Nathan sprains his ankle

Nathan spent Monday and Tuesday trimming trees at his moms house. He didn't wear a hat and his face is pretty sunburned. Somehow he sprained his ankle but didn't feel any pain at first. As the hours passed he started to feel a little discomfort. By 5 o'clock he couldn't walk with out a huge limp. We came home and he took a shower while I fixed dinner. When he got out he hobbled down the hall and suddenly couldn't put any weight on his foot. It's kind of sad seeing your husband crawl around on the floor. I called my mom and asked her if she still had my crutches. She did so at 9pm I drove over to her house to pick them up. Nathan used the crutches that night and at work yesterday. After a lot of ice and a healthy amount of Excedrin he's doing a lot better!

Bridal Shower for Denise

I went to Los Patios for a bridal shower for Denise Trial on Saturday. Denise is the daughter of my friend, Darlene. Here are a few
pictures...

Joy and Brad are having a baby!

Joy and Brad are expecting their first child on Sept. 17th. She finally told the staff today in our Tuesday morning devotions. It's nice that everyone knows now. She told me middle of January. We were at the Painted Plate working on projects and she said she was practicing on a piece of cardboard. She turned the card board around and it read, "I'm pregnant!" She was laughing through her tears! We sat there laughing/crying right in the middle of The Painted Plate. This poster was made by some of the girls on her volleyball team.

Movies and a fight

Saturday night Nathan and I went to see Vantage Point. It was good except for we were surrounded by IDIOTS! Everyone around us got on my nerves. It all started with this young punk in front of us who was wearing a hat. A ballcap. He wore it about 4 inches off the top of his head and tilted to the side. Nathan was about to come unglued. A few minutes into the movie this young punk decided to snuggle up to his punkette girlfriend and the hat was in the way. He took it off and all was well. For a brief moment, anyway.

Next, the folks behind us were talking. Loud. The wouldn't shut up! We tried to ignore it for a littel while and it did tailor down a bit. (If you haven't seen Vantage Point, don't worry. My story will not ruin the movie for you.) As soon as it quited down we learned the theme of the movie. It's about a presidental assasination and the way it goes is it shows the story line where the president is in Spain and is heavily gaurded with security and then from a distance shots are fired and the president goes down. Well, since we are supposed to hear from several different people the movie "rewinds" and starts back at 11:59 am to show another view point. It does this about 7 times. Every time it does this people in the crowd start to whine and moan like they're watching Bill Murray in Ground Hog day. But it's not the same. Every time it rewinds and goes back to the starting scene, something new is revealed so it's not boring at all.

Back to the loud talking couple....here they go again. They're laughing about how stupid this movie is that keeps repeating itself. They are getting louder. I do what any normal annoyed person would do. I turn around and politely glare at them. It doesn't stop them. A few minutes later, Nathan turns around. Still, they continue to talk. I wait a few minutes and can't take it anymore. They are talking so I turn my head around about as fast as the Exocist girl and I look at them and say, "Could you PLEASE stop talking!?" as I put my finger up to my lips like I'm talking to a group of 2nd graders. I could hear them gasp and do their "Well, I never!" breathing but finally they stopped! Ahhhhh.

When we were leaving the movie I was sitting there and I was having a hard time getting my coat on. I felt like Nathan was just sitting there watching me struggle. So, what did I do? I got mad at him! I know, I'm mean. He can't read my mind. So, we left the movies both in a bit of a bad mood. We were in two seperate cars. That was good. It was giving me time to feel bad for getting mad at him for such a stupid thing. I just wanted him to see that I was struggling and automatically help me get my coat on. Didn't happen that way. So, on our way home Nathan is following me. We get to the light on Bitters and Heimer. All of a sudden the car in front of me had a car full of boys jump out and go to the car next to it, also full of boys, and start POUNDING each other IN THE STREET! A huge Westside Story kind of fight was going on right in front of my eyes. I froze. All I could do was lay on my horn. Like that would stop them. Then I thought to grab my cell phone and call 911. I had the officer on the line and was describing to him what I was watching. All the boys jumped back into their cars and the cars took off. At least one of them pulled into the Souper Salad/ Mr. Panda parking lot. I guess there's a bar there, too. I followed them. Nathan followed me. I drove around still on the phone with the police. I circled around and found 2 cops talking to a group of boys. I pulled up and asked if these were the boys that were just in a fight. The cop on the phone told me it was ok to hang up with him so I could talk to the other cop in person. Well, it was the same group. Only one car got caught. The other car got away. Nathan is behind me wondering what the heck is going on. He didn't see the fight. He later told me that he thought I was so mad at him for not helping me with my coat that I went to the cops. How silly! That's our exciting Saturday night!

A Strong Foundation

Yesterday they started pouring the foundation for the narthex of the new Worship Building.

That's the view from outside my office window. It's looking pretty awesome. We hope to be in the new worship center by Christmas of this year. Maybe even Thanksgiving!

Today I went to lunch with Joy and Sara. We went to Earl of Sandwich. It is soooo yummy! Adam was walking out the same time we were....

Speaking of Adam, he's our resident political guru up in the office. Yesterday he went down to the Alamo to meet Mike Huckabee. Even though things aren't looking good for Huck, we still are praying for him and his campaign! Go Huckabee! Here's an article out of The LA Times....

Mike Huckabee's strategy: Deadlocked convention
In an interview with a San Antonio radio station this morning, Mike Huckabee essentially confirmed the suspicions of many analysts. He's hanging on in the Republican presidential nomination fight hoping to keep John McCain from winning enough delegates to get the nomination on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention in September.
Huckabee's thinking: With no clear nominee, the conservative wing will move to him, and he might be able to snatch the nomination in a floor fight, he told station WOAI-AM (1200). But it will take an upset win in Texas on March 4 to do that, he said.
"If we win Texas, I think it changes the dynamics of this race," Huckabee said. "It could well go all the way to the convention. If the convention delegates pick the president, chances are they would pick the most conservative. I would be the one they would end up picking, if that’s the criteria."
That's a lot of "ifs." Polls in Texas vary widely, but the Real Clear Politics aggregate gives McCain a 12-point lead, which might be close enough for Huckabee to pull off a surprise. Especially if McCain's base believes that the nomination is all his and doesn't bother to vote.
-- Scott Martel

MIKE HUCKABEE Check him out!!

We're gonna be Godparents!

This is an old, old picture, I know. In fact, I have some very recent ones from her but I didn't save them into my Shutterfly yet so this one will have to do.

I had lunch with Shawna today. Well, I had already eaten so I met her for tea and she ate lunch. We hadn't gotten together in a long time. She asked Nathan and I to be Godparents for Ava. We gladly accepted. Her baptism is March 9th at the 11 o'clock service. We're so excited!

I worked out last night and I'm in pain. Particularly my calves.Trainers say you can work them out everyday but right now my calves are telling me to shut up and just sit down.I recently joined Fitness 19 It's a little gym close to work and it's only $19 a month. Last week 3 trainers came by and offered a group sign up to Concordia staff.

Back To Work

Why is it so hard to come back to work after taking a little trip or even just taking a few days off? I really love my job and everyone I work with but I can't lie. I do like being away. Now that this little trip is over and passed, it's time to roll up my sleeves and really get crackin'. On VBS, that is. There's so much to do, plan, prepare and organize. My heart starts racing just thinking about it. Not b/c of excitement but because of anxiety. Here are a couple of snap shots from VBS passed projects.

Sunday in Keystone--Rise and Shine / High Stress...high altitude

After our wonderful day in Breckenridge with Amy, it was time for her to head back to SA. This thin air is for the birds! Nathan and I got up around 4am to take Mike and Amy to the Denver airport. The snow was still falling. The roads were still playing "hide and seek" but we managed to get our sweet friends to the airport in time for their flight. It took about 2 hours to get there but it was a nice drive. I was sad to have them go home early but I'm thankful for the time we had together.

The sun started to come up and the drive back to Keystone was nice. Great scenery! I didn't see it the first time in on Friday morming b/c I was driving. Here are some shots from the car...

This is closer to Keystone. Higher and colder and more snow than in Denver.

We got back to the condo and got ready for the day. Jo went skiing with Seth.

Keene still had a hurt wrist so we took him to the medical center. We dropped him off at 10:30 am and we were going to meet up with him in time for our 2:30 reservation for snow mobiling. Well, time was quickly passing by. We took a lot of pictures of skiers. Called and checked on Keene. Went to the condo to run a few errends. Called and checked on Keene. Used our condo sleds to do a little sledding outside our front door to pass some time. Called and checked on Keene, again. Finally at 2pm we got in the car to pick up Keene ready or not. We were gonna be late! We called the Snow Mobile folks and got NO sympathy from them. They told us that we would be left and we would not get our money back. I went in and got Keene and his broken wrist. We left the clinic at 2:25 and had 5 minutes to make a 20 minute drive. It was a quiet and stressful ride into Frisco. We made it there JUST in time but poor Keene wasn't able to join us for the snow mobiling tour b/c of his fractured wrist. The shuttle offered to take him back to the condo so he could rest.

Nathan and I got back into our car and drove about 45 minutes into the mountains. Our tour would take place in Leadville. We finally made it and went inside the base camp to get our gear on. We were layered up like nobody's business! We had our ski clothes on. We had our goggles, ear bands, coats, gloves, etc. They let us borrow boots and helmets.

We went outside with our group for the demonstration/ training session. Our tour guide was great. I chose not to drive my own. I rode with Nathan and I'm so glad I did. I would have wrecked in the first 5 minutes. The tour was about 2 1/2 hours. It was awesome! We were in the thick of the mountains on some really cool trails. Lots of steep hills and sharp turns. We almost flipped once but Nathan didn't lose control. Yes, I was screaming.

Wow, was that fun! Nathan and I had a blast! It was 3 degrees once we got back down to the car. I have no idea how cold it was UP in the mountain. It was freezing, though!

We went back to the condo and made dinner. Mike's friend Seth joined us again and stayed around to play Cranium. Here's a pic of him and Jo doing a puppet/ charade question....

It was a fun last night.

Saturday in Keystone

Saturday morning Nathan and I woke up and met up with Becky and Joe. They were in CO for President's Day weekend, too. Unplanned. It was hilarious when we figured out that we'd be in the same place for a weekend vacation. Joe is in the military and purchased lift tickets for $55 vs. the regular $86 price. Expensive, huh! We bought 3 of them. One for me, Nathan and Keene. Keene is a friend of Jo's from Houston. I forgot to mention that he met up with us at the airport in Houston.

When Nathan and I got back to the condo Amy told us that she needed to go home. The altitude was making it hard to breathe. Not just for her. Nathan and I were struggling too. We were supposed to go skiing that day but we made it a girls day and the boys went skiing. Ahhh- a much better plan. Which would you pick? Risking major injuries and coming back in pain and really sore..... OR going shopping and to the spa? Yeah, we enjoyed our girl time!

We went to shop after shop. It was so funny walking in our high heel boots. Jo and I almost fell about every other yard. I found a beautiful cross and Amy bought an icthus trivet.

We all got our nails done and we had a nice lunch together.

--Drinks and appetizers at Modis in Breckenridge.

It was a very special day.

We drove back to Keystone to meet up with the guys for dinner. Our drive back was a little on the scary side. The snow was coming down pretty hard and I had a difficult time seeing the lanes on the road. We finally made it. Nathan and Keene were really tired after skiing and Keene complained of an injured wrist.

Dinner was good. We all went back to our condo and watched a movie. Amy and Mike were able to book a flight for the next morning to head back to San Antonio. Good night. Early start tomorrow.

Welcome to Colorado!

This is a freakin' long day. Friday, that is. Yesterday, I went to work. Took Zeta to the groomer. Doesn't she look beautiful?


After work, I took her over to Mom's house for her weekend visit. By the way this is Valentine's Day. That's why she has the pink and red hearts bandana. Nathan was at work until midnight and we were all packed to drive to Houston so we could fly out of Houston to Denver. We met Amy and Mike at 2:30 AM and got to Houston around 5:30 AM. We picked up Jo and drove to the airport. Here's what Amy looked liked squished in the car.

We got to the airport and had some adventures. Mike thought he forgot his driver's license so he had to go through extensive searching in the glass box. Amy's bag was 9 pounds over weight and had to transfer clothes to Mike's snowboard bag. If that wasn't enough, I did not pack my toiletries in clear baggies so we had to wait while they did it for me! By the way, after this Amy found Mike's id in her bank envelope!


The flight was ok. We landed in Denver a little early. Rented our car. Drove to Keystone. Our condo is very nice. Very mountain looking decor. Love it! We had to take a little power nap before before we went to rent skis and grocery shop. Jo and Mike went night skiing and had a great time. We made dinner and had a nice relaxing night. Seth came over for a visit (Mike's friend) and Mike and Seth made Nathan take them to a bar for a drink. Poor Nathan was so tired. He was about to keel over and pass out.

Had a great night sleep!


Lunch at Tommy Knockers.... here's the beer sampler.



Mike, Amy and Keene at Tommy Knockers.


Amy, Me and Jo.

Under Construction!

Last night Nathan and I went out to Bergheim to see the new home my father in law is building. Bergheim is north on Blanco road about 30 minutes away. Andy Allen with Hill Country Classics started construction a few weeks ago and things are moving along nicely! I am so excited for him. It's going to a perfect house for him and Joan. It's on 4+ acres and the location couldn't be more breathtaking. He's dreamt of this day for so long and I'm so excited it's happening!

Daniel (my brother in law) and Kelsey (my niece) were sneaking a peak, too. Here's a picture of her new friend from Build a Bear. A Valentine's Day gift from her dad.

Dan said that the builders started the roof in the morning.

This picture was taken around 5:45 pm

Nathan and his dad on the back porch.....

Check out this gorgeous oak tree. It's next to the back right side of the house....close to the back porch.

Here's the windmill on his land. Kelsey had a mission to climb it. That's right about where she stopped. Smart girl!

Girl's Weekend

This past weekend was a great time spent with old friends. Ali, Shannon and Brandie came to San Antonio for the Women of Faith conference and Becki, Amy and I all had a chance to catch up with one another. Ali flew in on Thursday afternoon around 3pm. We went to my house to get all of my slumber party necessities and then headed over to Becki's. We all stayed there.

Amy drove us all downtown for dinner at Caso Rio on the river. We ate and then walked over to the Alamodome.












The evening was awesome. We had great conversation and the kick off to the conference was powerful! Mark Shultz was sooo good! He sang for about 45 minutes. All the speakers were great. 10 pm the evening ended and we all went back to Becki's and called it a night.

Friday morning we headed downtown and heard from the rest of the Women of Faith team. That evening we opted to skip the 3:16 event and had a very nice dinner at Cafe Paladar. We all shared tapas and they were delicious! We went next door to Swig North but it was so early it was pretty dead. We went back to Becki's for our last night of our slumber party weekend.

Saturday morning Amy didn't join us because she had to work at the studio. This next weekend we're going skiing and she couldn't miss 2 Saturdays. The final day of WOF was great! Lot's of laughing and priceless time with the girls.

To Ali, Amy, Shannon, Becki, and Brandie--I love you!!

PS...here's a pic of baby Kate-