Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Good Times!

These posts are jammed packed with pictures. I can' t leave anything out plus we had a ton of sweet friends and family to visit with in a short period of time. Thank the good Lord for these supporters of us and our Doha adventure.

Tracy left her sweet babies to come visit and spend some quality time with all of us. We rimeniniced about good old Baylor days, swapped mama stories, shopped til Georgia dropped, and as always got a spiritual boost.

Tracy came bearing lots of fun treats for the Bees and Georgia. Tracy's love language = gift giving! She's one of the absolute best! Great taste and so thoughtful.

Cup cakes from a special Houston bakery!

This is what the Bees call their "Boys Club". With given some uninterruped spare time...this is what we found. Honey and Papa's bathroom with every towel, blanket, pillow and chair transformed into a "Boys Club". I guess Anna got a special pass.


Brooks was on a roll with his artwork. These are mostly pictures of Georgia. As you can see she is swaddled up in her Miracle Blanket looking like a glow worm (with a bow and/or hair). He likes to have art shows...this one was specifically for the Sip and See party for Georgia.

Aunt Monica, from Houston came to Dallas bearing all kinds of fun gifts. Then took the boys for a full day of fun to the park, movies, swimming and a hotel nap. Thank you Aunt Mouse for giving Mommy a full day of running errands and spending some quality time with the Bees!

Spent the evening with some of my oldest friends Jill and Cabell. Both are high school and Baylor friends. We couldn't stop talking which led to an even later night. I accidentally left my keys in another store that closed well before we finished catching up. Thanks for the ride Cab!

Georgie


More Houston friends in town that we were able to catch a lunch date with!
Brooke is an awesome photographer in Houston and took these cute pix!
Caroline and Georgia

Caroline, Ben and Brooks

Brooks

Our friendship is 10 years old and I'll always be thankful for the blind date we went on with the Martins. Brooke called us to have dinner without having ever met or laid eyes on the Junods. The rest is history :)

The LaRovere's have moved back to Texas but thank goodness for our Plano roots and Houston connections. Jackie and her boys came to Little Elm to play and enjoy Babe's Chicken for the first time!
The boys!


Hokie Pokie at Babe's

Horse-like eating Brooks!




Catching some play time with Anna's cooking toys!

She's found them...will it stick?

Sweet Lou Lou!

This is sweet because Graham loves his mommy SO MUCH! Brooks is only trying to help but G's heart is with Mama!

Happy Birthday to Brooks from Honey and Papa. We had an early birthday opening party so Brooks could be all set for ASD!

Two Peas! Barrett and Buddy!

One last visit with Aunt Rosie before leaving for Doha.



There they are again...those fingers.

Filling up on TexMex and family time!


Cousins!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Come Sip and See Georgia

My sista and mama insisted on having something special for Georgia since we were home. So they graciously hosted a casual "Sip and See" for us one evening. While Papa took the dirty stinky boys away we had a perfectly pink party with a few close friends! As usual these girls threw a pretty stinkin' cute little shin-dig.
Queen of the Night!





Started the party with a power nap!
Bless the poor baby who had a double ear infection!




Cute party favors!

Delish pink desserts...




Ash, Julie (cousin) and Me

Ash and I practically grew up with these ladies who are so special to us. They have or do all teach preschool at my mom's school so they will always be known by their preschool name.
Incredible women and prayer warriors!
Mom, Mrs. Missy, Mrs. Carol and Mrs. Patsy

Ashley, Mrs. Creed, Ashley

Velma, Mira, Kathy smiling at Georgia

Missy and Carol

Aunt Margaret with Georgia, Miss and Sharon


Aunt Jan, Amanda. Julie

Velma, Mom, Mrs. Lynette, Mira, me, Kelly and Becky

Cabell, Me, Jill and Tracy

Tracy, Kristin, Caryn, Shannon

Last but certainly not least...my Doha bestie, Jackie has moved back to Texas. She was staying with her mom in Burleson and she drove over an hour to come see us!

Georgia Liz and I are blessed beyond imaginable to be loved so much by you 2!
Thank you for our first girl party!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Ski Dubai

While we spent 6 weeks in Texas alone without Nick, he primarily worked at the office. But thankfully he got one weekend away in Dubai with a few friends/co-workers.

The guys spent 2 hours skiing in below freezing temperatures while the actual temp outside was well over 100. Ski Dubai is located in the middle of an enormous mall. In the picture below you can see the lights behind Nick where people are shopping, eating, or just hanging out to watch the skiing. When you purchase a ticket to ski, snow board or sled your ticket includes all the gear. So no need to pack your gloves along with your swimsuit.

Another highlight from their weekend was taking in the sights of Dubai from Burj Kalifa, the tallest building in the world. (no pics, but we were thrilled to get a few from the skiing)




Friday, August 13, 2010

The Bomb!

I will remember and refer to my favorite girl's weekend as "the Bomb" for many reasons. I know that lingo has totally expired, but I must! First off, we met for lunch at one of Waco's cutest little stores...the Mix. I brought back to Doha some cute placemats that will always remind me of our time there!
Then we all headed to Lake LBJ to spend a few days at Caryn's lakehouse along with Shannon who met us from Houston.

Shannon and I came as twinkies! Love you, Sister!

Who really minds a car ride through the hill country with your best friends and without children crying in the backseat...dreamy!! "The Bomb"
Shannon M, Katy, Shannon B, and Caryn

After hanging out at the house we headed to dinner at Lost Creek Vineyard just a few miles away from Kingsland. Beautiful!


It was delicious and a HUGE treat! Child-free and adult restuarant! "The Bomb"
Shannon, Caryn, Lauren

Katy and Ann
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My girls!
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We were actually at the lake house on a Wednesday through Friday so the lake itself was quiet and we had it to ourselves.
Being on the lake is at the top of my list of things I greatly miss while living in Doha.
Cows, no fence, green grass, blue Texas skies...all on the water = The BOMB!




Water skiing action, thanks to Caryn's sweet dad who came down to be our captian on the boat. Thank you Caryn for the pictures!

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After lunch we spent the afternoon hanging out on the boat and driving around.

OK...so what completed the entire weekend for me (the ice cream dessert lover that I am) was the TRUE BOMB! Seriously...my favorite dessert of all time. Because I love ice cream and I love peanut butter! Thank you Shannon Laine Boyd Brown for "the Bomb"...you are "the Bomb"!!

Shannon made this UGH-mazing dessert. Recipe below for my future records and anyone else interested! I've made it once myself and its easy. Its impossible to mess up.

Cheers to best friends that I'll hold tightly to til the day I die. We have already shared so much together. I plan to be in the middle of their business and I pray they're always in mine!! So there ya have it...these girls are the BOMB! Love you all!

Huge Huge Huge thanks to Honey and Papa who win the Bomb award for keeping all 3 Junod babies so I could have a little retreat! They made it look easy handling 2 crazy boys and little sister! There are no words for how much I love them and thank them for their help!!

THE BOMB

What you need:
Med- Large Mixing Bowl
Cooking Spray
Saran Wrap
1/2 gal peanut butter and chocolate ice cream (or milk chocolate) - Slightly melted
1/2 cup or more of peanut butter (MUST have! Shannon added this at the last minute)
1/2 gal Dolce De Leche Ice Cream (Haagen Dazs) SOFTENED
8 Snack Size Snickers - CRUSHED
1/2 pkg of Nutter Butter Cookies - CRUSHED
1 bottle of Reece's Magic Shell

Spray the inside of your bowl with oil then line with saran wrap with extra coming over the edge.

Cut off paper carton by removing the top and bottom first. Then slice the ice cream like you would a loaf of bread. Place the slices inside the bowl lining the saran wrap. Use your fingers to spread the ice cream evenly all around the bowl.

Spread peanut butter on the chocolate ice cream. Might be helpful to freeze the ice cream so its easier to spread.

In a separate bowl mix the crushed Snickers into the Dolce De Leche soft ice cream (pop in the microwave if you need it softer) Then fill the inside of the bowl with the mix. Your bowl should be filled evenly and flat on top.

Top your bowl with crushed Nutter Butter cookies

Cover and Freeze well (over night is good)

To Serve:
Place bottom of the bowl into warm water for just a few seconds to release the ice cream bomb. Turn the Bomb onto a large plate.

Pour the Magic Shell over the top of the entire Bomb.

Slice and garnish with crushed Nutter Butters :)

Pretty sure this will be served at my mansion in Heaven for every meal! Enjoy!