New Restaurant

I'm behind again....and I can promise this weekends stuff will probably be late as well. Oh well! So I don't have much to post about last weekend because it ended up being a pretty quiet weekend. BUT we did get out of the house and went to the movies. We watched the new Twilight movie "New Moon". It was okay, I'm still a much bigger fan of the books than the movies. After the movie, we tried a new restaurant. I can't remember what it was called but it was a Japaneses Teppan Yaki style restaurant. It was fun and soooo good. I had been basically perfect all week in what I was eating so I really enjoyed having some rice. Good date!

Our first visitors from out of town

Before I get into this post, let me just say that while I enjoy this blog because I can look back on what we have done, I do not enjoy the actual blogging. I find that I am putting it off each week and soon I imagine I will be more than a week behind. UGH! It's becoming a pain to take the time (like I'm just so busy and can't fit it in, right?) and sit down and do it. It's much easier to put it off like I do with all my other "chores" like laundry, cleaning the bathroom, and ironing. :)


Last weekend, Peter's brother Alex came to visit. But he didn't come alone...since his daughter Lola was under two she could fly for free and came too! It was so fun to be around her and see how she has grown since our visit to Utah.

FRIDAY:
We picked up Alex and Lola at the airport on Friday afternoon. I figured Alex needed to experience some REAL Mexican food so we went to a restaurant called The Blue Goose. I have been there twice before but Peter hadn't gone yet. The food was so so so yummy and Alex loved it. (I, in fact, have been craving it all this week which is a bad thing since I'm trying to be good about what I eat until our trip to Mexico.) We spent the rest of the night hanging out and watching Lola be stinkin' cute.

Peter being a great uncle and playing with his niece.

SATURDAY:

We start out Saturday checking out the free pancake breakfast at our apartments but that just wasn't going to be enough so we went out to breakfast. Here is Lola enjoying a lemon. (She asked, i.e. pointed and grunted, for it so don't think I'm totally a mean aunt!)

We then headed to downtown Dallas. When we were talking with Alex about what we could do in town he was really interested when we suggested going to the Grassy Knoll. Until I one of my trips to Dallas for CROSSMARK, I never realized that JFK was shot in Dallas. He was part of our parents and grandparents generation and has always been just a note in a history book to me. We toured the 6th Floor Museum which was very interesting and I found myself getting somewhat emotional. I learned so much and feel so much compassion for those who lived through that tragedy. I want to go back again so that I can take the time to read each caption under each picture and watch each of the movies.

This is the former Texas School Book Depository building where Lee Harvey Oswald worked and this is the spot from which he shot President John F Kennedy.This is the 6th floor window where Oswald was.

The window is permanently open.

Peter and Alex looking at the building and discussing whether there really was only one shooter...

The X on the road marks the exact spot of the President when he was shot.

Alex, Peter, and Lola

This is the Grassy Knoll.

It has remained basically the same since that day and has not been changed.

After the Grassy Knoll we walked to Reunion Tower but it was closed so Peter and I will have to hit that tourist site later. We also drove to the Stockyards in Ft. Worth but none of us were really that jazzed to check it out once we got there so instead we headed back home for some lunch. We hit up some true Texan BBQ at a place near our house. YUMMY. I am picky on my meats so the meat isn't always my favorite part of the meal but I won't turn down any of the sides that come with the meat. I can see how if you let it, the food in Texas can plump you right up! Plus, let me tell you, I really do love BBQ sauce. Put it on meat, veggies, mac-n-cheese, rolls...whatever - it works with everything.

After that heavy meal we all just wanted to take a nap, but thankfully Alex pushed us to get out of the house. So we went to the mall and walked around.

Here's a pic of Lola riding the carousel.

She was so cute and waved each time she went around.

After the baby went to sleep we played cards. Alex kicked our butts at Phase 10 and then Peter kicked his butt at Texas Hold 'Em.

SUNDAY:

Saturday was a FULL day, so on Sunday we were more lazy... We made breakfast at home and just hung out. We hit a restaurant for lunch before it was time to take them back to the airport. Overall it was a fantastic weekend and was a lot of fun. It sure is nice to have visitors come to see us. Hopefully next time Alex's whole family can come!

Here are a couple other cute pictures from the weekend.

Lola - you can see what a cute personality she has!

Uncle Peter and Lola

Cowboys Football

I spent Friday and most of Saturday in Louisville, KY at a funeral for a co-worker's son so consequently I didn't really want to do much the rest of the weekend as far as an activity. I just wanted to hang out at home. I figured that this weekend would just be skipped and we wouldn't do anything. But then, on Sunday afternoon, my co-worker Jana invited Peter and I over to her house to watch the Cowboy football game. Now, I have never really been interested in the NFL however it quickly became clear to me once we moved to TX that if I continue to not care about football (not including BYU) that I will not fit in very well in Dallas! So, it just wouldn't be right to turn down this invitation. (At the very minimum, it would ensure that I could finally participate in the day-after-the-game-in-depth-discussion at lunch on Monday.) It was fun to hang out with Jana and her family and friends. We watched a little Bill Cosby, a little 4th grade football, and, of course, some Dallas Cowboy Football. They won the game!

Enjoyed it? Yes Do it again? We'll have to or they might kick us out of Texas.

Trick or Treat

For Halloween, we went to a Haunted House (Supersized)... :) There was a place about an hour away from our house that was apparently ranked as one of the top 10 haunted houses in the nation. Thrillvania may not have been the BEST haunted house I've ever been to, but it certainly had the most attractions. There were two haunted houses, a muddy maze, a haunted bayoo, a walk through the dark fields, and a animatronic type show. I was really looking forward to this date and then about 30 seconds into the first haunted house had the thought, "What was I thinking?!?!" It's been nearly a decade since I had been to a haunted house and clearly with time, my brain forgot how freakin' scared I get. Peter had a good time laughing at his wife screaming, clinging to her husband while burying her head in his arm, and walking with eyes closed. ha ha I thought the coolest thing were these halls we had to walk down (forgive me as I try to explain this) where you had to push through these black big puffy walls (in the dark) in order to get through. It was the oddest sensation to not be able to see anything, feel the walls closing in around you, and HOPING you would make it out. This was the first time I'd ever encountered anything like it - crazy!!! We have never really done anything for Halloween since we have been married so it was a lot of fun.

Enjoyed it? Yes. Do it again? We'll probably try a different one next year.

Casino Night

Last night CROSSMARK had a Casino Night fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network that we attended. It was Peter's first time inside my work, so that was fun (even though all he saw was the lunchroom). There was food, drinks, door prizes, a raffle, and a silent auction. I bid on a few things (with no real intention of getting anything) but then I went to check things out before the final group closed out and noticed that there was a Yoga package that no one had bid on. I figured, hey it's for charity and it's silly to have something not have at least one bid. So I wrote down 20.00 and of course won it. So now I am the recipient of a one month unlimited pass to some fancy yoga place (package worth 180.00)! Now I enjoy doing Yoga in the privacy of my own home but do it in public? Yikes...good thing the package doesn't expire for a year and I can get myself in better shape before I do any Warrior 2 poses publicly. :) Peter and I spent the majority of our evening playing Blackjack. I certainly do enjoy playing blackjack especially when it's with fake money! It ended up being a great night and we had fun. Enjoyed it? Yes. Do it again? Next year for sure (and I will probably participate more in the silent auction).

Texas State Fair

So this evening we hit the Texas State Fair. It was certainly big and we didn't see even a fraction of all there was to see. But, we saw the main points we were interested in. We wandered through a butterfly garden which was beautiful but lacked butterflies. We figure either they didn't like the cloudy weather or the cold temperature.

(This is the first time I have tried to post a picture on this blog and I really hate the way you upload them....grr. Also, I didn't bring my camera so all these pics were taken with my cell phone.)

Above is Peter with in front of "Big Tex" the symbol of the Texas State Fair.

As it came closer to the start of the fair I started hearing about the food of the fair. Apparently this is a major deal and each year there is a contest for the best food at the fair. I guess I should clarify that it's all about things that are either FRIED or on a stick or both! Here are some of the things you can get fried at the fair - carmel apple, pecan pie, oreos, ice cream, funnel cakes, snickers, onion strings, and alligator.

Here's a list of what we ate at the fair - Deep fried cookie dough, deep fried peanut butter and jelly, deep fried garlic butter, chili cheese nachos, corn on the cob, cotton candy, fried corn dog, and a fried green goblin (green chili stuffed with chicken,guac,cheese and then fried). I think the deep fried cookie dough was my favorite. By the end of the evening, just the smell of all the fried food made me sick.

Just like every fair I have been to, there were rides, carnival games, animals, and the multitude of booths filled with crap to waste your money on. I am proud to say none of these got our money. We still found plenty to entertain us, though. We watched a pirate/high dive show. We checked out the butter sculptures and the massive pumpkin carvings. We watched a music/light/fire spectacular. There was also a Polynesian dancer show with hula girls and fire dancers. I loved watching it and hearing the rhythmic drums. It make me miss Hawaii.

So, all in all, it was a fun time and I'm glad we did it! Maybe next year I can get Peter to watch the pig races or we can milk some cows. :) Enjoyed it? YES. Do it again? Next year!


Oh, and the action didn't end once we left the fair. Just as we were getting off the tollway, Peter got pulled over by a cop. This is the first time I've ever been in the car with Peter when he's been pulled over. Apparently my husband was going too fast on the off ramp. But the cop was nice and let us off with a warning("consider this your Welcome to Texas). Enjoyed it? Nope. Do it again? Better not.

Dinner and a Movie

For our first activity we went to dinner and a movie (at the same time). We went to a place called Studio Movie Grill where you watch a movie and can order dinner to eat during your movie. We watched "The Surrogates" and had appetizers and pizza. We got to enjoy a nearly empty theater and comfy office chairs. This was the first time we had done something like this and I think it was a good start. Enjoyed it? Yes. Do it again? Possibly.