The Howard Wedding

Jordan and Peyton's Birthday Party

This was on 04/19/08, Jordan's 2nd birthday. Since the boys' birthdays are so close and they are only a year apart, they just celebrate them together. Peyton will be one on 4/27/08. They received many toys and were all over the place all morning. Even Mom (Paula), couldn't keep up with Peyton going up the hill.

Galveston

So, I went to Galveston from March 25th-30th for school. I carpooled with three other ladies that are in the program and we roomed together, as well. So we could save some money, we booked a room at the La Quinta Inn on 14th and Seawall because we could get a discount since I am a state employee. Big mistake! When we got there, the room to our room was made with mailbox letters and the door was so rusted and unlevel that we had to throw ourselves into it just to open it. We checked everything when we got in there and it seemed ok for the moment. Anyway, we start taking our showers a bit later and after I get done, I move my bag to get some stuff out. Guess what? ROACHES! I get grossed out and kill them because there were only a few but I decided to call the front desk anyway. They said that they could move us but only over to the next room or upstairs directly over where we were staying. I tell them never mind because roaches crawl through walls and what good would that do. So, we decided to stay there because it was already after midnight and we didn’t see anymore. The next morning, they decided to move us to the other side of the hotel. I didn’t go and look because I had a rotation that day but the other ladies did. They told me later that they decided to stay in the original room because the 2nd room did not have a fridge or microwave like the 1st one and it was adjoining another room with a door that looked like someone had tried to kick it down and the doorknob was loose. They bought RAID and decided to deal with it. When we go back later that day, I went ahead and sprayed the room just in case. Well, to no effin surprise, here come the roaches...AGAIN...and LOTS! I flip out and get pissed off, Dawn took pictures, and we marched ourselves down to the front desk. I tell them I can’t stay there, I have enough stuff to deal with, and that I don’t keep a dirty house and don’t expect to stay at such a place when I am not at home. The guy tells me that they have had an exterminator out there for the last two weeks and that they still won’t go away. I didn’t really care, I just wanted to get the hell out of there! Anyway, he ended up cancelling our reservation and refunded us for the previous night. We went down the road to The Hampton Inn and Suites only after I called to make sure they had availability through Sunday morning and that they did not have roaches. Well, everything turned out fine even though we were paying more than double to stay there. Needless to say, we went from the outhouse to the penthouse.

*Above is a dead jellyfish we found on the beach.

Galveston

I will be in Galveston from tonight through Sunday for school. I'll be carpooling with three other ladies. Brian will be staying home with the pups until Friday and then he will stay with a friend in Houston. They will come to Galveston on Saturday night to eat dinner with me and then he will be back on Sunday to pick me up and take me home. Hopefully, I won't be so busy while I'm down there that I cannot go to the beach for a little while (it's right across the street from our hotel). If I have time, I'll post some pictures if I capture anything worth shooting.

Easter

Mom and Gary came over on Saturday and took us to Cracker Barrel for dinner. She also brought us an Easter basket. I feel so loved!

Gotta love that Texas weather!

So, this is what we woke up to yesterday before going to work. And, to no surprise, it had melted by 11 a.m. with no evidence of its presence except for these pictures. That's Texas for ya!

Mark's Family and Mom

These are some pictures from Mom that were taken around Christmas time. Mark and his family currently live in Oklahoma but will be moving back to Texas in the next couple of weeks. Mark has been hired on by the Henderson County Sheriff's Department in Athens, TX.