Nursery

We went to our Baytown ward for the last time today. (We will be in Spring with Mark's family next week). We enjoyed being the Nursery leaders and will miss the kids. They were really good kids. Today we had our 4 regulars: Matthew, Sammy, Deigo and Nathalie. I don't know how kosher it is, but we took some pictures today.Sammy is the most affectionate kid in nursery. She loves to give hugs and prefers laps to chairs or the floor. Sammy is moving to Germany tomorrow. Matthew is the most well-behaved kid. He is so quiet and calm. He loves building block towers.Diego loves nursery. He never cries and is always energetic. He talks a lot and it is a fun challenge to understand baby Spanish. Nati is always unsure about nursery. She cries everytime she comes, or if the door opens, until you say, "Papi" or "Mami". She was really smiley today, which was a first. Today the kids were so good and self-entertained, Mark had to keep himself entertained.

Around Town

As mentioned earlier, Exxon had postponed it's Christmas party until last Wednesday night due to the snow. This wasn't ideal for us because Exxon was also sending all the co-ops to the Rockets vs. Cavs basketball game (which because so many people canceled they gave Mark a ticket for me)....So we went to both. We met up downtown (where Mark was out for an Exxon lunch), walked around the Galleria, got all dressed up, and went to the Christmas party. However, we didn't know anyone (Mark's team didn't go), and "semi-formal" actually means "very-formal"... so we did not enjoy the Christmas party very much. So we left, drove across town, got back dressed down, and ran through the cold to enjoy the basketball game from the last row (literally). The game wasn't really very exciting. The Rockets had about a 10 point lead when we got there and kept it the rest of the game, but it was still fun and I enjoyed meeting some of the people I hear about.
Saturday, we headed back downtown to attend the Houston Ballet's performance of the Nutcracker with Steve and Kalina. I have been looking forward to this for a while, now. I love going to the Nutcracker. Mark wasn't too keen on going to the ballet but thought he'd try it out.
As expected, I enjoyed it much more than Mark, though I must say I like Salt Lake's much better. Thanks Mark for taking me.

Friends

Cordell and Heather came over for dinner on Sunday. We had a very enjoyable evening. Thanks for making the drive down.

The Christmas Corner

White December

I remember Doug once telling us how in St. George he got a snow day at school for 4 inches of snow, and being from Salt Lake, where we went to school in blizzards, I thought that was a bit dramatic. Well here in Baytown, we have an inch or two of snow and the city is out of commission. Mark got to come home early from work (they let people leave at 9), kids got out of school, even the bank was talking about closing(??) and Exxon canceled their Christmas party tonight.So then I had the bright idea that since it was snowing, and I like snow, and there is this nature center nearby that is really pretty, we should go enjoy the snow there...but there was no snow, and it was cold, and dreary.(And I must add that Utah has much better snow than Baytown. It's too wet here.)

Turkey Trudge

Thanksgiving morning Mark and I ran in the Houston Turkey Trot with Steve and Kalina. It was a really early and cold morning, but we did get to see a lovely sunrise- it's been awhile since I've seen one of those. The others all ran the 10K, but I was more realistic and ran a 5K. Still, I had the slowest pace out of everyone, but I was surprised that I still got about 10 1/2 min/mile which is roughly what I trained, because I walked a little and felt like I was just trudging along. So I learned I need to find a way to pace myself better. But overall, it was pretty fun. Glad I ran it, glad I picked the 5K, and glad to not be sore anymore.And a special thanks to Charlie for coming to cheer us on in the cold, and take pictures.

Finally, a new look

For quite some time I have needed a haircut, finally I got one. I was really sick of my long hair, so I cut off about 8 inches. I am so much happier now.

The City of Lights

A couple weeks ago, I went to Paris with my dad and my sister, Mary. We had a great time, walked all around the city, enjoyed art, food, and perfect weather, but mostly the company. Thanks again Dad, Merm and Mark.Notre DameL'hotel des invalides and napoleon's tombThe Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc de Triomphe

Family Time

My family came down last weekend and spent a couple days enjoying beautiful Houston weather. It was really great to have them visit. Thanks for coming down.
At NASA's Apollo Command Center
NASA's current space shuttle command center.

And the rains came down

Last week I experienced my first taste of heavy Houston rains. It rained all day and night and we woke up to a lot of water everywhere. I'm used to light rain just running off down the mountains, but here it doesn't have any place to go, so it stays. I am amazed at how much water there actually is in a rainstorm.And I have a new appreciation for the ugly, steep ditches that are on the sides of the road. They are about 5 ft deep, and it's a good thing.

A Weekend with Erika

My old roommate Erika drove down from Dallas to spend the weekend with us! It was so much fun. Erika is leaving on a mission to Brazil in 3 weeks.
Erika got here Friday afternoon. We met up with Ann at the quilt show downtown. I must confess I was expecting a small cultural hall-sized show, with a few quilts. I was so wrong. The quilt show was huge. It filled up the whole convention center! There were tons of people there and lots of really incredible quilts. It was really neat. Thanks again Ann.
After dinner, we decided to try out the Kemah Boardwalk, as Steve has seemed really excited about it. We enjoyed walking around in the beautiful weather, fun atmosphere, and watching street performers.We also enjoyed the shark benches and catfish feeding spots. We didn't feed them (unless you count them trying to eat Mark's spit). We topped the adventure off with a ride on the Boardwalk Bullet roller coaster. It had been so long since any of us had been on a roller coaster so we forgot what to expect. and we all still like them.Saturday morning Mark ran the Company Cup, a Baytown 5K for the employees of sponsoring companies. (I'll post about this later).
The afternoon was pretty calm. We went to a Vietnamese noodle house for lunch. Thanks again Erika. After lunch we attempted to make caramel apples. I've been craving to make these for a long time, so thanks Er for doing them with me. The caramel turned out really well, just a bit soft. Instead of dipping the apples in the caramel, we drizzled the caramel over the upside-down apples. We had problems with the chocolate. It wasn't runny enough to drip, so we had to put it on like frosting. So the apples don't look very professional but still taste good!
Saturday night we went to the ward talent show. It was very long but entertaining. There were skits, musical numbers, poem readings, story-telling and our favorite- the "elastic man" (he was super flexible and kicked himself in the back of the head while standing up. pretty sweet.)
It was awesome to have Erika in nusery with us on Sunday and hang around for the ward linger longer, before she went back to Dallas.
Thanks again Erika for coming to visit. Mark and I were glad we got to see you again before you leave. We will miss you.

On Duty

One of the things that Mark and I were looking forward to when we moved back down to Texas was coming back to the ward here. We love feeling like we are a part of the ward...and they put us right back to work. We got called to the ward missionaries again, and to be nursery leaders. We have enjoyed our callings so far. There are 5 kids in the nursery, one who just came in today for the first time (and the sweet little angel didn't cry at all). The others are already 3. There is another little boy that will be coming in, but he was very upset by the idea today so he went with his mother again.
So last week after they set us apart, the Bishop met with us and asked us to speak in Sacrament meeting today. Mark gave a really good talk on choosing to love, especially in the home. I spoke on working together in the home.
We also got invited to be in the stake choir. I hadn't realized at the time, but our stake choir is invitation only (anyone ever heard of that before?). So we are off again to choir practice.
Busy, but so glad to be part of this ward again.

Table Upgrade

We got a new kitchen table today, and look how happy Mark is. The last one was sold last week to make way for the new one, only to find that they had just sold out of the table we wanted. But today they were back in stock, so we now have a table again. It is much bigger and more comfortable than the last one.While Mark was putting the table together, I put together dinner so we could immediately break it in.

Anybody want a peanut...butter?

Friday night, Mark and I went with our ward assignment to the Church's Houston Cannery and made peanut butter. To be more precise, we actually had nothing to do with the making of the peanut butter, but we bottled about 5,500 jars of it. (Others in our group were in the making end, and went through about 4 bags of peanuts each weighing in at 2,200 lbs). We had a great time, and though undermanned ran the double shift without a hitch. Mark and the Elders Quorum President put the lids on and tightened them for about 3 hours straight- which is supposed to be a 3 person job as the conveyor moves quite quickly. but they didn't miss a jar. I had less energetic tasks and was, therefore, freezing all 4 hours. From boxing the jars, to unpacking empty jars, to my longest role- feeding empty jars into the filling machine. It was very enjoyable and smelled really good- like roasting peanuts, which also reminded me of my mom's flank steak marinade for some reason.

The Work Wall

This week at work, I have been working on making 18 copies of this painting. They are still being worked on. But this is my little spot where I paint all day, and stick the paintings to the wall to dry. Fun, fun.

BFA

My new website: www.broadbentfineart.info. I would love suggestions.

Day One

Today was my first day of "work" - really I'm not officially working there yet. Today was more of a try-out. I trying to get a job working as a touch-up artist for an art wholesaler. They have paintings made in China and Korea which they then sell to commercial stores like Ethan Allen. Sometimes there is a big discrepancy between what it looks like and what it was supposed to look like. I would fix them up to look like they were meant to look. My first 'try-out' project has so far proved to be rather difficult but I am looking forward to start tackling it again. Sorry no pictures.

Outstanding

After many attempts to find a good blender, we finally got a Blendtec. So last night we tried it out with a peach-banana-orange smoothie. Mark's first response: "Outstanding!" It worked wonderfully and tasted delicious. (Thanks Ann for the peaches). We are very excited about our new blender.Sorry about the crappy pictures. Our camera struggles.

Football

What is it about football? Logically, I can't make sense of it, and how it effects so many people so dramatically. I don't follow seasons, just games that I actually watch, which are relatively few. But even if I'm watching a game between two teams I don't care about, I randomly (or not randomly?) pick one and am just as emotionally vested in the game...makes no sense. But I do enjoy it when I watch it, teams I don't know and all. and it is even more fun if it is your alma mater putting up a great game and beating Oklahoma. Go Cougs.

*So yes, these pictures are quite old (2007 Vegas Bowl), but they are the most recent ones I have; it's been a while since I actually went to a BYU game.

Félicitations and Parabéns

Two of my dear friends and old roommates are leaving in November to serve missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Miss Lizzy will be serving in Paris, France.Miss Erika will be sharing the gospel in Brazil, Goiania mission.
I am really excited for both of them. They will be great missionaries.

Number 5

We are finally moved in and settled in our new apartment in Baytown.

Wedding Festivities

We flew to Utah this weekend for Paul's wedding. Thanks Paul for getting married, we had a great time.
The bandThe men trying to find refuge from the heat during pictures.

Home Sweet Home

We are back in Texas, just around the corner from where we were last time. We are really glad to be here. It was a long week driving down but we got to stop in Dallas and see Tina, H, and Charlotte, which we really enjoyed. Charlotte is quite a talker now and so fun.