Are you ready for some football...!!!

College football season is finally upon us! YEAH!! Bran and I love this time of year! As you know the Hawkins' bleed red and black! Go Red Raiders! I am so excited to be going to Lubbock tomorrow to cheer on our Texas Tech Red Raiders for the first game of the season! GET YOUR GUNS UP!!

"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don't like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that."

~ Bill Shankly ~

Maggie Turns 21!!

Our little princess-ninja Maggie Lynn turned the BIG 3 years old this weekend! That's 21 in dog years, so she is now legal to drink the wine she always tries to sneak! :o) We had a little party of course! Nothing big, just a small family thing! I know some of you may think that I am crazy (Brandon does), but due to the fact that I don't have "human" children I think I am allowed to spoil my puppies and give them parties - so lay off! :o)

Since Maggie does not like to wear any form or shape of a hat we wore party necklaces instead! We were big pimpin'! :o) I made a peanut butter cookie cake for her and the other puppies and they ate it up quick! Yummy! Yummy!

I was unable to get a lot of cute pictures because unfortunately she is my not-so-photogenic dog! But they few I got are pretty cute! Happy Birthday Maggie Lynn! Love you bunches!

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself."

~Josh Billings~

Vacation time!

Well we were finally able to set a few days aside and head out of M-town for a well deserved vacation!!! We had so much fun! We actually considered not coming back! :o) (I don't think anyone would have noticed, do you!?!)

We headed out on the road Thursday afternoon, a little later than expected due to Brandon's class taking forever to end! We made it to San Antonio in good time and arrived at our AMAZING hotel called The Havana!! It was BEAUTIFUL! I think it's one of the best hotels we have ever stayed in! It is a cuban inspired hotel on the river walk filled with antiques and old wood floors that creak when you walk on them! It had an amazing stair case! And I know you may think this is weird but it smelled awesome! We even bought a candle at the hotel to capture the smell and bring it back to West Texas with us! Now we can revisit The Havana whenever we want! :o) Another great thing is that we could look out our personal balcony and see the river- just beautiful! What we liked most is that the hotel was located on the not-so-busy end of the river walk, but just steps away to all the action - so it was peaceful at night! Also, the bed was SUPER comfy! If we could have fit it in our car it would have been coming back to Midland with us! So in case you wondering...we both highly reccomend this hotel to anyone visiting the San Antonio River Walk! Two thumbs up!!

Once we got settled into our hotel Brandon had planned a suprise for me! I LOVE suprises! He took me out to the front steps of our hotel and while we sat and talked and took in the wonderful evening a horse-drawn carriage led by the beautiful Lucy rounded the corner to pick us up! Lucy and her driver Manny took us on a hour and a half tour of downtown San Antonio! It was bomb dig! And to make things even better the night was perfect! But just a note to future travelers....Manny informed me that the Emily Morgan Hotel is the #2 most haunted hotel in Texas (scary I know!) It is an awesome looking hotel that was once a medical hospital, then became a psychiatric hospital, and then a morgue! This is the hotel Brandon almost booked us to stay at. I think not! DON"T STAY THERE! SCARY! :o) After the carriage ride ended we headed back to the hotel to catch some zzzz's in our comfy bed so that we could tackle a day of shopping Friday!

Friday we went to the outlet malls in San Marcos! So much fun! I even got a new camera! YEAH! I needed a new camera bad! The best part of the day is when we headed to Gruene! I love Gruene, TX...it is one on my most favorite places ever! It would be the one place that would take me out of West Texas! We hit a few quaint little stores in Gruene and then headed to the world famous Gristmill for some yummy food, and the best margaritas ever! We got seated at the best table at The Gristmill! They sat us on a balcony area that overlooked the river! So great! After stuffing our faces we took a walk down by the river and relaxed and soaked our feet while listening to a live band playing at a resturaunt close by! Then, I made Brandon drive through Gruene so I could pick out our future house! :o) I think I might have found it.....!

Saturday was spent going to the man mall of America - The Bass Pro Shop / Outdoorworld! Brandon had never been and about pooped himself when he walked in! While we were walking in we saw one of our great friends that I work with, Jana who was headed to see her hubby and had just stopped in - crazy huh!



After touching and seeing everything in the man mall we headed back down to the River Walk and we toured The Alamo! We both had not been there in quite some time and were suprised at how beautiful it was! The landscaping is awesome! We also learned that a Hawkins was an Alamo hero!



After the Alamo tour and stopping at some shops to take some goofy pics we went and coooled down from the 100 degree weather in Pat O'Briens and had there famous Hurricane drinks! Yummy! After putting down a few more beverages we headed to take a boat tour of the River Walk! So much fun!

After a long hot day on the River Walk we headed back to our hotel to its world famous martini and cigar bar! We had a blast! It is one of the coolest places both of us have ever been! It is located in the basemnent of our hotel and is lit by candlelight. It is filled with old overstuffed antique chairs that you just lay back in and kick your feet up! The food and drinks were awesome! And of course we had to take in a few cigars! I think we eneded up staying there for over 5 hours and didnt even ralize it! Too cool!

Sunday we woke up kind of sad becuase we had to head back to Midland! Boo! But before making our way back home we drove to Kerville to meet with some of my most favorite people in the entire world! We had not seen Jenn, Erik, and Karen in forever and it was so good to see them and talk! I miss them and their hugs so much! One of the best parts is that we were actually able to meet the munchcans that we always read about! They are the cutest! Brandon wanted to steal them and take them home with us - but quickly got rejected! :o)

What a great trip! Thanks Brando for a wonderful birthday trip!! Another cool thing is that I was able to take a much needed week off from work this week! My intentions were to do things around the house and stay busy, but that didnt happen! I have been LAZY (which is very unlike me!) The puppies and I have done alot of Olympic watching and napping!! I go back in 2 days! BOO! On a high note...Brandon finished his summer physics class and kicked its butt! Yeah Brandon!

While we were gone my parents volunteered to watch our furry kids! I think they spoiled them rotten is really what they did! They had grandma and grandpa withdrawls after we came back! Thanks mom and dad for taking such great care of our kiddos while we were gone!!

"Life brings simple pleasures to us every day. It is up to us to make them wonderful memories!"

~Cathy Allen~

a weekend of HAPPY ! !

This weekend marked my parents 36th wedding anniversary and my moms birthday.......

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!! Thank goodness they found each other those many years ago, or else the world would have never had the privilage of having JESSICA! I mean who would have introduced "the corn dog" to the human species!?!

I am so thankful for my parents and their marriage. Sure they went through the ups and downs like all marriages but in the end all that really matters is that they love each other unconditionally, and will stand by one another through thick and thin! I am so blessed for the wonderful marriage that I have with Brandon. He is my best friend, and I look forward to growing old with him. I can only wish the same for my sister and Beeler.

John & Debert

Est: August 3, 1972

Brandon & Jess

Est: September 13, 2003

Michelle & Brian

Est: April 4, 2008

The festivities tonight also included celebrating my mom birthday, which was Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA MIA! She would kill me if I told her age so I will just tell you that she turned the ripe age of 53! :o) For both celebrations we spent the evening at my parentals laughing (like we always do), eating a bunch of yummy food, and opening presents! What a fun night! Mom and Dad I wish you many more years of unconditional love and friendship! Mom I wish you many more years of happy birthdays!

We are turning her into a wine-o!

Is this red or grape wine!?!?

We love us some comida!

Bran & Beeler

A little less talk, a lot more eating!!

The offspring.... :o)

Have a great week everyone! 4 more days till we are off to San Antone! Yipppeeee!!

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine!"

~Anthony D'Angelo~