Just Jetta

Jetta in her cute piggy tails

Over the Christmas break, Andrew and I got to spend a whole week with Jetta by ourselves. My other niece and nephew stayed in Kansas City to spend some time with Nina and Grandpa. While I was disappointed in the lack of time I would have to spend with Julia and JC, we had a lot of fun with Jetta! We went on a few walks around Baylor, out to lunch, and to a few basketball games. One thing we found Jetta was a huge fan of was the singing (and preferrably dancing) characters that were at the Kirkpatrick house. She would dance along and then go back to push the button for more. So adorable! (Towards the end of the video, that's Edward and Courtney you hear discussing Oprah's magazine) Jetta also seemed to have a great time at the basketball games. She loved hearing the music and clapping and dancing along. Cheap (and very cute!) entertainment. We also found out first hand her love of the words "No, no!" This was especially amusing to us when we had her use these words against the opposition at basketball games. She would point to the player shooting free throws, shake her little finger and say "no no!"...and then to our chagrins they would miss the shot! :o) Andrew and I had a lot of fun with Jetta, and have many memories to take from our special time together.

<--- Jetta and Andrew doing the "Sic 'em Bears!"

Better Late Than Never. . .

Ok, so I realize it's been a while since I've updated. Obviously, much has happened in the last few months.

We celebrated the holidays with family and friends. We traveled through 11 different states in 2 weeks...whew!

One of my favorite holiday traditions took place before we left town. The 4th annual cookie decorating party. We've hosted it every year while at Emory. I must say, we've seen the bar raised every year. Unfortunately, neither Andrew or I have many skills with the decorating, but we do throw a pretty good holiday party!

The winners with their cookies -(L to R) Andrew's best effort "Cartman", Emily's best star decorated like Jesus, Susan's best gingerbread men - Batman trio, Josh's best tree-hidden aliean, Nigel's double-decker cookie.

Theme of the night: Batman - here are all 5 cookies. Nice job!

And of course, no party is complete without a white elephant exchange. I ended up with some Ninja Turtles video tapes. Oh boy....do I see some re-gifting for next year's party? Possibly. :o)

Mom's Trip to Atlanta

Mom came to visit for the weekend and we had a great time!

She got in Thursday night, and we just relaxed at home. Friday we shopped a little and then met Andrew for lunch. Halloween night, one of the highlights of the visit was our trip to the Fox Theater in Atlanta to see Wicked. This was the first time mom had seen it; my third time. I feel like I could watch it over and over and still never get tired of it! It's amazing!! I

highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet.

Saturday we had a slow start, but eventually made our way to Dahlonega, Georgia. One of the ladies I work with had recommended a place for lunch called The Oar House. We got a little lost, but found our way to a cute place along the river. The fall foliage was beautiful - probably at it's peak for the season. We all had different entrees, with delicious dessert. Apple tort cheesecake, white chocolate pecan pie, and key lime pie. Deeeelicious! After lunch, we headed over to the Dahlonega Consolidated Gold mines. Third grade usually takes students there for a field trip, but because funding cuts, we're not able to go this year. :o( I've always wanted to take Andrew and thought with mom in town, it would be a great opportunity. So we headed down in search of "GOLD!" It was very interesting - even for the 4th time. We had a great tour guide. Here are a few pictures of Dahlonega...

After the gold mine, on the way home, we stopped in Dawsonville for some outlet shopping. We found some great deals. Nothing better than outlet shopping! :o)

Sunday we went to church, had lunch & a nap, and then it was time for the airport. The weekend went by quickly, but it's always good to spend time with family.

Thanks for coming mom!! :o)

Bring the Funk

This just MIGHT be my new favorite commercial. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cNDSPutas8

The Chefs - Great Googley Moogely

I don't know if you remember the Chefs commercial. It's still one of my very favorite of all times. . . This year, the Chiefs are playing more like chefs-and not so much like football players. They don't look very good, and it's going to be a very long season. We'll be very lucky to pull out 4-5 wins. We have a bunch of rookies, and it sure doesn't help when your #1 and #2 quarterbacks get injuries.

Regardless, some friends of ours, Andrew and I attended Sunday's game against the Falcons. It was a lot of fun. Would've been better if the Chiefs had played better, but we've discussed this. . .

I was surprised by the number of Chiefs fans in attendance. It was good to see so many KC peeps! It was only my second NFL game, and we hope to get back in the near future.

Chiefs score a touchdown!!

Can't We All Just Get Along??

At school, we've been talking about democracy in Social Studies. One of our recent lessons included talking about the voting process. One of the activities they did with this was to come up with a "voter button" that had slogans encouraging citizens to go vote. Here's my favorite... Stop Fighting! Go Vote! What great wisdom from a 3rd grader-I want to say, "If only it were that simple..." but you know what, it is! Stop bickering about lipstick on a pig. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the 3rd graders in my class went on to do great things in politics! :o)

Boston baby!

One of the nice things about Andrew being in graduate school is the frequent trips to confrences. Andrew usually gets some good information from them, and it's a nice excuse for a mini-vacation. This trip found us in Boston for Labor Day weekend.

I met up with Andrew after school on Friday - he met me at the airport, and after a drive through the Big Dig, it was time for bed. (Got in at midnight.) I'll have to admit I was a bit afraid of crashing while in the tunnel. Not that we had a bad taxi driver...just something about being so enclosed with merging traffic. Ack!

Saturday Andrew presented his paper, while I slept in. We met up for lunch with a few other people from Emory at Legal Seafood Co. I had a wonderful mixed green salad and clam chowder. Perfect lunch! Then Andrew and I headed down Newbury street which had some great shopping! We didn't really take advantage, but that's ok. We saw some beautiful buildings-several churches. We then headed to the Public Gardens / Boston Common.

Here I am by the pond...where the ducks were. Made me wish I had a large loaf of bread...

While in Boston Common, Andrew pointed out while there was how very different Civil War memorials in Boston are from ones in Atlanta. Interesting. . . From there we found the start of the Freedom Trail. I'm a huge U.S. history buff, so this was so fun for me! The history in the city of Boston is amazing! The best part about it, it was FREE!! The only thing we paid for on the 2 1/2 mile trail was $3.00 to enter the Paul Revere House - totally worth it. We didn't get that far on Saturday - only about 4-5 stops before finding a Borders to redeem my gift cards. We then headed back to the hotel quite hungry and tired.

Sunday we picked up where we left off, and headed down the rest of the trail. It was a perfect day for being outside...sunny and warm with a light breeze. Fabulous! Here are a few pictures from our trail walk.

The Old State House - just outside is where the Boston Massacre took place. Then, 7 years later, was the place where the Declaration of Independence was first read to the people of Boston. Faneuil Hall: It has cute shops on the lower level. This is the building where they came up with the idea of "no taxation without representation."

Along the trail, right before we made it to the Paul Revere house, we found a resturant that had delicious lobster ravioli - Mother Anna's. It had a spectacular view of the city, and I got some sun on the back of my arms while sitting on the patio. Perfect! :o)

Paul Revere's House & the monument with the Old North Church in the background.

Bunker Hill Monument. We thought about climbing to the top, but there's no way we would've had enough energy to make the trek back to the train station!

The U.S.S. Constitution with Boston city skyline in the background. After about a 3-4 mile walk around the city, we were tired and ready to head back. It was a very fun day - relaxing in a way because we were doing what we wanted.

On Monday, we had a 1:00 flight, so we got up early and headed to Harvard, & Fenway before heading out. The trains were on holiday (Sunday) schedule, so it wasn't the easiest getting around. Harvard was nice to see, but we didn't spend much time there because of the train schedule. Plus, all the freshman were moving in. There were a LOT of parents running around campus with a camera. Many pictures being taken in front of the library, on the lawn, etc. We didn't get the opportunity to see Harvard Square either. That's on the agenda for next time, because I've heard it's a cute little area. We did see a very beautiful "Harry Potter-ish" building. We wanted to go inside, but weren't allowed. Oh well, I guess that means we get to see what we want in our imagination.

Then to Fenway to see another baseball stadium. I'm NOT a Red Sox fan what-so-ever, but as you all know, I am a baseball fan. It would've been nice to see the inside of the stadium, but time did not allow on this trip. Another thing to do in the future. Andrew and I agree that we really could've spent a full week there and done something different every day. While around Fenway we did get a better understanding of why they have so much money. Their team store was gynormous!!! It was insane. Waaaaaay too much Red Sox gear - I could only stand it for about 5 minutes.

To the hotel to get bags, and then to the airport to head home. We had a great weekend, and can't wait to come back to do more in this very fun city!