Christmas Lights at Windcrest

Each year our family tries to find a night to drive around looking at Christmas light. My friend Kendra recommended driving over near San Antonio to see the lights at Windcrest. I am so glad we took her advice! We certainly saw some beautiful displays. Here are photos of a few of my favorites:


This house was awesome! The lights were set to music and the line of cars waiting to drive past this one was very long, but so worth the wait.


I loved the decorations outside this house and it appeared from what we could see of the windows the inside must have been spectacular as well!



I absolutely fell in love with the Santa on this porch!

Wordless Wednesday

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Tony's Graduation

We drove to San Antonio last night to attend our nephew Tony's high school graduation. Although for only 70 students it was a looong ceremony, I do like attending the ceremonies of the school on the military post. It's always impressive to see all the military families..and even the students' speeches are awesome and a little different than what you'd hear from other schools. These kids are military kids who have often moved from one post to another multiple times during their school years and that is often mentioned in the speeches. Of these kids there were a few who had actually all been together their entire school career, but not many. Attending a ceremony like this and listening to these incredible kids makes you realize just how much these families sacrifice at times. I only knew one of these graduates, but was so moved by the kids' speeches anyway.

As I sat through Tony's graduation, I kept seeing images of when he and his brother Chris (who graduated last year) were so small...images of the 2 boys playing with Heather in our house in Arizona when she was a baby, images of the 3 of them playing in the snow at Granny's house in Wyoming. Those boys have been through so much and I am so proud of the young men they have become.

Because my brother in law Mike is in the Army, we haven't all been able to live close enough to see his family often throughout the years. When Mike moved his family to the post in Texas a few years ago was the first time we've ever all lived within driving distance of each other and able to spend holidays and celebrations together. When the kids were small we'd all see each other for a few days in the summer when we'd all make the trek to Wyoming for the family reunion, or when Mike would drive his family to come visit us when between posts.

Tony, it has been a privelege to get to know you as a young man and I'm so very very proud of your accomplishments!

Tony as the graduates made their way into the auditorium.

Tony awaiting his introduction and diploma

CONGRATULATIONS TONY!!! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

My brother in law Mike was deployed to Iraq a few months ago. He was able to come home on a short leave to attend Tony's graduation! How awesome!

The twins: Mike and Marty

After the ceremony as we all headed back to our cars Tony commented on this sculpture so I told him to go get in it for a picture! So....we all decided to climb on and take pictures!

Mike's family:

Mike, Debbie, Chris, Cil, Cheyenne, and Tony

My family on the sculpture:

Heather, Marty and me

Chris and Heather trying to find a spot and not slide!!!

ALL of us! (none of us brought tripods, so a trash can had to make do!)

Chris (who is in the Air Force and stationed in Arizona now) and his wife Cil.

All the kids (and get used to it kids, no matter how old you get you will still be referred to as the kids)

Now it is very typical of Marty and Mike to climb to the top of stuff like this and monkey around (somewhere there are photos of them in the park of their hometown on top of the swing set). Now, Chris acts just like his dad and uncle!

All the gals

Happy Valentine's Day!

To celebrate Valentine's Day we went out with 3 other couples (Bill & Denise, Jason and Erica, and David and Susan) for dinner and coffee in San Antonio. Of course the big dilemma for the ladies for such an outing was....WHAT TO WEAR???? We had all decided to dress up really nice for the occasion (and I even convinced Marty to wear a TIE...which he NEVER does!) When a cold front blew in some changed their minds about what they were wearing so they wouldn't freeze. I opted to freeze anyway knowing Marty was going to be uncomfortable in the unfamiliar tie and if he was going to dress up so was I.


Doesn't Marty look FABULOUS in a tie?!





We all gathered at Bill and Denise's house where we dropped off Heather to watch 4 of the kids while we all went out. Before leaving we all took pictures as a group (thanks Bethany!) and pictures of each couple....ahem...even David and Jason posed together for one disturbing photo all in good fun! Then we all piled into the Suburban and hit the road.



All of us at Bill and Denise's. Left to right: Susan, David, Denise, Bill, Erica, Jason, me, Marty






Bill and Denise

David and Susan

David and Jason

Our plan was to eat at Bennihana's but not one of us confirmed that the restaurant was still in the location it was believed to be. As we tried to locate it we passed Tokyo Steak House and after determining that Bennihanas is no longer in the location nearby, we all decided we'd just eat at Tokyo Steak House instead. We knew there would be a long wait wherever we went. A quick phone call to Bennihanas proved that we'd have to wait 3 hours for a table. Thanks to Jason's determination, we didn't have to wait too terribly long to be seated at the steak house. I'm sure the wait would have seemed much longer had we not been so entertained while we waited. The men were a riot and kept us laughing the whole evening.

While we waited David decided to check out the sushi bar and ordered some for all brave enough to try it. I always swore I'd never try the stuff...it just never sounded good to me! I decided why not, if I didn't like it then I just wouldn't ever eat any more. The Sushi we tried did not actually contain raw fish, which I had assumed all sushi was. The California Rolls we ate consisted of cooked crab, cucumber, and avacado rolled up in seaweed and rice. I did not like the seaweed and handed it off to Bill but actually liked the rest of it.

The sushi was pretty!

Our Sushi Chef!

Proof that Erica tried the sushi. (and we tried this thinking it really was raw fish and found out later it was not after all)

I even tried it but was very unsure at first!

David tried his sushi with chopsticks!

While we waited for a table we were entertained by such things as David and Bill playing

rock, paper, scissors.

We were seated in a small room and joined by one other couple who I'm sure thought we'd all lost our minds! We laughed and joked and carried on so much! I can't remember the last time I had such a good time.

We asked an employee to take our photo for us and he handed the camera off to someone else but at least we got one!

David and Susan enjoying their appetizers.

Erica and Jason (apparently when taking all the photos at Bill and Denise's house the only photos I took of these two was with ERICA'S camera and not mine! I was sure I had some...till I uploaded all mine and found them missing.) :0(

I've never seen anyone crack an egg by tossing it in the air and cracking it in two with a spatula...till now! Pretty cool!

I was too busy photographing the fire to see it come directly at me across the grill.

Our chef kept us in stitches as he prepared our food before us. Erica and I were teased for all the photos we took...even of the FOOD...but we didnt' care! I simply said, "this is what we DO!!!" As the food cooked all the smoke blew directly in Jason and Erica's faces, making the rest of us thankful we were seated where we were! ha ha

our food on fire

In honor of Valentine's Day our chef fried our rice in the shape of a heart. Awwww.



Our too-funny chef even had a rather creative way to put out the fire from the volcano! I'm sure my grandpa had a toy like this that pees water and that's what this chef used on our food!! But it didn't deter any one of us from eating well!

Our original plan was to roam along the Riverwalk after dinner but it was much too cold so we opted to head to our favorite Starbucks instead for hot coffee!

Thanks everyone for a great night and I can't wait to do something together again soon!

Bracken Village

Marty and I have driven by Bracken Village once before, when we first moved here and our pastor and his wife took us to San Antonio to see Christmas lights. One of the places they drove by was Bracken Village. Even in the dark I knew it was a place I'd like to return to visit. It took a few years but we finally found our way back!

We poked around in a few of the shops. In one shop the owner, Ruth Ann, gave us lots of information and history of the village. Apparently it is 20 acres of what used to be a farm. Mr. Travis buys old homes, moves them to the village, restores them, and turns them into shops. Part of the original farm buildings are still there, including the big red barn. One of the yellow houses used to be a train depot. It was fascinating to visit Bracken Village and to learn of some of its history. Ruth Ann also told us that the Friday and Saturday evenings of the 1st and 2nd weekends in December are Dickens days and all the shop keepers and even some of the visitors dress accordingly. Carriages are available for rides through the village and farm. Guess where I'll be begging Marty to take me come December??!!!

The red barn that was part of the original farm.

A windmill at the entrance.

A large gazebo at the center of the village.

Ruth Ann

The shop Ruth Ann runs:

This is how some of the buildings look upon arrival:

I loved this shop, especially the porch!

Even the yards of each shop are decorated.

Sepia tones seem to compliment some of these settings.

Isn't this whole village a pretty setting?

The porch railing of one of the shops.