Merry Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas!

If you squint, you just might see it. Snow--in Houston!! Yes, we had a full day of snowfall. It didn't stick on the ground, but it was beautiful coming down. The kids were crazy about it.

NEWS FLASH:
Our three girls are featured on the cover of a new book coming out in February 2009.
Check out the link below. You can find it any bookstore (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.). "Angel Kisses", by Lisa Jane

For many years, we have used a creative and talented photographer to take our family portraits. Lisa Jane has been published many times. Some of you have commented on our Christmas cards each year. She is a gifted photographer! Although, the subjects were pretty good too! One photo of the girls (as angels) has been chosen as the cover for Lisa Jane's new book. The coffee table book is filled with her photos and comforting stories and bible verses. It's really beautiful.
Cut and paste the link:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Angel-Kisses/Lisa-Jane/e/9781404187153/?itm=1

Christmas Cookies Block Party and Caroling Hayride:

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Ellie Lou - Ballet

Ellie Lou begged me for 2 years to enroll her in ballet lessons. She is in her 2nd year at the The Houston Ballet Academy and loves it. Here are some photos from a recent open class. The classes are typically closed to observation, so we snap up a lot of photos when we get the chance to peek in on a class.

perfect bun!

Lillian's Christmas Concert 2008

Lillian and Mrs. Mary, instructor




Lillian and her new Acoustic Electric guitar.





Lillian performing "Walking in a Winter Wonderland"



Lillian closed the show with by singing and playing an old favorite. Bravo!

Lillian Guitar Performance : November 2008

Another wonderful and brave performance during the Christmas Concert! Lillian played and sang "Walking in a Winter Wonderland".

Lillian has added voice lessons to her guitar playing this year. She also has a brand new acoustic electric guitar. She's all plugged in now and sounds great.

Lillian and Ms. Mary, her guitar instructor.

Breckenridge 2008

Breckenridge, Colorado. What a great trip. The girls had a wonderful time. Christmas decorations everywhere. Snow kissed roofs and mountains. Just beautiful. As soon as we hit the mountains, the snow was coming down in huge flakes...we felt like we were in a snow globe. We were all snickering at the poor souls at home in Houston in a 70 degrees oven! It's so nice to get a jump start on the Christmas season with this kind of weather.



Lillian, Alex, and Anna Kate & Ellie Lou took ski lessons from the same instructor as last year. Good Ole' Pete. They were skiing really well this year. In fact, the older girls were ready to dump their instructor this time around. They all ended up skiing with Daddy after lessons and were great!



We enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving dinner prepared bit by bit from everyone there. Thanks to Scott for a delicious turkey again this year.



This year was extra special because we had almost all of Chris's family with us for the trip. Ginger, Tom, Tracey & Joaquin and little Mateo joined in. We really missed having Kim, Kaitlyn , and Gordon, but Kaitlyn's school and work schedule prevented it. They were truly missed.

Bike Tours 2008

Lillian and Chris preparing to ride. Lillian rode 30 miles during this race.

Lillie and Chris heading out for a 15 mile ride.

70.3 Ironman Triathlon

Here are some photos of Chris participating in Austin's grueling 70.3 Ironman event. The Austin event is known for it's hilly and hot terrain. If you can do this one, you can do any of them. Ugh! NO WAY would I do that. It was a fantastic race. Not only did I enjoy watching Chris compete, it was fascinating to watch the pros. Triathlon is one of the few sports that the average guy can race along side some of the sport's greatest athletes. Very inspirational to say the least.




Chris and John waiting on the bus to take them to the race start---it's DARK! ugh

Kids Triathlons 2008

The three girls participated in a couple of triathlons again this summer. Lillian won first in her age group and first overall. Must have been the new bike! Check out her cool wheels--just like Lance---Discovery sponsored Trek and all.





Anna Kate finished 2nd in her age group and Ellie Lou came in 4th. Amazing. We are very proud of them all.

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Spring Guitar Concert 2008

Lillian sang and played "Amazing Grace" during her Spring Concert. This was the first time she added voice to her performance. She was great! We are so amazed by her confidence and bravery on stage.

Lillian's Recording Party!!

Lillian had a birthday party at a recording studio. It was a blast. The girls really enjoyed it. All recorded their own singing voices (and Lillian on guitar)on a real master disc --and then each girl got a disc of their own to take home. What a bunch of rockstar divas!

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Lonestar Tri - Galveston 2008

Chris and his friend and training partner, John, in Galveston for the Lonestar Triathlon.

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Galveston Spring Break 2008

We took the girls to the beach in Galveston for a short break. Lillian's best friend from 3rd grade, Kaitlyn, came along. It was a lot of fun, we played in the surf and ate lots of junk! We even convinced Daddy to eat pizza despite being 2 weeks out from his next race! Yum Yum!

Easter 2008

Easter was sunny and bright. The girls look so pretty! We all had lunch at Mimi's after church and then went to the park to fly kites! Tracey and Joaquin are home from London to stay for now. Tracey is expecting a baby boy in July. That didn't stop her from getting out there to fly a kite with the girls.

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