Gingerbread - Texas sized!

During our Weekend to Remember we stayed the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort in San Antonio. The hotel was beautiful and nestled in rolling hills. They have a beautiful golf course and lots of activities. The hotel was immaculately decorated for the holiday with themed Christmas trees throughout. I loved the tree that had all different Nutcracker ornaments. I also like the white tree with all white ornaments. However, I was most enamored with a GIGANTIC gingerbread display. All weekend when we'd walk past it from our rooms to the conference I'd remind Chris "We have to get a picture of that." Sadly we only had our camera phones so the detail of the pictures isn't that great. However, almost everything you can see with the exception of the characters is edible. The oven you can see both in the top and third pictures is made of square pretzels. The oven door is covered in Hershey kisses for the "stainless" look. The book is all icing and the round balls you see on top are jaw breakers. The presents the elf is working on are cakes. The snowman behind my head is a giant gingerbread cookie snowman. There is icing on the fence post enclosing this thing that I wanted to lick! They used gumballs, licorice, skittles, cotton candy(for the smoke in the chimney) and more. I am so sad that both my words and the pictures don't do this lovely display any justice! The chef at the Hyatt responsible for this creation began working on it in August.

Crack Team has a Weekend to Remember!

Back in February, I entered Chris and I into our local Christian radio station's contest for couples. It was right around Valentines and the variety of prizes you could win ranged from tickets to a family life marriage conference down to dinner at some of the local favorites. I never win but somehow I'm always hope when I sign up for these things.

Around the end of May I get a call on my cell phone. Here's the conversation:

Me - Hello.

Her - Hi Karen this is So and So from K-love radio station in Austin. We're proud to announce you are the big winner for our Couples Giveaway Contest.

Me - (assuming one of you is playing a trick) Umm..ok?! Now who is this really?

Her - (patiently) Karen this IS So and So from K-love radio station in Austin. We're proud to announce you are the big winner for our Couples Giveaway Contest.

Me - (now realizing I might have actually won and I'm probably on the air) (in my Karen-style scream, and talking very fast) : WHHHOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!! I love K-love, you guys do a great job of...

Her - (interrupting this hoopla) Maam...um Maam...KAREN! You ARE NOT on the Air.

Bless her heart. I went from doubting her to screaming her ear off for no reason. My Brother would say she just couldn't hang with King Ranch Chicken. (His loving way of describing my spicy emotions.) I couldn't believe I finally won something. Of all the ipods, shopping sprees, free hair-cuts, and concert tickets I've tried to win in my life and what I finally win is a marriage retreat? Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Guess I don't really need an ipod...

Needless to say almost 10 months from the time I entered that couples contest, Chris and I cashed in our certificates for the Family Life's Weekend to Remember. Our friend Matt had mentioned that aside from their honeymoon this was one of the best things they had done in their marriage. I couldn't agree more! We went to San Antonio and the programing ran Friday night until late afternoon Sunday. The conference is VERY well done and they have an incredible speaking team. We laughed really hard (not the polite laughs you do in church when the minister pauses for a response), we cried, we cuddled, we rode bikes (Karen accidentally off roaded onto the ritsy golf course and got a few stern looks but hey they'll remember the Crack team), and we had a fun date night. I would be happy to share more about the conference with anyone who is interested in going. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND this conference for ALL married couples. In the conference they made an analogy to car maintenance. It's important in the up-keep of cars to take them for a regular check-up - not because it is broken but to keep it running well. Marriage is no different. Check out this link and sign up today: http://www.familylife.com/conferences/marriage.asp It is worth every penny you will spend!

The picture is from our date night! We went to our favorite San Antonio Mexican food restaurant - La Fogata. Check out the award winning margaritas with floating flowers! It was a totally romantic evening made complete with a trip to the mall. I love you Chris!

Trying the blog and Turkey Day 07

Soooooo...I am actually trying the whole blog-scene. We tried MySpace and I'm about ready to delete my profile there. Then we talked about doing a web page but Chris codes by day so I didn't want him to code by night too. So, for now, we'll try the good old blogger.

The latest Crack team update? We had an awesome Thanksgiving! I should note here that our first married Thanksgiving will be remembered for our flight booked for a week after we needed it. We ended up being able to get to KY by plane but had to rent a car and drive home which with traffic took us exactly 24 hours. That's a long time to be in the car, especially when you weren't signed up for a roadtrip. So, while anything could beat last year, I also think it will be really hard to beat this year.

We spent half in beautiful Kentucky with Chris's Mom and the Farr side (not to be confused with Far Side) of the family. A highlight was the annual family football game. It was the hardest earned 0-0 game in my sport playing history. Charlotte and I even think we bruised our ribs when we ran smack into each other! We were able to squeeze in a dinner with Kevin and Kira and a quick stop by with Jeff and Jaime. It's always a blessing for us to be able to catch up with old friends. We also enjoyed a walk with Chris's Mom down a fall colored lane with the traditional white horse fences(picture inset). It's exactly what a two-season Texas bred girl daydreams Fall to be like. I guess fairy tales do come true!

The other half was spent in Houston with the McNally's and my mom's sister Terri and family. My cousins Elle and Cassie are at the perfect teeny bopper age that allows me to relish in the "remember whens." They are going to be successful women soon enough! We saw Enchanted and it was funny! I recommend it for anyone who has seen a Disney movie in their life. They intelligently incorporated some old movie throw backs. I LOVE it. If you're not savvy enough to catch them yourself check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchanted_%282007_film%29 in the References to Disney Films section for the list of things to look for. We also enjoyed fabulous food and sleeping in. We even hit the mall on black Friday - partially because that is where the theater is but it's all the same to this shopping fanatic.

Needless to say it's been hard to come back to reality. We really had a great Thanksgiving.

We pray that yours was as full and filling as ours!