mother's day, the "lodge" way

What is a mother?
It takes a mother's love to make a house a home--
A place to be remembered no matter where we roam.
It takes a mother's patience to bring a child up right
And her courage and her cheerfulness to make a dark day bright.
It takes a mother's thoughtfulness to mend the heart's deep hurts
And her skill and her endurance
to mend little socks and shirts.
It takes a mother's kindness to forgive us when we err,
To sympathize in trouble,
and to bow her head in prayer.
It takes a mother's wisdom to recognize our needs,
And to give us reassurance
by her loving words and deeds.
~Helen Steiner Rice
{Please note, the reason that my mom is wearing the same dress as on Easter was because I requested her to. I just love that dress but I didn't think about how on the blogs would be back to back. Hah!}

What a nice group pic! What's the difference between this pic and the next one? Hint: Tommy's quite the jokester.
Perfect day for The Lodge! Amy and Beth, mother and daughter.

an "egg"citing easter

what a wonderful day of celebration! the celebration of new life, everlasting life.

adam and i are fortunate enough to get to celebrate such an important season with both sides of the family.

the traditional egg hunt with adam's family.

pure sweetness.

my mom and i before church.

i think we've found adam's "color." heh.

cruisin' and relaxin' at tommy and beth's dog & duck farm with my family.

too young for a driver's license, but that's okay...alexander gets to be in the driver's seat at the dog & duck!

and, of course, any good celebration involves good food! hah.

i {heart} love

i {heart} get-to-gethers and small group gals.
i {heart} dollar tree cupcake decorations.
i {heart} this guy.

i {heart} lobster tail dipped in honey mustard sauce and wedge blue cheese salad.

i {heart} special occasions.

i {heart} my class's parents who are truly amazing and give us the opportunity to go to special places to celebrate special occasions.

a lil' surprise getaway

adam booked a 'lil b&b near fredricksburg for us to stay at over the christmas break.

one of the most memorable parts of our 'lil trip was that at night, the b&b would have a fire going on the outside patio...another couple our age was also staying at the b&b. both nights, we'd meet at the fire and chat for hours. the girl was an elementary teacher, too!

the first day, we ate at a traditional german biergarten. it was perfect weather to sit outside! i, of course, had a traditional german dish but i forgot what it was called!

then, we walked around the town to see the lights at the town's square.

made by hand in germany. truly amazing!
so many of our christmas traditions here in the u.s. originated from germany, so it was neat to be in a "german" town around the holidays!
each level showed a different aspect of christmas. here are the 3 wise men. man, was this impressive!
loving the classy, traditional christmas decor! oh, how i hate tacky christmas decorations.
santa, baby...
the next day, we went to lbj's ranch/house/getaway. lbj was sure a fascinating person. from what it sounded like, he was very opinionated, blunt and knew exactly what he wanted.

lbj proposed to lady bird 1 day after they met! wow, that sure beats the 4 months that adam and i knew each other before we got engaged.

the visit made me so lucky to live in a country where someone can go to being a farmer's boy in a small texas town to...becoming the president! we are all so lucky. counting my lucky stars.

we ate at hondo's, in f-burg for lunch. such an ecsentric place! the owners are the kids of the man who "founded" luckenbauch, texas where "everybody is somebody."

after lunch, we went back to the b & b because it got really cold! for dinner, adam made italian frittata (because we were staying at "the italian place," heh). it was out-of-this-world!

these miniature mice were left for us in our room the last night of our stay. cheers to a much-needed getaway!

HaPpY hOlLiDaYs, pArT tWo

the unnasches on christmas day.

take two.

boston cheezin' in austin.

the niece and nephew cruisin in uncle adam's new suitcase.

eventually, the pillow dress did find its' way to the right person! this time was a much better fit!

caden and his fancy, new bike from his grandparents.
adam's mom loves her grandkids.
rylan's ready to fish with his new fishin' pole.

a modern day, norman rockwall moment.

happy holiday, part 1

christmas eve in seguin...

(P.S. I GUARANTEE YOU A FUNNY STORY AT THE END OF THIS POST)

Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will to men. Luke 2:14
One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly. ~Andy Rooney
Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.
Mary Ellen Chase

At Christmas, all roads lead home. ~Marjorie Holmes
Behold...I bring you good tidings of great joy. Luke 2:10

christmas morning...
(A TRUE STORY, NO JOKE)

i, somehow, put the wrong labels on multiple gifts. andrew ended up opening a wrapped present that had our baby nephew's clothes in it. then, ted opened up what was labeled as his present and it, too, was the wrong gift--gifts for our other nephews.
and for the grand finale of our little silly story, my dad opened up our two-year old niece's gift! next year, i definitely will label gifts right after i wrap them! hah.