David and I leave for Peachtree City, Georgia, tomorrow morning. We are house hunting from Thursday to Monday. We are also meeting David's boss and coworkers as well as meeting with the people at Peachtree City Christian Preschool. We will see how this all goes as we are excited to see where we will live for the next 2 years!
This is my dad and Drew. My dad is reading, The Cat and the Hat, to Drew on a night he was babysitting for us. I never ask my dad to babysit... but this was the night I was to meet Mitt Romney and I hadn't located a babysitter we could pay and I was down to asking family members. My dad was actually flattered I asked him and he really wanted to rearrange his Friday night to do it. So, we drove out to his house and Drew had a fabulous time. Drew played with my dad's three dogs and they watched Rice baseball and my dad said Drew did great. When we came home to pick him up, Drew said he didn't want to leave. It made my dad feel so good. Now, I am wondering, why haven't I asked my dad to do this more often? :)
Okay, so I have to admit, I didn't watch AI this year. David and I have watched every single season but this year we didn't. It did have something to do with the fact that I worked on Tuesday nights but let's face it, I chose to Tivo something else completely. It just wasn't worth my time. Why? Because it isn't that good anymore. I did catch a few episodes here and there so I knew who people were talking about but just no interest.
BUT, alas I hear that Fantasia Barrino was on the results show last week and the performance was something to watch! I heard on the radio that Simon was stunned and he talked about it later that it was all pretty bad. Here is the irresistible video link below... you have GOT to look at Simon's face towards the end... so worth sitting through her over-the-top number where she literally screamed (no singing involved) the whole time. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x9QJWY2gp4
Saenz family
So, we are off to Utah for an entire week! Yeah, vacation! We leave today and won't get back until next Tuesday night. We won't be blogging until then... :)
L.E. and Ginny Simmons - we sat close enough to see really well but not well enough for my camera so I had to get the close-up shots on the big screens.
Beach boys singing live! I was literally front row!
Many of you have asked about the party we went to... here is the invitation. Ginny and L.E. Simmons hosted a party with Mitt Romney and the Beach Boys just to say thank you to all of Romney's supporters in Texas. I guess Texas raised a lot of money for Romney and we knew the Simmons had a significant part in that.
We met the Simmons family in our very first family ward after David and I were married. We lived inside the city of Houston then. Of course, we were the young married couple living in an apartment. L.E. Simmons and his brother had started a
n investment bank years and years ago and have been very successful. The Simmons have two incredible children: Virginia, about to turn 20 years old this summer, and William, about to turn 19 this summer. David and I's first calling in this ward was Sunday School teachers for Virginia and William's class. We loved it! The youth were awesome and the funniest part was that they called us Bro. and Sis. "Dinosaur" because they thought Pistorius sounded like a dinosaur name and couldn't remember it so well. Hilarious.
Anyway, after some months doing that, they called us into the Young Men's and Young Women's presidencies. I actually worked with Ginny Simmons in the Young Women's and Virginia was in YW of course and David became Scout Master and worked with William and the other youth on getting their Eagle. Anyway, these were some of the best tim
es ever! We loved our callings, we loved the youth we were working with, and I really felt like we were making a difference too.
So, we left that ward of course when we moved to Utah and we kept in touch with the Simmons family over the years. We were fortunate enough to be able to pick them up from EFY when they attended two different summers at BYU, we watched General Conference with them in Houston the first year we moved back here (Virginia was up at college then but that is when I learned William wanted to attend ATM) and we have really enjoyed seeing them grow up.
These are pictures we took with them Friday night - David with William and me with Virginia. Virginia is at the Univ. of Utah studying early childhood education, has a serious boyfriend she brought to the event too! :) And William is putting in his mission papers soon and has a girlfriend, Paige, he told me he met at church (great place to meet!) that he introduced to us. The most impressive thing was that William spoke in front of all these people at the Romney event and introduced Mitt Romney too! He did a fantastic job and I had always said when I met him at like 13 that he would be president one day. He is well on his way! :)
Yes, we actually met Mitt Romney and got a picture with him. I was so giddy; it was hilarious. We were invited to the "Romney Reunion" event hosted by Ginny and L.E. Simmons Friday night to thank everyone in Texas for their support of his campaign. It was so exciting and an absolute blast! More to come...
David, Drew and I
Funniest picture taken! My stepfather, Sam, on the left, David in the middle, and my Dad on the right. They are all showing off their Rice rings. Rice has one class ring design and here in Houston, people do recognize it. Again, Rice is considered "the ivy league of the South" so it's very prestigious here. Anyway, here are all three grads from Rice in my family! My dad always wanted one of us to go to Rice - my brother and I didn't even apply because let's face it, we wouldn't have gotten in and Keely tried to apply but didn't get in. Plus, since it was in Houston and we all wanted to "go away" for college, we didn't really try hard enough. My dad is thrilled David fulfilled this dream of his that one of his "kids" would graduate from Rice. My dad bought David his Rice ring for his graduation present. THANKS, DAD! We love the ring!
Drew trying to smile for me waiting for the ceremony to start even though he didn't feel good. David came in with all the graduates in procession, we waved to him, and then Drew started crying for "Daddy!" while it was totally silent and they were starting the ceremony... good memories...
My dad, keely and me at the ceremony... can you tell we are all related? :)
David and Drew. Drew was sick with fever so he didn't feel too well but we did get this photo of David and his little boy.
So, I am kind of working a "real job" again. I work on Mondays at the Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston. I am loving it! I am definitely an agency-type person. I love meeting with people and having colleagues to talk to again, especially when the colleagues are all people I used to work with at The Children's Assessment Center (my first job out of graduate school and the job I left to go to BYU). But I am getting to help supervise the therapy students there and finish my hours to become a supervisor. This was something I started at BYU but didn't quite complete so my old supervisor here gave me the opportunity to finish it up. Thank you, Julia! :)
I'll be doing this through June when we leave but only on Mondays. I am working at my practice Tues. and Wed. nights and will do so until the end of May.
So, my friend, Vanessa, always takes the coolest pictures of herself wearing her shoes so I thought I would make an attempt to do just that.
These are my newest find! How did I find them? My friend, Jill, at work was wearing them. Yes, I stole the idea and I am not ashamed because let's face it I don't have time to go shopping and at the same time, I'm not all that great at it. But I just loved these shoes she was wearing on Monday and so I asked where she got them. You ready??? TARGET! Yes, my eyes lit up. She even said she got them recently. So, Drew and I were off to Target the next morning and lo and behold, I've got me a pair! I'll probably be wearing them all the time now; I'm kind of like that.
Okay, so I also thought I'd share with you what "Santa Claus" brought me for Christmas and what I wear around the house each and every day. LOVE THEM! :)
