Our family is about to leave for our two week vacation to Australia to celebrate Russell's high school graduation! And yes, we are ALL be sporting t-shirts to the airport that have the above graphic on the front and an even sillier one on the back. What did I do this year to delay studying for finals?... Draw each family member as a cartoon kangaroo and design a kickin' t-shirt for this trip, of course!
On Monday (our actual FIRST anniversary) we thawed the top of our wedding cake and enjoyed sharing a slice of what used to be a delectable masterpiece. It actually tasted OK, but it was the mental notion that we were eating cake that was a year old that put a damper on the enjoyment. It's tradition, though--- and we were glad to keep it alive.
They arrived on Friday evening just in time for the most delicious (if I do say so myself) gourmet dinner where we used all of the fancy tableware that has been in boxes since our wedding. We showed them our new wedding album and we watched the video of our wedding ceremony and a photo slideshow that Kolby and I had put together. We made caramel apples for dessert and then just chatted, reminiscing about the wedding and how much fun it all was. Kolby cooked oatmeal with fresh fruit for breakfast on Saturday morning and we played dominoes and just hung out until we took them to lunch at a cafe downtown. We all had a great time and I hope that in some small way were able to express to them our love and gratitude.***
After our parents left, Kolby and I packed a bag and headed to Fort Worth to celebrate our anniversary together. We went to dinner at the famous Joe T. Garcia's restaurant and then strolled around Sundance Square (downtown) which was beautifully lit up for Christmas and it somehow was 70 degrees outside so we could actually spend time outside enjoying it. We stayed at a nice hotel downtown and spent Sunday morning at the Fort Worth Zoo (duh!) and then went to lunch at a restaurant near the stock yards.
I had actually never been to Fort Worth before... who knew there were so many fun things to do?!? The weather was beautiful again on Sunday which made everything even more perfect. We had a wonderful time together and look forward to the many many more anniversaries to come!
We thought about bringing it to read together on our trip to Australia but given the fact that it's a sweet story about an owner and his dog, we decided not to read it while we were parted from Maya so as to not repeat the emotional breakdown that took place when we made the mistake of watching the movie Eight Below on a portable DVD player a couple weeks into our time in Ghana this summer.
So, we started reading the book last week and I am so happy to be back in the night-reading routine. Kolby is really really good at reading out loud. I had taken it for granted until the other night when for some crazy reason I volunteered to read. Big mistake. I seriously sounded like a 1st grader practicing reading to her dad at bedtime. "Though his very helplessness, --- oh wait, I mean --- Through his very helplessness, ...". It was bad. The following conversation occurred after one page:
K: "Here, I'll go back to reading. I don't mind."
E: "I'm sorry. I don't think I'm a very good reader."
