Vacation in Austin/Randomness

I've been lazy with my camera lately and have no current pics of what we have been up to. However, we did some great things in October and November that I haven't gotten around to posting about so buckle up because here comes a long one!

We vacationed in Austin and San Antonio a while back. We figured we had better take advantage of Texas highlights while they were so accessible. We saw the bigger-than-White-House state capitol, we remembered the Alamo, we had fun swimming in the Hotel pool, we visited the San Antonio temple grounds, and we stayed with relatives.

THE ALAMO

TEMPLE GROUNDS--David in bare feet and short sleeves Oct. 30 (for the record the average temp tomorrow, Dec. 21st, is 82 degrees. Madness I say.)

HOTEL POOL

FUN WITH DETMERS

Now we have a few pics of pure randomness. One day I decided that I needed to have photo shoot with David. I have bad luck taking pictures and admit I don't know much about photography at all. No matter, David thought the photo shoot was lame anyway so my creative work turned to shambles.

The last straw--"I hate your photo shoot ideas mom!"

Random picture #2. Yard/Garage sales are THE BOMB in Houston. This is David and I shamoozing it up out there. Do you see how lame our sale was? I barely put anything out there and I made 27 bucks. And the kid wasn't even included in the sale!

Random pic #3--New Testament photo submission. That's right. I heard all about the New Testament Project that the church was doing. Now I typically feel weird putting pics of just myself on here, and you can see how the photo isn't that great, but I'd pass for a Israelite woman right? This is my big break. I've been told forever that I look "exotic" or "Egyptian" or "Persian" or (my favorite) like a Bratz doll. Now I can put my features to good use and blend in to the background of a scene in Jerusalem. Ah the life. Oh and I haven't heard back from them and my photo has been submitted for months so I probably didn't make the cut...but still.


Random #4---Witch Finger Cookies! Brian told me to make him a treat to take Home Teaching. He was given new assignments (all incactive or brand new converts) so I made them jokingly at first but he ended up using them. And hey, they tasted good. This was obviously back in October. These are a spooky treat and super fun and easy to make. If I remember I'll do a tutorial next October.



And just because this is cute...he has such a cute face with his big blue eyes and rosy red lips.

Santa's Cookies

This was on our friend's blog so we're paying the laughs forward...this is seriously hilarious (at least to me and Brian). Enjoy!

Puppy Anyone?

Isn't this the best picture? I love puppies. And these pups are going to be awesome. They are a Labrador/German Short hair mix. The lab is my sister's dog. So if you happen to be looking for a great family pet this is a nice breed. If you think they're cute now just wait...

A Texan Christmas

This year I'll have my first (and maybe only?) Texan Christmas.

I don't think any of my blog readers are from Texas so I'll tell you a little about it.

A few days ago it was 80 degrees outside. There is never snow on the ground so something that is really popular around here are the yard decorations. I'm not talking about your typical string of Christmas lights either (though there is plenty of that too). What I'm talking about is giant Snoopy snow globes, reindeer, life-size Santa Clauses, "North Pole this Way" signs, and mini ski-lifts with goofy snowmen waving hello as you drive by. Perhaps if only one or two houses in the neighborhood had this stuff I wouldn't find it so darn funny. But everyone has the yard decor! It is so hilarious. The only thing I can figure is that the decorations are popular because snow-less yards are empty and sad looking during the holiday season.

Brian and I were driving around a bit and came to a really decked-out house. And out on the front lawn was a card table surrounded with 4 or 5 adults in Santa hats (probably a little drunk) watching the people drive by.

So as many of you sit cozily by the warm fire watching the snowfall outside, just remember what dear ol' Kayla is up against.

It may not be a white Christmas but even a Texan Christmas is bound to be good. I love the holidays.