New Years Eve

Usually the end of the year is a busy time because of the holiday travel and this year has been no exception. Last week we got back into town from Dallas late Tuesday night and then we left for San Antonio on Friday after only two incredibly busy days at home. Christmas Day my sister Grace announced the her and her husband Eric were expecting their first baby. Everyone was super excited for them, Late Thursday morning I got a call from my mom saying that she was at the emergency room with Grace because she had been having some bleeding. Right away my heart went out to her because the same thing had happened to me. Of course the first thing that goes through your mind is that you have had a miscarriage. I waited all day trying not to call my mom too many times to find out what was happening. Finally at around 6 pm they had figured out she had had a miscarriage. The whole day I had tried to be strong and hope for the best, but the announcement broke my heart. I felt so bad for Grace and Eric. I wanted to be there to comfort her but I didn't know how. I could only imagine how emotional this must have been for Grace on top of the cramping pain she was having due to the miscarriage. She asked that we still come down on Friday because she wanted Emily and Ally to cheer her up. I found out at the end of our San Antonio trip that Grace and Eric are going to try right away for another baby. I am glad that they are not dwelling on the sadness of the miscarriage but that they are moving on.
Saturday was the Alamo Bowl! We went to breakfast with Stephen and then we ran a few errands before heading off downtown to hang out before the game. We walked around the Riverwalk and then went to an early dinner at the Republic of Texas . We met up with a bunch of Aggies before dinner and it was fun to catch up with them. At around 5:30 pm we followed the crowd over to the Alamo Dome and Dave and I split off to find our seats. The Aggies around us were really friendly. Even though we sat at the very top in the very corner of the dome, we still had a great time. The Aggies played well but did not pull out the win. It was disappointing but by the end of the game, I was too exhausted to really care. We walked back to the Riverwalk with the other 66,000 fans that had watched the game and met up with Stephen and the rest of our friends. They wanted to go and hang out for a while, but after a couple of minutes of walking, everyone realized they rather just go home. We didn't hit any traffic leaving downtown, so that was nice. We made it home around 1 am and crashed into bed. Sunday we went to breakfast with my mom and dad, Grace and Eric. After breakfast we drove back to Round Rock and Stephen came over for a couple of hours before heading back to Dallas. I ran errands and tried to get ready for the upcoming week. I wanted to get to bed early, but Ally decided not to go down until about 10:30. It was an incredibly fun weekend, but very exhausting. I thought we might just take it easy tonight for New Years Eve, but I think we might be going downtown for a kid-friendly event.
Wednesday night we are driving to Houston so that Dave can see the Tomball facility and meet with the manager on Thursday. I will be looking at places to live with my mom and the girls.
2007 has been an exciting year. I am looking forward to 2008 and all it holds for us. Have a safe and happy New Years Eve!

Just a reminder...

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who are you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:25-34

Back Home

Another Christmas has come and gone. We had a wonderful time in Dallas and we were sad to have to leave. Dave and I decided at the last minute to leave late Christmas night and drive back to Round Rock. We thought the traffic would be lighter and Emily and Ally would have an easier time sleeping in the dark. It worked out really well for us. There were a lot more people out driving than I had anticipated, but it wasn't bad at all. Emily and Ally slept really well, and Dave and I had a great time talking about life. We enjoyed being able to have a day to spend together before Dave had to go back to work. As we were leaving Dallas, Dave and I kept mentioning how thankful we are to be back in Texas knowing that we can come and visit the Weirs again very soon.
Yesterday was supposed to be a relaxing day to end Dave's Christmas break but we ended up running errands all day. Dave and I have been saving up for a new camera and we saw a great deal on the one we had been wanting, so we went and bought it yesterday. It is waterproof and shock-proof, just what we need with two babies.
Dave went back to work today. Last Friday, Dave had a meeting with his boss were his boss told him that the Georgetown store no longer needed him. He said that he looked around and found a location in Houston, Tx that may have a need for him and that he set up a phone interview for Dave today. This was kind of shocking news to both Dave and me. We feel like we are just now getting settled into the Austin area and we finally found a church we love. We do not feel ready to move. On the other side, we are so thankful that Dave's boss found a location in Texas for him to interview at. His boss told him that Hope will always have a position for him. That is really encouraging but it may not always be in Texas. Please be praying for Dave today as he prepares and goes through the interview. We do not want to leave Texas. We are excited about the possibility to live in Houston. We know a couple of people there and we will be really close to College Station.
Tomorrow I am headed to San Antonio with the girls. My sister Grace is in town for the holidays and so I decided to go down early and see her. Saturday is the Alamo Bowl! We found out that Stephen is going as well as a couple of other old Aggies. We are really excited to meet up with them for the day. My mom and a couple of my sisters are going to watch Emily and Ally.
I wanted to say thank you to Jeff and Dorcas for another wonderful Christmas. Thank you for opening your home to our family and for allowing Emily to make a huge mess. We had a great time talking, sharing meals, opening gifts, making cookies and eating them, and watching the girls play around. We look forward to next Christmas!
(If you want to see pictures of Christmas in Dallas, click on the Photos link on the side bar.)

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas! If you are reading this blog, you are probably very important to us and we wanted to let you know how much we love and appreciate you all. We are sad for the family and friends we have not been able to see this Christmas, but we are thankful that we are able to share it with Jeff, Drocas, and Stephen Weir. I promise that I will post pictures when we get back home. Love you all!

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve to all! Dave, Emily, Ally and I are in Dallas with Dave's parents and brother Stephen. We are missing Kevin, Katherine, and Lyla dearly but are still trying to make the most of the holiday. We arrived yesterday just in time to eat lunch that Stephen had prepared and then relaxed a bit during the afternoon. We were supposed to go and see our friends Jeremey and Sarah and their two kids (which happen to be the exact ages of Emily and Ally) but Ally is still a little sick and we didn't want to get their kids sick, so we decided to hang out here with Dorcas because Jeff had to go to work. Dave ended up going out with some of his highschool buddies later in the evening and I stayed and tried to get some Harry Potter reading done. I finished book 4 on Friday and I am almost half way done with book 5. I was hoping to have finished by now so that we could rent movie 5, but Stephen is planning to come to Austin next Sunday to hang out with Dave and me, so we may just wait to rent it then.
Today Emily helped make Christmas cookies and it was so much fun watching her. She rolled the dough out and spread flour around and cut cookies with the cookie cutters. She learned quickly and it was neat to see her covered in flour having so much fun. Tonight we are supposed to go to a Christmas Eve service and then after that, I don't know what the plan it. We are having a great time hanging out with the family and watching Emily and Ally be cute.
We miss you Kevin and Katherine!

Christmas is here!

I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone and now Christmas is here. It looks like we are not going to have a white Christmas but at least it will be cold. Christmas time is always a good time to reflect back at all of the things that have happened over the past year. Last year, the Weir family Christmas was in Atlanta. I had a really good time hosting because I was able to throw a few of my families traditions into the mix. Dave and I had just found out I was pregnant and I was struggling greatly with morning sickness and trying to be a good hostess. We took everyone to the aquarium the day after Christmas and that was a lot of fun. The aquarium was very crowded, but I think everyone still enjoyed it. After the aquarium we all went out to dinner and I remember a conversation about everyone moving so that we could be together. No one was talking about anything specific, but we enjoyed talking about how fun it would be to someday live in the same city or even state (and we all liked Texas). Looking at the conversation, we are amazed at how God works. Dave and I are here in Texas and Katherine and Kevin are in Michigan working their way to Texas, hopefully in the next year or so. All we need now is Stephen! ;) So after the Weir's and Rings left, I was put on bed-rest because I had a tear in my uterus. There was only a 50% chance of Ally living. That was an extremely hard time for Dave and I but it brought us much closer than we have ever been. We had to learn to put our complete trust in Christ and to rely on each other for support and strength. I was really depressed during that time as well. In May or June, Dave and I found out we were being transfered to Texas for his job. We were both so excited and so were our families. Ally was born in August and now we are about to approach another Christmas. I cannot wait to see what will happen between now and next Christmas.
When Dave and I first got to Texas and Ally was born, we promised each other that nothing major would happen for a year. It doesn't look like that is going to happen...

My little sickies

I found out that I do not have strep throat which is good and bad. Good because, well, I don't have strep, and bad because now I don't really know what I have. I have been feeling much better the last two days though, and I have had plenty of strength to handle Emily and Ally. Emily is still feeling sick. She walks around holding her head and saying she is tired and needs a nap (for you who know Emily, this is not her normal behavior at all). I have brought her blanket and pillow out to the living room and set her up a bed on the couch. I let her watch cartoons because that is the best part about being sick. Today she seems to be doing better. She is still not running around so I know she is feeling bad. Allison started coughing and having a runny nose yesterday so I immediately set up a doctor's appointment for her. They didn't have anything available yesterday and since she didn't have a fever, I just went ahead and made the appointment for this morning. Last night, Ally woke up really congested and she was having some trouble breathing so I was really glad I had made the appointment. I took her to the doctor and he said she had a swollen nasal passage and he gave her some medicine. He didn't check for strep, probably because she didn't have a fever. So today I have both of the girls close to each other so they can share our humidifier and watch cartoons. Dave and I were planning to head to Dallas on Saturday for Christmas but I think it is going to be Sunday depending on how the girls are acting. Ally doesn't act like she is sick. She is still squealing and smiling like normal. That is really comforting to see she doesn't feel too bad.
The good thing about having 2 sick babies is that they sleep a lot and I have plenty of time to read, but I rather have to healthy babies and no time to read.