Surprise Party for the Bro-in-Law

My brother-in-law's birthday is on December 25. Which makes for not many birthday parties for him. So this year my sister decided to surprise him with a party all his own. He will be turning 30 this year, so Lea did not want him to go without a big party. She invited so many of his friends from college, from San Antonio when they lived there, and from Waco. There was a great turn out and Chris was so surprised. It was great.

Great job Lea! We all had a great time celebrating with you and Chris for such a special surprise.

This is just a few of the people that were there.
Chris opening presents (Emma helping of course), Emma giving Chris all the balloons she found, and more pictures of friends.

Emma took a nap and made a friend. He was trying to hug her and finally she gave in but of course my camera had died by that point.

July 4th and a new truck

We went to Kansas for the July fourth weekend and had a great time. First we drove to Missouri to spend time with some friends at their lake house. It was little chilly up there but still fun. We went jet skiing, and out on the boat. That night we watched the fireworks, drank some beer, and just spent some quality time with friends we had not seen in a while.

This is Scout and Tiffany on our way to Kansas!

Saturday we went to Perry and met up with Matt's family at a bbq they were having at one of his Aunt's house. We shot of a few fireworks there but then headed out to their land to shoot off the rest. We also watched to Perry Lake firework show. I was in a sweatshirt and blanket because it was so cold up there! We had a great time with family and friends that weekend, and can't wait for next year to do it all over again.


Matt has been wanting a truck for sometime now, but we have been holding out waiting for the best deal. We were going to be trading in my car, and so we needed some good incentives to be able to do it since we would be upside down on the trade in. Well this weekend all the stars lined up and we ended up with a deal we could not refuse. John McClaren in Waco is one of the best dealerships I have every worked with. We will continue to buy our cars from them. Jamie worked with Matt for many months on this deal. He was not there on Saturday so we worked with Scott Eskew. He and I went to high school together so it was pretty fun working with him and catching up on how he was doing. We love the truck and are so happy we were finally able to get such a great deal! If you are looking for a new Chevy make time to visit John McClaren in McGregor. They are wonderful people and will do whatever it takes to make it work for you!

A few odds and ends

It has been a awhile since I have posted anything so this may be long.

We went to visit some friends in Longview last month (yes I just put the pictures on my computer) and their dog had recently had puppies. We were there with my sister, brother- in-law and Emma. Let me just say this little girl is not scared of anything. She loved holding the puppies, and she was so careful with them. It was precious. They also had a trampoline and we could not get her off of it.

Father's Day weekend was spent in Waco, without my parents. My mom took my dad to their favorite place for the weekend, VEGAS! And left the kids at home to put his gift together. My mom bought the grill, and we put together the bar top. It was so much fun, and great spending time with my sister. The bar top is made out of bottle caps...and no we did not drink them all during the weekend. A few but not all :) My dad loved it! We still have a few things to do to actually finish the bar, but we at least got a start to it. My dad is an amazing cook and I can not wait to eat some of the food he will prepare with his new grill!

Last weekend, Matt and I went to a bbq for his work. The house we were at blew my mind away! It was beautiful. But then again when you make the kind of money a Senior Partner does then you have the ability to have a beautiful house. The great thing about this couple is that you would never think they were that well off. They are so down to earth, and just great people. They graduated from Kansas State also, so that may have a little to do with it :)

We went to Billy Bob's that night for a Charlie Robison concert. It was great. Concerts are a little hard for me sometimes because I like to talk, but you can't really do that in a concert. But we still had fun listen to some great country music! Also Tuff Hedeman, world Champion bull rider, who also rode in 8 Seconds, came on stage and sang. It was awesome! I just wish we would have been able to meet him.

The previous owners of the house we are in had a doggie door going into the garage. So now when I come home Scout is poking his little head out waiting for me. It is so cute! He is too fat to fit any further. Also, after church we found Jackson, my sister's dog laying in the mud outside the church building. We go to a small church in Speegliville, so since we were heading out to my parents after church we brought the dogs with us. And when we were at my parents, their dog, Sully thought it would be fun to lay on me after he took a swim in the tank. It was lovely! Oh how I love my dogs!

A time in Manhattan...Ks that is

Matt and I spent the last weekend in Kansas, having a family reunion and then hanging out in Manhattan with friends for a Pub Crawl and celebrating a birthday. The Schafer's have a family reunion every year and this would be the first one I have ever attended as a Schafer, or at all really. It was fun getting to know those in his family more and just be there as his wife. That night we went to Manhattan to have a pub crawl/mini reunion. It was so much fun. Being able to hang out with old friends, and catch up means so much to me. It was also our friend Corey's birthday so I was fun spending time with him and helping him celebrate his day. I miss all my friends from KS but it has been great starting our lives her in Texas.

Birthday Fun and more

Matt's birthday was last week and we had 2 parties for him. The weekend before his birthday we invited friends over and cooked out. We played horseshoes, the Wii and just had fun hanging out. Then this past weekend we were in Waco and and hung out with my sister, her husband and another couple Saturday night. We went to Crickets and ate then played some shuffle board. It was a blast! Then on Sunday after church we went out to my parents and my dad cooked great food and we just talked and hung out. I love being able to do this now with friends and family. We hardly ever had people over when we lived in the apartment because it was so small and cramped. Now with the house it is fun having people over. Matt and I really enjoy cooking out and socializing so it is a great feeling to finally be able to do this. Now that I am closer to family it is great to be able to go home for a day or a weekend and spend time with them. I love being back in Texas and hope that we will be here for a long time.

Some pictures from the weekend at our house. Matt had not blown out candles in years. He enjoyed it. Even Scout got in on the fun!


This group is so much fun. I love going down to Waco to hang out with my sister and Chris. We always have a good time. And Matt even got to blow out candles again. Thank Lea for making the cupcakes for Matt! They were delicious.

Matt and I have enjoyed his birthday gift from me. I got him Mario Cart for the Wii. We have had so much fun playing it. We are still kids at heart.

Matt, I love you and I hope that you had a great birthday! I look forward to spending many more in the years to come.

Warning: Many pictures ahead...

there are a lot of pics below, but I just could not choose less :) I hope you enjoy.


These are just a few favorites of Matt and I. I had so much fun doing these shots, and I can't wait to get them in an album!


These are of Matt and the guys. The ring bearer was my nephew Matthew and I just love the top picture. He had such a great time hanging out with all the boys all day and taking pictures. he looked great in his little tux!


These are of me and my girls and family. I just love all of them, especially the one with me and my dad and then me, my mom, sister and Emma. Our photographer captured some great photos.


These are just some of the other ones that I liked. Emma and her Elmo Easter basket is definitely going in a frame! And the one where Chris is holding her is precious. She was my competition in the wedding for sure :)


The large group pictures is of all our friends, or actually I think it is mainly all Matt's guy friends from college and Kim. Matt made some great friendships and I am so thankful they were able to make our wedding. The picture of the older couple at the bottom is Matt's grandparents. Roland passed away only a few days after our wedding and at the funeral we were told that those last few days all he talked about was our wedding and how thankful he was that he was able to make it. Roland you are missed everyday!

And just a few more of our favorites. The one on the bottom left is Nick, Matt's brother doing his toast. To start it off he gave us a toaster and said if you want a toast then you can make it yourself. It was really funny, but then he did a very heartfelt toast.

Matt-you are the most wonderful husband in the world and I thank God everyday for you. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you and make many more memories. I love you!

Reality TV

So I am going to admit something that I have just admitted to myself. I love reality TV. Not all the shows but just a few. I don't think I am obsessed but I do tend to watch every episode and if I am not home at the time I have either recorded it or I watch it on-line the next day. I know I am a sucker. But for some reason I really do like watching it. With that said I am going to talk about/vent about a few shows I have seen recently.

The Hill's
So I began this journey by watching Laguna Beach and then following Lauren on to The Hills. I loved this show...at the beginning. Towards the end I just became more frustrated, yet I still watched it. I watched this show and was a little jealous of their lives but now I am so happy that I live a modest life without lost of money, or drama. I like where I am at and would not live in a place like that for anything. I enjoyed the drama to an existent but sometimes it just became dumb. The last 2 seasons I think may have put me over the edge. I am tired of hearing about Spencer and Heidi. He was such a jerk and Heidi was so dumb. He finally became somewhat nice in this last episode but I just wonder how true it is. Although I did not understand why, I do wish the two of them the best in their marriage. I am happy for Lauren though. She has grown up a lot on the show and I know she will do great things. I liked watching her because I did feel like she was really and easy to relate to. She also had some cute clothes :) With her leaving I don't know if I will watch it anymore because I don't like Kristin, but I am sure I will end up watching just to see what goes on.

The Bachelor/Bachelorette
Yes I am one of those that watches this show. I don't know why because I think only 1 out of the 10 or so have even worked out. I love Trista and Ryan :) But anyways I do watch it and root for the people I like. Last season I was devastated with the rest of the country when Jason did what he did to Melissa. She was such an amazing girl and I can not believe he did that to her! But great for her for moving on and doing great! She has such a great heart and she deserves the best. This season Jilian is kinda getting on my nerves. She is keeping guys that just don't seem right, or truly seem like they are on the show to promote themselves. I know she doesn't see everything that goes on, but really can someone be that naive?? I think Wes is on there just to promote his music career, I don't trust Juan, Tanner's foot thing is getting a little ridiculous but I think Ed, Kypton, and Dave (I think is his name) are great. So needless to say I will keep watching to see how things turn out...I mean it is summer what else is on :)

PS-I can not believe I just used an entire post on reality tv! I have no life...and wedding pics will be on soon.