26.2 Miles

Yesterday (Jan. 30th) was the Houston Marathon and Half Marathon.  I knew several people running, including Jason's sister Jenn.  Despite the drizzly weather, we headed out to support Jenn and watch the race.  We saw her around mile 11, then headed to somewhere between mile 16 and 17.  At that point, she said she was hurting pretty bad and was going to need alot of support towards the end.  I decided to head home and change so I could run with her at the end.  We met up with her again between mile 21 and 22.  Justin and I jumped in and ran the last 5 miles with her.  This was her first marathon, and she did really well.  We are all very proud.  After ther race, we all met up at Canyon Creek for lunch and a post-race celebration.  Congrats Jenn and all of my other friends/co-workers on such a great accomplishment!!!  Watching the race ALMOST makes me want to try it next year.

Justin, Jenn and I trotting it in.  Jenn making time for a brief smile for her supporters at the finish line.

It is so fun to watch the races bc you see all kinds of people.  We saw this guy with his crazy hat in several spots of the race.

Bride and Groom.  Jason met another spectator that knew this couple and said that they got married in a VERY brief ceremony mid-way through the race.  Pretty crazy.

The family

Jenn's best friend, Amber, made her this cute sign.  See is too sweet!!

Cotton Bowl

2011 marked the 75th anniversary of the Cotton Bowl, and A&M was fortunate enough to be selected to play in it this year against LSU.  After a slow start to the season, the Ags ended up at 9-3 and tied for 1st place in the Big 12 South.  Jason went with some of his guy friends up to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl which was played in the new Cowboy's stadium.  Although LSU came out on top the boys had fun, and we are still very proud of our Aggies.  I hope this season is a sign of things to come, and our football team continues to improve.  Jason didn't really take any pictures of the weekend, but I wanted to document our successful football season.  Gig'em Aggies!!

Week in Harlingen

The Monday after Christmas, I flew down to Harlingen to visit my family.  After my flight was delayed 3 hours I finally arrived and headed straight to my grandparents for dinner and to see a bunch of family.  We had a great night hanging out and playing cards.  Tuesday morning, my dad and I headed up to hunt with Norton.  My dad ended up shooting a nilgai and a pig, Norton shot a pig, and I shot a doe on Wednesday morning before heading back to Harlingen.  We all had a great time riding around in the Jeep and getting to hunt.  Thanks Norton!!  Jason flew in on Wednesday, and the boys all went to golf 9 holes before meeting my mom and I at Pepe's for dinner.  We got great news that night that Kelsey had delivered Miss Macie Jane Stocker.  Everyone is happy and healthy, and I am already in love with that precious baby girl.  The boys headed out to hunt on Thursday morning while my mom and I went to visit Kels and Macie and to do some shopping.  That evening we grilled steaks and watched a few bowl games.  My mom and I hung out again on Friday while Dad and Jason golfed again before we headed back to Houston late that afternoon.  It was a great time but, as usual, went by too fast. Thanks mom and dad for a fantastic week.  I love you tons!!

 Dad with his nilgai

 Dad with his pig

 

 Sitting around the campfire is one of my favorite things about being at the ranch.

 Norton let me shoot this doe on our way back into camp on Wednesday morning.

 Father/Daughter time 

 Meeting Miss Macie Jane

 Macie and I with her beautiful mama...just another memory to add to the many that Kelsey and I have together.

 So glad Charlie made is back from his deployment for Macie's birth

 Mom and I couldn't get enough.  We stayed and visited for over two hours. 

Close up of her sweet face 

Christmas Day

Jason and I slept in on Christmas morning, got dressed, picked up Jenn, and headed over to their parent's house around noon.  We all had a glass of champaign and opened gifts.  We drug out the process and enjoyed watching everyone open each gift.  Once the gifts were all opened, we set out appetizers and snacked while we started preparing lunch.  The rest of the Roberts clan joined us for lunch that afternoon.  We had prime rib, turkey, and tons of sides.  Everything was delicious.  We hung out the rest of the afternoon just enjoying everyone's company.  Overall, it was a fantastic Christmas.  I hope each of you had lots of good family time and remembered the real reason for celebrating Christmas!!

  Merry Christmas!

 Champaign toast before presents

 Jenn and I

 

 Apparently Deanna puts underwear in everyone's stockings each year so they made us take a picture with ours in front of the tree.  haha

 The love birds.  We were so excited to get to spend Christmas with these two this year.  We need to plan our next trip to Seattle to visit!!

 Jenn got pretty white serving dishes from her parents.

 Jason and I got a rolling soft cooler.

 

 Jenn, Jason, and I gave Howard and Deanna good outdoor speakers to put up on their new boat house.  I can't wait to get to use these this summer!

 

 Jenn gave me a super cute cocktail ring and scarf.  I love them both!

 

 Jason and I gave Jenn a new wine fridge for her house since hers went out this year.

 George and Olivia with their kids (Kenny, Deb, Deanna, and Laura)

 

 Howard giving Jenn's dog, Lucy, some love.  She and Tucker ran circles around the yard all day.  They were both pooped by the end of the day.

Christmas Eve

From the time I was little, Grandma Johnson has always made homemade sugar cookies for Christmas.  Since this was my first Christmas away from my family I was feeling a little sentimental and decided I needed to make some so I wouldn't be missing out.  Jenn was nice enough to come over and help me on Christmas Eve.  Little did we know it would turn out to be an all day endeavor.  We started off the day by realizing we didn't have enough flour or a Santa cookie cutter so we headed to Kroger.  We got the flour but no cookie cutter.  After visiting several stores, we ended up with a new outfit each and still no Santa.  Since it was already noon, we decided to go ahead and start the cookies.  We ended up making GOBS of cookies.  I am not sure what we were thinking.  4 1/2 hours later we were finished.  We had a really great time making them though and lots of laughs were shared.

 Lots of undecorated cookies waiting for icing

 Since we never found a Santa cutter, Jenn hand crafted this Santa hat.  It turned out really cute.

 We took group pics of our favorites and least favorite ones/ones that had funny stories.  This group was the least favorite batch.  Notice the backwards candy cane and the really creepy gingerbread man.  haha

Some of the prettier ones.

That evening, we headed over to Jason's grandparents house for Christmas Eve dinner and a white elephant exchange.  They ordered Goodies BBQ and had several sides.  The food was delicious.  Grandma O had everyone go around the room and tell what they are thankful for, and I have to say I really am so thankful that Jason's family embraced me and made me have a great first Christmas with them.  Although I missed my family on Christmas, I had a fantastic holiday spending time with Jason and his family.

 Deanna with her kids

 Drew and Deb

 Grandma O with George

 

 Howard...really excited he got a "10" for the white elephant exchange

 Laura with Robert and Harry

 

   Opening my white elephant gift

 Jenn got a pretty platter....with a little help on which one to chose from her mom..haha

 

 Jenn and I

 

 This pic is blurry but wanted to post one of Jason with his grandma