Cool Dog and a Fat Cat

We Love Shady Grove

So for our Austinite friends, you surely know of Shady Grove. But for those of you not from the area, Shady Grove is a really neat restaurant in Austin on Barton Springs Road right down the street from Zilker Park. It is so laid back and they have great food and the majority of the seating is outdoor under huge beautiful trees. It has been one of my favorites since college and on Monday when Jon and I were both off for Memorial Day, we made that our lunch date (along with many other austinites!) If you have never been there, next time you are in town, you should definitely give it a try...but make sure to sit outside...it is worth the wait!

The Shady Thang is the best drink! Tastes like a wonderful margarita, but there's actually not tequila in it...one or two of these and I am a happy camper!

Memorial BBQ

We had our second annual Memorial Weekend BBQ on Sunday at our place. Our normal crew of great friends came over and we also had some of our cousins and two of Jon's great friends from back home came too. It was also great to see Matt and Melissa who live in Dallas now--we miss you guys! Brett brought over his washer pits and there was a non-stop game of washers going on the whole evening. Thanks to the friends who brought over appetizers and dips! Jon made some super tasty burgers and we finished it off with cake and Kristen's famous homemade butterfinger ice cream (oh yeah, and a ton of beer was consumed as well!) I had to work of course on Saturday and Sunday and Jon was awesome prepping the house, backyard and all of the food (thank you honey!) I made an oops and left some of his prepwork in the fridge (lettuce, tomatoes and onions) so everyone enjoyed some meat and cheese burgers...oops! The funny thing is that no one said anything about "hey, where's the lettuce and tomatoes?", so I feel pretty confident that the burgers were fine without them. Alana brought her and David's new puppy, Zoey over and she was a hit with the kids! And of course Will and Bryson keep us all smiling and are such cutie pies. We love our friends so much and thanks everyone for coming over...we really had a great time!

Jon always has clever artwork for the holidays on our little write plate.

(They are a great gift idea by the way: http://www.writeplate.com/)

Me, Mindy, Alana, Taryn, Bryson, Amanda and Laura

Jon's cousin Rebecca, her fiance Kirk, cousin Patrick and girlfriend Eileen

Eric and Ryan, both friends from Boerne that live in Austin and Jon

Susie, Alana, Taryn, Melissa, Will and Me

Man, it was smoky out there!

Jon said he would put the coolwhip on the cake for me, and this is what he did...very festive!


Everyone just hanging out...

The Sandefur Family

My cousin Scarlett and her boyfriend Jordan (such a cute couple!)

Serious game of washers goin on...

More hanging out

Will is not camera shy! He perks up and smiles when you pull that camera out!

Alana and her adorable puppy, Zoey

Cousins!

At the pool

I am so happy that:
a) The weather is warm enough to hang out at the pool now, and

b) that I have a few friends who stay home with their kids and a few teacher friends that will be on summer break soon so I can have company at the pool on Tuesdays and Wednesdays!
Yesterday Amanda, Bryson, Kristen, Will and Laura joined me at the pool for a relaxing afternoon. I am looking forward to many more days like this throughout the summer months!

Bryson's first time to go swimming...and he loved it!

Bryson and Amanda

Will hanging out in the shade

Will is too cool in these shades!

Laura's Baby Shower

Laura is one of my best friends here in Austin, and I was so happy and excited to help throw a baby shower for her as she is getting ready for the arrival of her baby girl, McKenna who is due to arrive at the end of June. Taryn, Kristen, Amanda and myself were the hostesses and the party was at my house. I love throwing these get togethers with my girlfriends...we always have so much fun doing it together! We had lots of yummy food, a tasty cake from my cake gal, Brigitte (http://www.cakeslice.com/) and the sangria was a hit too. (Laura don't worry, we will just have to make you a batch of sangria after Miss McKenna comes!) Laura and McKenna were showered with many wonderful gifts, including some really special homemade presents from her mom and a couple girlfriends. Good job ladies....your handiwork is very impressive! I stole a great idea that Laura had for her friend's recent baby shower...instead of people bringing a greeting card with their gift, we asked them to bring a small book to help start up McKenna's library...and people just wrote a little note inside the book. Laura, we are all so happy for you and John and can't wait to meet your little girl soon enough....you guys are going to be wonderful parents!

Food, Cake and Decorations

Brigitte always makes the cutest cakes!

We had some cute pics of Laura and John when they were babies

Laura's sister Bri, her mom Lynn, Lauren, Laura, Elana & Christina

Mindy, Christina and Kristen

Amy and Trish

Hilary, Babs and Sara

Pink A&M blanket that Amy made

Lots of wonderful presents for McKenna!

Me and Laura

Kristen, Taryn, Laura, Christina and Me

Bri (laura's little sis), Laura and Lynn, her mom

Megan, Kristen, Taryn, Laura, Christina W., me and Christina C.

Relaxing weekend at home

It was nice to just be home this weekend and spend some quality time with family. Friday night we had dinner at Angela and Mikel's and got to love on Miss Ainsley. Angela cooked a wonderful dinner which included her own homemade pesto, and then homemade banana nut ice cream! Very impressive and tasty. Saturday, Mom and Gene were in Austin and so Julie came to Austin also and we all had great dinner together. Sunday Jon headed to Boerne for Bailee's confirmation, but Julie and I made a wonderful brunch for Mom and Gene. Normally I go to work at 11am on Sundays, but for mother's day, we didn't open until 1pm, so it was a nice treat to feel like a normal Sunday person for half the day!


Bath time! She loves taking a bath...


Staring up a Jon


Happy Baby

Super cute decorations that Angela made herself for Ainsley's room!


Dogs like hammocks too! I forgot how relaxing laying in a hammock can be...

Wonderful dinner at Truluck's