Christmas at BeBe and PawPaw's

We celebrated Christmas at BeBe and PawPaw's on Tuesday, December 23rd. We ate tamales and had a birthday cake for Jesus!

My mother knows someone (Santa) that was kind enough to stop by BJ and Lloyd's house after dinner. This Santa was the real deal! We couldn't believe how great he was. The girls and Corbin loved him.


Presley waiting to open her presents!

Payton and Presley opened their locket necklaces from Corbin. There was a picture of Corbin on one side and Mommy and Daddy on the other side...too cute!
..."Thank you Aunt Lisa!!!!"

Payton and her beautiful Christmas Barbie that she really wanted!

Presley wearing her new monogrammed apron! Now she is all set to help me cook!

Payton wearing her Hannah Montana dress up outfit! Her and Presley both got one.

Presley was so excited to sit on Santa's lap for the third time this year!

Payton and Santa

...getting ready to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!

Hickman Family Christmas

As always we had so much fun at the Hickman Family Christmas. For those of you that don't know, this is my step mother's family. This year they had it it Dusty and Jill's house (Debbie's nephew and his wife) on Sunday, December 21st. As you can see from my pictures it was loads of fun. We did our annual Chinese gift exchange (where you steel from each other), decorated Christmas cookies, played games and had a very entertaining leg wrestling tournament (the guys only). We spent the whole day over there.

Even though it was such an awesome day it was also extremely hard without my dad there this year. You don't realize how hard the holidays are without a loved one until you go through it. I miss my dad so much. It is still hard to believe he isn't here sometimes. I know he is in a much better place though and that is what gives me strength to get through it.


Payton and Presley decorating Christmas cookies!

My huge brother-in-law getting flipped over while leg wrestling Dusty (cousin)!

Kevin and Drew Leg Wrestling (they are brothers/my cousins)

Michael(my step brother) and Dusty(cousin)

Doug (my uncle-Debbie's brother) flipping Clint over...poor Clint!

The Last Dallas Cowboy Game at Texas Stadium...

Ashly and I decided that we needed to take two separate cars back to Irving since we were hauling a bunch of gifts to and from Austin. I drove up Saturday afternoon (Dec. 20th) because I was meeting Jenny at the Cowboys game at 7 p.m. Ashly drove back to Irving early Sunday morning with the girls.

Despite the EXTREMELY cold weather that blew in on Sat. night and my parking drama (long story), Jenny and I had a blast at the Cowboy game. They played horribly, but we still had fun. Jenny and I always have so much fun together no matter what we do.

Preschool Christmas Party

Luckily I got off work on Friday, December 19th in time to take the girls to their Christmas party at Kids R Kids! Since Payton and Presley are in different classes I had to bounce back and forth to their classrooms. They both had a book (gift) exchange with their classmates. They had a lot of fun! I love it when I am able to be a part of their school functions. I know they are precious moments I will never forget!

Winter Festival

Payton and Presley had a Winter Festival at their little school. The festival was on Thursday, December 18th from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Kids R Kids. The girls decorated cookies, made holiday crafts, saw Santa (again) and played fun games. Payton didn't want to get her picture taken with Santa again. She wasn't real sure about sitting on Santa's lap the first time. Presley on the other hand was all about Santa's lap!

Our Christmas Plans...

Just incase anyone was curious to know our very busy Christmas schedule, here it is...

Saturday (Dec. 20th):
-drive to Irving
-Nicole is going to the Cowboy game with Jenny..WooHoo!!!!!

Sunday (Dec. 21st):
-Hickman Family Christmas at 11:00 am (in Irving)
-dinner with Briana and Tim

Monday (Dec 22nd):
-Family Picture (all of Debbie's grandkids) at 10:00 am @ Kerri's house
-finish Christmas shopping

Tuesday (Dec. 23rd):
-Christmas at BJ and Lloyd's with Jason, Lisa and Corbin

Wednesday (Dec. 24th):
-Christmas Eve church service at Fellowchip Church @ 1:00 pm
-Christmas Eve dinner at Mommom and Grandad's house

Thursday (Dec. 25th):
-Santa on Christmas morning
-open gifts between me, Ashly and the girls
-spend the day with Debbie, Kerri and Michael (and their families)

Friday (Dec. 26th):
-drive to Oklahoma to visit Nanny (Ashly's grandmother)

These are our plans up until Friday. We are unsure of when we will return back home to Austin! We shall see!

BJ Update...

BJ had another appointment today with Dr. Overbeck. Her atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat, has not corrected itself so she will have a small electrical procedure performed on December 30th to correct it. About two weeks after that, Dr. Overbeck will perform the procedure to repair the heart arteries (angioplasty and stints).

In the mean time, Bebe will need to continue to take it easy even though she is feeling relatively well. We will keep everyone apprised of any changes if any should arise.

A Mother's Worst Nightmare (and Father in this case)...

Well, they say almost every child will try and cut their own hair, right? Presley decided to give herself a hair cut! Yep, Payton ran into our bedroom where Ashly was and all I heard Ashly say was, "how bad did she cut it?" That really freaked me out because I thought Presley had cut herself. Nope, her beautiful hair. I ran into the bathroom and saw a thin strip of hair on the ground and thought, "oh, that's not too bad!" Then I looked in the trash can and could not believe what I saw...a lot of hair. Not only did she purposely cut her hair, she took the time to put it in the trash can. She took two big chunks of hair, one over each ear. Needless to say Ashly and I had a long talk with her. The whole time her bottom lip was popped out and she was on the verge of tears. We told her that we weren't mad at her but we were very sad that she cut her beautiful hair.
Ashly then called our neighbor (Chris) that cuts all of our hair and he came right over to assess the damage. He said that it was pretty bad but he was sure he could blend it in with the rest of her hair. Chris is coming over tonight to "blend" her hair.
The best part is when Chris left, Presley asked if he was going to fix her hair. I told her I sure hoped so and Presley's response was, "is he going to tape it?" I died laughing and had to explain to her that the hair she cut off was long gone! I told her it will take time to grow out again. You could tell she was so upset about it. Hopefully she learned a lesson and won't ever cut her hair again!


Presley's beautiful hair in the trash can!

Our Fun-Filled Family Weekend...

WOW! We had a great weekend! Friday, Ashly and I took the girls out to eat to this amazing family owned Italian restaurant called the Hill Country Pasta House! It was so yummy! After dinner we headed over to Blockbuster to rent a movie. We rented WALL-E for the girls. At first Payton said, "I don't want to watch WALL-E because that's a boy movie, their are no princesses in it!" That was typical coming from Little Miss Priss! Once we got home, Ashly and I decided that all four of us were going to have a movie night together! So, we all piled on the couch and watched WALL-E! It was a really cute movie and the girls really enjoyed it even though it didn't have princesses in it!!!!

Saturday Payton and I ran some errands while Ashly and Presley relaxed at home. We all four headed to the Hill Country Galleria (outdoor mall and amphitheater) around 4p.m. b/c Santa was there for "free" pictures! That was the shortest Santa line I have ever seen. There was no one in line...woohoo! Santa had been there since 12 so I guess everyone had already come and gone! We let the girls run up and down the steps of the outdoor amphitheater. Every time we eat at Iron Cactus (which is right in front of the outdoor amphitheater) we let the girls run wild for a little while. They love it! Around 5:30 we ate dinner at Iron Cactus (our favorite).


Payton before we left to go visit Santa!

Presley told Santa she wanted a Barbie Castle and Payton said she wanted a Barbie!

Running wild at the outdoor amphitheater.

Climbing up the steps (seats) of the outdoor amphitheater!

The big Christmas tree behind the amphitheater's stage.

Payton and Presley eating at Iron Cactus!





After dinner their was a performance at the outdoor amphitheater called "Simply Christmas"! It was a jazzy little musical evening that included Christmas carols by Free Chapel (nearby church), complimentary hot chocolate, little kids passed out candy canes and "a touch of snow." The snow was from a foam sprayer. The girls had a BLAST!


Payton and Presley being goofy while eating their candy canes!

Presley playing in the "snow"!

Presley being her silly self with "snow" on her face and hair!

Presley threatening to throw "snow" on Payton!






After we got home our friend, Carter and his girlfriend, Lauren came over and we baked Christmas cookies, put the girls to bed and watched Ultimate Fighting! A movie would have been my choice but I was out voted! So we enjoyed each others company while watching Ultimate Fighting!

Sunday morning I volunteered at the church during the first service (in the infant room). I love holding those newborns. Unfortunately it is still giving me baby fever. They are so precious at that age. Ashly, the girls and I attended the late service. Payton was invited to go to The Nutcracker with her friend Sofia. She spent the day with her and had a wonderful time.

A little side note...Ashly and I have been hanging out with a sweet couple lately, Fred and Karen. Ashly works and works out with Fred and they really have a lot in common. I met his wife a couple of weeks ago and really like her as well. They moved here from California a year ago and their story is real similar to mine and Ashly's. They have been together since they were in high school also and they have two little kids, Hayden (girl, age 7) and Owen (boy, age 3).

Having said that, Karen called me on Sunday and said she needed a break and wanted to get out of the house. So she picked me up and we ate lunch at a cute little restaurant in Westlake called, The Grove! We sat on the patio, ate delicious food and talked forever. We then went to Barton Creek Mall to get a little more Christmas shopping done. I was just excited that I was really connecting with a new friend.

Ashly spent the day with Presley. They went to lunch with Fred and his two kids. After they ate they went over to Fred and Karen's house so the kids could play and they could watch football.

We all arrived back home late yesterday afternoon, ate dinner and folded laundry while watching the Cowboy game! Overall we had a wonderful fulfilling "family" weekend. We spent a lot of quality time together. That is one thing Ashly and I have come to realize since living in Austin, nothing is more important then spending quality family time with just us and the girls! It is the best feeling in the world. We are so blessed to have each other.

Payton...

Last night Payton was so proud of herself for cleaning her room, cleaning her bathroom and making her bed. After Ashly put her down I went into her room to give her a kiss goodnight and noticed she was lying on top of her comforter with a little blanket on top of her. She told me she didn't want to mess up her clean bed. I thought it was so cute b/c I use to do the same exact thing when I was little. I hated making my bed so I just slept on top of my comforter without having to mess it up and remake it. Sounded like a good plan, right? Like mother like daughter...hee, hee!!

Moments To Cherish...

Tuesday night Ashly and I had just gone to bed and it thundered real loud. It wasn't 30 seconds later we heard two little feet on our bedroom carpet. It was Payton and she said, "I'm scared of the thunder!" Ashly and I being the suckers that we are, let her crawl into bed with us instead of tucking her back into her own bed. We figured we better cherish these moments because she won't want to crawl into our bed (with us) forever. They just aren't little long enough because they grow up too fast!

Steakhouse Shooting...

How crazy is this? Ashly, one of his co workers, his wife and I went to a brand new steak house last Thursday night. The steakhouse is called Steiner Ranch Steakhouse. The food was ok but the atmosphere was amazing (beautiful view). When we were there we found out that my old general manager (Shane Street) from Cool River was the general manager there now. We also knew one of the bartenders (Vann). He used to work at Cool River with me also (in 2002). What a small world, right?

Anyways, we found out a bus boy that had walked out on his shift on Saturady came into the steakhouse today and open fired. He killed one manager. They haven't officially released his name but we are pretty sure it wasn't Shane. Isn't that CRAZY? This steakhouse is in the hill country party of Austin (very close to where we live) and it just opened 10 days ago. I can't believe we were just there four days prior to the shooting. It is a crazy world we live in. You can google Fox News in Austin and see it on their website!

Our relaxing weekend...

Friday Ashly decided at the last minute to take the girls to meet Lloyd in Waco while I was at work. The girls stayed with BeBe and PawPaw for the weekend so Ashly and I could get some Christmas shopping done, relax and not have to pay for a babysitter during Ashly's Company's Christams party (Sunday night)!

Friday night Ashly and I did nothing and went to bed REALLY early! Rest was much needed after a long work week. We slept in on Saturday morning. I decided to run errands and Christmas shop since I usually have the girls with me. I was able to get so much done without them. Saturday night Ashly and I had a date night. We ate sushi at a place in Lakeway called Mizu. It was good but not as good as Blue Ocean (in Coppell) or Blue Fish (in Valley Ranch).

We slept in on Sunday morning. I know we should have gone to church! We were lazy all day. We watched the horrible Cowboy game. We started getting ready for Ashly's company's Christmas party around 3:45 (it started at 5 pm). The Christmas party was a Las Vegas theme at a nearby neighborhood community house. There was delicious food, drinks, characture atrist and gambling. We had a lot of fun! We won alot of chips which were good for raffle tickets but unfortunately we didn't win anything from the raffle drawing.

No Sugery For Now!

This will be a another quick and condensed version...

BJ met with her cardiologist on Tuesday and the good news is that she will not have any type of heart surgery for at least two weeks. After more test, this doctor seems to think she may be a good candidate for stints instead of open heart surgery...Thank You Jesus!!!!!! There was some talk about shocking her heart back into rhythm but that is still undecided also. The doctor wants to keep her on blood thinners for now. They will have a better idea of what procedure will be best for her condition after some more test results come in. She is able to return to work but must keep her mental and physical stress as low as possible. So far our prayers have been answered and we will continue to have faith that BJ's heart will a have FULL recovery. Thank you for your prayers and concern. I will keep everyone posted.

Update On BJ...

This will be a quick version...

BJ spent last Sunday night in ICU. She was moved to a room at the hospital for further observation. On Monday she had an angiogram. The results revealed that three of her main arteries are blocked 90 %, therefore she will need triple bipass heart surgery pretty soon. Monday night her blood pressure went up and she was moved back into ICU. The doctors gave her blood thinner to help prevent a stroke. She was moved back into her own room Tuesday night. Thankfully, she was released from the hospital on Wednesday and was able to spend Thanksgiving with her family.

She has an appointment with her cardiologist in Irving on Tuesday (tom.). We should know then when she will have her surgery. Thanks to prayer we can be sure that BJ's heart is in the hands of the Lord. Thank you Jesus for a healthy BeBe!!!

Thanksgiving Week 2008

Our Thanksgiving week was very busy, little chaotic but overall wonderful. Monday night the girls wanted to spend the night with Mommom and Grandad so we ate dinner with them and left the girls there. Ashly and I decided to take advantage of the built in babysitter and went to Champs to watch Monday night football.

Tuesday morning we picked up the girls and Corbin (from Jason's work) and headed up to Ardmore, Oklahoma to visit BeBe (BJ) in the hospital. She was very anxious to see the girls because it had been over a month since she had seen them last. Unfortunately when we got there the kids were not allowed to see BeBe because no kids under 12 were allowed in ICU. Ashly and I took turns going into see her while the other one watched the kids in the ICU waiting room/hospital hall for five hours. It was a little hectic but was worth it once BeBe was moved to her room and was able to spend time with all three grandkids together.

We spent the night in Oklahoma Tuesday night. We had a lot to be thankful for on Wednesday because BJ came home from the hospital and Nanny came home from the hospital. Nanny is now home with hospice care. Payton, Presley and Corbin had a great time playing with a bunch of their cousins. We were outside alot b/c the weather was so beautiful. We headed back to Irving late that afternoon.

Presley eating pancakes on the kitchen counter in Oklahoma!


Presley and her cousin Kerstlynn coloring pretty pictures!


Ashly throwing the football to his cousins (Zack and RJ)!


Payton, McKyla(cousin) and Angel(cousin) playing outside!




Thursday we spent Thanksgiving at my Uncle Billy's (my mother's brother) house in Mesquite. Him and Alane have about 5 acres, a horse, a duck pond full of fish and a beautiful home. You feel like you are in the country out there. The girls fed the horses and picked up shells around the pond. They had a blast.

Payton and Presley feeding the horse!


Presley and Buckwheat!


Uncle Billy and Aunt Alane's land!


Clint showing Uncle Billy his new motorcycle!


Ashly hanging out with Jake on the back of Uncle Billy's truck!


Mom and Clint posing for a picture during the Cowboy game!




BJ and Lloyd came home from Oklahoma on Thursday night so the girls stayed with them and Ashly and I went over to Katie and Tony's house to watch the Texas Longhorn game. After the game Ashly and Tony went and played poker while Katie, her wonderful parents, cousin, niece and I drank wine (her niece didn't drink wine) and put up her Christmas decorations. We decided that it would be a great idea to try and hit the early shopping at Grapevne Mills Mall (it opened at midnight). That was a bad idea b/c there were no great deals and REALLY long lines. Ashly and I spent the night over there.

Friday we brought Allie (Katie's daughter) over to BJ and Lloyd's house so she could spend the night and play with our girls. They played and played and never once got into an argument (sounds like Nicole and Katie)! Ashly and I were LAZY all day. We rented and watched "Forgetting Sara Marshall". WOW! What a great movie.

Payton, Presley and Allie eating home made chocolate chip cookies prepared by Daddy!


The girls coloring beautiful artwork!







Saturday was another much needed lazy day. We slowly packed our stuff and the car. We watched the OU vs. OSU game Sat. night, drank some Starbucks and was on the road about 11:00 PM. Needless to say we were tired once we got in to Austin. As much as we enjoyed spending time with our family and friends, we were glad to be back at our new home in Austin!

Sunday we slept in and watch Ed Young on t.v. since we didn't make it to church. Payton was invited for a play date with one of her friends from her school, London. Payton loves London. She tells us all about her..."London has that!" It's London this and London that. So I dropped her off at London's house for a few hours while Ashly, Presley and I put up the Christmas tree and decorated the apartment.

Despite the scare we had with BJ, Ashly and I have so much to be thankful for. As I have said before, we have two healthy and happy little angels, wonderful family, an exciting new home in Austin, our church, great friends, our health, each other and our faith! Thank you Jesus for a blessed life!