Luke assisted a Japanese Cartoon Character!!!

Ok, Im not even going to pretend I know what Anime and Oni-Con is. All I know is there are alot of people out there that do! Kelsey had a volleyball tournament at the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston. Well apparently the other half of the building was being used for an Anime Convention. Anime is a Japanese cartoon, and I guess Oni-Con is this big festival that they have. We started out walking from our parking spot 3 miles away and I walked pass a guy wearing a racoon tail. Strange I thought, but we were in Houston. After that we passed more and more people in costume, all different costumes. I got a little nervous walking through them! I guess people dress up as their favorite anime character?
This guy was a little scary!

A little less scary...

Kickboxing?

After the tournament was over (around 11pm) Sunday night, we hiked the 3 miles back to our car. While pulling out of the parking lot a girl in a wierd dress and holey pantyhose started waving really big, while the guy next to her wearing a spiked dog collar watched..I told everyone "Look the other way, don't make eye contact!" Well someone looked! Shortly after, "Dog Boy" knocked on Lukes truck window and wanted to know if we could help jump start their car! Apparently cartoon vehicles use batteries too? Well we pulled up beside them and I couldn't resist a few photo opportunities! During this shot (I didnt want to roll my window down) the flash was really bright! Both of them turned around to see what the light was, and Luke started laughing, he knew what I was up to!

Here they are again, not a good quality pic, but I was a little wierded out and didnt want to roll down my window! There costumes were alot milder that most that I saw, but Im sure they masks on at some point!

Eventually the car started and we were all on our way, us back home, and them back to ToonTown!
And that folks is how my Luke assisted a Japanese Cartoon Character!

Hurricane Ike, 3 Months Later...

We went to Kemah a couple of weekends ago. The Kemah Boardwalk was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Ike. Most of the trash was cleaned up and all new landscaping was planted. Most of the rides were still down, and 2 resturants were closed still. The workers at the hotel and resturants were soo appreciative and nice. You could tell business was slow, and they were happy to have us there!
Going into Kemah we spotted this boat, still washed up on its side. In many places, there was trash and household items just floating in the ditch.

Galveston was alot worse, and there was still a whole lot of cleaning up that needed to be done. This is the Flagship Inn, a hotel out on the water. The road to the hotel is completly gone.

This at one point was a giftshop...

I regret not having my camera out the whole time in Galveston. This happened many times, we were driving on a residential street and just out of the blue a HUGE boat would just be sitting there, right on the side of the road!! I was amazing to see. It's hard to even imagine the clean up efforts that happen after a hurricane or other natural disaster.

These are a few of my favorite things...

I decided to post pictures of some of my favorite Christmas things around my house.
This is my absolute favorite Christmas decoration. My grandma gave it to me this year. Im not sure how old it is, but I can remember it being in her house for as long as I remember. I remember as a little girl, looking into the windows. I look forward to sharing this with my children as she shared it with me!

Meet Glitter, my cute reindeer with hangy bead legs. He is too cute!

Isn't this star beautiful! I got it last year at my surprise 30th Birthday party!

My tree is covered in red snowflakes!!

Meet Sookie! She is our outside cat, but Wed when it snowed, I let her come in...all she wanted to do was hang out under the tree!

Our nativity, to remind us all what Christmas is really about..

Aren't these Santa's silly?? The S always falls over, so most of the time its just Anta! Also, I love my red and green birdhouse!

Look at all of those presents!!!

What are your Christmas favorites??? I would Love to see them!!

Introducing my new family...

I've posted many many pictures of my future nieces and nephews, but now is time to introduce you to the rest of my future family. When I marry Luke, I will not only have a wonderful husband, but also a wonderful whole new family!
Here are some pictures of the grown-ups at a family Poker Tournament!
First I will introduce you to the losers! This is Lukes sister Anna and his sister-in-law Naomi. Anna's baby is due in Feb! Im soo excited!

And then here are the winners! Luke's sister-in-law Shelia took the 1st place prize, I got 2nd place and Luke 3rd! We each received many gift cards! Shelia is the mother of my 2 adorable flower girls Leah and Hannah.

This is Lukes brother Barton and his wife Naomi. They have 6 children.

Here are me and Luke. This was my first time to play Texas Hold Em, so 2nd place wasnt too bad!

Here is a picture of Luke and Anna. Her oldest little boy, Paul Joseph, is one of my ring bearers, and Anna is one of my bridesmaids. I am soo excited to have someone like her as a sister-in-law!

This is Kurt, Luke's brother, and Mary, Luke's sister. Kurt is Leah and Hannah's dad (my flower girls) and Mary's little boy Joe is a ring bearer.

Here is a group shot, Shelia, Patsy, which is Luke's mom, Eric, Luke, Barton and Mary.

This is Luke's dad. Such a funny and sweet man, just like his son!

This is Shelia and Patsy, Luke's mom. They are both such sweet and caring people!

Look at all of Shelia's chips!!! She must have practiced for a month before the big day!
What a fun time we had!