Katie and Moose Jump the Broom!!!!

I go t a new son in law this weekend. That's right, Katie and Moose got married. We are so happy for both of them and so glad to welcome Ramez as an offical member of our nutty and slightly disfunctional family! It was a lovely wedding and a great weekend. We headed out Friday night and met Katie and Ramez's family for dinner. Jessie and Cameron showed up and we had a lovely dinner. After that we went back to the Antoun's hotel for drinks. Everyone was in a very jovial mood. In attendance were Katie, Jessie, Cameron, Sally, me, Gamil, Nadia, George and Tara (Ramez's brother and sister in law). Their son Eli slept it off in the next room. Moose arrived after the football game. After a few more drinks we went back to Katie's house. Moose and I went straight to his garden. OMG!!!! Moose has a couple of green thumbs! All of his plants were in great shape and his luffas were incredible. I was so upset about how big his luffas were that I could not sleep that night (not really, it takes a lot more than that to make me miss sleep).

We awoke early Saturday morning and started getting ready for the big day. Sally, Jessie and Katie all went out to get mani's and pedi's. Ramez went and hung out with his family and Cameron, Josh and I went piddling. We went to downtown Martindale and then to Lockhart to buy BBQ for lunch. Very cool BBQ place with an awesome pit. the meat was very good. After lunch Whitney, Gran and Chris arrived. Katie and Mooses house was packed! Everyone took turns cycling through the shower while Whitney made arrangements, bouquets and boutenieers. After everyone was sufficiently beautiful, it was off to the church.

The ceremony was so nice. The music was great, the vows were great. Everything was just perfect. Katie and Moose looked so happy and everyone had a good cry (evidently that happens alot in their church as there was a box of Kleenex at the end of every pew). Katie even held my hand during the ceremony and that was very touching (no pun intended) for me. After pictures, we all headed out to the Saltlick. Saltlick is a lovely place in a very lovely place. The ride out was beautiful. Whitney and I really enjoyed just going out there together. Once there we discovered they had installed a very lovely garden between their new wine bar and the resturaunt. The meal was great and the fellowship was better. We really like Ramez's family and their friend's from their church were all very nice. All in all it was a very lovely event. We wish the newly weds all of life's blessings. May God be with them as they now travel their rode together! We love you both!

Sally's Big Day!

Well, I have finally found a good use for Facebook. It can make my wife feel really really good on her birthday. I swear she got 50 Happy Birthday wishes on her Facebook page. It made her feel really good and I was so happy for her. Above everything else, she loves to be remembered. She had a VERY good day. The kids were nice for her and they made her a birthday book. Her friend Beth gave her some of her dad's famous homemade wine (a 2006 vintage no less!) Then she came home to me. We had a lovely meal (leftover shephard pie from Jop's visit the day before) and wine. After dinner she took about 10 calls and then we retired to the couch where she got her annual birthday poem written by yours truly. After the poem she opened her presents from me; flowers, binoculars (for bird watching) and really nice PJs from the store she likes in Houston. Once she opened the binos we went out back to use them. As luck would have it, there were five Roseate Spoonbills on the killer's tank. Add this to our list of cool sightings. Last year, whooping cranes, this year pink spoonbills! All in all it was a lovely day for a lovely woman! I am so lucky to be married to a woman that so many think so highly of! Happy Birthday Sally!!! I am blessed, blessed, blessed to have you in my life. I hope we celebrate 40 or 50 more of these!

Labor Day Weekend

Sally and I started our weekend with a dinner at Toad Hollow on Lake Sommerville. It had been recommended by a few friends so we gave it a try. We won't be going back for two reasons. First the food just wasn't that good and second they are closing. After dinner we rode around in Brenham and looked at houses and the improvements to the football field. Then it was back to the nest. There have been so many hummingbirds at the feeders lately that Sally and I love to sit in the backyard on the swing with a glass of wine and watch the bird wars. Very entertaining. We did this until dark and then went in and watched the last Star Trek movie until Jessie arrived.

Saturday morning I worked in the potager a little while waiting for Katie and Moose to show up. Once they got there they dropped some HUGE news on us. THEY ARE GETTING MARRIED IN TWO WEEKS!!!!! OMG!!!! After talking to their preacher one night the decided to just do it. We are so proud of them and happy for them. I think they are great together and we really love Ramez. They are having a very small ceremony on the 18th in San Marcos. Only parents and sibs. They will have a party later. We really are thrilled. May God richly bless their union. After the big announcement we broke out the champagne and toasted the happy couple. Then Gran showed up. We grilled burgers and just hung out until the afternoon. Later that afternoon we went to the airport and had malts. Awesome! Then it was back to the house for more hummingbird wars. Thank you Moose for all of the awesome pics. While we were watching and photographing the hummers, Jessie and I decided to hang our bat house. I had been putting this off but it turned out to be pretty easy. Jessie worked so hard hanging it (not really, her mother would not let here work on the top of the ladder). Here is a pic of her finishing up the project.

Monday was a work day for Sally so Gran and I hung out. We had a nice time just visiting. I also worked in a little garden time. I got all of the potager beds prepared. I also planted purple cabbage in the center of all of the odd shaped beds. Heather and Jared showed up after lunch. We had a nice visit and went up to Sally's school to see her classroom. After that everyone left and it was just Sally and I again. Another lovely weekend in the country!