Where did that come from?

Hey - this is Texas and crazy storms literally pop up out of nowhere in the heat of the afternoon sometimes - especially in the spring.

I was bowling at one of our annual staff fun days at work. I sat down and heard my phone ringing. It was Ron saying that there was a tornado warning. A funnel cloud had been spotted in the general area where I was. CRAZY! The sirens were going off at our home - about 5 or so miles away from where I was. Ron and Riley were in the bathroom with the animals. Dylan was still at school - come to find out later they were hunkered down under their desks. And there I was - trying my darndest not to clean the gutters evey time it was my turn to chuck that 10 pound ball down the lane. Can I just say my wonderful husband and his family of super bowlers would have been so embarassed - a Nadwodny bowling like I did is unheard of.

Of course I also missed calls from one of my sisters and my father. We have this crazy need to call each other when the weather is so bad - just to make sure we aware and prepared...wonder where Dylan gets his fascination for weather from???

Oh well...here are some pictures that Ron took of some hail stones that were on our front porch. Geez! I keep forgetting to go make sure both of our cars survived without any damage.

Churches

My boss ,Sheila, and I share an office now at The Village church offices. Just temporary, right? Till our new space at the Flower Mound campus gets built out, right? Anyway...she has these amazing photos of buildings she took when she was in New York a while back hanging over her desk. It inspired me to try to take some shots while in Santa Fe. I don't have a great camera but I like the content that I got. Churches are inspiring just about any way you look at it.

All the interior shots are from Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Click on Loretto Chapel in the sentence above to read an amazing story of the very beautiful staircase.

Our "digs" during Santa Fe - Spring Break - vacation.

This is where we stayed in Santa Fe. The room was nice. Kind of "cozy" for 4 people and suitcases full of stuff for skiing. There was a breakfast buffet everyday - included in the room price. Riley just loved that. It was 2 blocks from The Plaza so when Ron and Dylan went to ski - Denise and Riley got to shop! Awesome!

The parking lot was kind of "cozy" too!

The patio - part of the restaurant where you could eat. Great atmosphere, good food, okay service.

A picture of our room.

Beautiful Santa Fe Pictures

My boys

These pictures are from our Spring Break vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Ron and Dylan on the ski lift looking back - how 'bout a wave?

Dylan, hitting the slopes.

Riley, one cool dude!

Sneak Peek...

At our Spring Break - in pictures. Just a few. Will post more when we get home.

SPRING BREAK!

Just a few hours left and the boys are out of school for a week! So, what are we doing? Well mom has to work Monday and Tuesday in the office but Dad will be working from home. Wednesday...Santa Fe! Ron and Dylan will be skiing. Mom and Riley will be shopping - unless Riley changes his mind and wants to try skiing. Then mom will try skiing too. We'll see.

Anway, we are all ready to get away for a little bit. We are working too hard. Looking forward to no deadlines, no homework and no commitments for a few days. The boys are excited because it looks like we will be able to go down to Carlsbad Caverns on the way back home. I can't wait to take some pictures of that. Or try to anyway! Now I've got Ron on the band wagon wanting a new camera. Hopefully we can get one before too long. But - we've got a decent camera and you know what? I'll make it work. It's not like I'm a professional or anything. But, Dylan actually is considering it for a profession. Maybe sports photographer? We'll see. So, maybe it would be a good investment, huh? (I can justify buying anything. :) )

So...here are some pics of what we expect to see and do on our trip. I'll try to post some actual ones while we are there! (Yes, Mom & Dad & my sisters...I actually do remember when we went when we were younger! Good times!) Pray for travel safety for us!

Not much longer now...

...and we will be sending our last payment on my car. Woohoo! (picture at left is what my car looks like) In another week or so we are car payment free! I can hardly wait. We will be able to pay down some debt and give more towards the capital campaign at our church to build out the building we purchased.

But wait...one year from now my husband has his eye on one of these. (picture at right is a new 2009 Ford F150). We can make it a whole year, right? We can do it! It will be worth the wait.

Sunday Night Fun

Sunday night we went to the American Airlines Center in Dallas to sees the Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche. Ron and the boys had went a few weeks ago when they got $10 tickets through the Lewisville Independent School District. Ron got these through the stars website for the same $10 price. I decided to go this time around. Ron laughs at me because I am always way more interested in the building and the people around me than I am in the game. I actually watched the game this time...didn't understand it all but I did watch it. We won 3-0!!!
The seats were okay. At least I could see the whole court? ice? whatever - I could see it all!

Ron and Dylan in all their Stars glory!

I thought this was very creative advertising! Shoot, now I'm craving a burrito.

Our Friday Night

Friday night we went to Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth and saw one of Ron's favorite groups - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. They are a swing band. Dylan and Riley both really like the music too. I didn't think I would like this kind of music but it is growing on me. Ron and I saw them last year at House of Blues in Dallas. I have to say that crowd was way more lively than the Symphony crowd...hee hee. Oh, the Fort Worth Symphony was awesome too!

Snow Fun!

One of the two huge
trees in our front yard.
I just love how the snow
is sitting on the branches!


















Riley and the snowman
that he built with dad.
Dylan was at a friend's
house having a huge
snowball fight.













Doogie - our wonder dog (a sheltie)
catching one of many snowballs.
Don't even try to guess how many
pictures I had to take to get this one
because I don't have a really cool camera - yet.

Pressure? Nah...This is just for fun!

I admit it - I'm a blog stalker. My husband...not so much. My boys...not at all.

Did I feel the pressure to start a blog? No. I felt bad that I peeked into others lives - nevermind that it helps me know how to pray for people. I still peeked. So, now you can peek into mine.

I'd also like to be able to share with my parents and sisters -who all live 30 minutes away. I know that's not very far but sometimes with our busy lives it's not close enough either.

So...I begin my adventure in blogging! Enjoy!