Christmas 2007 - New Orleans

December 23-26
Sunday, December 23 - Chris's birthday - Even though we celebrated Vegas-style, Sunday was his real birthday. However, we spent the day in the car - no way to spend your birthday. First, we drove to see Audrey for a short visit in Houston and then pushed on to Lake Charles, Louisiana. We were both exhausted.

Monday, Christmas Eve morning - more driving. Finally made it to New Orleans in time for lunch with the parentals and a quick spin to the French Quarter. Since we were both so tired from all the travels for the month, we spent the evening at home - watching football, naturally.

Christmas morning, Chris got lots and lots of presents for his birthday/Christmas. Can't go without getting some Saints' attire. We are in New Orleans, after all...

Christmas with the Waltons:
The majority of the day was spent with Carolyn's family at her sister, Ellen's house. Food and drink was plentiful - apparently I really enjoy a whiskey sour.

Our engagement was kept a secret in order to have a lovely celebratory champagne toast - it was terribly sweet and everyone was absolutely thrilled with our news. Feeling very welcome into the family already.

On Wednesday, it was time again to load up, get in the car and drive home to Dallas. It was a quick trip to New Orleans, but it was all about the family, and really made Christmas special.

Vegas again - Chris has a birthday!

December 19-22 - Viva Las Vegas, again!

We arrived Wednesday night and immediately headed to dinner at Toby Keith's 'I Love This Bar' inside Harrah's. As usual, we stayed at the Las Vegas Hilton, but this time we decided to use the monorail system - worked out for us on this trip for getting us around town.

Great shot of the Strip.

Thursday - We spent the day doing the sight-seeing thing and some Christmas shopping. We had a fun Mexican lunch inside the Miracle Mile within Planet Hollywood. This picture is taken right outside Paris.
Thursday night Brian, Jenny, Chris & I went to ESPN Zone for the Steelers' game. Jenny and I couldn't resist these video games racing horses.
Did Chris hit it big?
Nope... better luck next time.

Here's me & my new sister-in-law inside New York New York's casino.
Most of Friday, I spent in bed feeling quite sick (never fully recovered after Pittsburgh) while Chris gambled with Dwayne at Hooters. Friday night, however, I was attempting to feel better and we headed to our big dinner at the House of Blues' Foundation Room at the top of Mandalay Bay. Really enjoyed our time with everyone - good times!

L-R: Dwayne (old friend of Chris'), Katherine (Dwayne's wife), Suzy(Katherine's sister), Eric (Suzy's husband), Chris (my beloved), me, Jenny (sister-in-law) and Brian (my brother).

Saturday, I was able to sleep in and got some well-needed rest. The rest of the day was spent walking around the Stratosphere and the Sahara - old school casinos.

Never a dull moment in Vegas...

Pittsburgh Trip

December 1-3
Let the fun begin - in Texas, actually! Homero & Patty arrived into Dallas from Puerto Vallarta and stayed with us on Friday night before flying to Pittsburgh on Saturday morning. Friday night the four of us enjoyed a delightful dinner in downtown Dallas at the Tower Club. Bobby and Todd surprised us all by showing up.

Todd had another surprise up his sleeve for Homero in Pittsburgh - he arrived on a flight to Pittsburgh before us!
A Saturday in Pittsburgh isn't complete without a visit to Primanti's. Three hungry hombres.
Saturday night, we got the whole group together for dinner at a Mt. Lebanon institution, Atria's. Left to right: Jessica (my sister-in-law), Eric (my brother), Linda (my mom), Lionel (Benny's brother), Homero (friend from Puerto Vallarta), Patty (Homero's lovely and tolerant wife), Todd (aka Trope), Joe (long story - stupid Patriots), Benny (friend from Cozumel), Chris (my beloved), me, and David (my dad).
Little did I know that this handsome man would later that night be asking my parents if he could marry me. Sly and handsome - nice combo.

I had the extreme pleasure (?) of sharing a room with three stinky boys all weekend. Not sure what happened on that side of the room that night. The snoring sure was strong throughout!
Sunday morning we all loaded up the minivan and headed to Max & Erma's - best damn buffet in town.
Todd found the worst hat ever - and we all had to wear it... why not???

Since we were too early to tailgate, we hit downtown for all the good sights. PPG Place had a lovely tree with a skating rink. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Great shot of Heinz Field.

It may have been cold and rainy, but that didn't stop us from tailgating for about 4 hours. We were well prepared...
But not as prepared as this guy with the beer bong and fully-stocked bar.
Our disposable grill really kicked out some heat and made a mean burger (or so I'm told).
However, Chris is the king of the tailgate grill...
By this time of night, we conquered the art of tailgating.
Homero couldn't turn a corner without buying some Steelers' gear.
Apparently there was a game going on, but I didn't see much of the first half since I was staring at my hand. This picture doesn't even begin to do justice to the rock I am wearing.
A fantastic night for all!










Here's the happy couple on a lovely Pittsburgh evening -which includes a Steelers' win!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thursday, November 22
Another year spent tailgating at Texas Stadium for the Cowboys' game on Thanksgiving Day. Audrey was excited to be going with us this year, however, it was really cold for Texas.

Audrey and Chris enjoy tossing the football around. Audrey has one heck of an arm on her!
Audrey is cozy warm inside the car. Here you can see our food set-up on the side of the car - we had all the fixings: ham, potatoes, rolls, broccoli rice casserole. Delicious.

The three of us were chillin' in the car before heading into the game. Audrey and I gave up at half-time; we spent the third quarter under a heater in the bathroom. Fortunately, Chris was sufficient with the lead in the fourth quarter and let us go home, where his parents were patiently awaiting for our arrival.
Friday, November 23

Thanksgiving all over again! Not only did Chris's parents join the fun, but the Cotropia's, too. Dwayne & his little girl, Madeleine, joined us later in the afternoon for some food and libations.

Wine was flowing like water...
All that turkey knocked out Baby Landen.

Audrey had the best time with the little girls. And they were sweet as can be.

We're Engaged!

Sunday, December 2 - We got engaged!!!
It's happened - Chris proposed. And I accepted, of course! All while tailgating in the rain for the Steelers game. It was perfect.

More pics to come from that weekend - it was chockfull of fun!