it seemed to save lots of time. Kurt definitely wanted to use the new gadget, so he did the spraying with the primer and then our coat of paint. We painted the hutch green, the same color as one of our chairs. Then we used a gel stain and wiped it on and back off of the furniture, in hopes that the dark stain would stay in the crevices of the furniture. There were some spots we had to go back and complete, but we were pleased with how it turned out. Kurt put the cabinet doors on and we got some new hardware too. I guess we're officially on the lookout for our next project. After sanding...the bottom piece.

Getting started with the sanding...the top piece.

Spraying on the primer

Finally finished!

Just a cruisin'...with the family!

Over Spring Break we went on a caribbean cruise with my Dad, Johnette, John, Chad, and Mamoo. We left out of Galveston and our first stop was Cozumel Mexico. Chad, John, Kurt, and I took a cab from the pier in Cozumel and went to Paradise Beach where we soaked up some rays and enjoyed Mexican beverages. Then we went to Carlos 'n Charlies cantina before heading back to the ship. Dad, Johnette, and Mamoo took a tour of the island while we did our exploring. After leaving Cozumel we headed for the Cayman islands. It was beautiful weather, so we did an open-air trolley tour and ate lunch at Breezes cafe. In the Caymans, the ship didn't actually dock so we had to take tender boats to get to shore. We had a wheelchair for Mamoo, and she was such a trooper. She never slowed us down, and kept up the entire week! After leaving the Caymans we headed for Montego Bay, Jamaica. The scenery in Jamaica was beautiful when we docked early that morning. We took a tour bus around the island and stopped at Margaritaville before getting back on the ship. The Jamaican drivers that took us around the island ended up staying in Margaritaville with us for the afternoon. It was interesting to learn about their customs and everyday life. Jamaica was a real eye-opener, as it appeared beautiful but when we toured around there were lots of very poor areas and 5 or 6 people at every corner selling things they made in order to make a living.

After leaving Jamaica, we had 2 full days at sea. As far as you could look there was nothing but water surrounding us. It was so relaxing, and the weather was beautiful. It got a little rough coming back into Galveston on Saturday night, and we arrived to find very cold, windy weather. We had an amazing trip! It was a wake-up call having to come home and fix our own meals, as we had gotten so used to eating 3-course dinners and being waited on hand and foot. Ah, what a life it was...and a fabulous Spring Break 2010! Hanging out for first day at sea at one of the bars on the ship. There were windows surrounding the bar, and it was a great place to hang out.

Formal night on the boat

At the pier in Cozumel...our boat in the background.

In the Cayman islands

Mamoo sporting her new look

The Voyager of the Seas stops in Jamaica

Kurt and I at dinner on our last night.