Thru the Generations

I thought it might be fun to trace our family "history" thru pictures so hope you enjoy...Thanks Stacey Collodi for the AWESOME family photo shoot! I have been recommending you to everyone!

So, here is where we start...Mom and Dad! I am very lucky to have such great parents! My dad and I are a lot alike-generally laid back and not the most organized of the bunch. In a lot of ways I still wish I had followed in his footsteps and been a builder, but I think he was right to steer me some other direction-I could have never worked a 24/7 job like he did for so long. ( I think my 3 and 1/2 days are long enough!!) We both love naps and our favorite food is ICECREAM-we both would give up all the carbs in the world but still eat our icecream! I have lots of funny memories with my dad-"PacMan Nights" (whoever lost had to dip the icecream), reading Dr. Suess backwards making me laugh so hard I would have asthma attacks at bedtime, and dates to Long John Silvers! He is the most patient man in the world to have put up with all of us girls! I am glad he has 3 son-in-laws he can hang with now...As for my mom, equally awesome! She is the most creative person in my life! She can wrap, arrange, decorate, create, and make ANYTHING! She comes up with the most awesome ideas and can throw one perfect party-thinking of every little detail. I hopefully have absorbed some of it-although I don't think I will ever be that detailed! She has certainly given me the confidence to try new things and I have fun memories of PB & J sandwich picnics before kindergarten, shopping for christmas pjs year after year, making stew the first cold night of winter, and endless rough drafts when writing papers! (ok, maybe that one wasn't "fun" but I am thankful now!) I have the best parents and I am thankful for their 35+ years of marriage and their example.

The original 5!

Two of the most important people in my life! I cannot even imagine my life without my sisters! They are my best friends and everything that entails. They are the best...favorite memories off the top of my head because there are thousands...endless dance parties to Dolly, Neil Diamond, Walk-Like-An-Egyptian, Elvira, etc...playing dress-up and makeup, Laura learning to french-braid my hair-oh yeah-again-not a favorite, our house on Pennyburn, swimming all day and laying out on the trampoline...ok, I have to move on...that's a whole other post...

Ahhh, the first boy added to the family 12 years ago- December 1995! I can't believe that at all!

And the princess...the first grandchild...so sweet...August 2001

And then came Brad and I - September 2002

This picture cracks me up...this picture is much too foofy for my Mal-Mal! June 2003

And then Ya-Ya and Todd got married...October 2003

And low and behold, you know what happened then...the three redheads...

Reid December 2004

Ryan & Reece July 2006

So here we are...December 2007 with an additional two dogs, Lucy and Vanos. Again, I feel very lucky to be part of such a wonderful family! I will post some funny pics from our family photo shoot later!

Where in the World????

Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum...

Inside the Sistine Chapel where you are NOT supposed to take pictures! I stayed on the other side of the room-too afraid we were going to get kicked out!

This is inside St Peter's...It is the largest church in the world and so beautiful.

Ok, that's all you get for now...I will post a few more later...all and all it was the best trip EVER and I can't wait to get back to Europe...

I'm It!

Tiff tagged me-so here goes...

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (if you don’t have a blog, email me)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Ok-My Eight Random Facts...this is difficult...

1. Ice Cream is my FAVORITE food. I could rid myself of all carbs and sugar-and mostly do really limit them during my 3 meals. However, I don't know that I could ever rid myself of ICE CREAM! Blue Bell is my favorite and we eat it every night. My favorite flavors include: Triple Chocolate, Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Chip. Brad eats his in a bowl, but I (and my dad) eat it in a cup with milk on top. Brad will not eat it alone-I on the other hand will but have very STRICT rules - I can only have it ONCE a day and no later than 9:30. This is honestly one reason I work out-otherwise I would probably be 200 lbs!

2. I am a little obsessive about brushing my teeth. This would explain why I am a hygienist, but I never knew that I was OCD about this until college and Tiff's sister Kimberly would come to our dorm room. One day she said, "Everytime I come over here, you are brushing your teeth!" The summer after that semester, I decided to be a hygienist! Thanks Kim!

3. I sleep in a cocoon. I have my "prescription" pillow for my head, a body pillow on the right with the zipper down at the end of the bed, and then another pillow on my left side with the opening at the top by my face. I think it helps absorb all the noise that Brad makes at night. (Although he doesn't admit it, he has been stealing my middle pillow!)

4. I count my steps also! I'm stealing from Tiff on this but I can't go upstairs without doing it-and I too don't realize I do it! I also walk very fast!

5. I have mentioned this before but I have never been to Austin, TX. Very Sad! Stamps in my Passport - but not a single trip down 35 to our State Capitol.

(thinking....thinking...thinking....cheating...getting ideas from Tiff's blog....)

6. OH-I have a freckle on my right palm that is in the shape of a diamond and a matching one on the sole of my left foot. Very interesting I know. But a funny story about this is that my niece, Reid, used to think it was a chocolate chip and would try to pinch it off and eat it. She would do it over and over again...pinch and then try to eat it, pinch then try to eat it...etc...

7. I still watch General Hospital EVERYDAY-unless our stupid DVR is on the fritz-which it is this week-thankfully, we are getting AT&T U-verse in 2 weeks and I won't have this problem.

8. The passenger seat of the car is the "Quiet Seat". It seems that when I get in it - I fall into sleepy quiet mode. I can fall asleep coming home from church or friends houses or especially if we are driving to the lake. Within minutes of getting on the highway-out...And then I always get mad at Brad b/c I say he never wants to talk to me-How can he when I'm asleep? (I NEVER do this in the front seat and it is rare in the backseat.

Well, not so exciting but there are a few. Give me a couple of days and I will work on those...

I will post some CUTE pictures of our friends kids Clare, Henry, Collin and Sarah Kate. We had such a fun time with them last Saturday night.
On an additional note...and correction...I mentioned in a previous blog that we had dinner with some "friends" at MiCocina. Well, not so much...We had dinner with our new BFFs, Sean and Rachel, at LunaDeNoche and had a GREAT time! We talked for hours and I am still begging Sean to give in a plan the Europe trip with us...(I'm trying Rach) Then, last Friday night we had dinner again together at Steak-n-Ale...JUST KIDDING...it was really Outback but since I can't seem to get details right lately...ok-you get the point!

So...for the wrap up...I have to "tag" some people so I will tag only those that I think will ever read my blog...Laura B, Rachel (blogless but you can email me), Shanta, Heather P-if you have computer access yet..., Amy D-it will give you something to blog, Amy M-I know you have some new interesting facts about the land of the Swiss, Cori-I need to know more about you..., and Miranda if you haven't already done this-well-you did 100 so I guess you are exempt! And finally- Lindsey and Alexis-since I seem to think you are prego... Can't wait to read up on y'all!

Another Weekend of Parties!

We had a really busy weekend starting on Thursday night! It was wonderful to finally get to celebrate sweet Sarah Kate. She is so precious!
Friday was sad because we had to tell our friends Clint & Alyssa goodbye as they move-thankfully it isn't too far away though. They are such special people to us and we are going to really miss them! I can't take much more of our friends moving. We got to have lunch with Colin & Heather and sweet Channing too this weekend-we are really going to miss them as well! No more moving!!
Saturday was lots of fun celebrating Emily's 2nd Birthday! Can't believe she is already two! I think her favorite present was her new doll-It is so funny to me how little girls instantly know what to do with babydolls. It is going to give her great practice for when her new sibling arrives.
Saturday night we celebrated Steven & Scott's big 3-0! Jamie did a great job with the Mexican Fiesta and we really had a good time.
Today was filled with church, eating lunch with the Parkers, naps & laundry, and church again followed by dinner with the Robertsons, Wrights, and Bairds and all the children! It was so fun and chaotic at the same time-hopefully little Kate has gotten the peanut butter out of her hair by now!

A FUN BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!

Here are a few pics from my birthday dinner at McCormick and Schmidts (sp?) I may not know how to spell it but I sure do love their food! I was DELICIOUS! My birthday always falls on "Restaurant Week" so we can always try out a fun new restaurant and support a good cause. We have been to M&S before and I had the best fish ever and Saturday was no exception! Blackened Redfish with a Lemon Butter Sauce with fresh Crabmeat on top! OH MY! It was served with fresh asparagus, carrots, and mashed potatoes. Their salad, crabcakes, lobster bisque, and desserts were all very scrumptious. Any weight I lost being sick and drinking only juice was certainly gained back at dinner. (Not to mention my indulgences at JC's for lunch, a Baskin Robbins B-day cake - MY FAVORITE- Mi Cocina Friday night with great friends...Sunday lunch with great friends and their new baby, and Sunday night with our long-time friends that are moving across the metroplex! Man, it was a weekend full of eating! I must say cooking at home tonight was so refreshing and light!
We had a fun weekend though! Brad slept until 10 AM on Saturday-which was a good birthday present for me because it meant I didn't have to get up and go to workout-I could just be lazy and not feel bad about it. We housesat/dogsat for my boss this weekend too! Her house is really nice with a theater sized HdTV and a HUGE chocolate lab, Ammo, and a pool. I love staying at their house while they are gone.


On Monday, I spent the morning running errands and then over to my mom's to hang out with the girls and then to Laura's house. When I went over to Laura's I walked into the backyard and found her 3 kids naked as jay birds swimming in their play pool! They were sooo funny!
Well, gotta get to bed-it is WAY past 10 and this old lady likes to be in bed before that! On a side note though-We booked our tickets to Europe tonight! We are flying into Rome and out of Zurich! I AM SO EXCITED - I CAN HARDLY STAND IT! I'll keep you all posted on the details and thanks for all the help-and song suggestions!

Officially Cool

I feel like I can claim the title of "cool" now because for my birthday Brad bought me an iPod. I am so excited! I have wanted one for a long time now and I am really ready to take it to the gym tomorrow. (It will be a much added source of inspiration to get me to the gym since I have been sick for the last 3 weeks!) I figure this is also a good time to go while I am taking the 'Roids to get rid of the nasty sinus infection that has been ruling my life. Maybe I can really tone up with the help of the steroids and the new playlist I made tonight called "CrazyFast". You can only imagine what songs are on that playlist huh? I'll keep you guessing but if anyone has any great song suggestions that I need to put on this fun new little iPod...let me know! Everyone has been so helpful with the Europe plans-surely y'all can recommend some good iTunes. I literally like all kinds of music-so send me some good ones! Have a great week! I'll post more about my FUN birthday weekend hopefully tomorrow when I get my pics uploaded.

Travel Advice...

Most of our friends (that's you bloggers) have already been to Europe. And as you know, the Moores here a little behind (on more things than European travelling); however, we started making our plans for our first EUROPEAN VACATION to which I am so excited about that I just might not be able to sleep tonight. (I am suddenly completely over my terrible sinus infection/strep/tuberculosis I have had all week!!!) We have narrowed down a date and did hold some flights but are interested in adjusting those, but I will have to call AA for their services for this type vacay.
So, where do you come in bloggers? Well, FILL ME IN on where to go, what to do, how to do it all, you know...all the european scoop. I am feeling a little overwhelmed at this point so I want to get some good solid advice. I actually had a patient hand sketch me a map of Italy that was very accurate of his favorite places-he is a super-traveller.
Now, obviously I want to go to every country. But, we have narrowed our choices to the top five that both of us have always wanted to see: Italy & Switzerland for sure and then Austria, Germany, and then France. Right now we are looking at 11 days-2 of which are travel days. We of course would love to stay longer, but hey, I have convinced Brad that you can't do Europe in a weekend, so this is completely workable! We might just do Italy and Switzerland actually-see this is why I need your expertise...
So let me know. Of the few of you that still read my blog, you all should have my email. If you don't - leave me a comment and we will connect.
Danke, Merci, and Mille Grazie

Happy Birthdays

We have had a fun summer full of birthdays! Mal celebrated her 4th birthday in June. Reece and Ryan turned ONE in July along with my Grandpa turning 95. And sweet Abby turned 6 today!! YIKES!! I can't believe any of them. Sweet Abby! You can't really be SIX! You are just like your mommy. Precious and calm. You will be talented like her too with all the art you love to do. I love that you are a girly girl! We spoiled you rotten as a baby-you had no choice but to love pink! You are going to be a good and faithful friend. I love how you pray so diligently for others. I can't believe you are going to first grade.
I love how Mallory is such a little stinker. She can light up a room with her giggles and can warm your heart in an instant-IF she wants to. If not - too bad - maybe another day but for some reason I just love that about her. I love the way she loves Brad. She may not want to give anyone else a hug that day but she always has one for Brad. She absolutely adores him. She has the best gymnast body already. She is pure sculpted muscle and Laura and I love that she has a beautiful chin! (Mainly b/c we don't have chins-long family trait there!) Happy Birthday Mal-Mal! MeMe Loves You and can't wait to watch you grow and do wonderful things.

Oh little Reecey and Ryan! One year already??? How quickly it has gone. You are the lights of our family. Our daily reminder that God answers prayer and that He is ever faithful. I love you two for so many reasons too. Ryan-your little temper crack me up. I love that you are a mommas boy and that you LOVE your Milk-just like your Tia Meme. Reecey, I love that you are so laid back and lighthearted. This will be such a virtue for you in the future. I love that you are both boys-you have strong men in your lives to guide your way. I love that you both wave your little hands to a spanish song none of us can really sing. I am so thankful that God blessed our whole family with you two.
Lastly, our awesome grandpa, Daddy Bill, turned 95 in July. He is incredible. I know I have posted before but he still walks everyday, has a garden, LOVES babies, and is the best back-tickler ever. He has a calm gentle spirit about him that I long to possess one day. He is my inspiration for taking care of myself so I can live a long life like he has.

Well, this should wrap up my postings for a while. Three in one night is pretty good-We have more birthdays coming up this month. Emily (another niece), Janis my motherinlaw, and myself all have birthdays in August! I am glad Allie's next baby is due in the winter-we gotta spread these birthdays out! Have a great weekend.

The BEST Vacation!

(View from the lake as we were Kayaking)

Just a quick note on our vacation! It was the BEST! I think I liked it just as much as Hawaii-which those of you that know me know I LOVE HAWAII!

We cycled, kayaked, rode the Luge and the Gondola, ate great food, learned a little french-stress the little, golfed, and got massages. It was such a great trip. I would really love to go back there again one day. The Lodge was picture perfect, the scenery was amazing, the weather was nice...ok, ok, it was all just wonderful. It turned out to be a much "needed" vacation for us too. It did us a lot of good to get out of the rat-race and relax. No major life-changing decisions were made but it did give us time to refocus on some things. If anyone is looking for a place to go that is easy, inexpensive, and beautiful-let me know-Mont Tremblant is the place to go. Here are some pics...

Village-It is so cute with cobblestone roads and bright buildings.

Top of Mont Tremblant-Gorgeous-pictures don't do it justice.

Tour de Mont Tremblant-I so haven't been on a real bike in probably 8 years! It was so fun!

And so marks a new era in our "family". We said goodbye to the Civic a couple of weeks ago. After a LONG, LONG life with Brad, he finally gave her up. After a routine (and long overdue) oil change, the service guy brought Brad out to the car as it was up on the "thing" and showed him the separated CV joints that are supposed to be replaced when they are just cracked. He also mentioned that the Master cylinder needed replacing because the brakes were bad and there was little power steering. All this adding up to roughly $1000 and the car only being worth $1000 on a good day, finally sent Brad over the edge. He finally didn't want to spend anymore money on the "Lil Tiger".

So, there started the search. And if I had let Brad do it - we would now be driving a minivan! (I kid you not-he really likes the minivan thing-this tells you literally how practical he is!) I, however, do not think there is ANY practicality to me driving a minivan right now when we have NO kids and can't even seem to decide if and when we will have them. If we have multiples - fine-it really makes life easier and my sister's minivan is very easy and nice but - not until I have a litter of children. We ended up getting a Toyota Highlander instead. I really like it - it is super easy to drive which I was a little worried about moving into an SUV. It is practical for Brad as far as reliability and gas milage. It has a third row seat so I can fit all the kids in it for Camp MeMe-whenever that is-and it is black which I like. We weren't going to buy new, but when you drive a car 12 + years-you can go new b/c you are going to drive the next car that long too. Our "not-existent-children-that-we-need-a-minivan-for" can drive it when they get old enough!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

I am officially out of my funk because we FINALLY booked our vacation! We are going to CANADA-Mont Tremblant actually and it looks beautiful! I have always been a beach resort loving-warm weather-lots of sunshine-type of vacationer...hence the reason we have been to Hawaii 3 times, Cancun, Las Vegas, and the Caribbean for our vacations since we have been married. We have always said we would go back to Hawaii for our 5 year anniversary but I rebelled on that idea when we started looking and decided I needed the taste of the mountains. Since we would be going in the heat of the summer, I thought the cooler temps sounded too great so I researched every lodge from Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Seattle, Vancouver, Michigan, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Toronto. And I finally found just what I was looking for just north of Montreal in Mont Tremblant, Canada. It is a cute little ski village and we are staying just outside the village in a cool lodge on the lake. We got a great deal (which of course makes Brad the accountant happy) and I feel like I am already starting to count down the days. They have golf which you can see on the photo and a spa and it looks so relaxing and wonderful...I can't wait!
On another note...Brad is now a member of the old man's club. He turned 30 on Friday! He celebrated by taking a guys trip with some of his college buddies. (I celebrated with a 90 minute massage) They had a great time and he even got a new nickname, Pops. We are officially together "grandparents" - MeMe and Pops! Who would've ever thought we would both end up with those names. At least Reid puts a spanish twist on things and calls me "Tia MeMe"!
We celebrated another 30th birthday tonight with some college friends...Happy Birthday Justin. We had a great time playing WhirlyBall and eating at Campisis. I am TERRIBLE offensively but made some great collisions with my bumper car so I guess I provided some adequate defense. After Brad kept scoring on the other team I just decided to start running into him the whole time. It worked great until Master Whirlyball, Jeff showed up and just squashed us all. (He has obviously played Whirlyball a few times in his life)
I finally got a new cell phone! I decided it was time when I couldn't hear the other person talking-very annoying. I love my new phone-very cute (red) and super sleek, but unfortunately it doesn't have a flashlight-the #1 feature of my other phone. I know it sounds CrAzY but I used that flashlight every single day and it will be sorely missed! I also transitioned to a flip phone-never have been a fan but we'll see how that turns out. Everyone else in my contact list will love it b/c my purse will stop calling them!
I guess that wraps it up for now. This week will be fun and busy-Monday Spin, Tuesday babysitting some of our favorite kiddos (non-related), Wednesday-Financial Peace, Thursday & Friday are nothing YET-or that I can remember right now, and Saturday is of course 2 baby showers! Oh, and hopefully Lindsey will have her baby this week, too. Whew-it is going to be a busy week!!! Have a great one!

Friday Nights and Sunday Afternoons

All our boys on the couch watching the Masters













Golf even puts the babies to sleep...







So this is what we do on Friday nights...especially when it is Masters weekend/Easter weekend. The boys sit and watch TV and all the Masters highlights and the girls are in the kitchen making bunny cakes! It was a lot of fun though. Mal was so sweet to go and share her bunny candy with the boys but then told Brad he shouldn't have any because candy causes cavities! I got such a laugh out of that one.

Here are some pictures from the Arboretum a few weeks ago too. It was a gorgeous day and everyone was there...it took us 30 minutes just to get into the parking lot. It was well worth it though - the flowers were amazing! Brad and I got a lot of landscaping ideas that day and drove straight to our favorite nursery to buy more shrubs and flowers...funny though how our yard doesn't look quite like the arboretum...






























The kids were so silly that day. Between trying to hold the boys and watching the dance-off contest, they really wore themselves out. Reid screamed all the way to the car and Mal fell asleep as we were pulling out of the parking lot. The boys were fine as usual and Abby kept cracking me up in the car afterwards at Sonic saying how "bored" she was waiting for her slush.

An Aunt's Proudest Moment...Abby Rae DDS!

Last week Abby had to dress up as a "Community Helper" for school. I was so excited to hear that she wanted to be a DENTIST! (I actually REALLY encouraged her to be a "hygienist" but I think it is a little difficult for 5 yr olds to grasp the difference...they think we are all dentists!)
Anyways, my sister bought her some scrubs and I got her geared up with supplies like a mirror and mask and lots of toothbrushes for her classmates. She looked so cute! This is all too funny to me because she basically gets wimpy at the dentist office and Dr. Sivie had to put her in a head lock to pull her tooth...but after the whole thing is over she thinks it is the coolest thing ever. Glad she wasn't traumatized!
Hope everyone had a great weekend! I'll post pictures soon-we went to the Arboretum today with the rest of the world-what a beautiful madhouse! I LOVE SPRING-TIME!! We bought lots of shrubs to fill in the rest of our backyard and our awesome landscaper, Collin, is going to come and plant them this week. We just might have Easter lunch at our house in the backyard with all the family...who knows...that is a whole other subject in itself!
Have a great week!

Yep....Looks Like I'm Hooked...

Saw this and thought it was FUNNY! Not all apply to me but several do! And yes, I can sing the Duck Tales Theme Song! WooHoo is Right and I did LOVE Oregon Trail day at school! Happy Monday!

clipped from cassiegermsheid.com 1. You’ve ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE. 3. You can sing the rap of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton. 8. Two words: Hammer Pants 9. If you ever watched “Fraggle Rock”. 11. You can sing the entire theme song to “Duck Tales” (Woo ooh!) 14. You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen… and still know the turtles names. 15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school. 19. L.A. Gear….need I say more? 22. You know the profound meaning of “WAX ON, WAX OFF”. 23. You wanted to be a Goonie. 24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing (some of us…head-to-toe). 26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf. 28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets. 32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power) and He-Man should hook up. 35. After you saw Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, you kept saying “I know you are, but what am I?” 36. You remember “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”.