Sun and snow all in a day...

We were fortunate enough to have another family holiday this week. I had my annual company meeting in Lanzarote, so left the snowy cold London to head to the Canaries. Before leaving the airport though, I sat with 4 of my work colleagues on a plane for 5 hours. On the tarmac. Fun. Turns out the snow (which didn't prevent the very full plane full of passengers from getting to the airport) kept the de-icing machine workers from getting to the airport. Seriously. Fun was being had at home however as Scott and the kids built a great snowman.


So after the plane finally left, we arrived to Lanzarote safely. The meeting went fine and then the family arrived. We rented a house again which ended up being really big and fantastic for the week. The weather was unseasonable cool which made the heated swimming pool necessary. The kids swam at least two times every day but one. The one day we had a pajama day. Love those! We of course made it down to the beach several times. Now, some of you are wondering where the bikini clad beach pictures are. To you, I would simply say HA!

The other exceptionally cool thing was that Scott was able to secure a babysitter for the evenings while we were there. Kirstee ended up being GREAT! She came over several nights so Scott and I could go out. The kids liked her so much! One afternoon she brought over her two kids and the four kids all played together (while Scott and I went and had a cocktail beachside). A big shout out and thanks to Kirstee!


This was one of our best holidays...



We all were able to catch up on sleep (yep, the kids let us sleep in virtually every morning). Caden declared himself big enough for "wake up duty". He was able to get them both breakfast bars and water and turn on the cartoons. LOVE THAT! The kids had a blast and fussed when it was time to leave. We are looking forward to our next vacations in April once Scott has returned from his month trip to the States for trial. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

Video highlights:

39 years young

I had my birthday in January. For the first time in four years, I wasn't at a company meeting for it. My lovely work friends got me a birthday cake and took me out for cocktails and dinner. My sweet husband gave me a birthweek. Forever, I have wanted to stay in a castle. Check.


We spent a great night in Amberley Castle. What a beautiful and amazing place. Scott arranged for us to have a seven course tasting menu dinner. In a private room. With a roaring fireplace. And our own waiter and sommelier. Talk about spoiling me! Happy birthday me!


The week was awesome. (The gift-per-day was a nice touch too!) One of the other cool things I was treated to for my birthday was going to see Amos Lee in concert here in London.



He was amazing!

I have had an unforgettable year. Lucky beyond all expectations, we live a dream life. Some people worry about getting older, and I am thankful for continuing to get older. Every year has gotten better and I look forward to this year and hope to get many more.

Laughter is the best medicine

Finally Ashley!

I finally found the SD card that I used when Ashley was over visiting from Houston. I had forgotten about the things we all did while she was here and was so happy to see the pics. Since she is a photographer, I would expect she would want her picture taken when the time arose. She absolutely didn't! Each of these pics was the result of a "please let me take your picture so you have proof you were here" conversation...



And anyone who knows Asley isn't surprised by this:



We had a great time and we look forward to her next visit.

Video of adventures:

To be or not to be...

Last week, I felt I might be transitioning to a Brit. While out with a guy on my team, I asked him if I could "put my rucksack in his boot". Of course for my Texan friends, I was asking if I could put my backpack in his trunk. I giggled a bit at the ability to actually ask this question.

I have been having a bit of an identity crisis lately. Virtually 90% of my communications on email are with British people. While it is all English, it is quite different that American English as mentioned in a previous post. However, it isn't just the words now that I am more aware of, it is the spelling.

Here's a little example:

British English:
My favourite neighbour whose young boy has been ill of late has gone to her paediatrician. They immediately recognised that he needed surgery and rushed him off to theatres. The doctor adviced that he would need long term treatment.

Now in Texan:
My favorite neighbor whose little boy has been sick lately took him to the pediatrician. They immediately recognized that he needed surgery and rushed him off to the OR. The doctor advised that he would need long term treatment.

So the delimma is this. I work with all these nice British people, one of whom informed me last week she thought I just didn't have good spelling (not realizing/realising the differences between English and British...). It would be quite easy to change my spell check in Outlook to British English, but for some reason, it feels like I am giving up my American roots. I'm here based on my American experiences, so why turn my back on that? BUT to not change it, most of the folks here think I am lacking... What to do, what to do?

For now, I shall continue to be a US English speller. I hope I can stick it out for the remainder of our stay in the UK.

While this is a silly and fun thought to even worry about, I simply have to add: What a lucky world I live in for this to be a "problem" that even requires thought!

Keali turns 5

Keali had her 5th birtday last weekend, and she wanted nothing more than a birthday party with her friends from school.

So we went to an indoor playspace and invited her entire class of girls. Caden had a blast as well since one of his friends is the older brother of one her classmates. Perfecto. Everybody's happy. The party was super easy (they provided food, drinks and entertainment), and we needed only to provide the cake and the birthday girl.




Keali relished in the attention. She especially liked it (and continues to laugh) about the fact that when lighting the candles on her birthday cake, the flags caught on fire. Disaster avoided with quickly pulling the flag out and extinguishing the flames.


The day was successful, and made even more so since Keali was able to have Stanley for the weekend. Stanley is the class stuffed-animal and provides hours of entertainment... Keali felt like the princess girl she is and had a great birthday. Happy happy to our little girl!

Video of the last 5 years...

Let me introduce you...

This is Ashley. Ashley Allen. Amazing photographer and all around good person.

She has been kind enough for the last three years to photograph our family for our annual pics. She has traveled internationally twice to do so. We have become good friends and I can't wait for her to come back and see us. THANK YOU ASHLEY!!







A video of her pics: