Texas

Over the weekend I got to go to Texas with my mom. It had been 2 years since I last went down there to visit everyone! It was a great time of visiting, eating, chatting, driving around, and enjoying that Texas sunshine.

Here's mom and Papa looking at old slides from when they lived in Europe. This was my mom's pet project for the weekend, and I must say it was quite a success.

Aunt Nancy watching the slide-viewing.
Granny and Papa sitting together in the living room at Grace House. I like to hear him still call her babydoll!
This is my mom's "focused" face. We saw this a lot this weekend in relation to the slides.
Here is Cade's basketball game. He's quite the sportsman (#1). They didn't win this particular game, but it was fun to watch him play.

Peyton has gotten so much bigger since I last saw him over the summer! He likes to show his muscles and generally run around everywhere.

A quick moment of sitting and reading with Aunt Nancy. So precious.

Somehow there are no pictures of Uncle Jack, Kelsey, Mark or Erica from this weekend, but we had fun seeing all of them too! Hope it's not quite as long between trips this time!

100 people in a bubble

Well, today's Oprah experience was exactly what it sounded like- strange. We got to the studio at 5am (5am!!!) to get checked in and ready for our 6:30am practice run. That's right, we had to practice being in a bubble. Mostly we had to practice holding still, not breathing, and making sure no body parts were hanging off the floating platform we were standing on while the Bubble Man worked his magic. Wouldn't you hate to be the person whose butt popped the World Record Breaking Bubble?


Then there was more waiting, a LOT more waiting, and then we all lined up again at 8:30 so we would be ready for the big reveal during the live recording at 9am. You wouldn't believe how being in a big bubble brings out the inner highschooler in so many people- there was pushing, shoving, and cutting in line, all in efforts to be in the front row of the bubble! There were also some really interesting choices of attire that certainly didn't reflect the frigid-awful subzero weather we're having here. OH my...

Anyways, here's a picture from Oprah's website of the Bubble People. You can just imagine me in the very center, well-hidden behind the tall people, and trying desperately not to choke on the afro in front of me...


A strange morning, but hey, how many people can say they were in a giant bubble on Oprah's stage? Only 100.

Be sure you....

.... watch Oprah this Wednesday! Read here about the world record Oprah's trying to break on her Wednesday show, and then be sure you watch because, that's right, I'll be there!!!

Called out of random good luck and then selected for our shortness (yes, they actually asked how tall we were), Ashlee Pace and I will be part of the 100 people Oprah's putting in a bubble on Wednesday. Who knew being short would get me on Oprah someday! Hah!

Now, if I could only figure out what to wear for my on-stage debut...

Ushering Debut

Today Bryan made his ushering debut in "Big Church". Since the men who usher in the downstairs service usually wear suits, Bryan had to step up his game a notch from what he was accustomed to in the more casual service he used to usher in. Doesn't he look handsome! And you should see him pass an offering plate... wow! :)

Suicidal Giraffe?

Poor little Dusti!!!

Man Day

Last weekend Bryan had Man Day with some longtime friends. They started with grilling brats (yes, grilling in January) and tossing the football, and ended with going to watch the Michigan/Northwestern basketball game. Probably the only situation when it's acceptable to get together with a bunch of guys, wear matching outfits, and go out in public.

NYE

On New Years Eve it snowed like crazy here, and it looked so pretty when we were walking home I just had to take a picture. Of course, none of my pictures came out looking anything like the real thing. This was the best I could do with Picasa: