Weekend Home

Last Friday we jumped in the car at 2:30pm and made our way home for the first time in about 4 months! Despite what some might think, the 9 hour drive went by quickly. It was so nice to be able to talk to each other again with out the TV or cell phones getting in the way! We didn't even have the radio on for half of the trip...we had a lot of catching up to do.

This trip home couldn't have come at a better time. Chris just finished his midterms (which he did wonderfully on, by the way) and Tif had some comp time to use up. We decided to come home because it was Chris's dad, Richard's (AKA D2) 60th birthday. It happen that it was also the White Deer Polish Sausage Supper as well- extra bonus!

We arrived in White Deer around midnight, and Teresa (Tif's mom) was waiting up for the grand-dogs. They love their MeMawMaw. Grandpaw was asleep because he had to get up and go to work early Saturday morning, so the puppies were sure to go say goodnight before they went to bed.
We all (us and the dogs) got to sleep in till around 9:00 and then we went out to 'help' at the feed store. Basically, Tif sweeps the floor and scrubs the toilets and Chris gets taken out for a good lunch! We went to Dyers in Pampa, and let me tell you- we can't find any better BBQ in Kansas! We both ate a ton!
Then we went home, and wanted a nap, but instead went to the Arts and Crafts show in town that weekend. After the craft show, we jumped in the shower and hurried to make our surprise visit to Richard's birthday bash at the Amarillo Club.


Tim, Chris's brother is a member at the club and made the reservations for our family. It is on the 31st floor of the Chase Building in Amarillo. We had a wonderful dinner and we even got some use out of those dance classes that we took last spring!

Here are some pics....
















The birthday boy, his lovely wife and one very lucky girl's husband!
















Our table of 13...















Chris's brother, Derek, and his adorable son, Hudson, hitting the dance floor.




















Chris's other brother, Tim, getting down with two of his three beautiful daughters, Morgan and Addy.
















Now we are just waiting to come home again in a couple of weeks for Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

This weekend we had so much fun getting into the 'spirit' of Halloween.

Friday night we and our friends, Justin and Jayna, went to a silent film fest in Grace Cathedral here in town. An organist in the cathedral creates the "soundtrack" for silent horror movies. It was kind of spooky, and it is a really beautiful church, with an organ that is almost comparable to WT's.






















The main film was "The Bells" inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and based on a 19th century French play.




















Pictures of the church....















Saturday afternoon was Rebecca's wedding- one of Tiffany's co-workers at TFI. It was a really sweet ceremony!

The happy bride and groom!
















Us at the reception

















Her beautiful flowers!



















Sunday Chris and I finally got around to carving pumpkins- something that we have said we would do every year, but never had!It was so much fun. We toasted the seeds and had our own little contest. I think Chris won- his pumpkin was hilarious!After the pumpkin carving, we made popcorn balls for his study group and my co-workers. Neither one of us realized how freakn' hot the popcorn was and managed to walk-away with minor 3rd degree burns to our hands!

Chris going in for the kill...
















The best use of our cork screw in a while!
















Can you guess who made the scary vampire eating the little pumpkin, and who made the happy-go-lucky pumpkin???
















The pumpkins in front of our scary twisted tree...


















Have a fun and safe Halloween!

For our West Texas family and friends

Fall here in Topeka is just getting more and more beautiful everyday. You see we actually have trees here, and this form of precipitation falls from the sky to water them, they call it rain here. The trees are turning the most beautiful red, orange and yellows. Fall has got to be our favorite season. Sometimes you just find yourself in awe of the beautiful work of God and how he has put every color imaginable in nature for us to find and stick into a Crayola box...












Just for kicks- here are our babies in their Halloween costumes that Tif made this year....
We find them very fitting.



Have a happy and safe Halloween!
Hope to see you all soon!

Walk in the park...

There are so many beautiful parks here in Topeka. Luckily we happen to live very close to the biggest in town. This weekend, with the puppies in tow, we made our way through it.
Our first stop was the Bark Park, where Callie and Kaikeyi got to make a few friends. They are a little anti-social and basically won't leave our sides, but we are hoping that with time they will get better.

Daddy and Kaikeyi

Callie and Kaikeyi with the hydrant

After the excitement of the Bark Park wore away we ventured into the Rose Garden. It was so beautiful with more roses than I have ever seen...

Hairspray!

Hey guys!
I just wanted to take a minute to write about our fabulous weekend in Kansas City. It is pretty much understood that we will spend at least one night of our weekend with the most awesome couple that we have met while here in Topeka. We met them at a BBQ (I wouldn't call it a BBQ- nothing is as good as it is in Texas) for the new law students- Justin is in Chris's class, and Jayna will be finishing up her BS in May. Justin and Jayna are natives of Kansas (mostly) and showed us around the city Saturday night.
First they took us to one of their favorite cafes- Cafe' Trio. It was marvelous! I don't think that they have anything like it in the Texas Panhandle! I have never felt so sophisticated- everything was perfection! Appropriately it is on Broadway street...

After the wonderful dinner we drove to the Starlight Theatre to see Hairspray which was in town this weekend. It is a must see- hilarious!