One very PROUD grandmother BB!

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This was a fun day in the park last year that I was able to surprise my daughter with some great pictures taken by the very talented Barbara McLendon!  He was so precious that day as he is every day and I know he has grown leaps and bounds since these pictures but I will always cherish this day.  Watching him play and discover new things...from handfuls of pebbles, sticking flowers in holes he could find and playing peek a boo around the trees....was a joy and memories to last a life time!  I can not wait to explore a new chapter in his life as he grows another year older and will soon be a big brother.  Wow...just think of the pictures we can capture then! One very Proud grandmother!!

Show Offs 2010 Kilgore Rangerettes - Road Trip

My three sweethearts!  Sophomores Litzman and Ramirez and Freshman Keller
 - World Famous Kilgore Rangeretts - 70 - 71 Lines!

This past weekend I had the honor of traveling up to Kilgore College to see three of my awesome officers from Deer Park.  Two of them, Miss Litzman and Miss Ramirez are Sophomores and Miss Rachel is a Freshman.  We were able to view the Sophomore line perform a kick and field jazz, as well as to see the Freshman line perform for the first time as a group doing a field kick.  All three dances were phenomenal and displayed the extreme talent this organization is known for along with the superb manners and pride you always witness when meeting a Kilgore Rangerette.  I am soo honored to say these three ladies, along with the string of others I have had to go through Kilgore were once on my team at one of my schools.  Thinking back I have had:
Sara Blanchard - FHS
Melissa Jones - FHS
Katie Crosson - FHS
Leslie Finly - FHS
Jana Joerns - LPHS
Kristi Adams - DPHS
Ashley Austin - DPHS
Cynthia Ramirez - DPHS
Sierra Litzman - DPHS
Rachel Keller - DPHS
(and I know I am leaving a couple out :)...someone please help...names???

Regardless I am very proud of all of  these ladies and have all of their pictures proudly displayed in my office in their red/white and blue!

I made the trip up there this weekend with my dear friend Ms. Deanna Johnson.  She is a blast to spend time with and I cherish all the road trips we get to make together, in addition to our very fun New Year's Eve get together s.  And this year we are looking in to ringing in the new year in Vegas....omg..such fun.  This weekend we stayed at a beautiful B&B called the The Worldert-Spencer Manor.  Highly recommend!!  We have already found the B&B that we are booking for Revels....and it is the best yet!

Me and Miss Rachel in front of her door sign.
She "knew" I would show up!!  I love her!

Our beautiful room at the
Worldert-Spencer B&B

The proud grooms parents!

Kila, John and Raymond at the rehearsal dinner.

The happy "newly engaged" couple - Ryan and Kiana

Our kids!  The whole gang!  John, Kila, Raymond, Kai, Charles, Blair, Kiana and Ryan.

Mother of the groom and the beautiful bride.

My two beautiful daughters...sorry DAD they get all their looks from me! :)

"Its a new dawn, its a new day, its a new life for me OH I'M FEELING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD"

I think the title says it all! Well little did I know that when I wrote my last entry that my life would be taking a big turn. During the last week of school I received a phone call from a very good friend informing that the Langham Creek High School Bailadoras director job had just opened. I had always said that I would never leave Deer Park unless I was going to venture off into an AP position...which I still am not seeing myself doing! However, there has been only two other teams that I have always admired and had mentioned to some friends that if they ever became open and if the timing was right I would consider. All I can say is that within 4 days of the phone call I had accepted the position as the Bailadora director. Since the moment it has been one big whirlwind. Taking on a new team, and one I must say is very very active in all regards is no small undertaking. My summer this year....or shall I say what summer, went straight as if it never came. But I must say I have jumped on my "Happy Train" and I am not getting off. I have loved every minute of my new job, from taking the new dance officers to camp, working with the socials at school getting the room prepared and working with two incredible new ladies. (and I must add a great group of parents!!) It all has made me feel like a teacher for the first time again. Only very few people who truly knows me understands why I would leave a position with a great team, wonderful parents and my two best friends to take on a totally new adventure and doubling my miles to travel everyday on top of it. I am so happy for what I had and where I came from, but the thoughts of tomorrow and down the road excites me beyond words. I know it will be a long year, but I anticipate it to be one of smiles, laughs, and happy memories!

On top of the new job, our family has had loads of excitement....my 2nd oldest son finally married the love of his life. They had a beautiful wedding in Sugarland this past weekend. And then on July 4th Kiana and Ryan became engaged and we hit the road fast with plans for a summer wedding next year. Kila and John also had exciting news for us...but for the time being "mumms" the word! ;) And to top it off the wedding this weekend brought our son home from England for a few days! And then we still have Kai at home.....usually upstairs playing Xbox, WOW or out on the field shooting up paintballs.

All I can say is WOW...so much excitement in a very short time. And yes, it is hard to believe another year of my life has just whisked by...Happy Birthday to "me" ~ (and my dear dear friend Sam Hooi in Wales...my twinkie!!)

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Another year has come and gone!

It's hard to believe that another school year has come and gone. Being a school teacher and dance team director really tends to make life go by fast! After this year I will have been teaching in the public school system for officially 12 years. My last 7 years have been at Deer Park High School and as I always say~ you never know where the wind will blow you! Richard is still working hard at his Law business and complains and gripes as much as ever~ but down deep we know how much he loves us and goes that extra mile to take care of his family! He is the BEST!

Regarding the kids:
Kai finished his 7th grade year at ST. Thomas Episcopal; Kiana is working at UT Dental for a doctor doing research while awaiting to see what PA school she will be accepted in to (at that time she will have approx. three years of schooling left to finish her schooling - she graduated from Baylor this past August.); Charles is living in Houston and will be getting married this summer to Blair, his high school sweetheart and she will be starting her 3rd year of law school; John and Kila are living close by in Pearland and doing well working and raising our adorable grandson ~ John John who will be two in December; and Raymond, our oldest has just moved half way around the globe as he is stationed in England and loving it there; And of course we still have all of our fur children - Kaizer (goldie - 100 lb.) Ralf (alaskan Klee Kai - 30 lb.) Buster (teacup chihuahuah 3.5 lb.) and a Tigger (a very fat cat) Yes it is a three ring circus at our house on any given day.

Me:
I have had fun the past 4 - 5 months tampering with gardening and loving it. We finally got to eat some of the produce. Fresh tomatoes, beans, zucchini, bell peppers, jalapenos so far! I also planted papaya, banana and Japanese Laquoit trees. They seem to be doing good so far...but of course no fruit as of yet...way to young.

This summer I plan to spend a lot of time working in my sewing room which I finally got fixed up and is looking very nice. I had both my Bernina and my BabyLock serger overhauled and they are ready to "purrrr" ~ have tons of projects to work on, just need to the time! And that is coming just around the corner :)

We are looking forward to Blair and Charles' wedding this July and hope to spend a little time in England visiting Raymond, the Hoois and our other daughter Dina. Not sure yet if that is going to happen but we are looking into it.

I hope all our friends and family have a wonderful summer and be safe on the roads traveling to your favorite vacation spots! Till next time ~

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Happy New Year to family and friends!

Richard and I spent New Year's Eve with good friends at Hotel ZaZa in Houston. The hotel had a fun "Fabulous Flappers - Roaring 20's" theme and we all decked out in attire appropriate for such. It was so much fun as the guys all wore zoot suits and the girls were all flappers. There was lots of food, drinks and dancing and we all celebrated the New Year's arrival with great fun! We all started the day at ZaSpa with couples massages. After getting throughly relaxed it was time to put on the costumes and head for a quick toast before going to dinner. Unfortunately, the hotel messed up the reservations some how and inadvertantly gave Blanchard's hotel room away, and considering they were totally sold out they had no other option that to "upgrade" her and Rodney to this small, horrible room...oh wait, did I say room. It was more like a full blown house. To get the full picture you would need to go to Hotel ZaZa's website and take a look at one of their website and click on the Warwick Apartment which is 2,829 square feet. http://www.hotelzazahouston.com/houston-hotel-suites.php
so needless to say we decided to go up to their "mansion" of a hotel room to have a toast and begin our adventure. From there we headed to the dining room were we had a five course meal with wine pairing and then proceeded to dance the night away to a band and later DJ. The new Year was rung in with party hats and champaigne toast and we then all retired to our nice rooms to finish off a great evening. In the morning they served a wonderful buffet brunch in which we all departed and went our seperate ways to end another great New Year's Celebration. We have been doing this with Larry and Deanna for about 4 or 5 years and this year Sara and Rodney joined us! It was a great time and cannot wait till next year to do it again.

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