Kelly's birthday!

Beth, Robyn, Tiffiny and I took Kelly out to lunch today at Huhot to celebrate her birthday. At Huhot you fill your bowl up at the buffet from there selection of chopped frozen meat, veggies and then pour from a large selection of every kind of sauce you can think of on top of your creation of meat and veggies. Then this guy fries it up for ya on a huge flat grittle thing. It was delicious! :) Happy Birthday, Kelly!

(Today is my salvation birthday. 16 years...April 29, 1992.)

Travis in the Nursery at Marion Avenue Baptist Church

This picture was taken by Saundra Hoffert...or better known by all her "nursery babies" as "Nana". :) I thought it was such a good picture that I would share it w/all my family and friends. Both Kaleb and Travis have had the privilege of having fun in the nursery every Sunday morning with Nana Hoffert. :)

Paula Deen's Fried Chicken

1 (2lb.) cut-up chicken (8 pieces)
Salt
4 c. vegetable shortening, for frying
3 lg. eggs
1/3 c. water
2 c. self-rising flour
Pepper(use the black peppercorn grinder)

In large bowl, sprinkle chicken w/salt. Cover and refrig 2 to 3 hours. In 12 inch skillet, heat shortening on medium until temperature reaches 350F on deep-fry thermometer.(There should be 3/4 in. hot fat in skillet.) Meanwhile, in pie plate, w/fork, beat eggs and water. In medium bowl, combine flour and pepper. Dip chicken pieces, 1 at a time, in egg mixture, then place in flour mixture, turning to coat well. Add chicken pieces, skin sides down, to hot fat. Cover skillet and cook 5 minutes; turn chicken over and cook covered 7 to 9 minutes longer for white meat, 10 to 12 minutes longer for dark meat, turning pieces occasionally until well browned and crisp on all sides and juices run clear when thickest part is pierced w/tip of knife. (I cooked mine until fairly brown, it was still juicy tender and falling off the bone.) Transfer cooked chicken to a paper towel lined cookie sheet. YUUUUMMMMY! :)

WOW....thats all I can say.

Well, the moment you have all been waiting for...."What was the bill?" Wail until the end of my story. Well, for all of you who didn't know, today was Kevin and my anniversary. Two whole years! So we used a gift card that Candace got for us at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Santa Barbara. All we can say is THANK YOU! It was by far the best dining experiance I have ever had in my life. The pic do not do it justice. -Posted by Kristin (I put a couple of pics on shutterfly of us before we left for dinner)

Are your eyes playing tricks on you!?

The Chubb illusion is an optical illusion wherein the apparent brightness (luminosity) of an object varies dramatically, depending on the context of the presentation. For instance, a dark object surrounded by darker objects may appear brighter than an actually brighter object, surrounded by even brighter objects.

The Hermann grid illusion produces the illusion that there are gray spots or squares at the intersections of the streets or canals.

Red Alert!

Whoever can guess first how this is accomplished will get an extra big hug and kiss from me when I see you in May! :)





Katie is correct! A big smooch is coming your way soon!

Mera scares Mommy!

Well, yesterday, Meradeth gave me a BIG scare!! I was watching TV (first mistake) and Olivia was in the music room by the front door with caleb. Meradeth went into that room to play with them. Well, about 3 minutes went by and I got up to go in there. Meradeth was nowhere to be seen. I asked Olivia where she was and she said that Meradeth left the room a couple minutes before and walked back towards the living room. I ran back into the living room and looked in the kitchen, the laundry room, the guest room...I even looked in the back yard (I didn't think she would be smart enough to open the screen door). Then I heard, "Dadadadadadaa." It was coming from upstairs. Meradeth had climbed up both flights of stairs and was in our bathroom playing in the toilet water. (by far her favorite thing to do). AHHHHHHHHH. What do you do when this happens. I started thinking of all the what ifs. Needless to say, I will keep a much better eye on her and not watch so much TV.
Posted by: Kristin

Mera's Bikini

Yes! I definitely agree w/Katie...we should get one for Grandmother so they can match! I LOVE YOU, MAMA! -CMH

Meradeth wanted to show off her swimsuit that she finally got to wear. She got this for Christmas. I hope she enjoys wearing it because it will be the last bikini she will get. If you like this picture, don't forget to go to my shutterfly tonight and look at the pics I will be putting up today. Meradeth extends a big hello to all of her fans!!

Can anyone recognize this place? I (mama) have posted this even though I have done it under daddy's name.

Meradeth's new toy!!

Meradeth loves her new toy that Aunt Katie and Aunt Candace bought for her...She couldn't wait until I got it put together. She does need a little help rocking, but she can get off all by herself. Thank you, Aunt Katie and Aunt Candace! I love you -Mera

Happy 37th birthday to KEVIN!

Since Kevin is not a big sweets eater and doesn't like birthday cake, I bought him a dinner from Lone Star! ...a baked potato called "The Works", a classic salad, a Texas Rose, a ribeye steak and sweet tea! Now he's at work on his birthday...to pay for the meal he just ate. :) Aren't we thankful for the men in our families that go to work everyday to keep us clothed, fed and sheltered?! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEVIN(DADDY)

Meradeth and the cake

Well, today (Sunday) we had a party for Meradeth because Kristen was here. We got her a cake and as you can see she really enjoyed it. It was in her hair and hands and ourfit and high chair and inside her nostils and fingernails and eyelashes and everywhere else you can imagine. She had fun and I will put lots of pictures on shutterfly.

ALLYSON GOT SAVED! SHE'S BORN AGAIN!

This Sunday morning, Allyson came to me and said that she was going to go forward at the invitation and get saved. She said she wasn't going to be bashful anymore...she didn't want to worry about going to hell any longer! SO, tonight she went forward at the invitation and Mrs. Brown(the preacher's wife and Ally's very good friend) led her to the Lord. When the service was over, they both came back to tell me and of course I began crying and bawling. In the van on the way home, Allyson called Grandaddy and Grandmother to share w/them her wonderful news. She is so happy now that she will go to heaven...she said, "Wow, I think being saved is the most wonderful thing in the world!"
Let's all pray that the next post we read will be "BESTEFAR GOT SAVED! HE'S BORN AGAIN!"

My 30th birthday!

Kelly, me and Beth are shopping at Kohl's. We decided we needed to start look'n more hip...or should I say rather like bugs? Where's the fly swatter when ya need it!?
Here my sweet friends are treating me to a pedicure, my first. Which I absolutely loved! I had to wait for a women to do my feet because Kevin told Kelly and Beth that he didn't want a 'man' to touch my feet...lucky 'man', uh? :)
As all you coffee drinkers will understand, we HAD to stop and have our coffee break! Hey, who's coffee is that ANYWAY?!
Here my wonderful friends are treating me to lunch...I had a Japanese dish..."Chicken and Shrimp Tempura". I gave Kelly a good laugh after we finished eating...we carried our trays over to the trash to empty them, and I wasn't thinking(very rare) and dumped my garbage AND TRAY into the trash can.
At the Hallmark store. Kelly giggled and laughed over this book! You should've heard her...I left to get pick up some cards in another part of the store...to find my way back to them, I just followed the sound of Kelly's cackle. :)

Paying for our Vacation

So Eric is being sweet enough to work some off duty to pay for our big vacation in May!! He works 9pm - 1am tonight. He drives around the Ravines community (where his condo is) and tries to find the bad people.

Tomorrow he leaves for a week to go to SWAT training. He has to stay there until Friday night and not go home.

So Eric is saying bye to everyone until next weekend!

GUESS WHO IS TURNING ONE ON MONDAY!!! THIS LITTLE MONSTER. Meradeth now weighs 24 pounds and she is 30 inches long. She runs everywhere and constantly says da dad da da. Her favorite foods are tortilla with cheese, tri-tip, oranges, banana and strawberries and ANY kind of candy. She loves to watch little einsteins and read books..