Sun, surf, and sand...

Hello? Anyone still out there? Sorry that this blog got somewhat abandoned... since the beginning of October everything seems like it's moving in fast forward!

Between work, Natalie's dance rehearsals, Richie's City League volleyball games and practices, baseball postseason watching, party planning, and just life in general, our weeks have been filled to the brim lately!!

On Wednesday this week we hosted our annual pumpkin carving party. Last Saturday we traveled to Fort Worth for Ramsey and Carmen's wedding. We decided to make a weekend out of it and hung out in Sundance Square (downtown Fort Worth) for a while before heading out to Billy Bob's (the world's largest Honky Tonk). Friday night was Natalie's inaugural performance as a Bat Girl - they dressed as zombies and performed to Thriller in honor of Halloween.

The weekend before that (Oct. 16-17) we enjoyed what was likely our last lake weekend of the season. The weather was beautiful and warm, but the water was starting to get a little chilly! Courtney and Spence came in for the weekend so it was good to spend some time with them. That Saturday night, the boys had a night out on the town in Austin for Ramsey's bachelor party. The Monday after, Natalie hosted October's book club meeting.

And the weekend before that we were in Houston. Richie got to go watch nephew Jason's peewee football game on Saturday. On Sunday, we joined Lisa and Geoff for the Texans vs. Vikings game (and the requisite tailgating beforehand). It was our first professional football experience and it was a lot of fun! Too bad that a heartbreaking loss for the Texans in overtime followed closely on the heels of the Astros' heartbreaking loss to the Braves in Game 4 of the Division Series (they kept us updated on the Astros score throughout the football game). Fortunately, the Astros were able to turn it around after that and we followed them faithfully through to another heartbreaking loss in Game 7 to the Cards last Thursday. :( It was an amazing run, though and we're so proud to be Astros fans!

Whew... I think that brings us up to date!! (Pictures will be updated shortly - we have lots to post!) Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween weekend! And don't forget to VOTE if you haven't already - this looks to be a close one!!!

Busy, busy, busy!

Last weekend we had Viet, Kendra, and Chris in town to play at the lake and celebrate Viet's birthday. Geoff and Lisa were also around for a little while so we hung out with them at the lakehouse on Saturday - the weather wasn't cooperating at first so we spent the morning indoors playing trivial pursuit. Saturday night we ordered pizza in and watched the Ags BTHOO Kansas State. Whoop! Sunday, back out at the lake, this time at Sandy Creek. The water was pretty rough so we spent most of the afternoon floating in a cove listening to the Astros on the radio. Go 'Stros!!!! (Later found out that the Texans won too - good weekend for Texas sports all around!)

Weekend before last we were in Houston. Richie played in a sand volleyball tourney at Third Coast with indoor teammate Huy. It was off-and-on rainy all day but they managed to finish the tournament and Richie and Huy took second place in their division. We were actually done relatively early in the afternoon so we had time to stop by Austin's pee-wee football game (Haille is a cheerleader this year). Then, dinner with Richie's family that night to celebrate Dad D's birthday. On Sunday, we headed back to Austin early to get in a little lake time.

That's about it, I guess! We've both been busy at work lately and weekday evenings seem to fill up fast between volleyball and dance. Tonight we're headed to The Backyard to see Robert Earl Keen! Keep your fingers crossed that we don't get wet!

And of course, belated Happy Birthday to Dad D (09/28), Viet (10/03), and Amanda (10/05)!