Vegas, Baby!

 Over MLK weekend, Steve and Emma headed to Vegas for a soccer tournament. The girls had been looking forward to this big trip for months! After weighing our options, we decided Steve would take Emma and I'd stay home with Sara. There were several other dad/daughter combos who went, so it worked out perfectly.

Emma scored the first goal of the tournament! In the second game, she followed up with two more. I was sorry to miss them, but loved reading Steve's excited updates. So proud of her hard work!

These girls are teammates and great friends, and they got lots of bonding time between games. Meals at House of Blues, arcade time, exploring the strip ... they did it all!

They fought their way to the quarter finals and lost a heartbreaker in PKs. Sounds like they were the better team, just couldn't find the back of the net. I know they were disappointed to come home without hardware, but I think the experiences and memories made up for it.

The team stayed at Mandalay Bay and enjoyed the aquarium there!

The weather was cool but didn't stop them from hitting the town!

What an amazing weekend for these 10-year-olds (and it sounds like their dads had plenty of fun, too...)

Meanwhile, Sara and I enjoyed a low-key long weekend. We took Jim to the dog park and then for a pup cup. It's cute but also a little ridiculous that he now gets excited when we enter the Starbucks drive through lane.

We spent way too much time (and money) at Target, where we finally joined the 21st century with a Keurig. Sara wasted no time putting it to use!

We ate out a bunch ... twice at Taverna. Why not?! We watched "Wednesday" on Netflix, shopped, went to the nail salon, and just enjoyed taking it easy.

Our weekend wasn't as exciting as Vegas, but it was pretty perfect!

More Celebrations

Last weekend we celebrated Steve's 42nd birthday ... and Jim's 3rd! We love these birthday buddies.

To celebrate, we took a family trip to Pinstack ...

With each year that passes, I'm more and more grateful for the time we have together. Time spent playing games, ordering milkshakes the size of Emma's head, laughing together, just having simple fun ... it's the best and I wouldn't trade a minute of it.

Here's to many, many more celebrations like this!

Winter Break Part II

 Finally catching up on the end of our winter break. It stayed super cold through Christmas, which we didn't mind. We had the fire going and good food to eat ... the cold put us in the spirit! We celebrated Christmas Eve with the Brittains, first watching a Cowboys win followed up several rounds of "A Christmas Story."

The girls were up and ready to go on Christmas morning. 

Both girls were thrilled with their gifts ... it's so fun to see Santa get it right! This was Emma's face opening her new Air Jordans.

And Sara got the Nike Blazers she'd been wanting.

Pickle Present ... this tradition lives on! Santa didn't do a great job of hiding the pickle this year, but nobody seemed to mind.

Steve and I exchanged Cyclone gear, of course.

And Jim was super happy with his haul - treats, chew toys, etc.

We got a laugh out of the "beer deer" I got for Steve. Bought it on a whim and he put it right together!

We headed to MN on the 27th for a continuation of Christmas. It was so good to have everyone together.

Finally, finally, finally ... the girls made it to a ski slope. They had a beautiful day for a lesson, and we were able to have a beer on the deck overlooking the hill they were on.

It took just a couple times down the bunny hill to really get the hang of it, then they moved onto a bigger hill. Both girls caught onto snow-plowing and making wide turns. It was so fun to watch!

The best part was they the loved it! After their lesson, they kept skiing for another hour on their own because they were having so much fun. We wrapped up the momrning with a chalet lunch ... yum!

On one of the evenings, we walked though the arboretum's light display. Super fun and festive!

I was so glad to have a chance to see some of my high school friends for lunch. We were missing a couple, but still had the best time. It's like no time has passed when I'm with these ladies!

Of course we hit a couple of sledding hills, too.

Down and back up countless times ...

We were lucky to have beautiful weather and plenty of fresh snow!

Melissa, Adam, Steve, and I had a date night at the Stars/Wild game.

I enjoyed every bite of this brat with kraut!

On the way out of the stadium, we had to pose for this picture with TS. We sent it to Sara who didn't act nearly as impressed as we were hoping she would.

I love having the cousins together, and my girls do such a great job with Cal. They baked, played pool, and basically did whatever else he wanted them to do.

Although it was a little chilly, the girls couldn't leave without a few games of darts.

Family bowling fun! 

We had a NYE dinner at Benihana before watching the ball drop and finishing a puzzle at home.

Cal wasn't sure what to think of the big table fire!

Before we knew it, we were back at the airport to head back to Dallas ... and back to reality. We had a great break with too much food and drink, and lots of special family time.

2023 started on a positive note for our little family ... hoping that's a sign of things to come!