more precious than gold...

egg nog.

i know some people hate it. can't stand the stuff. they're crazy. friday night, i walked into mom's and she beckoned me to the refrigerator. it took about .24 seconds for my eyes to zero in on the beautiful container of egg nog cooling on the shelf.

matthew, michael and i shared our first glass of egg nog for 2008. it was a beautiful thing, but don't trust me...see for yourself.

matt pouring the yumminess. those are the glasses mama always has on hand for our egg nog. we've used those almost as long as i can remember.

a very happy man

michael's glass about that much more full than mine was 30 seconds after getting the glass...

more pictures

the other night, michael was looking at my blog.

"remember when you used to post pictures on your blog?"

uh...

the posting of pics for dad's bday made me realize how out of it i am. i posted fourteen hundred pics, all in a row. my mom (and others of you) was much smarter. slideshow.

duh...

decades of david...:)

here is a picture story of dad's 50th bday party. there were so many pictures that i had a hard time choosing. because of that, there are elevendy-million pics here and then i didn't feel like i could organize them very well. we can at least, be witnesses to the family, friends and fun!

birthday boy

taking a big ol' bite of his yummy bbq dinner oh...us just playing before the roasting began. this was during the "roast". ellie really felt like she should be the center of attention. :)

dad trying to light the other half of his own "50" year sparkler

dad and mom (and ellie)

and the giant birthday cake! yummy! opening presents

and hugging with kelli. thanks for helping mom set up for the party, kell.

what the decorations looked like. balloons tied to the picture weights of the handsome henry.

awww..gray.

matt and buddy jesse. they're weird!

uncle mike and ellie

nanny and me

henry girls

henry family

and the extended family who were able to come

marme and her brothers: terry, wesley and ricky.

ellie belle

jerry, crystal, jacob and casen

nanny and gray

ellie checking out pa's fun hat

and then, giving a smooch!dan and ree and a sneaky sneaker in the background there!

amy, mandy, sarah and me marme and aunt tammie dad showing off the pen we kids got him for making it 50 years!

happy birthday, baby

i woke michael this morning singing happy birthday. he sleepily said, "oh...i forgot. thank you." i talked to him once this afternoon and then not again until 5:00pm on our way to san angelo. poor guy, he seemed a little depressed. after a few minutes of my unabated excitedness at it just being his birthday, he admitted to a little depression. i think he was glad when his phone rang to distract me from making any further comments.

the phone call was from his little sister, danielle. in the midst of the conversation, i hear michael tell danielle how he isn't getting a bday party because we're headed to my dad's and it seems a 50th bday party trumps a 35th. uh...yeah...he's 34. he seemed a little confused at first, and then excitedly agreed that he was, in fact, only 34. his whole attitude changed! he was depressed no longer! poor thing's been telling people all week that he's turning 35. he was so elated that he even called back a few friends to tell them that he wasn't quite as old as he had originally thought. :/

the family met at outback for a great birthday dinner followed up by delicious cheesecake. yummy!

baby-

you make me so happy to be alive. :) you are my best friend, wonderful husband and provider. i hope that you have a very special 34th birthday. i love you so much!

daddy's little girl

there is a certain story i've been told about my childhood that i think helps define my relationship with my dad.

his friend, dean williamson tells me that he was standing near when a man they all knew looked at me at a tender young age of 3 or 4 and said, "you must be david henry's little girl." i shook my head and said seriously, "no, i'm daddy's little girl."

and it was the absolute truth. there is no way in this world i could be the woman i am without the love of my father. the most amazing dad in the world.

daddy-you are as good today, at 29 as you were long ago at age...well...29. :) i love you dearly and wish i could have been with you on your birthday. we'll celebrate in a couple of days. i hope you had a wonderful day! i love you so much!

-your little girl

ps-just so you know, i told my kids that it was your bday today and they were so excited! they asked if you could come in and bring cupcakes. i explained that you lived in another town and you should have seen their faces drop. i asked how old they thought you were turning today and i got quite the answers: 29! 23! 49! 51! and many, many others. i especially liked the answer 23, since they all know i just turned 27. :)

carving pumpkins...

with someone else's kid. :)

we have some wonderful neighbors. we have really enjoyed getting to know our very next door neighbors ken, ami, khang and new baby kevin. they are such a sweet family. we also love our neighbors on the other side of them, ken and kathy.

this afternoon, after school i went to ken's (very next door neighbors) nail shop and got a wonderful pedicure and manicure. because i was there and khang was there after school, i asked if he wanted me to take him home. he's in kindergarten and hangs out at his dad's shop until it's time to go home for the evening. as we pulled into the garage, he saw michael's car and asked, "is mike inside?" i said that he was and after we got out i watched khang walk to his door. after i told him i'd see him later he said, "but... i need mike." "do you want to come in and say hi to him?" he responded, "no, i just need him to help me make a face in the pumpkin." (come on! how cute is that?!) i promised khang that after dinner, if michael could, he would come get him and they would carve pumkins.

sure enough, as soon as we got home, michael walked to khangs door and had him come over for pumpkin carving. they had a blast. michael made one and khang drew the face for the other one. michael cut that one out too. :) i went to heb to get some candles and khang couldn't have been more delighted. i think this face says it all:

khang's smiling face...

khang and michael getting down to business.

the first product, michael's jack-o-lantern.

good teamwork!

the smiling pumkin.

khang's pumkin in the dark...

and in a flash. khang was so proud of the spiky teeth! :)

he was so excited that he grabbed ken and kathy and showed them too!

michael and khang

(wearing the gold teeth he wanted so badly from heb that i bought for him while getting the candles)

smiling, gold toofed khang.

missing babies...

i've been really missing my family lately. with our final and much needed slow down with travel, there has been a downside. my family times have dwindled to few and far between. well, i guess i still get to see them about once a month, but that's a lot different then every weekend.

the other day at target, i was walking down the aisle and found the cutest little halloween outfits and had to get them for my sweet henry babies. of course, every time i see them sitting on my couch, i miss those babies even more. i mean, wouldn't you too if you could just picture a little bouncy blondie in this orange polk-a-dots and a cuddly, sweet smelling baby in this cute mummy onsie?!?!?

gosh, how stinkin sweet.

today as i was leaving work my mom returned my call from earlier in the day. after my quick, "hello?" there was silence. then..."hi." in the sweetest voice i've ever heard. oh, sweet ellie. i talked to her for a little bit with mom in the background asking her who was on the phone. after a few moments, i hear her sweet voice say, "jo!"

how great is it when your tiny niece knows your voice over the phone? it's amazing. what's better? about a half a second after she said my name, she kissed the phone. oh gosh, be still my heart. i love that little girl like i would have never believed i could. what a sweetheart.

now, if friday would just hurry and get here...

it's beginning to feel a lot like...

FALL!!!

the weather here has been wonderful. still a tad warm during the days, but crisp and cool in the mornings and evenings. last night, it was downright cold walking from my house to the neighbords.

this beautiful wreath is also making it feel a little more like fall. my mom made this wreath for me? isn't it perfect? everytime i look at it, i feel a little closer to her. i love it!