Sunday, December 28, 2008

Multi-Chem Christmas at the Gaylord Texan - Dec 19th-21st

This year Multi-Chem (the Company my Brother and I work for) decided to throw a Company-Wide Party to celebrate the 15th Birthday of the Company by hosting a celebration for all of it's employees at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, TX.

We were given Friday (the 19th of December) off to travel down to the Gaylord Texan. Chris and I rode up there and back with some really good friends Jon & Janice. It made for a relaxing and enjoyable ride.

Once there, we all settled into our rooms and had until Saturday night to do whatever we desired. So, the four of us decided to join up with 3 other couples for dinner at PF Chang's. My Brother and his wife were also among the couples we ate with. After dinner, we decided to go meet up with some other couples we knew at the Glass Cactus. They had a band that played 80's Music. We stayed there for a bit, then decided to walk around to see what all the Hotel had to offer. There was so much to see, we didn't know where to start. The scenery inside was amazing! There were several restaurants and tons of shops! This place was almost like a town!

We got up on Saturday mid morning and decided to go to the Grapevine Mills Mall. After eating, and plenty of window shopping, we decided to go back to the Gaylord Texan to take some daytime pictures of all the neat things. (It was really hard to decide what pictures to show you, since there were so many neat things, but please realize that ALL of this is inside the Hotel...)
The main walkway in the center of the Hotel. It leads to the shops and restaurants.



One of the many train tracks they had going on inside the Hotel.
Me in front of some Poinsettias along one of the many paths.

This is only one of the valleys along the paths...

Here is another one...

This was one of the many restaurants inside the Hotel. The balcony to my room faced this restaurant.

On the way to the Celebration, they had many set ups with our company names and pictures. Here is one of them.

Cocktail hour began at 6:30, then at 7:15 the doors opened to the Texan Ballroom and Dinner was served at 7:30.

They had a photographer there to take our pictures as we came in. Since we don't get those back until Jan 9th, here is a snapshot of Chris and I (taken by me lol..)



Following dinner, Collin Raye (with Guests, the Wilson Sisters) played while many danced.

Here is what the room looked like behind me from where I was sitting. We ended up being two rows back from the stage and to the right. As you can see, it was huge and we had over 1100 people packed in it.




One of the many shots I got of him while he was singing.



Another side view of the stage.




James Archer (the owner of Multi-Chem, along with his Wife Lois) sang a song with Collin for us. I managed to record it. He did very well and you can tell that Collin thought so too... I wanted to upload it on here, but the file was too big. I will try to find a way to link it into this so you can enjoy it too.

At the end, they did have a mechanical bull for anyone who wanted to ride. I never did get on it, but I was told my brother rode it 4 times and Jon rode it once. Even one of the Executives of the company rode it.

It was a late, but very fun, evening amongst friends. Everyone I talked to seemed to have had a blast, including Chris and I. Thanks Multi-Chem and the Archer Family!

On Sunday morning, Chris and I met up with Christi, a very Sweet Dear Friend and Co-worker for breakfast, then on to the Ice Show. We had heard about it so much, we had to check it out for ourselves! It was freezing cold, since they had to keep the rooms at 9 degrees to keep the ice from melting. I took a ton of pictures (go figure :P ), but I worried it would be too long, so I decided to make it into a slideshow. (Feel free to check it out by clicking on the picture of Chris and I below).


Willy Wonka (The Musical) - December 14th


T and I went to see Willy Wonka put on my the San Angelo Broadway Academy on Dec 14th with some friends from our bible study group. It was a musical mix of the Movie Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory from 1971 and the newer version Charlie and The Chocolate Factory from 2005. They really did a great job. My favorite character is still the Oompa Loompa's:

These are the ones from the original movie, but the kids they had acting did look just like this and did a GREAT job!

T loved it so much, he wanted his picture taken with Willy Wonka. Cody Manning did a wonderful job as Willy Wonka!

I was trying to get T to take a picture with an Oompa Loompa, but he was a little scared (0even though I kept telling him they were kids his age).

If you get a chance, go see one of the other great musicals the San Angelo Broadway Academy will be doing in 2009:

Peter Pan - May 22nd-24th
Disney's Beauty and the Beast -June 26th-28th
Disney's Alice in Wonderland - July 24th-26th
Scrooge the Musical - December 11th-13th

Friday, December 5, 2008

Christmas Tree Time

Well, I finally caved in a decided to get a real tree this year. When T and I went to the Christmas Tree farm in Christoval, he fell in love with the idea of a real tree and picking it out himself, instead of the tree we have used for the last four years. So, after some coaxing from my Dad and my Son, I decided to make another trip to the Christmas tree farm and let him pick out our tree. So far, the house continually smells like pine and we are enjoying the tree, along with the cats....

Here is the tree T picked out for us:

It was very interesting getting it off the top of my car and into the house by myself..T kept saying "Mommy don't break it...mommy be careful..." I was so glad once I got it in the house ans settled into the stand. We decorated it and everything looked great, for a litle while. That is, until the new kitten discovered the newly added tree in the living room and up the tree she went. When I went to take her picture, I scared her and out of the tree she flew, throwign the tree to the ground and breaking about half of my ornamnents that were on the tree. Luckily, we had more ornaments that would fit, so all was ok after I ancored it to the bar behind it. Since then, the cat can get into the tree without any more heart attacks for me.

Here is our beautiful tree:

Now that the house is decorated and the lights put up outside, the only thing I have to worry about is the continued question "Is it Christmas yet??" Lol.....

Monday, December 1, 2008

Time With Daddy

T went to his Dad's for the first part of the Thanksgiving Break. His school was out the entire week, so he left on Friday to go to the ranch with his Dad's Family, then I picked him up on Wednesday and we went to Ingram to spend time with my side of the family.

He had so much fun at the ranch with his Dad, that he and his Dad wanted to share their time together with you.

Here is what his dad sent me to share:


These two deer, T (my hunting guide) and I shot a few days before Thanksgiving.



They are both 7-points(Cull Deer). He told me: "Daddy when I grow up I am going to shoot big bucks like you." He even helped me gut them and it didn't gross him out. He thought it was "cool." I am also sending a picture of a big deer I shot for Tristan to put in his room.


Happy Turkey Day, 
Spencer