A Nice Surprise

Thanks to a lot of hard work and planning from some sneaky folks I was given a great surprise party on Saturday. It was held at Markus & Contanze's home and was very nice. Eric & Lisa, Jared & Felisha and Paul & Jen were all there to wish me a Happy Birthday. Amanda and Emily were even in on it... tricking me to think Amanda was working etc...

It was so nice of all of you to do this for me. It really shows what great friends & family I have. I am truly blessed.

Now if my "wish" to win the lotto will only come true! :)

My 40th Birthday

Well today I turned 40 and surprisingly I don't feel different. Not even a little bit! I expected to feel something, but nope nothing! I guess that is really proof that you are only as old as you feel and age is just a number.

I got this beautiful Magnolia tree from David (which is not an easy find in December.) I can't wait to get it planted so it will bloom soon!

I had a great day filled with lots of relaxing, cards, gifts, text messages & phone calls all wishing me well. It was one of the best birthday's I have ever had.

Train ride to the North Pole

After three years of trying to get tickets I was finally successful in booking us on the North Pole Flyer. The key is to do it early!!!!! I booked us in August and that was ALMOST too late.

The North Pole Flyer is the train that leaves from Cedar Park and goes to the North Pole (Bertram really). If you are considering a ride I hear they will start selling the tickets in January this year. It is really worth the extra money to ride in the Executive Car (EC) . It is very intimate and cozy and you have complimentary drinks & snacks. If you spend the extra money for it and you won't be disappointed.

The conductor came by "punching" tickets....

We were visited by Santa & Mrs. Clause. We sang Christmas Carols and read "The North Pole Flyer" story. It was amazingly similar to the Polar Express! :)

We had some great family time that helped get us in the Christmas spirit.

We Have Walls....

Sunday morning we had a really nice, but empty slab.... Then David, Markus & Eric got busy.

Thanks to all their hard work we are well on our way to having a building complete with another bathroom, a much needed washer & dryer and a LOT of additional living space!!!

In no time the first wall went up!

So you see Vivian....

Allie got in on the action too.

"Coffee" break

Measure twice, cut once

All walls were standing and square before 5 PM!!!!

Thanks again Markus & Eric for your great help!!!!

County Show and FFA Banquet

The week after Thanksgiving was filled with activities from county stock show. Both girls had their goat to show but Emily helped out with showing chickens and entered some of the youth fair events as well.

Both goats placed 12th in their division which is not that bad but we thought they should have done better. Hopefully the Major show in March will be better!

Allie did a wonderful job in the ring. She handled her goat with ease and had no problems with him at all. I was very proud of her.

Emily got excellent ribbons for her photo entries but she took us all by surprise and won Reserve Grand Champion with her Carrot Cake. She did it all on her own with a little coaching from Grannie. Both girls will be entering more in the youth fair next year as there are so many categories they can choose from.

This past Thursday was the FFA Banquet. Emily had to say the FFA creed in front of the entire audience (about 250 people). She did it flawlessly and did not even seem nervous. She received certificates for her achievement thus far this year - quite a lot of them actually....

Allie got a certificate for showing her goat in the county fair as well. She wants to have more next year so she is already thinking about what projects she can do.

The girls have really thrived in FFA & 4H. I am so very glad we took on this challenging yet exciting adventure as a family!