Family, Horses and the Country

On Sunday we headed north, about 35 minutes from our house, to visit Mary Ann and Fred, (Mary Ann is Bill's mother's 1st cousin on her dad's side) they own 10 acres west of Hearn, a beautiful piece of property that adjoins their son's 10 acres. They are currently living in their son's, Todd, house, he is in the Army stationed in Afghanistan, once he returns, a year from now, they will start building their new house on their 10 acres. This property is on the side of a hill and very wooded, Todd's house is at the bottom of the hill and their house will be at the top of the hill. Kinda confusing, I know. They have done a wonderful job clearing areas of it and making short hiking and four-wheeler trails all around the property. Their youngest daughter is keeping her two horses out there, so we were able to pet, brush and feed the horses. Allison feel in love with them, it was amazing to see her with the little horse, Rosie, I think the horse feel in love with her also. The horses loved the kids and let them do whatever they wanted, they loved the attention. Sonny the Palomino is 17 years old and Rosie the Paint is only 4 years old. We had a wonderful time and will be making more trips out to their place in the future.

Fred teaching the kids about the horses. He was a wonderful teacher.

Talking to Allison about the horses.

Getting ready to feed the horses apples.

Alex feeding Sonny.

Allison feeding Sonny.
After spending some time with the horses, we hiked to the top of the hill to see where Mary Ann and Fred's new house was going to be built. The view is just beautiful.
At the top of the hill. Check out the view.
On one of the hiking trails going down the hill, of course, guess who's talking all the way down? Allison found herself a walking stick, a must when you are hiking.
After our hike, it was time for the kids to have a snack, well, Rosie thought she needed to enjoy their snack too. The kids were so excited when Rosie came over to the swing and stood there while they ate their snack.

Linda and Mary Ann going for a four-wheeler ride. Mary Ann wanted to show Linda the rest of the property.

Playing in the hay.

12 Years and Counting

It's a date, all dressed up and celebrating 12 years. We went out to eat at a really nice restaurant in Bryan, Christopher's World Grill. Not only was the food wonderful but the atmosphere made the entire experience perfect. This restaurant was an old house fixed up with a jazzy New Orleans flair. We started out with the waiter bringing us a complimentary fried shrimp sushi roll, it was very interesting. Next we ordered an appetizer, a sampler platter that contained Scallops wrapped in Prosciutto, Vietnamese egg rolls, and Almond crusted Brie with an Apricot sauce (it was delicious). For our meal, I had the special, New York Strip drenched in a roasted corn salsa, garlic mashed potatoes and baby squash, Bill had the Raspberry Chipolte Salmon with grilled Shrimp and grilled vegetables. Usually we don't get desert, but since it was a special occasion, we ordered desert, a very rich chocolate cake with hot chocolate sauce oozing out of the middle, I had to order ice cream to eat with the cake, it was really rich and I had to have something to off-set the bold chocolate taste. When the waiter brought out the cake, they had decorated the cake plate with Happy Anniversary from Christopher's, it was very nice. After a 2 hour dinner we came home and put the kids to bed. The kids really liked seeing us all dressed up, it really surprised them.

This is our desert we ordered. When I called and made the reservations they asked if it was a special occasion, I said "it was our anniversary", they asked, "how many years?" I said, "12."
They must have miss understood me and written 10 instead, anyways, it was still real nice.

Spending Time With Nanny and Granddaddy

Saturday, (October 4th), Bill's parents came for a visit. It had been quite awhile since we had seen them, with their travels and our school schedule, it's hard to find time to see each other. Since last weekend was our anniversary, they wanted to come and spend time with the kids and give us a chance to go out on a date to celebrate another year of marriage. They babysat by taking the kids to Mi Cocina, made pudding, and read lots of books. Before our big "date" we had an exciting day by going to Hallmark, Kroger, fixing lunch, and putting up a new ceiling fan in the kitchen. At Hallmark, Linda bought the kids new Webkins, Alex got a snake and Allison got a Gecko, which have been taken everywhere since they were purchased. After a stop at the Hallmark store and Kroger, we came back home and I fixed lunch, it's become a tradition when they come for a visit, I make a very delicious sandwich ring, a recipe from Pampered Chef. After lunch Bill and his Daddy put up a new ceiling fan in the kitchen. Thank goodness he had his help. I'm not a fan of putting up ceiling fans. The one we had was white and gold, a builders choice, cheap and ugly. We put up a more modern one, a iron oil rubbed bronze one.

Showing off our new Webkins.Playing outside with our new Webkins outsideThe old fan.The new fan.