Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow '09

The weather forecasters said "expect rain this afternoon," "it will be 40 degrees this afternoon," "the rain has come back." They said "carry chains in the Gorge but there will be no snow in the valley." Why, oh why do we listen to them? In this case, I am so glad they were wrong. I was watching "The Tooth Fairy" {quite the gory version} when Ben called and said it was snowing downtown. I hadn't even realized that there was a nice covering right outside our front door! I paused the movie (yeah for streaming Netflix movies directly to the TV - double yeah for my geek husband who insisted on the blu-ray player that makes it happen in HD!), grabbed the camera and headed outside. I only had a few minutes before I had to start the car and go pick up Ben at the Max station. The kids on our street already had their sleds out and were "snowboarding" down the driveways.
It's only been snowing about half hour and look how white things are already becoming.

Look closely. I took this picture because of the red berries.

Trees surrounding the Max station. I kept driving around the parking lot so that I would know if it started getting icy. Fortunately, we didn't have to put the chains on to make it home.

It was slow going on the way home but everyone was very careful. I'm so glad that Ben got off early this afternoon because there are many people still trying to get home five hours later.

This was a beautiful willow bush. The picture doesn't do it justice.

We were about a mile from home and it was really starting to come down fast and furious.

I love the snow but this picture makes me look like an elf. If you look closely, you could probably see my pointy ears!

Look how it hard it is coming down. Stick out your tongue and catch it before it falls!

The trees in the backyard were full of snow. So very pretty. And now it's snowing again! They say it's not supposed to stay but since the thermometer outside our back door says 31 degrees... we'll have to wait and see!

This was when we were driving home this afternoon. WOW! {It's only about 30 seconds long.}

Christmas Baking

Okay people, what do you need first? We need to get this baking started! Cooper said time was a wasting and we were slacking. Noelle and Danielle graciously let Ben and I crash their baking day. I'm pretty sure it's because Ben said that he would make Noelle some Red Beans and Rice!

The boys were pretty upset that the Saints game was not being broadcast.
Grammy put "mittens" on Cooper's hands and he thought it was hilarious. He laughed and laughed!

With all this fun, you wouldn't think we got anything made...but we did! The table is getting fuller. Danielle's cookie decorating was the best.

Logan and I tried our best to make them look pretty.

When can we eat some? We're hungry!

Smile Danielle- we're almost done!

Logan is very intent on getting the frosting just right.

That was a complketely different knife he just licked. It's not the knife he continued frosting cookies with- wink, wink!

That is a beautiful gingerbread man. Logan was very proud of himself.

The finished products: Oreo truffles, peanut butter kisses cookies, white and dark pretzel bark, sugar cookies, fudge and chocolate covered pretzels. Yummy! Thanks for sharing a special day of fun with us!

Christmas...not just another holiday!

Jesus is Better than Santa

Santa lives at the North Pole.
JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year
JESUS is an ever present help.

Santa fills your stockings with goodies
JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited
JESUS stands at your door and knocks…and then enters your heart.

You have to stand in line to see Santa
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is
"Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?"
JESUS knew our name before we did.
Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too.
He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly
JESUS has a heart full of love.

All Santa can offer is HO HO HO
JESUS offers health, help and hope.

Santa says "You better not cry"
JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.

Santa's little helpers make toys
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle but JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.

It's obvious there is really no comparison.
We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.

We need to put Christ back in Christmas.
(The author is anonymous)

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Traveling home

This is all the baggage counters (2) at the Lake Charles airport. It was festive at least. This sign should read "All 3 Gates" lol!

Say cheese! Look how forced those smiles were. Saying goodbye sucks big time.

There was one x-ray machine. We had to wait until 6 am for it to open. Pretty funny but it sure beat a three hour drive to New Orleans.

So, we pulled out of the gate on time and sat on the tarmac for two hours and 50 minutes. The fog rolled in and when it was finally gone, they had to bring out the de-icer. But it hadn't been used in years so it had to be fixed before they could use it. While we sat waiting, our next plane left Houston. When we finally arrived in Houston, this is the first plane we saw. It really did snow in Texas!

Ben set us up watching movies in the airport. We love streaming movies from Netflix and it sure saved us from utter boredom.

We had a nice lunch at Pappadeaux's. Afterward, we walked down another terminal to this large window to sit in the sun.

I've long since given up hoping we'll get home before dark. I just want to get home!

We got on the 6 pm standby flight. At this point, we've been in airports for 12 hours and we still have at least four hours before we get home. The worst part was that in order to get on the flight, I had to sit in seat 6 and Ben was in seat 28. I was tired and a wreck by then. When I got on the plane, there was someone in my seat and we had to straighten that out. I hate taking off (and landing and turbulence and flying in general) and the people next to me probably thought I was psychotic since I was crying when I sat down and crying during the whole take off. Thankfully, the nice lady next to Ben was willing to switch with me so I got to be with him the rest of the flight.

It's crazy that it is dark outside and we were still trying to get home!

Pat's of Henderson

The night before we left, we were going to go out to dinner to celebrate Dad and Mom's birthday (December and January). We had it all planned but the snow and ice were coming. We changed plans at the last minute and went to lunch so we wouldn't have to drive over the scary bridge once the ice started. The obligatory food pictures...this is a catfish dinner...

Seafood platter... Happy birthday Dad! Enjoy that soft shell crab!

There was some beautiful artwork in the restaurant.

They had a beautiful wine cabinet but I just took a picture of the fleur de lis.

My dad fed dessert to my Mom. How sweet! I can't believe our time together is almost over. But we'll see them in August for Ashley's wedding. That's not that far away, right?

Dotty was our waitress. She was so much fun! We had a great time, great service and of course, the food was superb.

Ben's favorite part...the dessert case.

This was the lobby tree. There were at least two other trees and they were all beautifully decorated.

I didn't want this meal to end but we still had hours to spend together. And if they are right about the snow and ice coming in, we might be able to stay even longer!

Aunt Dee

My Momma and my Auntie! We got to spend a lot of time with Aunt Dee this trip. She is recovering from major surgery so we weren't sure if she would feel like visiting much. I'm so grateful that she is finally starting to feel better.

Ben helped me pick lemons from my Pawpaw's lemon tree. They are the best lemons and we brought a lot home with us! We also picked and brought home satsumas from Aunt Dee's other tree. They are better than satsumas we buy in the store, probably because they were so fresh!

Aunt Dee with Spot. She was still trying to figure out where she had placed several pictures of me. When I was a couple of months old, she dressed me up in her doll clothes and took pictures. She brought out a box of pictures. We went through them and shared lots of stories, lots of memories.

Back row: Cousin Kyle, Mawmaw, cousins Richard Joe and Darin, sisters Noelle and Della. Front row: sister Alana, me (in the hat) and cousin Kelly. This picture was taken in the early 70's but there wasn't a date on it.

Pawpaw after an afternoon of fishing. Taken about the same timeframe.

"Buddy, I think this is it!" We finally found two pictures of me, just as she remembered. She had dressed me up as her little "missie." After that, the nickname stuck with one minor change...she calls me Mitsie.

She told Ben several times that she likes him because he makes me happy but more importantly, because he brings me back to Louisiana to visit!

She gave me two of those pictures of me as a baby. I'll have to ask Ben to scan them in so that I can share them. All too soon, it was time to leave and she scolded me when I started to cry. "You'll be back soon, Mitsie!"

An Aunt and another Restaurant!

One day, we went to see my Aunt Eva. She's my dad's aunt on his mother's side. We were lucky that Aunt Eva and Aunt Irma (her sister) were able to attend our wedding in March. It was nice to be able to visit with Aunt Eva in her home. As she talked, she reminded me so much of her mother, my great-grandmother. We enjoyed our time with her but didn't stay long because, at over 90 years, she tires easily. You sure can't tell! We got to see Aunt Irma briefly but she had been sick and was resting so I didn't take pictures. Our next stop was lunch. I really wanted an oyster po'boy so we went to a local restaurant complete with a crawfish on the sign. Mmmm good! My favorite!Ben had to take a picture of how the condiments were displayed. Too funny! I'm sharing this picture, not because of my handsome husband but because of the decor. Look on the ledge over his shoulder!

Ben tells me the Boudin was really good. It's something that has not grown on me no matter how many times I try it, yuck!