Christmas in Plano

After we returned on the Saturday after Christmas, it was time to head over to Mark's parents' house. Mark's brother Clay, his wife, Emily, and their two children, Anna and Ben, were in town from Memphis. We were able to spend Saturday through Thursday with them. We feel very blessed that they are willing and able to take time off to come to Texas to be with us. We wanted to have a "Christmas morning" with them, so we had out Fowler Christmas on Monday, Dec. 29. We spent a lot of time playing Wii sports games. I stomped Mark in Wii golf, which is a rare and unusual occurrence. Emily was also given Wii Fit. So, we all took turns playing that. It really is a lot of fun and does work the muscles. I liked the ski jump the best and did it many times. I could feel it in my calves the next day. On Tuesday night the whole fam came over to our casa and we watched Wall-E on blu-ray on our new widescreen T.V. The T.V. and playstation 3 (blu-ray player) were our gift to each other. If you have not seen that movie, I highly recommend it. It is very endearing! We were very happy to be able to spend time with Mark's family. Thanks for the memories! We love you all!

Clay, Ben, and Mark playing Guitar Hero World Tour

At Grandpa Patterson and Lucille's house

Anna playing the violin

Present time!

We like to remind the kids that their dad's side of the family is from Texas!

Christmas in Buda

This year we spent Christmas in Buda with my family. We alternate each year which family we are with on Christmas Day. However, thus far, we have been very blessed to be able to see both families during the Christmas holidays. We headed down to Buda with my brother, Jeremy, on Tuesday, Dec. 23. That evening, the whole family loaded up and went to the Trail of Lights. The Trail of Lights is a lights display in a downtown park in Austin called Zilker Park. It is a trail about 1 mile long of light displays. I have been going to it since I was in junior high. Mark and I went one or two times while we lived in Austin, however, I haven't been there since we moved to the Dallas area. It was so wonderful to be able to share this tradition with the next generation - my nieces and nephews. At the end of the trail, there is a giant Christmas tree made of lights. The tradition is to stand under it, lock hands with a friend, look up, and spin in circles. Mark and my sister both shared in the fun with me. Then I spent time twirling Aaris (my niece) around. Over the next few days we enjoyed beautiful weather. It wasn't Christmas-type weather, and it kept it too warm to have a fire in the fireplace, but it did allow us to spend some time outside. Each afternoon we would play in the backyard. My parents have a game called ladder golf. It is essentially pvc pipe made into a 3-run ladder. You have golf balls strung onto string and you try to wrap it around the ladders. It has the same concept as horseshoes. I have never been very good at sports, but this one I excelled at! I beat everyone except my dad :) On Christmas morning we had a huge breakfast made by the men in the family (which is a family tradition) and then spent about 3 hours opening presents. It usually takes us this long because we open each present one-by-one, one person at a time. I got my kitchenaid mixer, which I have been wanting for years! I never had the counter space for it until we moved into our house. Thanks mom and dad! Well, I guess that about wraps it up. On Saturday, we headed back to Plano. We had a wonderful and and memorable time with my family, and we are so thankful for the many blessing we have.

Finally!

Well, it is finally Christmas break! Yea! My first semester as a Plano teacher has been challenging and tiring. I am very excited to be halfway through the year. I did not bring a single thing home that had anything to do with schoolwork. For 2 weeks, I am going to just forget that I am a school teacher! For the next two weeks, if someone were to say"Hey Hattie, what do you do for a living?" I would reply, "I sit at home and relax".
I am very excited to be able to spend the next two weeks with Mark and family. On Tuesday, Dec. 23 we will head down to Buda. We will be spending Christmas day with my family. I can't wait to be with my parents, brother, sister, brother-in-law, their 3 kids, and my grandma. Then, on Saturday we will head back to Plano. Mark's brother, sister-in-law and their 2 kids will be in town from Memphis. We will also get to spend time with Mark's parents and his aunt and uncle. Mark and I are incredibly blessed to have family we love so much and enjoy spending time with. Merry Christmas, everyone!

The mantle, plus some

When we moved into our house in April, I told Mark there were three things that absolutely must be done. The first two were that we had to get the two guest bedrooms painted. We did that the first week of summer vacation. The third thing was that we must have a mantle over our fireplace before Christmas time. Well, we procrastinated on that one a bit. So, Monday before Thanksgiving we finally got serious and down to business. We bought an unfinished shelf mantle from Lowe's. We had leftover paint from when the previous owners had the wood paneling in the living room painted. We used that paint on the mantle so it would match.

Here is the before shot.

Mark is hard at work.

The after shot.

Decorated for Christmas!

Oreo enjoys sitting under the Christmas tree

Playing with the settings on my camera . . .

Thanksgiving 2008

We spent Thanksgiving with Mark's side of the family this year. Since no one was coming to Plano, we decided to go to New Braunfels. Mark's grandmother, Wilmama, and his Uncle Larry and Aunt Linda live down there. So, on Wednesday morning Tom and Nancy came to pick us up and we were on our way! On Thanksgiving Day, Mark's Uncle John, Aunt DD, his cousins Debi and Dan, and two of their friends all joined us. We had an absolutely wonderful meal and great company! On Friday, Wilmama treated us to Mark's favorite - BBQ!!! We went to one of the best places to find BBQ, which is City Market in Luling, TX. Mark has been there twice before and I had been there once, so we knew what deliciousness awaited us!

Walking up to the door. Yea for BBQ!!!

The family and the meat

Mark and his dad waiting in line for the meat

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thanks to the following:
1. Tom and Nancy for driving and treating us to several meals and snacks.
2. Wilmama for providing such wonderful home-cooked meals all week.
3. Uncle Larry and Aunt Linda for allowing us to stay at your place. You were very gracious hosts!
We love you all!

You'll love this one!

Our church does a Soldier Care ministry. As part of their ministry they have been trying to collect 10,000 greeting cards to put in packages to send over seas. I decided to get the 4th graders at my school to write cards to the soldiers to donate towards this cause. The cards were very sweet and nice. This one, on the other hand, was absolutely hysterical! I hope it brings a smile to many faces of our armed forces! Enjoy!

Our newest niece

On Wednesday, November 12 my sister, Jessica, gave birth to her 3rd child. Skylyn Christine was born at 2:32 p.m. weighing 4lbs. 13oz. and measuring 18in. long. She is very tiny but also very healthy! Praise God! She very much favors her older sister and brother when they were newborns. However, she has more hair than either of them did! I was so glad I got to be there to share in this joyous time.

Skylyn Christine
Titus and Aaris waiting to meet Skylyn for the 1st time

Meeting their baby sister

1st picture of their family of 5

me and Skylyn

Uncle Jeremy

Proud Papaw

Isn't Skylyn so tiny?

Trees aren't always great.

Mark here,

As a kid we didn't have any trees on our property. I was always jealous of other kids that had giant trees they could climb or have tree houses in, etc.

Now that I'm older, I find that trees aren't always as great as I thought they were, because they have a loooooot of leaves.

Here's the leaf pile I made earlier today. I'll probably have to do this 3-4 more times before all the leaves are off the tree, too.

Costume Party

Our small group has an annual costume party in celebration of Halloween. It is always so fun to think of a costume and to see what everyone else comes up with. We like to keep our costumes a secret from each other, so we can be surprised by what all the other couples are wearing. In fact, 2 years ago Mark and I showed up as Jim and Pam from the office, and out of coincidence, Alli and Justin showed up and Dwight and Angela! This year Mark and I went with an Olympic theme. He was Michael Phelps and I was Nastia Luikin. Enjoy the pictures!

I AM a rock star!

Mark has been talking about the new Guitar Hero game since this summer. Well, it finally game out on Sunday. We stopped in Austin to by the game before we came home! Mark wanted to make sure it wasn't sold out. The new game is called Guitar Hero World Tour. It has a guitar, drums, and microphone, so it makes a whole band. Mark already has a guitar, so we now have the potential for 4 people to play together at one time. As soon as we got home, Mark opened the set and started putting it together. Doesn't he look excited?!Mark mostly played the drums while I sang. I felt that the singing part would be the easiest for me to be successful at! It was so fun to belt out rock songs with only Mark there, so I didn't have to feel any embarrassment.Finally, Mark got a chance to sing while I tried my hand at the drums. I did okay, but I think I will stick most to singing!

Are you ready for some football?

My father bought season tickets to the UT games with seats in the newly remodeled endzone. He was generous enough to give us a set of tickets to attend the UT vs. OK state game. And what a game it was! The seats that we had were on the very top row of the upper deck. They gave us a great view of the field and we were high enough to get a breeze! The Longhorns came out and pulled ahead immediately in the game. Early on it looked like it might be a blow out game. However, OK state never gave up. They really hung in there and faught to catch up with every possession of the football. I will admit, I started to get very tense towards the end of the game. And when Colt McCoy fumbled the football with only 5 minutes left in the game, I sat down in frustration. I was just so sure that OK state was going to come back and get a touchdown, pull ahead, and not leave us with enough time to score again. But, those crazy Longhorns pulled out a stop! Then, when we couldn't score a touchdown from the 1-yard-line I could hardly believe my eyes. The game came down to a Hail Mary pass by OK state in the last 6 seconds of the game. We pulled out an interception and ended the game with a 28-24 victory! What a wonderful day of college football! Thanks Dad and Mom!

Visiting with family

We spent Saturday morning at my parents' house visiting with my sister and her 2 1/2 kids (she's pregnant). Titus and Aaris wanted to help carve my mom's pumpkin, but we didn't have enough time. So, Jessica came up with the wonderful idea of having the kids paint it instead. They had a great time! After the painting, Titus and I hung out on the swing set!

Texas 28, Oklahoma State 24

We were there and I can't wait to tell you all about it! More info to come in the very near future!

There they go again!

Well, I just couldn't NOT blog about the incredible UT football game today! GO HORNS! We were the underdogs, and we pulled it out 45-35. In the Fowler household there was a lot of screaming, jumping, and yelling going on. Our cat ran out of the room more than once, and eventually retired to the bedroom because we were just too crazy.The thing that I really respect is that our quaterback, Colt McCoy, always gives the credit to God. I heard him in two interviews today and in both of them those were just about the first words out of his mouth. Hook 'em Horns!

Life with our cat

You all know that we don't have any children. But, we do have a cat that we treat like our child. Oreo never fails to entertain us. Last Saturday, I decided I would try to capture him in some of his funnier locations throughout the house.

Laying on Mark's work bag on the desk

Sitting by the TV in the office

Chilling by the TV in the office

Crawling through the pantry (please ignore our plethora of unhealthy foods. Look at the apples!)

Exploring the china cabinet

He just makes me laugh!