A White Christmas

Our first Christmas together...spent in Fort Worth...a White Christmas! We had to cancel our plans and stay in because the snow was coming down so hard - and, well, in Texas, you can't drive in the snow and ice - especially if there are other Texans on the road! But it was nice to be together and we stayed warm and got to watch old episodes of Friends and eat the party food we cooked to take to our friends' house.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

...preparing for Christmas at the Haydel household.

My Mom sent the dogs some holiday shirts - of course Rocky's says "naughty" and Cookie's says "nice".

Who Dat!

We found an awesome Saints watch party to go to that's close to our house. It's been a blast to go out and cheer for the Saints surrounded by true fans! There are so many of us, we take over the Buffalo Wild Wings. Here are some pictures...Go Saints!! Kristopher has been able to catch up with a friend from high school, and one of my old students even goes to the watch party!

Summer's Over!

So, as the summer drew to an end, I savored my last outings with my good friend Amber and her girls, Addie and Emmie. We had a few 'last hoorah' meals at McAllister's.

I had my cousins, Jacob and Joshua, come in town for a few days before they went back to school.

And, of course, the annual "Back to School" district convocation - it's basically a rally for all the teachers in the district to reward and recognize all of the accomplishments of the previous year to get us "pumped up" for the new year.

And, now one week down, and many more to go! A new year, a new group, and a new and refreshed attitude! Some say that it must be nice to have "3 months off every year." All I can say to that after a week back is, "You work with teenagers for 9 months - see the highs and the lows (which let me tell you are never higher and never lower when it comes to adolescence) and you tell me if I don't earn it year after year after year!

Last weekend, Kristopher and I spent the weekend visiting family in New Orleans. We celebrated Rene's baby shower and Peyton's 1st birthday. To all our friends and family, we had a great visit. We love you all! Oh, and the quilt below is what I have spent my summer vacation working on - it was Peyton's birthday gift.

Family Weekend

We went to Jackson for the 4th of July to visit my family.  My brothers both came up for the weekend as well, and on Sunday we rented a boat and went out on the Reservoir.  They also were having a hot air balloon festival up in Canton, MS so we got to go see that, which was really awesome as well.  Here are a few shots from the weekend, and there are a few more to come. 

Happy Father's Day to our Dads...



















And Happy Father's Day to Kristopher...

Pets...

Pop-eye treatment for fish..$19.99






New kennel for dogs....$67
Trip to the vet...$52 each (2 dogs)
Dog treats...$4.00
Poop bags..$4.00





Having pets...




PRICELESS!!

Vegas

A couple of weeks ago Kristopher and I took a trip to Vegas (and back to Dallas) to help my brother move. We flew out on Saturday morning. We got to go and visit some of the strip - it was my first trip to Vegas, and I think probably Kristopher's 8th! We saw a fountain show at the Bellagio, and walked around inside. Later that night, we went to the Palms and Kristopher and my brother, Chris, played some poker.

Sunday morning we started the long trek back to Dallas via Albuquerque. We got a little bit of a late start getting on the road, but then pretty much smooth sailing...UNTIL...we ran out of gas along I-40 (somewhere in Arizona). Who knew you could drive for about 150 miles on an interstate and never see a gas stop!! So, luckily a cop stopped and took my brother away in the back seat (to get gas) and returned shortly thereafter. We arrived in Albuquerque around 5am (Dallas time) and woke up about 3 hours later to drive some more. We made it smoothly into Texas, arriving to our house about 9pm on Monday night. After a fast sleep, we were off to work and my brother was off to Baton Rouge. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Intro...

Welcome. We have started a blog...here is a bit about us...

We got married on March 14 and are enjoying our newly-wedded bliss!! We have 2 dogs - Cookie, a chihuahua, and Rocky, a chiweenie. They are nothing but trouble, but they keep us laughing.

I just finished my second year as a teacher - I teach Algebra I at the high school level. Kristopher is an aerospace engineer and has just started his own photography company, Modern Reflections Photography.