Proud Parents...

(I've already posted this on our Project 365 blog, so sorry for the duplicate post if you've already read this news on the other blog.)

Both boys made the A/B Honor Roll for the 1st semester! Wooohooo!!! While I won't say it has been easy for us or for them, the 1st semester of school is now over and was successful if we made it out with the boys both on the A/B Honor Roll.

(Yes, I know...this was a short and boring post. Sorry! We don't much excitement or noteworthy events going on right now.)

Icy Days...

Well, the past 2 days have been 'Ice Days' for the boys. I've stayed home with them. Yesterday, it just seemed to be cold and sleeting off and on. Last night, was the worst of it. Our power went out for about 3 hours. I was pretty certain when I went to bed that the boys would either have a delayed start or school would be canceled again today. Sure enough, it was. I decided that if it is bad enough for the boys' school district to be closed, it is bad enough for me to not make a 25 mile one-way commute to work. Fortunately, I have the capability of working from home. Although, I only brought home enough work to last me one day. I didn't prepare to be home for 2 days.

WFAA is calling this the worst ice storm since 1980. While I am not a weatherman nor have I actually left the house since Monday at 5pm, I'm not sure that this is the WORST ice storm since 1980. Perhaps it is, but I'm glad I'm fortunate enough to not have experienced it as I did back in 2003. I remember it taking me 4 hours to drive from Northwest Hwy to Lewisville. This is back when I was in hotel management and had no choice but to be at work. I drove home to get clothes for the next day, as I knew my employees weren't going to make it to work. I will remember that ice storm forever! It was pure hell for about 48 hours!

When Jason was going out to the truck this morning he said he slid all the way down the driveway and almost busted his rear. LOL! (Wish I would've seen that!) He did say the roads were pretty bad this morning at 9am when he went to work. He only works 1 mile from the house.

Anyways, here are a few pictures of the 'ice' that has caused 2 ice days for both the boys and myself.

As you can see...the ice is melting! Maybe I can bundle up the boys and send them out to play to burn off some energy!

Colby is Denver Bound...

Well, he isn't Denver bound, just yet. His trip is booked as of 8:40am! He is going to be so excited when I tell him after school that he is going to Denver 2 weeks from today! His birthday is the following Friday after he returns from Denver. On his actual birthday, we'll be headed to Shreveport for our 3rd Annual Mardi Gras Parade festivities. Looks like he'll be having his b-day party a week or two after his actual birthday! Oh well, I'm sure he wouldn't pass up his snowboarding trip just to have his b-day party closer to his actual b-day!

Tristen's Vacation Reacp

Uncle Shane made the below 'newsletter' to recap Tristen's visit to Colorado.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Tristen - Enjoying Denver

(crappy phone picture quality)

Here is the first picture of I'm sure many more to come. Tristen enjoying the snow. It is warmer in Denver than it is in Dallas today. It is a balmy 55 degrees in Denver, compared to our chilly 41 degrees here in Dallas.

Tristen's 1st Flight

Tristen left this morning for his trip to Denver to go snowboarding with Uncle Shane. Uncle Shane is flying each one of the kids (Tristen, Colby, & their 2 cousins) out to Denver (one at a time) for a weekend trip. This was Tristen's first flight and while he was excited to go he also mentioned being nervous/scared because he had never flown before.

This morning came extremely early. We woke up at 4:15am to get up and get ready. We arrived at the airport not really expecting it to be busy. Yeah, we were wrong. We waited in line for probably about 20 minutes. I tried to check him in early, but b/c he was traveling as an unaccompained minor, I was unable to. We were expecting for just Jason to be allowed to take him to the gate b/c I had previously called and they told me only one adult could accompany him to the gate. While checking him in the ticket counter lady asked us if we both needed passes, so that was a pleasant surprise. We had to wait in the boarding area for about 30 minutes and then Tristen was called to board fast. It kind of caught us all of guard (which was probably good) and he was on his way. He was taken down the jetway by the ticket counter lady. We had to wait for the plane to actually take off before we could leave. After everyone had boarded the plane, I went and asked the ticket counter lady if he was ok once he got on the plane. She said he was FINE! He was excited and asked for a window seat. It was dark when he left, so leaving Dallas all he got to see was lights. I'm sure he got to see more when he was arriving to Denver.

So, his trip has been successful so far. Uncle Shane called me when he got Tristen at the gate in Denver. Tristen was boucning off the wall with excitement when I talked to him. His first experience snowboarding will be tomorrow. I'm not sure if they will make it out to the slopes today or not. He arrived early enough and was getting fitted for his board, boots and bindings today.

Colby will be going soon and I can *ONLY* hope that he will be just as excited and not scared of his first plane ride. He is a little bit more reserved and quieter than Tristen.

I'm so jealous that I'm not in Denver hitting the slopes this weekend.

*I'll post pictures after Uncle Shane sends them to me. Tristen has a camera in his possession, but who know what kind of pictures will come off of it.!*

Quick Update

We haven't had much going on, as of late, but our lives are about to get busy.

• Tristen is taking Mid-Terms this week. (I'm still confused on why they do these AFTER the Holiday Break and not before. Strange!)
• Tristen leaves for Denver on Friday for his snowboarding trip with Uncle Shane. We have to be at the airport at 5am! YUCK!
• Jason starts school next Tuesday.
• Colby's trip to Denver will be sometime in February.
• Colby's b-day in February.
• 3rd annual family trip to Shreveport to see Jason's Aunt and Grandma for Mardi Gras.
• Colby's baseball will be starting back up in mid-March.

Before we know it, Spring Break will be here. I casually started looking at a tropical vacation for Jason and I to go on this summer (sometime around our 2nd anniversary), but not sure if that will actually happen. Anyways, that is the latest on us. :)