Christmas Morning

Santa Came!!! We had a great Christmas! Everyone got their wish and we had so much fun! All I wanted for Christmas was to have Breanna home and that has been so great! We have missed her so much and all the fun and laughter she brings into our home! It was great having the whole family together again!

Really?

Breanna got a statue of a Ballet Dancer!

Wii Game for Devin!

Ipod Shuffle with speakers for Brandon!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve is whe we have our Christmas Dinner then we have a family program and each one of us reads a story or sings a song. This year Devin and Brandon read and Breanna showed us a super neat version of the Nativity while playing the song "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant. We also watched Mr. Krugers Christmas and then opened some PJ's and the night wouldn't be complete without the Polar Express! We finished the night with Jeff reading from Luke 2.

Twas' the night before Christmas........

Stylin some new PJ's!

Breanna wrapping Dad!

Time to eat! Ham, Funeral potatoes, green bean casserole, yams, dressing (froze some fromThanksgiving mom, you got a good scald on that dressing!) and sparkling cider!

Galleria

We went to the Galleria in Dallas while we were waiting for Breanna's plane to get in. It's a huge 3 story mall with an ice skating rink in the middle. Brandon and I were the brave one's to skate and Jeff and Devin watched and took pics. Some are blurry but it was the best we could do when in motion, you get the idea though. This is a great mall with Saks, Neiman Marcus, Nordstroms and any other store you can imagine, its a great place to go.
Devin and Brandon having some ice cream.

This is the huge Christmas tree in the middle of the rink Brandon and I made it to the base to have a photo op, it wasn't easy cause this is where the fast people are. This was Brandon's first time ice skating and neither one of us fell!

Concentration is the key! Ecspecially when your trying not to risk a hip injury!

Go Brandon!

More of the gorgeous tree!!!

Gingerbread Houses!

Are we having fun yet?

Finished with the masterpiece.

How cute is that?

Makin Gingerbread Houses!

It's a long time Lowder tradition to make Gingerbread houses. We look forward to it every year!

Yummy!

WOW!!!

This is serious business.

Takes lots of focus!

SanAntonio!

The Riverwalk so beautiful!

More Riverwalk lined with luminaries.

Us and the Johnstons.

This was the Christmas tree in front of the Alamo, so cool!

Posing at the gardens in the Alamo.

SanAntonio!

We went to the Alamo of course Its pretty cool!

Here is the Christmas tree on the River Walk and yes thats a big mall in the background!

Here's Angie and Doug Johnston in front of the stage where they filmed a scene in Miss Congeniality.

The Alamo at night.

Me in front of the oldest Sanctuary in the U.S.

"TRUNK OR TREAT" Halloween 2008

Paging Dr. Tasha!

The Jedi Gang!

Our very own Tyler II Indian Princess.

Santa meets Fred Flinstone?

Halloween as always is "Trunk or Treat" out at the Bell Farm. It was great fun, we had nachos and costume contests and a parade and then of course the trunk or treat! Our good friends the Poole's dressed as Popeye and Olive Oil talk about a blast from the past! Since I'm Primary Pres. I took lots of pics of "my kids" They are too cute! Also, our good friends the Noyes's dressed as Pirates they were too cool! We even had Santa and Fred Flinstone, and a beautiful Indian Princess! Then of course the best of all the 3 Jedi's Jacob Mackey, Brandon Lowder, and Jake Sonne! What a great time!

"Homecoming Mum"

Whitehouse High School Homecoming.......anyone who has a girlfriend or boyfriend exchanges these "mum corsages" and the boys get a "mum garter." This is the $65 mum we bought for Devin's girlfriends Courtney yes $65! And they are special order to put things on that fit that persons personality. Courtney is a cheerleader so we had them put a bunch of fun cheer stuff on it for her they also put her name and Devin's name. The same for the garter she gave Devin she had a bunch of Football stuff put on his. If you don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend to exchange with then your parents give you one. Some kids get one from parents, grandparents, friends etc... Way over the top!!! This is a huge tradition in the South and one that us AZ natives find silly but, when in Rome........

"Pinky and Fonzie"

We went to a surprise 40th birthday party for our good friends Doug Johnston the theme was TV shows from the 70's. Jeff and I decided to go as Pinky Tuskedero and The Fonz! It was too much fun! Wish we had a better pic but you get the idea.

The Possum story

As you can see our yard has been torn apart, in various places. We ruled out moles and gophers because this was nothing like that. So, we decided to start keeping an eye out at night to see if we could catch what it was that was devouring our lawn. We suspected it was an Armadillo after talking to several people so.....one night Jeff was locking the back door and looked out to see a little creature digging in the yard. I heard him yell, " I see it what should I get it with?" I told him to grab a bat, he headed out to the yard and by then it had run so he's looking everywhere and then says, "Julie, its not an Armadillo." I went out there and he was over in the corner of the yard and up on the ledge was a Possum!! So, he threw a softball at it and then threw it again and by then I was gone.......I couldn't watch. After awhile he came in and said it's dead. He was pretty sad about it since Jeff is not a Hunter. After awhile we were lying in bed and I said maybe we should go make sure its still out there because they are called "possum's" for a reason. Jeff said no way that thing is still alive! The next morning I told Brandon about it and he went in the backyard to see if it was there and it was gone!!!! We couldn't believe it, Jeff said that possum deserves an "Oscar" for the performance it gave, flopping around and crawling on its side like it was suffering. So, I finally decided to call animal control to come out and set a trap. They told us most likely its an Armadillo that's been doing that kind of digging and that the possum was just digging in the remnants. They set a trap and the next morning the possum was in the trap!! Jeff couldn't believe it came back after that beating. Since then no digging so, it must have been the possum. They said that's pretty rare that they dig like that. Anyway, that's our "Possum Story." The moral, when you hear the phrase "playing possum" believe it!