Christmas 2011

This was the year for the kids to be with the "outlaws" so we had a pretty quiet Christmas.  I thought we were having Kasey and Janessa here for dinner before Kasey left for work but they ran over to his parent's house in Kemmerer.  Janessa came over while Kasey was sleeping to open her gifts with Joel.  Christmas was on Sunday this year so we attended Church with Janessa and then came home to open gifts.

Here is the tree.  I put the old old ornaments on the tree this year.  These are ornaments that my parents had on our Christmas trees....alot of them are older than me!

Joel so excited to open his stocking!  He was the only one that got one this year besides mom and dad!

Janessa ready to tear into the packages!

Surprising how lil' Kinsley got alot of gifts.....for not even being born yet!

Joel had a very short wish list.  I think he only wrote that he wanted refills for his pen.  We were at a bookstore and he wanted to buy these books but I talked him out of it so I could get them for him for Christmas.

Dad never buys gifts for the kids so it was very surprising to see this wrapped and left under the tree for Joel......until he opened the gift and saw what it was.  I was the lucky recipient of one too.  Mine went to the cabin so dad can wear it there.

Shoes.  White.

I surprised dad with tickets to see his favorite band, Bob Seger, in Las Vegas this year.  I had to join the "fan club" so I could get early tickets and they sent a cd and t-shirt.

Blessing Day for Annaly

Annaly's blessing was on September 25, 2011.  She looked beautiful in Emily's blessing gown.  The Denison's all came up and together we had a BBQ after the blessing at our home.

Kingsville, Texas

After spending the night on Padre Island, we headed to Kingsville.  We spent 3 years here with Exxon.  Dad worked on the King Ranch, where Exxon had a field office.  It was on private property and if I ever saw it, is was probably only one time.  To travel the short cut to Kingsville from Corpus, we take a backroad that is filled with cotton fields.  Texas has been having a severe drought but you can see a bit of cotton on the ground after the harvest.  They could sure use some rain!

Ready to get on the highway!

Almost there!  Brownsville is 2 hours away and we use to drive there and over the border into Mattamoros, Mexico several times each year.  

Flat South Texas...it doesn't get much flatter!

829 S. 23rd Street Kingsville, Texas!  Our 3rd home.  Hopefully the grass is brown just because of the drought and not neglect.  When we owned the home, the shutters and trim were painted green.  This was the home that we had to ask what all the plywood was for that was stored in the garage....they were to place over the windows in case we had a hurricane.

The front 2 windows were bedrooms.  The one on the left was Jason's, who was just a baby when we arrived here.  He was born in Andrews, Texas and less than a month later we were moved to Kingsville.  The window on the right was Jared's room.  The window next to the garage was the formal living room.

We use to stop here and buy doughnuts every once in a while.  One time in the parking lot, Jared got ahold of my keys that had a mace container on it.  He hit the button and sprayed his eyes with it.  Not a good day for Jared!

We use to have a little mall.  Looks like they still have a few stores there.

Our old grocery store is still there!

Dad surprised Mom with a handmade King Ranch purse one year when we lived in Kingsville.  The saddle shop makes them.

Not your typical saddle shop!

Beautiful campus in Kingsville.  One Sunday we were so hot in the house so dad and I took the little boys to the fountains on campus so they could play in the water.  We tried to find them again but no luck.

While dad was working, alot of times I would put the boys in the car and we would head to King Ranch to drive the loop to see the Santa Gertrudis cattle and other animals.  It is now closed to the public except for tours.  That was disappointing.

On our way out of the Kingsville/Corpus area we stopped at KBobs to eat.  We use to eat there alot when we lived down there.  This time it wasn't as good as I remember.

A picture of our rental car.  Mazda 6.

We had a great time reliving old memories!  I hope that someday we can return to Andrews and Midland too.