The Secret is out...ITS A BOY!!

We just wanted to spread the word that we are having a lil' boy come May. We know with all of our close friends and family he will be welcomed into this crazy world. For now we enjoy all the wonderful experiences of being pregnant. One good thing is that Lori's morning sickness has slowly subsided. We will keep you posted as we get closer to May as things develop. As for now, baby (keikikane or baby boy) and Lori are doing well and on the right track. We hope your Christmas was blessed and may the blessings continue into the New Year. Love to you all.

Maternity Jackpot!

I hit a maternity clothes jackpot on Thursday night. My dear friend, Karen, had been saving all her maternity clothes to pass on to me when it was my turn. Sophie, Sergio's wife, also sent me some clothes that she has outgrown. She's due early next February.

I am so excited! I went shopping for clothes a while back and was very disappointed in the selection and was a little worried since my baby "bump" is quickly becoming more than a bump! No more worries since I now have a closet full of clothes. WOW--I feel like I could do my very own fashion show.

I am so blessed to have such thoughtful, caring friends in my life. And thanks to Serg for hauling them through 3 states to get them to me!! You guys rock!

Baby bump!

I will admit, I had to wear my first pair of maternity pants this week. It's seems my belly grew a bunch in just 2 days! I had 2 students ask me if I was going to have a baby, too! OK so whoever told me you really don't show until about 4.5 months was WRONG! WAY WRONG! It's so exciting and scary at the same time.

I am still tired, but not as nauseated as I have been. The only thing that still bothers me is raw chicken and that yucky, smelly popcorn a co-worker has to have EVERY day at lunch. (I think it would bother me even if I wasn't pregnant.) IT IS GROSS and it seems to bother others at lunch, too. Anyway, Sam has been really good about handling/cooking chicken so I don't have to. WHEW! I'll keep you posted on futher developments.

Announcing....

....Peanut, a.k.a. Keiki Wallis (Keiki=baby in Hawaiian). Yep, you read it right. The little picture you see is our baby's first picture. Sam and I are expecting our first child. I am in my 14th week of pregnancy. The baby is due May 25, 2009.


I am doing fine, but have had a first trimester of all-day-sickness and fatigue, and by 2:00 in the afternoon, I am done! I feel like a zombie at work! The sonogram showed all is well with the baby. On December 24, we will have our second sonogram and we will know the sex of the child for sure.

On Saturday, November 22, we made the announcement to some of our friends. We invited everyone to dinner to "celebrate my birthday." We surprised everyone when we presented cupcakes for dessert--cute, little, pink and blue cupcakes decorated with miniature pacifiers. It was great, and they were so surprised!

Keep posted, I will be posting more regularly as the doctor says my sickness and fatigue should be coming to an end. Please forgive me for not posting since September!!

Ike's Devastation

My family fled their homes for the second time this hurricane season when Ike was slated to hit Galveston. The storm surge was predicted to be between 12-25 feet in many places. The storm surge was not as great as expected and my father's home in Port Neches and my mother's home in Port Neches were spared. My grandmother's residence, as well as many cousins, aunts/uncles homes came out with minimal damage, if at all. Unfortunately, my sister, Nancy and her husband Dennis' home in Sabine Pass did not make it. The storm surge in Sabine Pass measured 14 1/2 feet and had sustained winds of over 80 mph. This caused severe damage to every home in the area. We are not sure the extent of damage, but they were told it was bad.

Please keep Nancy, Dennis, and their two boys Cade and Cale in your prayers.

Here's an article from the local newspaper.
http://www.panews.com/local/local_story_258154019.html

Vacation in California

For my graduation present, Sam planned a trip for us to drive up the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a fabulous, beautiful vacation. We started out in southern Cali, just southwest of LA, where we visited Uncle Kealoha, Aunty Linda, cousin Rosie and cousin Raquel. They are such wonderful, fun people. We hope we get to see them again soon. We drove up to Venice Beach http://westland.net/beachcam/ and Santa Monica Beach http://www.santamonica.com/, where we got to see all sorts of people, and yes....we stopped at Muscle Beach where Sam fit right in!

The next day we visited Huntington Beach http://www.ci.huntington-beach.ca.us/, which is where Uncle surfs when the waves are just right. Sam wanted a lesson in surfing, but the conditions weren't favorable. I guess that means we have to go back soon!

We then traveled to the Cambria/San Simeon area http://www.slostateparks.com/san_simeon/default.asp, where Hearst Castle is located, http://www.hearstcastle.com/. Hearst Castle is a must see, even though it is not well known to Americans. I was in awe, but have to admit Sam went along to be a good sport. The place was unbelievable. We then watched the sunset at the beach. It was amazing, but the wind was really cold!! The next morning, on our way north we got to see the elephant seals sunning at the beach. Sam said that was the highlight of the trip for him in that area. The majority of this day we traveled north stopping at different beaches along the way. In the Big Sur http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/ area, we could see where the fire had consumed parts of the forest, earlier this summer, but the majestic cliffs at the blue waters edge kept our focus more! We can definitely see why people live out there!! We stopped at Carmel http://www.carmelcalifornia.com/ and enjoyed the beach and a little shopping. We saw the edge of Pebble Beach where golfers were golfing. We then enjoyed a picnic dinner in Monterrey http://www.monterey.org/ where we watched the sun set again. After that, we headed up to the Sacramento area to visit with my cousin, Daniel and his wife, Beth.

From Sacramento, we were able to get to San Francisco fairly easily. In San Francisco, we saw the usual visitor sites--Golden Gate Bridge, Swensen's Ice Cream Shop, the Wharf, Lombard Street. We tried to do the cable car thing but the line was way to long. We also saw Alcatraz from afar, as we had run out of time. We ate dinner in Little Italy and saw China Town, too.

We enjoyed it so much and would love to go back. The only downer was at the end of the trip, I realized I was going back to work in a week! What a bummer!!

Vacation to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

I just got back from a beautiful, fun, and yet relaxing vacation in San Miguel. It is a picturesque, relaxing, fun, and culturally rich place. Rachel and I were there for 5 days visiting Jennifer. Jennifer has stayed for the month taking Spanish language classes and MaryEllen has joined her for the last 2 weeks of the vacation. We got to do some shopping in the market area, hike up to the scenic look out, enjoy the outdoor film festival. It was so cool--the film festival was showing a Bollywood type film with English captions. We also visited the botanical garden and a hot springs. The botanical garden was absolutely beautiful, but the hot springs were disappointing. We also toured the city and enjoyed the nightlife. The nightlife was so different (or I am just getting older), but they bar didn't start swinging until about 12:00 am. I learned to salsa, merengue, norteno, and even do a Mexican line dance (which was hilarious it was so easy!), but the best was learning the cumbia. It was hard but I finally got it. It was great....the bar asked us to join them again on Saturday, where they reserved a table for us and even dedicated the night to the "ladies from Texas." I got some major shopping deals while I was there. There was so much I wanted I couldn't decide what to buy, but I am happy with my purchases. It was frustrating figuring out how I was going to get it all home, but luckily I did with barely any damages! The best thing I got was a finger leash for Sam. Now he has to go where ever I pull him. Every wife needs one for their husband!

I had to leave Sam at home for this one since he had to work, and I am sure he feels like he missed out....maybe next year! Jennifer is planning to go back. I'll start saving my money.

Dallas Roller Derby Rocks!

Lori and I went to a Roller Derby Match a few weeks ago. Dude, you guys have to come see this with us. Sweaty women were charging into one another while speeding around a roller rink. Lori's fellow teacher tried out last fall and made it. I have been buggin Lori to go to one of these matches for quite awhile. DUDE, it rocked...I am telling ya'll you gotta come to the next match.

Check out the website. http://derbydevils.com/news.php

I never thought I would be the geek wanting a picture with an athlete, but seeing chics rolling around the a floor beating the hell outa each other seemed quite entertaining.

Okay...who's in for next time. It is July 12th. If you are interested I can get the directions from L-Girl.

MacGyver has nothing on us!!

Lori came with me to Boulder Creek Farms outside of Austin for a HUMMER preparation trip for a dealer customer appreciation. We found some cool trails to take these guys through. We also had some minor issues that I thought you guys might get a laugh out of.

The pic at the bottom left is how we sheared a valve stem and had to get all MacGyver on the truck. We didn't have chewing gum or any duct tape so Lori dug through some of my stuff and found what you see below in the pic. :)

Yep, that's right it is a glue bottle. We jammed that sucker in the sheared valve stem hole and got it back to the dealer no problem. We had some additional breaks but that is not as cool as the valve stem. Just a CV Joint or what is known as a half shaft.

Wanna Ski? Snow ain't bad in the Potato State!

Well, we got out of town and took some time off. It was WONDERFUL! Both Lori and I have been needing this break. We went skiing in Idaho of all places. The name of the resort is Tamarack. It is definitely a diamond in the rough. You need to check this place out. http://www.tamarackidaho.com/

Here are some pics.

The rooms were nice but, we didn't have a fridge so we improvised. Next time maybe we will stay in the chalet with multiple rooms, a kitchen with a real fridge, personal hot tub and steps away from the ski lift.

JEALOUS...no worries we are planning a trip to go back. Stay posted for details we would love to have family and friends go back with us. There are things to do for all levels, friends with kiddos, and for folks that don't want to ski -- snow shoes, snow mobiles, spa, etc.

COME SKI WITH US IN THE POTATO STATE!!

SNOW BLIZZARD in Fort Worth

YEEE HAAA!!! WE GOT SNOW...

Me and chica got to play in the snow with the pups today. Here are some pics and also a little video to show how much snow was coming down.

OH MY LORD... Who does this look like? Give ya a hint. Have you ever seen the movie "A Christmas Story"? You know, "Ralphie, you can't have a BB gun you will shoot your eye out".

This is Ralphie's brother. Hee hee.

Here are some other random pics of us.

and then... WE KICKED IT UP A NOTCH!

Here is a video to give you an idea of how hard it was snowing. Later dudes...

The Road Goes on Forever....

and the party never ends! Last weekend was like one big party! And I really enjoyed getting to spend so much time with Sam. I was amazed he was able to get away from work so much. It was so nice. We started the weekend on Friday evening with Michelle and Rufo in the Stockyards--dinner at H3 and then the Robert Earl Keen concert at Billy Bob's Texas. It was a nice evening with friends and an awesome concert. I really enjoyed it. If you haven't had a chance to see REK in concert. You are missing out. Saturday we had a birthday party to go to for Amanda. We celebrated her day at Gloria's, but left before the salsa dancing started. On Sunday, we were back at Gloria's to celebrate Rufo's Old and Crusty Birthday, yep, that's right, he's old and crusty. Even so, he's still my favorite Rufo. Happy Birthday, young 'un.

Sam's little bro

Sam and I got to spend Friday evening with Sam's brother, Bryan. We celebrated his birthday with some delicious sushi, sake, and dessert. It was such a good night, and we were both so glad to have gotten to spend time with him. It is so good to have him close to home! I just wish I had thought to bring the camera. I can't wait to get together again....maybe next time we will have a good ol' Texas steak from my favorite steakhouse, H3 Ranch. I won't forget the camera, either.

Happy Birthday, Bryan!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas day was nice and quiet this year. We spent the day with Michelle and Rufo, eating homemade pizzas and watching movies. After returning home, we curled up on the couch in front of the fireplace and relaxed. I could not have asked for more, being in our house with a warm fire and the Christmas decorations all around. It was perfect.

After Christmas, we drove to El Paso for my brother's wedding and returned just in time to celebrate New Year's in our home. We had an Open House on New Year's Day and had a chance to spend time with friends to start the new year off right.....those of you who couldn't make it, we missed you but kept you in our thoughts. We'll get together soon enough.

May all your 2008 wishes come true this year. God bless.