Packer Surprise

Brian surprised me with tickets to the Packer playoff game against the Cowboys. 

We left at 6am Sunday morning and headed to Arlington. 

We wanted to get there early, because we weren't sure how long it would take to pick up our tickets and parking pass. We had no problems at all, except people joking with us that they couldn't help Packer fans! :) 

We went and ate lunch at the Twisted Root. Fun atmosphere and great hamburgers!

We parked a block away and headed over to the stadium pretty early. 

Can you spot us?

Inside AT&T stadium before the game!

A nice Cowboy fan took our picture:)

LOVE!

It was such a great game!! Packers were on fire the first half, let the Cowboys come back and tie it up in the second half. We could hardly watch the last field goal!

SO fun to be surrounded by Cowboy fans and come away with a win!

 I'm still smiling thinking about the game, especially the fact that a week goal we were so worried about Brian, and then I got to experience such a great game with him!

God is good!

After the game Packer fans were high-fiving everyone as we walked down. It was sprinkling on the walk back to our car, good thing we were only a block away because by the time we got to the car it started pouring. Then on the drive to the hotel, it started hailing, and tornado sirens were going off. Super crazy and scary!

What a wonderful memory, I will cherish this time forever!

GO PACK GO!

Relaxed

Brian sent me a text on Thursday saying to pack my bags. He convinced his parents to watch our boys overnight and booked a hotel downtown. 

After school on Friday, we said good bye to our boys and headed out.

We stayed at the Omni, and it was very nice. We were SO excited to sleep through the night!

Brian also booked us a couple's massage for Saturday morning. 

It was wonderful!

Excited for my massage

We stopped by the Galleria on the way home to do a little shopping.

It was a wonderful mini "vacation", and so sweet of Brian to plan it. He's a keeper!

We spent the rest of the weekend playing with our boys and making more decisions for the kitchen. It is almost done!!

Before church 

David Crowder

Brian had asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I told him a night out with him. I didn't want just a movie/dinner date. We did some research and found out David Crowder was going to be playing after an Astros' game. We both enjoy going to baseball games and both love David Crowder, so it was a win win!

We splurged on better than top deck seats and dinner at the ball park. The Astros lost (no surprise there), but we enjoyed the game and each other's company and conversation.

After the game, we moved closer to where David Crowder would be playing. We ended up being only about 5 rows back. He is so lively and fun! The concert and worshiping God in the stadium with many other Houstonians was a blast!

Just a little clip of DC in action

My friend Sam came and watched the boys for us. We are so thankful for her, and it looks like Jackson had too much fun without us.:)

I couldn't have pick a better birthday present, and I am so blessed to have spent the last 15 birthdays with the one I love most!

Time Together

This week has flown by!

 

Jackson has enjoyed playing with Papa and Grandma and going to preschool a little late and leaving early. We have been enjoying a lot of time outside swimming and at the park. We are also being blessed by a clean house, dinner, and laundry and yard work being done for us!

One trip to Menchies after Jackson's baseball practice

Brian and I enjoyed a date day on Saturday. We enjoyed shopping and lunch out together!

  While we were gone, Papa took Jackson fishing. They dug up their own worms.

 Not much luck.

 Caught one little fish, but not big enough to keep.

Jackson was upset because he wanted to eat fish for lunch. So, they took him to Long John Silver. Ha!

Highlights

I can't complain about the week nights because Brian picks up Jackson, and they are both home when I get home. Brian does a devotional with Jackson, and I cook dinner. But, the nights are not nearly as relaxing as the weekends.

 

A few fun things we did this weekend:

 

1. Date Night

Our church had Parent's Night Out and we took advantage. We went out to dinner at Chuy's and ate our weight (which is a lot these days) in creamy jalapeno dip! We also did some shopping. Jackson really missed us though. He even woke up Saturday morning and the first thing he said was "Mommy, I really missed you last night." Melts my heart.

 

2. Latte and Pedicure

Brian sent me off for a pedicure and eyebrow wax first thing Saturday morning. Coffee, gossip magazines, pampering, alone time= a pretty great start to any morning! I always leave feeling like a new woman:)

 

3. Artwork

Brian created a canvas for Lincoln's room. I LOVE how it turned out!

 

4. Picnic at the Park

After church we drove to the park with a few animals. We enjoyed lunch outside together and then looked at the animals. Jackson was disappointed the goats wouldn't come eat grass from him.

 Jackson also played on the playground and kicked the soccer ball around with Daddy.

Just like Daddy:)

 5. Shaved Ice

On the way home from the park we picked up some shaved ice because we were all a bit warm. Jackson didn't remember it from last year, but quickly knew he liked it!

Lots Going On

Friday night was date night!

Brian and I went bowling, and I actually beat him the first game. Not even joking!

Saturday morning, Jackson rode his bike and I walked over to Katrina's baby shower. He was just too cute riding with his helmet and backpack on.

Jackson was so excited to see Katrina and meet Titus.

Thankfully Jackson was pretty well behaved.

 

We attempted some family pictures. Not sure if we got anything worthy to be placed on the Christmas card.

 

 So thankful to spend the night out and about with my loves!

 

 Sunday morning, Jackson sang at my aunt's church with his preschool class. I love how nicely he is walking in.

 All week at home he was practicing very loudly. I thought for sure he would be shy and quiet on stage, but he was definitely didn't disappoint. He was so fun to listen and did a great job with the words and hand motions.

 After the service, there was a fall fest. Jackson participated in a pie eating contest against 4 other little boys.

 No surprise that he won 1st place!

Jackson with 2 of his friends from preschool.

 

I forgot to mention the naps I took Saturday and Sunday because I am one tired mama! We had a great weekend together, and I am already counting down to Thanksgiving break....6 more school days!

The Rest Of The Week

Jackson was able to spend a lot of time with Papa Gary, Grandma Elly, Garrison, and Katelyn while they were here.

 

During the week Jackson;

-skipped preschool on Monday and went to Chuck E Cheese with them

-had Grandma take and pick up from preschool almost every day

-had lunch at McDonald's with them

-had to sit and watch us eat Menchies (it's tough being 3)

-played at the park with Garrison and Katelyn

-ate and played at Chick-fil-a

 

 -spent the evening with Papa and Grandma while we went on a date

We went to Chuy's for dinner and to see Here Come the Boom. Seriously one of the funnies and most inspiring movie I have seen in a while. Go see it!

 All the kids wanted a picture with us!

 

-fought, cried, loved, and played with Garrison and Katelyn every day

 

 After we got home from breakfast Saturday morning Jackson said, "I sure do miss them and wish they were still here." That's the worst part of living so far away.

Thankful for our time together!

"Hakuna Matata"

To celebrate our anniversary Brian and I went to see Broadway Across America's The Lion King. Brittany came over to watch Jackson for us. 

LOVE date nights with this man!

I wasn't sure if I wanted to go see The Lion King or not. The pictures I saw online just looked a little weird and the tickets were expensive.

 But, boy am I glad Brian talked me into it!

It really was amazing; the props, the costumes, the actors, the songs, all of it! Zazu was great and Timon and Pumbaa were just like the movie. 

Again, I am thankful for a fun night and 7 years (or 13 from when we started dating) with the man who still holds my heart!

"Can you feel the love tonight?"

A Get Away

Brian and I were lucky enough to get away for the weekend, just the two of us! My aunt and uncle were kind enough to keep Jackson. (We had a resort booked in Dallas, but due to the fact I couldn't go swimming we cancelled and decided to go to Austin.)

We headed out Friday afternoon.

Once we arrived in Austin, we stopped by our hotel to check in. We stayed at The Westin and this time I did a good job booking a hotel. We would definitely stay there again!

After reading different reviews online and a friend's recommendation we headed downtown to Guero's Taco Bar for dinner. Their chicken fajitas were some of the best I ever had! We both were happy we ended up eating there. Did I mention the chicken fajitas were some of the best I ever had?:)

We were going to try and watch the bats fly out from Congress bridge at sunset, so we had some time to kill after dinner. We walked up and down Congress street people watching and going into some unique stores. My favorite was Big Top Candy Store!

Over 1.5 million bats live under Congress bridge and supposedly the bats all emerge at the same time around sunset. We found a seat on the grass and joined the others waiting to see the bats.

The "bat" guy convinced us to wait on top of the bridge for better viewing. The bats didn't come out at sunset. We waited along with all the others until 9:30. We were able to see a bunch of bats fly out from the bridge and go back under. They never all emerged at the same time and flew down the river like we heard they do. We did hear from a bat conservationist that the bats are well fed from all the rain, which means they don't have to work so hard for food each night. Oh well, we had a good time sweating, seeing the sun set on the city, and meeting some other people.

Saturday morning, we hiked around the Botanical Garden at Zilker Park.

We enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and the time walking together. 

There were many different gardens to walk through and paths to take. 

We left the Botanical Garden and went to check out the nature center. Botanical garden was 10 times better! From the nature center, we walked around Lady Bird Lake.

Next up, we checked out the capitol building. There was some kind of Veteran's ceremony going on that we caught the end of.

From where we parked we could see the Longhorn stadium, where Jackson will play one day:)

We drove over to the UT Campus and walked around a bit. The campus is so much bigger than Evangel's!

By this point we were hot, sweaty, and hungry, so we headed back to the hotel. Our hotel was located right at a really nice outdoor shopping center. We walked over, had lunch, and enjoyed shopping without Jackson. We found some really good deals for Brian. I wish we would have had more time to shop.

 We showered and got dressed to go out for an early anniversary dinner.

We drove about 20 minutes to The Oasis located right on Lake Travis. We heard from several people it was a great restaurant with an amazing view.

I guess you could say they were right. We didn't want to wait 2 hours for dinner, so we went before sunset but it was just as pretty.

I opted for the expensive mahi mahi while Brian went with a burger! Both were very yummy.

Beautiful views in all directions at the restaurant. There were actually several different restaurants and shops here as well. 

One more picture!

We were going to go have dessert at Austin's Cake ball Bar, but we were both still stuffed at 10 o'clock.

Sunday morning, we headed back to Zilker Park to kayak.

We rented a kayak for a hour and headed towards the city on Lady Bird Lake. I guess I should mention, Brian did all the rowing!

Beautiful sights surrounded us in both directions. 

And...

 that was the end of a wonderful weekend away spent with the one I love most, but we couldn't wait to get home and love on our little guy!