Ignacio y Encarnacion

We went to a costume party at Kyle and Michelle's house. Of course, Casey had to be Nacho Libre! He went to the fabric store with his Nanny, picked out fabric for both of our costumes and the rest is history. He made his very own Nacho tights, bloomers and shoes. He aslo grew his very own Nacho stache. Nanny was kind enough to make my outfit for me - it was a bit more complicated (and covering) than Casey's. We had a great time and Nacho was a BIG HIT. Strangers asked if he could take a picture with their baby. Sadly, I didn't have my camera at the time...

The Wichita Extravaganza

We recently went on a weekend vacation with Morgan and Walter. We talked about going to the Caribbean or somewhere exotic, but decided our dollars were better saved than spent, so we rented a cabin in the Wichita Mountains in beautiful Oklahoma :) Casey informed us that they are one of only two mountain ranges in the US that extend from east to west. We explored, relaxed, hiked, napped, read, visited and laughed. We had some great steak - thanks to my husband, who has recently decided to conquer the perfect steak - and s'mores around the fire. It was so fun! Stokeses, I think we need to have another long weekend together soon... Maybe Alabama? z
Morgan was pretty disappointed that she wasn't allowed to have martinis while she was hiking.

October in Dallas

I love this time of year! The weather is beautiful - temperate, breezy and sunny. After a special breakfast out, I spent 4 hours outside on our porch swing talking with my friend Jen today. It was perfect. Then we shared a burger on the patio at Cafe R&D, followed by Sprinkles cupcakes (for the second day in a row) and a movie at home with dogs sacked out all around us. It was so wonderfully refreshing. I know every day can't be like today, but I'm thankful when I get to have these days. And for some reason, I usually have more of them in October than any other time :)

The Extended Nicholas Fam

My dad was the middle of three brothers: Ronny, Kenny and Larry. Uncle Ronny has lived in Mexico City almost all my life. He came in town for Texas/OU weekend and to visit his son, my cousin Eliot. He had a party and it was so fun to see all my extended family together. I love my family so much.

Here's Uncle Ron:

Uncle Larry and his daughter, my favorite girl cousin Brooke:

My brother David, my cousin Wade and Uncle Ron again:
My sister Cathie, my cousin Eliot and my Aunt Ginger.
My brother David's girlfriend Renee and my sister Cathie's boyfriend George:It was a great party and the Longhorns won, so it was a good weekend. Hook 'em horns!

Happy 78th Birthday, Nanny!

To celebrate Casey's grandmother's 78th birthday, we loaded up the Smith kids and headed to the Dallas Arboretum. Nanny is such a beautiful, wonderful grandmother - I hope I am as young, hip and vivacious at 78 as she is! We had a full day... and this is after Casey took them all to the State Fair of Texas all day just three days earlier :)


Honey had a great time learning and playing with those cute boys. They identified different kinds of pumpkins and ploughed and ran and rolled down hills and watched the Koi fish. Needless to say, we napped in the car on the ride home.
Brady is such a precious guy - he's so thoughtful and inquisitive and helpful. He REALLY likes to tuck his shirts in these days. After he rolled around for a bit, he was sure to get that shirttail tucked back in tight. Holly made him untuck it for the group shots - he was pretty bummed. This is how Brady wanted his picture taken. Classic!Of course, one of the objectives of the trip was to get a good picture of all three kids with the pumpkins. Betsy hung in there for awhile, but as soon as that hay started poking her, she was done! The boys gave her a piece of hay and told her to smoke it - it was so funny.

Beau continues to make us laugh. During the portrait-taking, he told us "I have a good idea about where I can sit," at which point he promptly sat down directly in front of Brady and Betsy. Honey had to move him. Check out these faces.

Swoozies' Staff Retreat

Each year, the ladies on staff at Sojourn get to go on a fabulous retreat together for some much needed fun and relaxation. Sadly, Nancy did not get to go with us this year and she was missed! We stayed in Uptown Dallas, just blocks away from where Casey's sister, Morgan, lives. I didn't get to see her, but thought about her and hoped I'd run into her :)

Tay (pronounced Tie) and I were on the same page... We didn't even consult with each other.

We rode on the Trolley to go shopping and watch a movie. It was fun and free!

We took a salsa dancing lesson together. Kelly bought some new shoes just for the occasion. We had a great time, even though some of us had to be "the boy", since there were no real boys to dance with. Michal was my woman and she danced very well, despite her protestations.

We ended our time at the State Fair of Texas and we ate all sorts of delightful fried treats: Fletcher's corn dogs, fried s'mores, fried chocolate dipped strawberries, fried banana splits and fried chocolate truffles. No one wanted to try to chicken fried bacon, though. We're not that brave! Most of us loved on llamas and puppies, emus and ostriches (well, not really - they're so aggressive! But we tried), goats and pigs, kangaroos and camels. It was really fun and we were "wore out". It was a very quiet ride back to the church. Thanks, ladies, for being such awesome sisters, friends and co-workers.