James and Laura

San Diego Vacation

2010-07-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

We had a great time in San Diego last month, and here are a few pictures to prove it!

On her own, un-provocated, Addie started posing while we were at the La Jolla Cheese Shop. She had all of these poses and would just put those little hands on her hips and smile at us. Too funny for words!

We did end up going to the San Diego Zoo, even though we didn't think we wanted too. But our good friends gave us a Zoo 2 for 1 pass, so we HAD too. Turns out, it was a great day. Even though Addie did reach her saturation point right after seeing her much requested "Ele-pants".

Here she is posing again. She just knows how to crack her mama up!

Addie and Daddy.

At the hipopotumus exhibit.

Doing the tourist thing in Coronado, which we never did while we lived there- road a Surrey around town!! Addie loved it because it had a little seat for her right in the front!

Riding around with "Aunt Kate". Isn't Addie cute in the front?

We passed a cute flower shop named Adelaide's in La Jolla, and we HAD to stop to get a photo!

My husband's beautiful photography:

More to come soon............

Dedication Pictures from November

2010-02-20T13:22:00.000-08:00

November was Addie's baby dedication at our church. We got some GREAT photos taken by Lisa Hackbarth. You can check out the rest of them here.

In all honesty, I find this blog design frustrating. It's REALLY slow uploading pictures, I can't see the whole screen when I'm trying to move things around. This maybe the last time I post. But you can always check on us at Facebook.

2009-11-29T13:02:00.000-08:00

The three of you that actually read this thing are pretty persistent people. So here ya go, more pics from us of late.... Addie at a pumpkin patch in October

Addie on the Zilker Zephyr in November. She loves the train.

Addie and Mommy at the circus!

Addie and daddy watching the show at the circus.

Yes we're still alive!

2009-10-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Man it's been a busy four months since I last posted.

We had a lot of fun this summer as a family:

We took our first ever, family vacation to Sarasota Florida. And loved every minute of it. We have vowed to do it EVERY SUMMER.

Addie and I had a lot of fun together this summer.......
We rode rides and a real pony at a small, local amusement park....

Is there anything cuter than a girl with pigtails!?

More updates to come, I PROMISE!!

Summer fun!

2009-06-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

Addie is certainly not our little baby anymore. She is quickly developing into a little girl with opinions and mood swings to boot! Oh boy! Yesterday at our Pflugerville Farmers' Market, it registered 101 degrees! I made my rounds to a few vendors, before Addie let it be known that she wasn't too happy. So I made an "emergency" stop at the fresh slushy booth and bought one for BOTH of us to share. Let me tell you, it may be the tastiest strawberry slushy I've ever had. Addie was pretty pleased with it too. So when I put her in her seat, I let her hold it (we're breaking free from the paci this week, only for bedtime, so no pacifier in the car means we must have other things to occupy her, or we'll hear about it).

When I asked her for it so I could have some too (I did buy it after all) she said "no thank you" and pulled it out of my reach with this cute little smile you see.

Sheesh! I've been trying to teach her to say "no thank you" when she doesn't want something I feed her instead of throwing it down on the ground. Now it comes back to bite me!! I couldn't help but laugh. Lucky for me the straw got clogged with strawberries and she needed my assistance to get more. But, I certainly didn't get my fair share of delicious summer cold goodness!

Kitty protector. Lately, Addie is ver protective of Winston. It seems that everything Molly does is an assault on her precious "kiiieee kiiiee". This morning Winston got in Addie's little pool and got really wound up. Molly knows what this means, and heads right over to play. Addie quickly swooops in and tells Molly, "Mommy (that's Molly's name) no, no, no". And then goes over to sit in the pool and comfort poor, hurt, tramatized Winston, by whispering sweet nothings in his ear, "Oh kiiee kiiee, ladeleio seesh ooka. No, no puppy, kiiee kiiee besha" No translation available- sorry!

Needless to say, Winston is not as grateful as one would expect!

This past weekend

2009-06-11T10:31:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, we traveled to St. Louis for James' sister's high school graduation. Traveling with a toddler is SUPER DIFFICULT. Here are a few pics of the weekend.

Here we are eating at Dewey's Pizza with cousin Isaac and parents! One of the fun parts about being in St. Louis was that we got to stay with my cousin and his family- who live near James' family. Their house is baby proofed and has a built in playmate, cousin Isaac!! Isaac and Addie had a great time together and really enjoyed one another (except for a few moments of strong willedness) :) It's the only picture that we got from the weekend, but Mark and Cora have plenty.

We hardly had a normal day of naps or bedtime. Here we are back at Mark and Cora's at about 10:00 at night, and Addie walks right over to Mark and crawls into his lap! Too, cute!

We had about 15 minutes of peace on the plane as Addie watched Elmo on my laptop (thank you AISD!!). And then we were quickly back to screaming, fussing, torturing parents and passengers around us!

Working out a very complicated spread sheet! So grown up!

Fun in May

2009-06-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

May has been a busy month!!

We went swimming with Friends

Before swimming: Addie is not too happy in her new life jacket included, Hulk Hogan swim contraption.

After swimming: Ahhh, graham crackers, sippy cups and tired happy swim babies!

Our grant /program; CFC came to an end.

The gang at Whole Foods eating lunch on the roof!

Much celebrating!!

And even Al Franken stopped by to wish us a fond farewell! (Okay really he was just eating at Z Tejas with the rest of us, but it's still pretty cool, huh?) Really, that's him in the blue shirt.

Oh, all right already, here's an update!

2009-05-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

After having my life threatened if I didn't update my blog (are you happy JoAnn?), I realized it had been a while! I've become addicted to Facebook over the past month, so it seems that's taken all my time. For all of our fans out there-here are some pictures from Easter.

The top one is my favorite and also, the most humbling. How can the little baby that I used to hold in one arm, be this toddler girl? Her changes and development astound us each and every day. Parenthood is such an adventure and a blessing. Enjoy the pics! I'll update much sooner next time - promise!!

A Day at the Zoo.

2009-03-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

For Spring Break, my parents came to town. So we headed to the San Antonio Zoo. It was Addie's first trip to a zoo. And everyone else in central Texas decided to go too! It was a little crowded, but fun none the less....

In Addie's words, these lions were "ot" (hot).

"Hey mama, besides these cool shades, I need some of that ice peez"

"mmmm ice!"

Too CUTE!

2009-02-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

We were out the other night letting James drool over huge plasma t.v.s and decided to have some dinner at the only "kid reasonable" place in the Domain- California Pizza Kitchen.

It was absolutely lovely, and Addie was soo cute we almost ate her for dessert. She was so grown up. (Sorry the pictures are a little distorted, they're taken with my iphone.)

Eating a big hunk of bread while she waits for dinner (by the way, if you have a child and don't have this suction mat- you MUST get one. It's from Kiddpotomus. It suctions to the table and has a little catch tray for all of those lovely "extras" our children give us.)

At the time, she had just learned to drink with a straw from a cup. SOOO ADORABLE. Big cheeks, beautiful eyes. This is the picture I use when people ask to see recent pictures of her (or I insist on showing recent pictures of her).

Laughing about her new abilities!

And I'd like some of thhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaatt please!

Another installment

2009-02-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, I have a rare moment (James is sick with the bug that I passed to Addie and Addie passed to daddy) and both are sleeping right now.

So back to Christmas....

So before Christmas, I was secretly harboring my brother who came to live with us from Thanksgiving until Christmas. He had decided to return to our Almamater- William Jewell for the Spring Semester. He didn't tell anyone but his beloved sister. So for a month I was FORCED to lie to my parents about his wherabouts! He spent the month living with us. It was a nice pit stop between Florida and Kansas City.

Anywhoooo... He fell madly in love with his neice who, as we all know, is as cute as a button. I wouldn't say there was an instant bond, but Addie soon warmed up to Andrew. And now that Andrew's back at Jewell, he says he misses her everyday! (Everyone now "Ahhhhhh")

Once Addie finally starting feeling better, we took her out for her second experience in the snow (the first was last year at 3 MONTHS OLD, her grandfather had to get her out in his sled). This time she got to walk on it. But it was stinkin cold, and the fun lasted a few minutes before she was DONE with the snow thing.

We also took an excursion to Crown Center. She loved the Crayola Play area where she could test out her walking and crawling skills without parents or grandparents shouting, "No, not that, not there!"

Sliding down with mama's help!

An update on life.

2009-01-24T13:34:00.000-08:00

We're in the fast lane of life lately. And there doesn't seem to be anyway to slow it down for a while. Before Christmas, my boss called me and told me about the opportunity to move some funding so that I could go full time at my school. After some family discussion, and with the economy not perking up anytime soon-we decided it would be best for our family. So with a heavy heart and a guilty conscience, I started working full time at J. J. Pickle Elementary this semester.

And when anyone asks me, I tell them the truth- I don't like it. Working in education, gives you very little flexibility. It's not like I can come in at 9:30. Or that I can easily take an afternoon off. I'm at work from 7:30-5:00, five days a week. It's rough, and I miss my daughter. I miss knowing what she's done developmentally today, I miss knowing how much sleep she's gotten. I miss knowing how she's grown into a more mature human being today. But, as many mothers know- sometimes you've got to make tough decisions that are better for your family in the long run.

With that said, we've got a lot of catching up to do:

Before Christmas, I savored my last Fridays and Mondays with Addie by taking her to get her "First Haircut". It was pretty uneventful. But a milestone none the less. She didn't fuss or throw a fit. But she did require her binky or she wasn't going to stay sitting. So I gave in and gave the binky.

I could only get the shots of her getting her hair cut, because when we put her down she was off and running again...

cutie patooty!

Then for Christmas we headed to Kansas City. Addie had been kicked out of daycare the day before because of a fever. And we went to the Dr., just to make sure it wasn't anything serious and to do a check for RSV. She came back positive for an ear infection, and negative for RSV. So off to Kansas City we went.

When we get to my parents house (2 days later), Addie was really lethargic and warm. She wouldn't even lift her head to greet my parents (very unusual for happy baby). We took her temperature and as the temperature reading continued upward- 101, 102, 103, 104, 105- and my mother screamed at the sight of those numbers- we realized she had gotten much worse. So our first night in Kansas City resulted in us making a trip to Children's Mercy Urgent Care.

(Here she is in her cute baby hospital gown, notice the haircut)

With an extra dose of Motrin, she began to perk up. And when they tested her for RSV, she came back positive. The night ended with a shot of antibiotic and a prescription for a higher powered one than she had been taking for the ear infection.

We were in Kansas City for a week, and it wasn't until the last few days that she started acting like her old self again. This baby refuses to take a trip without some illness to keep her parents on their toes.

I'll update more soon, I promise. That's all for now!

Finally, an update!!

2008-11-26T07:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry, it's been a while. We've been a busy little family.
Here's the update for October:

Halloween- Although the picture is blurry, you can go to the Julien's site to see cuter pics of Addie. She was a little lady bug for Halloween. She was very cute while she hobbled around and the little antennas bobbed back and forth...

Addie and I carved a pumpkin together. At first, she was very excited and really enjoyed tossing the seeds down to the dog.

Turns out- Molly LOVES pumpkin seeds.
Having extra an clean up crew around is always helpful!

But eventually, the stickiness got to her, and she had had enough!

My parents came for Addie's first birthday party. (Sorry no pics, it's on the video camera, and I don't know how to upload that to the blog). We took one afternoon to go to Zilker park and ride the train. Addie road on Grandma's lap.

And took a nap in grandma's lap.

Mommy and Daddy got a night out for a friend's wedding. Aren't we cute!?

About 3 weeks ago, we actually had to put some latches on our cabinet doors. Addie has also taught Molly how to open them! It looks like she'll be making our Thanksgiving dinner.

Birthday Girl!!

2008-10-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Addie turned 1 this Friday. And she's having a whole series of events to celebrate!

On Thursday, we celebrated at daycare with cupcakes (fortified with pumpkin).

Everyone singing "Happy Birthday"

Addie choose to hold on tightly to her high chair and take a nose dive right in to the cupcake.

A close up shot, with nose securely pressed into the frosting!

Then after a few dainty bites (and under the influence of other children, I'm sure) she dove all in. Mmmmm, tasty!

On her actual birthday, Friday October 3rd, we didn't do much. She wasn't feeling to hot with the onset of a cold, so we opened a few gifts. She got a magnet animal matching set for the fridge from mommy and daddy (hopefully, it'll distract her enough at dinner that I can get something done without too much of her "help".) And Sally's gift - a beautiful butterfly clock for the wall with her name on it. We'll always have a reminder of Sally hanging up in Addie's room. (I'll post a picture of it later).

The big party will be on the 18th of October- when my parents and other friends and family can attend. Look for more pictures coming to a blog near you soon....

She's Gone

2008-09-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

James' beloved grandmother, Lucille "Sally" Everett passed away on Thursday, September 18th.

It happened quite suddenly. And even after the trip up to Kansas City and back, James and I are having a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that she's really gone. We even caught ourselves saying as we drove in to the neighborhood, "we've got to call my parents and Sally and let them know we made it home okay".

Sally did so much for James and myself, that we're struggling with the reality that she won't be a part of Addie's life. The day we left to drive up to Kansas City for the funeral, a package arrived on the doorstep for Addie. It was her birthday gift sent from Sally. And that's exactly the way Sally was; extremely organized and punctual. We open the gift today, Addie's 1st birthday- to see what Sally sent. That should be emotional for us, I'm sure.....

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Pictures of family members who were always in touch through Sally....

The Family

(Robyn, Rachel, Steve, Sarah, Nancy, John, James w/Addie, April, Alex, Larry, Elaine)

Pictures for the funeral

(bottom center picture was the most recent one at the care center where she was. It's breathtaking to realize how thin and fraile she had become.)

The cousins-long time seperated, sharing some much needed laughs...

Larry, James, Sarah, Rachel practicing their modeling poses.

Steve and Nancy, Sally's two children and two very ornery siblings!

Just what you've been waiting for!

2008-09-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, here it is. We've finally gotten around to updating the blog. We've been a pretty wild and crazy bunch here the last 2 months. I returned to school on a temporary full time basis for the end of August and beginning of September. And James has had some crazy overtime and studies he's had to attend to. We've been happy to just get home, get us all fed and bathed before we repeat the schedule again. Now I'm officially back to my wonderful part-time schedule of Tuesday through Thursday. It's nice to know that I have time to spend with Addie and have a few extra days to catch up on laundry! I hope the following posts and pictures will keep you satisfied for the latest on our little family!

We watched a very cute and ornery little Beagle while our friends Sarah and Dave went to Ireland. Turns out-all of us like Sophie more than Molly. She's very tolerant of Addie. Curious but kind to Winston. And stays in place at night on the bed. We're working on a trade deal.

Beautiful blue eyes. Her most commented on feature!

Hey mom- what'cha doin'?

Her favorite evening activity is helping daddy with the dishes. She likes to pull all of the silverware out- and splash in the water from the wet dishes. So helpful!

Milestones

2008-09-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

I hit a big milestone this Monday (the 15th) I am 30 years old! I celebrated with friends this past Saturday night. See some pictures that were taken with my new birthday present-my i phone! James is getting a little tired of me depending on him for my gps needs. It does EVERYTHING! And was a big hit at the party- I found some interesting pictures this morning!

James tried to light the house on fire by adorning my cake with every flame throwing- "30 years old" candle he could find!!

It took quite a few huffs and puffs to extinguish it!

Colleauges and friends Lori and Krista!

Audrey and Lori

Pretty good pictures for a phone, huh?

Ba Ba Da Aa

2008-09-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

Here's what we've all been waiting for. Footage of Addie walking! This was a couple of Saturday mornings ago. We were just hanging out as a family and she decided to get serious about walking. We've thought she was going to walk since her 9 month birthday (and beat her grandfather's record), but it's taken a little longer to get completely organized about it.

You'll hear me making this really annoying laugh in the background, because Addie's really in to immitating lately. So when she hears you laugh, she'll laugh with a little fake chort herself.

And as proof that she is not a perfect child, James kept the part where she complains about not having her pacifier. We've just started weaning her off of it a little bit- by not always giving it to her. And soon, we'll start weaning her to only using it for naps and bedtime. But I think it's going to be easier said than done- she sure does like that thing (as is evident by every picture we have of her with it!)

Hope this appeases the masses!

More to come soon!

2008-08-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

"HEY, GIVE ME MORE SWEET POTATOES!!"

I know it's been a while. We've actually been playing with the new video camera James got for Father's Day. And when he has time to help me, I'll up load a video of Addie doing something fun.

Small update: We're really, really trying to walk-someday soon. She's actually gotten quite funny about eating what ever James and I are eating. She'll come up to you if you're eating something and start smacking her lips at you until you give her some! She's also been refusing baby food at dinner time, but more than willing to take what ever James and I will share with her from OUR plate!!

More to come soon!

Growing Up

2008-07-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is really growing up. So we thought we'd start instilling some responsibility. Saturday we thought we'd teach her about laundry. She's now responsible for folding.
"Looks fun!"

"Wait, did you say the WHOLE BASKET?
But mom, I'm so tired, and weak. Do I have to?"

Our friend, Conor came over this week. Looks like he's putting the moves on Addie. Not yet, mister-she's not of age.

"Hey, we're just friends. Nothing too serious, yet Aunt Laura"
They kept Aunt Sarah very busy while momma ran to a Dr.'s appointment. Thanks, Aunt Sarah!

We've created a monster!!

2008-07-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

Now that we've started going to the pool each week with our friends Sarah and Connor, we're a water monster!! I go to wash my hands and (of course Addie's attached to my hip) and she leans into the sink to splash in the water.

The latest water escapades includes a swim in the pets' water bowl - this morning. As I stepped into the laundry room to run a load of clothes, I noticed an eerie silence in the kitchen, where my little angel had been left to play with "Tickle Me Elmo". When I came into the room, the evidence of what was really going on was EVERYWHERE!!

"Look at all of this water right at my finger tips!"
"Why didn't anyone ever tell me about this?"

"Oh, hey mom, what's going on?"

"I'm not in trouble am I? I'm too cute with my two little bottom teeth, to be in trouble...."

Can you see the slime trail left on the floor when she crawled over to me?
After about 5 minutes she started getting a little upset.
I think the wet socks and diaper weren't all that comfortable!

We're into everything!!

2008-06-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

It has been a very exciting month for us in the Everett house! We are officially crawling!! We learned how to craw on momma's last week of school. And just in time to head to grandma and grandpa's in Kansas City!

Hey, look at all of this cool stuff!

Ummm, momma - could you give me a hand?

This is now how we are greeted each morning. Addie's favorite thing to do is pull up on everything. And that includes in her crib. She's always bright eyed and bushy tailed!!

Hey- get me out of here already!!

And what is the deal with everyone having private access to their blogs!! How am I supposed to check in on the Schumacher's cute boys or the Anderson's girls? You're old college friend like to see your growing families. Please let us in on your lives!! We miss you!

Water, water everywhere.....

2008-06-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

We've taken on swimming this summer and love it!!

Are there any cuter girls on the planet? Maya and Addie ready to go swimming....

Addie cruising in her floaty!

Yahoo!! This is fun!

Addie now loves any kind of water. We've had to move baths to the sink because the splashing and trying to pull herself up have gotten out of hand....

She particularly loves the sprayer....she's our little water baby!!

Really, we don't pose them

2008-05-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

We'd always heard how good Beagles are with babies, but had assumed that was with Molly as the exception. But alas, she is proving us wrong. We don't pose them together. Molly usually lays on one end of something (the bed in this case) and Addie makes her way towards her.

Molly is unbelievably tolerant of the pulling that Addie does with EVERYTHING! (Notice there have been no recent pictures of me, the right side of my head is bald!)

Little hands on puppy ears. The making of a long friendship!

a few more

2008-05-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

a shout out to our best pals in Australlia. Addie loves this bear!!

Wow! Can you do that again?

Addie, yesterday....

Life....

2008-05-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Well as you can imagine from our delinquency in adding posts, life has been a little hectic lately. On April 17th we got a phone call from Kansas City telling us that James' grandmother, Sally had been readmitted to North Kansas City Hospital and was quickly moved to ICU where they put a respirator in her. No one thought she'd make it through the week. That Friday we drove to K.C. to be with her and the family. We stayed that week and then came back the following week. The next Friday we drove up again to be with Sally who had thankfully been taken off of the respirator and moved out of ICU. Addie and I spent a week with Sally in Kansas City and helped her make a transition out of NKC Hospital and into a rehabilitation hospital where they will help her with her strength (she's nearly bed bound at this time) and mobility. Needless to say, it feels good to lay around and do nothing for a weekend!

But because everyone's been bugging me about pictures of Adelaide, so here you go!

Just cute!

Molly, whose not supposed to be on this couch and Addie- looking into the sky and wondering, "what's it really like out there?"

Winston, "Really, her again? Don't you think I'm more photogenic?"

We're currently working on crawling. We can do baby push ups and can rock back and forth, but we keep going backwards! Molly likes to look on for moral support. When Addie really does start crawling, Molly better look out!

Just Cute!

Update on Life

2008-03-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

I don't want anyone to accuse me of being as bad as the Stevensons about updating the blog. So here's the latest from the Everett clan...

Addie and Daddy at Beagle Brigade. Can she get any cuter?

I attended the Obama rally in Austin in late February...

with some friends from work. They picked a spot outside the fence so we could leave early.

It's even harder to see him on the blog, but he's there. A lot of the stuff he said was recycled campaign stuff that I had already heard because I've been on his website alot. But he did have a few funny lines. The best was about Bush coming back. The crowd booed, and he responded with, "you can boo all you want Austin, but he's coming back to you!"

Our friends from Liberty (the Hops) came to Austin for a big swim conference. The last time we saw them was the summer I nannied for them. Blaine was going to middle school and Michael was heading to second grade. Boy have they changed! Although you can't read it, Blaine's name is on the board in all of it's glory.

Blaine is in the far lane with the Nebraska cap on....I resisted cheering for the K.U. or U.T. swimmers.

Addie needed earmuffs because of the loud M.U. and Nebraska fans around us! (okay this picture might be slightly cuter than the Beagle Brigade pic.)

I don't know anything about swimming, but Blaine swam really well and beat her old record.

Go Blaine!

Thoughts and prayers please

2008-02-18T08:28:00.001-08:00

James' grandmother, Sally, was admitted to the hospital AGAIN yesterday for pnemonia. This is the second battle with it since we saw her over Christmas and about the fourth round of it this winter. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers....we want her to recover fully and not have to see the inside of that hospital for a long time!

Went to the Doctor on Friday. Addie is 13 pounds, 7 ounces! And is 24 1/2 inches long.

So the doctor told us to start Addie on rice cereal soon. Last night we felt brave enough to try it. Here's the moment by moment coverage!

Daddy goes in with the spoon, baby is very interested...

on the approach...what's going on mom?

hitting the bullseye...hmmmm

the famous "what the he** is that" face!

Hurry!! She's oozing!!

Scoop it back in fast, before she knows what's happening

She didn't seem too distraught about the whole thing. James and I laughed so hard. I am still laughing while I post these pictures. This whole feeding thing is going to be a blast! We decided to quit with 80% of the food on her face and bib and maybe 2% actually getting in!

A New Baby on the Block

2008-02-15T18:15:00.000-08:00

Our friends Sarah and Dave had their beautiful baby boy this morning!

Connor arrived at 5:28 this morning. He weighs 7 pounds 4 ounces!!

Both he and mom and dad are doing well!

Four Months Old!!

2008-02-11T13:10:00.000-08:00

Our baby is four months (and a few days) old

Here she is lounging on the couch, for an afternoon snooze!

Although she hasn't discovered Molly, Molly has discovered her (and all of her toys). Molly loves to bring her dog toys to Addie in hopes that Addie will want to play fetch or tug with them. Poor Molly, Addie isn't coordinated enough to do that yet... but maybe some day soon.

That is actually Molly's teddy bear that she's brought to share with Addie.

She's also speaking in pure "raspberry language". She constantly spits and drools raspeberries as her new found form of entertainment. And on Friday, James got her to laugh! We wish we had a video camera to show all of her new tricks. But I guess we'll have to wait for our "economic stimulus check" to get one.

Speaking of....I think this household has finally settled on Obama as our presedential candidate. It's a tough decision, for once we have 2 great choices in the Democratic party. In making my decision, I have weighed several important issues. One of the first things someone mentioned to me, was how I would tell my daughter that I didn't vote for the first woman president, when I had the opportunity. I thought about that for a long time, but I can't justify voting for someone just because they break a record. I want to be able to tell my daughter that I voted for the candidate that I felt would best serve this country, and give her opportunities. Our Austin American Statesman's Editorial Board said of the choices , "Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois both talk about strengthening the middle class, expanding economic growth and lifting sagging wages. Both offer solutions for the crisis in our health care system and global warming and support ending the war in Iraq. So the key differences between the candidates are in their leadership styles and visions for the country".

One of the things I really like about Obama was passed on to me by a friend. It's his speeches and beliefs about faith. You can read about it for yourself here: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/faith/

One of the issues he tackled in his "Call to Renewal" speech is the issue of progressive Democrats not being able to openly share their faith. He goes on to talk about how we're told that it's too devisive to talk our faith in a pluarlistic society, but when we don't share our faith and morality with others, we allow others to fill the void for us. People like Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. His speech is quite long, but worth the read. My favorite experts from that speech and another speech in that section on Faith are the following:

"religious people do not have a monopoly on morality"

AND

"And that night, before I went to bed I said a prayer of my own. It's a prayer I think I share with a lot of Americans. A hope that we can live with one another in a way that reconciles the beliefs of each with the good of all. It's a prayer worth praying, and a conversation worth having in this country in the months and years to come."

What attracts me to Obama's campaign over Clinton's is his call to all Americans to join in and work with him to make a difference. Senator Clinton's website and speeches are more around her and what she'll do. There's no sense that "we" as citizens need to do anything. I think I've had enough of someone else doing everything "his way" over the last 8 years and like the idea of a leader who inspires others to do something for themselves and for others.

I feel so disgusted with the morale we have right now where everything should be done for us and that we don't have a say in what really affects our lives. Our purpse has been dwindled down to one thing - go out and spend money to keep the economy afloat.

Obama uses the story of Jericho from the bible as an example of how a group of people works together for the greater good. I agree with Leonard Pitts from the Miami herald who said this time around we need to pick a leader not a politician. http://www.statesman.com/search/content/editorial/stories/02/03/0203pitts_edit.html

Finally, someone forwarded me this cool video from you tube today. I've watched it several times, because it's hard to listen to the music and the speech. But it's pretty cool.

I think this time, I'm choosing inspiration over experience.

Christmas 2007!!

2008-01-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

Addie once again traveled the ends of the Earth to be with her family. This year we traveled back to Missouri for the holidays. We went to Kansas City and St. Louis to be with both sides of the family. Addie was a star despite having a terrible cold from her father.

Meeting her cousins for the first time.
Libby, Alex, and Zach

James and his brother with their kids

Addie, met her first second cousin in St. Louis. Isaac is my cousin -Mark's son. We stayed with them while we visited St. Louis. Addie and Ike really hit it off!

Addie's crazy grandparents (really just her grandpa) wanted to initiate her with a first sledding trip. She's wearing my old winter snow suit. Seems to fit just great, and Addie looks thrilled, doesn't she?

More to come....

Two months old!!

2007-12-04T07:09:00.000-08:00

Addie went to the Doctor yesterday to be weighed, measured and tortured for her two month check up!! She's 22 1/2 inches long and 9 pounds 12 ounces. That translates to about the 20th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for length. I think that means she's long and skinny...

She's also been having some difficulties feeding (bottles and nursing). After talking to us about her symptoms (jerking while eating, stiffening up straight like a board and crying in the middle of eating) Dr. Nichols diagnosed her with mild acid reflux or "gerd" as it's called in babies. So now we have to get her a prescription for Prilosec!! We'll see if it helps her little tummy!!

She also got tortured with five vaccinations yesterday. She cried a little bit, but wasn't wailing (like she does when she eats). She slept most of the afternoon and woke up REALLY screaming. I gave her a second dose of Tylenol for infants, and she calmed down. Today she's back to her normal self!!

Here are some pics of Addie sitting up like a big girl in Maya's Bumbo seat (thanks Maya!!)!!
Smiling at grandma and grandpa!!

Grandma and Grandpa Smith came down for Thanksgiving. My mother finally admitted that they have turned into those crazy grandparents that go GOO GOO over everything their grandchild does.

Her hair is starting to recede, while her permanent hair comes in very thin and fine underneath!

More fun at the wedding

2007-11-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

Me and Addie with Grandpa and Great Grandma

Addie dancing with her daddy. (Isn't she cute in her party dress?)

My uncle's mother even got to snag her for a minute.
No offense to the bride and groom, but I think Addie was the highlight of the event.

I suppose it would be rude to not include a picture of the bride and groom!!

Family in Florida

2007-11-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

My dad's only brother, finally decided to get hitched (after 17 years). So we drove down to Tampa with Addie for the big event. It also gave us a chance to show her off to everyone.

Addie and my grandma Smith

Addie and my great Aunt Velma (I think she's 99)

The sisters at the wedding

Aunt Linda finally got a few minutes to hold her

Addie and Molly

2007-11-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

Molly has accepted Addie as part of the family.
This particular afternoon, she was wishing she could trade places with Addie, but accepted James' shoulder instead.

Happy Halloween!!

2007-10-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

Christine and Tim had a Halloween/Patio warming party at their house last night. Addie was excited to go in her first halloween costume (as a cat). Winston has obviously inspired this look.

We got the cute black cap from my colleague Betsy!

Notice the "tail". Isn't she cute?

2007-10-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

Each night we wrap Addie up in a swaddle and put a cap on her to keep her warm.
We think she looks like a spinach wrapped burrito with sour cream on top!

Wide eyed Addie!

Daddy and Addie

2007-10-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Contemplating life

More Adelaide

2007-10-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

A smile? Or gas? We're not sure, but we'll take it as a smile!

Embarrased by her cuteness!

One week old

2007-10-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

Napping Addie with a milk mustache

You know how small my hands are...look at hers....

Bath time

Nap time

More to come...

She's HERE......

2007-10-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

Adelaide Taylor Everett was born at 1:30 am on Wednesday, October 3rd. She's a tiny 6lbs 2oz and 19 inches long. We are all home and starting to get the swing of things. We'll post pictures soon, but until then you can go to the hospital's online nursery at: http://stdavids.com/sdnamc.aspx?id=428&tmi=460&tmt=4&tmm=8 the password is: everett

She's really much cuter than the pictures let on, but they'll suffice for now.

Thanks for all of the well wishes and blessings from family and friends!

No baby.....yet!

2007-09-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

Adelaide Taylor has decided that she can live in my womb FOREVER!! So the due date has come and gone and our little bundle of joy is still bundled in my belly! We are scheduled to be induced on Tuesday (October 2nd) at 9:00am!

We're delivering at St. Davids. After a few days you can check out her pictures on their website: http://stdavids.com/sdnamc.aspx?id=428&tmi=460&tmt=4&tmm=8 We'll also post pictures here as soon as possible!

Stay tuned....

35 Weeks and Counting!!

2007-08-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

At 35 weeks, the room is complete! (well, about 90%). We have painted butterflies, we have painted grass, there are washed sheets in the crib and there are clothes in the drawers.

No, I have not stolen a basketball, "there's a baby in my belly". As one of my colleagues' daughters shouted every time she saw me this week. And believe me, I am ready to have her out of my belly and in my arms!

A little closer look at James's fancy painting and artistry. There are 10 butterflies/dragonflies in the room - painted with love!

Making Progress Towards Baby

2007-08-09T10:17:00.001-07:00

I am now 33 weeks pregnant. And am ready to be over with pregnancy and have a baby in my arms! We finally got the room painted, after much discussion over colors and themes. One of the walls is yellow and the other three are "Celery Bunch Green". It's actually starting to look like a real baby will live here!

Our next steps are to add butterflies and dragonflies to the walls and ceilings. And paint grass on the bottom of the yellow wall. As most of you know, but some of you might be surprised to find out, James is quite the artsy, fartsy guy. So we're (James) going to make up some templates that match the large quilt you see hanging from the crib and paint butterflies and dragonflies on all of the walls.

We were lucky enough to see my friend Kristin this past weekend who told us about a GREAT company that actually sells cloth butterflies and dragonflies to hang from your ceiling. Check them out at: www.butterflycraze.com. We think they'll be the great finishing touches on Adelaide's room (plus maybe a lamp and a trash can)

My friend Christine threw us a shower last weekend (pictures to come soon) and now I have a closet with cute little girl clothes hanging in it. And the cutest little pair of pink tennis shoes you've ever seen.

Big 'Ol Me at 28 weeks!

2007-07-23T19:08:00.000-07:00

Back by popular demand, a picture of me....
I look hideous, but people are demanding it, so here's your stinkin picture!

Making Progress...

2007-07-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

So we've made progress towards bringing Adelaide into the world.
She'll now have a place to sleep.

And a place to keep her stuff. Now we just have to paint and do some cute butterflies on the walls!!

And we feel so blessed by all of the gifts Addy (just trying it out) has received from friends and family.

I must say, registering at Babies "R" Us was like entering a whole other world. They give you this big package of stuff and then send you on your way to scan all of the "must haves" on their handy list. It's quite mind boggling to make your first stop the pacifiers and to see that you have over 30 options to choose from. It was hard for me to get over how much "STUFF" there is for babies. And don't even get me started on how long we stayed in "strollers". You need operating instructions just to get the baby out!

When we took my mother to Babies "R" Us she laughed down ever aisle. She hasn't looked at babies stuff in over 20 years, so things have changed a bit. And I can't help thinking that great U.S. of A. is the only place in the world where babies "need" baby bath sponges, wipes warmers, neck wings, and a weather shield for their strollers. I hope that we raise Addie (just trying this one out too!) to know that there are children in Rwanda and Haiti that were raised with a lot less...

It's a . . .

2007-05-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, we found out that we are having a girl! Check out our first "home" video. Say "Hello" to Adelaide Taylor.

Maya Sofia Julien

2007-05-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

Our friends Christine and Tim had a beautiful baby girl come into the world Thursday, May 10th.

Maya weighs 6 pounds 14 ounces

These pictures were taken by mere amateurs. You can check out the "professional" ones in a few days at: http://northaustin.com/custompage.asp?pagename=BabyPhotos

Here she grows!

2007-05-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

Laura at 18 weeks!

Everybody's Doing It...

2007-04-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

So it seems everyone we know is having babies.

Well....we're joining the club. We're having a baby! Our baby will be due at the end of September. The doctor said September 26th - but only 5% of babies are actually due on their due date. We'll just see when the baby wants to come. We will find out what we're having in a few weeks (and post it).

But first we're going to have to figure out how to explain this to these two babies:

Marble Falls, Texas

2007-04-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Vivian invited us out to her husband, Alan's deer lease last month. It's about a forty minute drive from our house out to Marble Falls. But the drive was worth it!

We took a little hike up a hill/mountain. These are the kinds of boulders we saw. Luckily we didn't have to climb any this steep.

Pretty View

The three of us looking out at the top of the hike.

James and I practiced our hunting skills up in a hunting "blind". Luckily deer season was over, or it would have been a little cramped with the two of us and a hunter. And the hunter probably wouldn't be appreciative of me running into the woods to warn the deer to stay away.

Baby Shower

2007-04-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Okay Jean- I fixed the pictures for you!
My best friend, Christine is expecting her first child in late May.
I hosted a baby shower for her at our house a few weeks ago.

Christine and Audrey (excited grandmother to be)

The guests munching on cake and punch!

Look at all the goods! Maya's goina be one spoiled baby!

Can you tell by the decorations, cake and wrapping that she's expecting a girl?

I would like to dedicate this picture to my father. Without his love, support and shortcuts, we may have just had broccoli and cake!

(Thanks also to the four wonderful ladies who helped me prepare the feast and the house!)

Georgia......Georgia on my mind

2007-02-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely weekend last weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. We went to Atlanta for a business meeting James had and made it into a long weekend.

Atlanta Skyline

James in front of a fountain at "Underground Atlanta"

We visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Changes which included a museum, Ebeneezer Baptist Church, Dr. King's birthplace and his tomb.

This cart carried Dr. King's casket.

It was remarkable to us that most of his work was done in a short 12 year span. 1964 was one of those incredibly powerful years.

Our last day in Atlanta, we had the chance to swing by Georgia Tech to look at where James spent the summer of 2000.

Georgia Tech main campus building

Marta is the public transportation system in Atlanta. It's really fantastic. We used it to get everywhere we needed to go.

For my pal Jen: When we were interns in Washington D.C. we spent every spare penny and moment we could, hunting for great deals at Filene's Basement. As we were walking to lunch on Sunday morning, I spotted this sign. Do you remember, Jen? Bet they don't have these in Ozz!!

The weather outside is....

2007-01-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

....pretty frightful! An ice/snow/winter storm started coming in on Monday afternoon. The temperatures dropped to freezing and the rain turned into sleet. Pretty soon everything had a glistening shimmer.

My Texas Natives are not sure what to make of this ice covering their branches. This was pretty much the picture of EVERYTHING in Austin on Tuesday morning. Needless to say, Austin, Texas is not prepared for winter storms. I enjoyed my first snow day on Tuesday.

This is a view from our office. Notice the snow-yes SNOW on our roof and dusting the street. It snowed for about 2 hours on Tuesday. Our neighbor spent 35 minutes scraping the ice from his car.

This is Molly's first Texas snow experience. With ice underneath the snow, it made things a little slippery. Molly wasn't sure whether to lick everything in sight or run back into the warm house.

This morning we woke up to another cold morning. Our neighborhood temperature has soared above freezing to a toasty 34 degrees. All major highway flyovers have been shut down. The department of transportation doesn't have enough "salt" to keep them from freezing over. And ABIA (the airport) has cancelled 98% of flights due to low supplies of de-icer. As I said above, Austin, Texas is not prepared for this kind of extended winter storm.

Here's a view of the icicles on our back porch this morning (my second snow day). Our back porch and lawn have a thick layer of ice coating everything. Molly is not sure how to walk on such things. It's taken quite a bit of convincing to get her to venture out in this.

To see more about the storm, you can check out our local news stations:

KVUE

KUT

KXAN

Thanksgiving

2006-12-26T19:37:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. All of the grandmas and an aunt came for a royal feast.

From the top left; Karen, Mom, Me, Grandma Smith (I am taller than someone else)
Grandma Taylor, Great Aunt Velma, Grandma Sally
Mom, Dad, Me
Karen, Velma, Grandma Smith

Laura and James
Grandma Taylor and Grandma Sally

Naples....Florida

2006-11-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

James and I were able to get away the weekend before Thanksgiving. James' client invited him to a "kickoff" of a new medical study. When I heard the "kickoff" was in Naples, I invited myself along. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton Golf Resort. Not to shabby if you ask me. The room was fantastic and so were the grounds. Although I don't care for golf, I could see why one with TONS o' Money would stay there.

While James found himself in meetings most of the weekend, I was able to sneak away to the OTHER Ritz in Naples. That's right, Naples is the ONLY place to have 2 Ritz Carlton's in the same town. After a REALLY overpriced lunch, I got to spend some time on the beach. James joined me later in the afternoon.

Andrew came down from Tampa on Friday night. We haven't seen him since he dumped us for our cousin Gregg's digs in Tampa. As you can tell we didn't have any trouble catching up again.

My mother's Christmas wish was to have some family photos. So we spent part of a sunny Saturday afternoon taking pictures for the madre....Aren't we cute?

A Perfect Austin Weekend

2006-11-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

We started the weekend by seeing Ben Folds in concert at Stubbs Barbeque. Although he started REALLY late. He was well worth braving the cold (a frigid 55 degrees).

We started Saturday morning with the first "Austin Beagle Brigade". Seventeen Beagles and their owners showed up for the play date. Molly always loves getting together with other Beagles. We had tons of fun too.

We finished our weekend by walking the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure with 25,000 of our closest friends. It's a really powerful event. We walked in honor of my Aunt Joyce and Aunt Erma and other breast cancer survivors.

Goodbye- Hello

2006-10-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

On September 29th, I said goodbye to my 16 third graders.

And on Monday, October 2nd I began my new job as a CFC. CFC stands for "Content Focused Coach". I am participating in a 4 year grant study with AISD and the Institute for Learning at the University of Pittsburg. This study is looking at the affect of a Content Focused Coach on teacher instruction and student achievement. Our particular focus during the study is in Reading comprehension. I will be working alongside fourth and fifth grade teachers and their students at two different schools in AISD. I'm really excited to be participating in this study and getting the opportunity to try a new arena in education.

Austin City Limits Festival

2006-09-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago we spent 3 great days at the Austin City Limits Festival in Zilker Park. The weather was great this year. A frosty average of 92 degrees compared to last year's 108 degree weather. Still, we armed ourselves with sunscreen, folding chairs, and plenty of water.

James and I enjoying some sweet tea and good music!

Friday and Saturday were great. The weather cooled off by 6:30 and the air was nice and cool.

If you want to get the info on all of the bands, you can go to Christine and Tim's link. I don't feel like writing a critique on each band. But the following were our favorites

Friday night:
Gomez
Del Castillo
Los Lonely Boys
Ray Lamontagne
John Mayer

John was probably my favorite Friday night band. He played a really great mix of his old and new stuff. His music was really loud....Oh and he's not too bad to look at either! Runner up would be Del Castillo. They played on a small stage, but they were ROCKIN!! Great Latin music, lots of energy, tons of fun! Okay we didn't actually see Gomez, but we wish we had! Everyone who saw them said they were fantastic!

Saturday:
Ben Kweller
The Shins
Calexico
The Raconteurs

Ben Kweller's performance was the most noteworthy. He came on stage about 10 minutes late and explained that he had a nose bleed and apologized. The band started to play and Ben's nose started to bleed. He got a towel and wiped it between songs. I won't go into too much detail, but he started bleeding all over his guitar. He finally had to end the concert and apologize after he played "Penny". You can see Ben playing with a tampon in his nose and a little bit of the story from Ben here.

Sunday:
KT Tunstall
Buckwheat Zydeco
The New Pornographers
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
G. Love and Special Sauce
Tom Petty

KT was probably our favorite. We had a really good seat and she was a great performer. Tom Petty stopped playing during a downpour. We waited it out under James' massive umbrella. About 30 minutes later, Tom came back on. The four of us moved up as half the crowd left. He was pretty good, but not fantastic. So we left around 9:30.

ACL was so great that even Chuck Woolery couldn't resist! That's right, I spotted him! James says I'm nuts, I say I have a keen eye for "the stars". Check out the shoes!

Laboring on Labor Day

2006-09-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

James and I spent Labor day weekend adding to our backyard garden.
BEFORE: A drab, bland fence

AFTER: 12 Texas Natives in the ground

Three Canna Lilies. One I plucked from my Aunt Vivian's garden (will be yellow), Two others are from my favorite nursery; Red Barn (will have orange and red blooms). Small Chaste tree in the background.

More on Canna Lillies

Three Mexican Bush Sages to attract butterflies

More on Mexican Bush Sage

Texas Yellow Bells and Belinda's Dream Rose bush (can't see it too well but it's there on the left)

More on Yellow Bells and Belinda's Dream

I also planted an herb garden with my father this summer. More pictures of that to come. Who knew that I'd get the green thumb gene from Grandpa Smith! After we get a patio put in this winter, everyone will be invited over for a garden party in the Spring!

Stay tuned for our pics from next week's AUSTIN CITY LIMITS!!

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” Ralph Waldo Emerson

2006-07-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed the graduation of James' brother-Phillip this past June.

Can you even see Phillip among all the lovely ladies? James' and Phillips' Mom and Grandma center front. We don't know who the girl in the front is. She jumped in at the last moment.

The Brothers

Phillip with the parents-Gail and Randy

Zachary can't believe how much fun he's having

Zach admires all the attention Phillip is getting.

While his older brother whispers the theory of relativity in his ear.

Phillip bravely takes both nephews. Looks like a pro!

"Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration." ~Lou Erickson

2006-06-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

How did we do it? Was it a magic fairy? (We wish) Professional landscaper then? (NEVER!) Well it's taken us nearly 2 months to complete, but we did it! We successfully planted 20 plants in our back yard! All are still living! But it wasn't easy....

I conveniently broke my foot 8 days before school got out. Right about the time we started this project.

James took on the back breaking work of tilling
the perimeter of our entire yard. To prep the soil and dig up the invasive weeds and grasses.

Winston and I supervised from the side lines and made lots of runs for Gatorade and bandaids. (Okay I did alot more of that than Winston... as you can see; he assumed much more of the supervisor role)

Molly was great when helping with the layout. She knew to lay right where we needed to plant!

The stones you see lining the mulch are all rocks dug up from our yard while James dug or tilled! Can you say Texas Limestone?!

We planted with all Texas Natives: Texas Natives are heat tollerant (good-cause it's hot as he.. down here) and drought tollerant (ie: you forget to water, they won't die)

Four White Yuccas: Yucca recurvifolia
Three Mexican Sages: Salvia Leucantha
Three Bicolor Iris: Dietes (Moraea) bicolor

Two Autumn Sages: Salvia Greggi

Two Red Yuccas: Hesperaloe parvifolia

Two Crape Myrtles: Lagerstroemia indica

Two Indigo Spires: Salvia

A Chaste Tree: Vitex agnus-castus

And a partridge in a pear Tree!! (Actually it would probably be our Aristocrat Pear Tree)

San Antonio with Jr. Smith

2006-05-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

After spending a ridiculous amount of money at the Scholastic warehouse in San Antonio, we took Andrew to the old Spanish missions. Here are some pictures from two of the missions.

Andrew and Laura being nice for 10 seconds. (Mission Concepcion)

Laura and James - always nice to each other! (Mission San Jose)

Grounds outside chapel, which was constructed before color was invented. (Mission San Jose)

What's the big deal? Laura thinks she might be related to Hernan Cortes.

Andrew still thinks he was adopted. (Mission Concepcion)

(map)

OK, there was color back then. Remnents of the original exterior paint done in the 1700's

(Mission San Jose)

Mission Concepcion

Oh and more London pics...

2006-05-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to London in April.

Tower of London

Laura would have been able to take the guy, blindfolded

London Bridges falling down, falling down...

Westminster Abbey

A Little Update on Life

2006-05-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's taken so long. I haven't been able to login to our blog for a month.

Now all is working again! You might think we've been spending our days laying around...

Or, perhaps we've joined a new spa.....

However, none of these things are true. We've actually been spending an Exorbitant amount of time and money on our new house. There just never seems to be enough STUFF for a house. Ya know?

Two weekends ago we traveled back to St. Louis for the funeral of a beloved aunt of mine. My uncle's wife Joyce lost her long battle with cancer. It was wonderful to see all of the aunts, uncles, grandparents and uncles. But unfortunate that we had to see them under the conditions.

We also have a new roomie... This guy just showed up at our door step one day and forced us to let him in. Seriously, this is my brother Andrew. He's living life as a 22 year old should, and traveling the country. First stop-Austin. He'll be moving on to Florida in a week and then who knows where life will take him after that!

While he's been here, we've been out and about Austin. Last weekend we went out for some music at a dive bar called "Ego's". We listened to some great rock music. Our favorite was an Austin group called the Moonlight Towers. They're sort of new age indie rock with a twang folksy mix. You can check them out at: http://www.moonlighttowers.com

Anyway, that's life from the Everett's. Let us know how life is treating you. And I promise more updates!

Spring? Break

2006-04-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

This March James surprised me with a trip to London for our Spring Break. Our good friends Jen and Dan Stevenson are living in London for the next two years, so we thought it'd be fun to see them and a great city!

We left Austin with 80 degree weather. We arrived in London with record cold temperatures. So much for a Spring Break. As you will see in our pictures, London did not embrace us with warmth. We actually heard one Brit say "It's the coldest winter we've had in 10 years".

London's famous double decker busses lead us all over the city on our first day.

Laura downtown on the Thames River. Pronounced "Tims" by the Brits! (Notice the hood and sunglasses- total Yankee)

The "London Eye" watches over James as we walk along the river.

More to Come.......

The Kids

2006-02-11T12:23:00.000-08:00

This is Molly, our 13in beagle, on her 1st birthday.

She's spoiled rotten, but we'd never admit it.

This is Winston-our 5 year old cat. He's really the boss.

Here it is!

2006-02-11T11:53:00.000-08:00

We know you've been asking so here are pictures of our new house in Austin! Okay it's really Pflugerville - but we're so close to Austin we like to say Austin. It's a two story house (as you can see). Four bedrooms 2 and 1/2 baths. Most of our weekends are consumed with getting "things" for the house. We alone, might be holding up the Austin economy!