Los Angeles Lakers 121 Pacers 119

Last night Doug and I went to the Staples Center in Los Angeles to see a Lakers Basketball game ....they played the Indiana Pacers.... We had a great time!..........the game was exciting, we had EXCELLENT seats....VERY close to the court.........we saw lots of celebrities.... and the score was close but the Lakers won!! It was a very cool experience! We stayed over night in Los Angeles....at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites....it is walking distance to the Staples Center........so from the hotel we walked to and from the game and had dinner on the way at a really good Mexican food restaurant very yummy...... it was a very fun time away.......Julia stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Poe so she had a good time too!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, it is official.......2008 is over......and here we are in the year 2009!!! Wow ......that is really hard to believe, I mean, think about it...... it has been nine years since the "New Millennium"!...... These years keep going faster and faster with every one that passes! Well, all I know is life here on earth is short and goes fast so, it is a reminder to make everyday count! I am reading the book "90 minutes in Heaven" great book.....good to get the focus right to start the new year! We sure made the most of December.........it was very fast.......as they say time flys when you're having fun!! Julia had a "Snow Day" on the last day of school, before Christmas vacation the school had a huge amount of snow hauled in and all the kids got to sled down the big hill of snow!! It was a great time! We had some rain, so Doug has been off work for about two weeks.....with the holidays and everything.......this was good timing, because his brother Greg and his wife ,Tami, and their two boys, Hunter and Logan came from Utah to stay with us for the holidays! We had a great Christmas........all of Dougs brothers were in town for the first time in quite awhile......counting Doug , there are six Poe Brothers ........His parents sure had their hands full!! We went to church and then after church, we had a party at our house on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning Julia got her redecorated room!! We completely redid her bedroom, with a canopy bed, new paint and lots of other fun surprises......it is like a fairytale room(very Pink and Princessish) She Loves it! We went to my moms house for brunch on Christmas day.......Christmas day is my moms birthday so we celebrated with cake also! We did our gift exchange and had a great time with my family, then we went to Dougs brother Brian's house to eat Christmas dinner with his family.........the days that followed Christmas we went ice skating and Bowling and had lots of fun.......and Dougs Moms Birthday was on the 29th so we all went to lunch to celebrate her birthday also! .....On New Years Eve, we stayed home and had a quiet dinner with our friends Chris and Christina.......we agreed to start a diet and workout plan starting the new year...so we made a bet with Chris and Christina that on March 1 .....which ever couple has lost the most weight......the other couple would take them out for a steak dinner! So, a little competition and accountability will be good!!!!!! I gained some weight over this fun filled time......and have not been exercising at all so.......I need to get with it!!! It has been fun misbehaving but, I am looking forward to getting back on track.......I will feel better! and be healthier......I need to be healthy to sing......I lost my voice!!! So that is no fun!!! I really love to sing and I appreciate my voice so much more when I am faced with not having it.... So I am ready ready ready to jump into the new year with a healthy start .........the theme of this year for me is going to be taking care of and appreciating what I have...and making the most of what I have been given..nourishing the good....starving the things that waste my time and are not good for me......one of the things that I got Doug for Christmas was a frame with a picture of us on our honeymoon and a list of the top ten things that I love to love about him, it was an idea that a friend from my Bible study group had.......all of the women in the group planned to do this for their husbands ........it really was good to stop and take the time to count my blessings..........I pray that 2009 will be full of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control........(the fruit of the Holy Spirit:)

The Poe Brothers and their wives Christmas Day 2008

I accidently posted this picture from Julia birthday, and I don't know how to remove it!!!! Oh well..............................

WOW Weekend! Tis the Season!

This weekend was a packed full of fun weekend.......it started out we went to a 50th birthday party for a friend of ours on Friday night and it was a lot of fun. Then on Saturday morning we went to a 5th birthday party for one of Julia's friends, the party was at Pump it UP and it was great of course!.....then after the party on Saturday morning we went to Oceanside to the boat,.....we haven't been there in over two months!.......wow that is a long time for us not to see all of our friends in Oceanside. The Christmas light boat parade was scheduled for Saturday night, but it was cancelled due to the weather..... Matt and Diane and their kids came to have dinner on the boat with us, we bar b cued tuna and had a great party on the boat, then we went to Monterrey Bay Restaurant to have dessert and dance to the fabulous Steve Orrs music......Marshall and Rhonda joined us there and we just had a great evening! Then , this morning we slept in and just spent the day relaxing and napping on the boat.......when we got home we got ready to go to the Mc Callum Theater to see Wynonna Judd in Concert! It was Julia's first time to go to the Mc Callum to see a concert! Julia has been to the Mc Callum to perform on stage when she was taking tap dancing........but she had never been in the audience before!......Well of course, the show was fabulous!! It was a Christmas show......Wynonna is so great! I have been a fan of hers for many years and Julia is now a big fan also.......after the show, we got to meet her!.....I didn't have my camera....but someone took a picture of Julia with Wynonna and said that they would send me a copy of the picture!....so hopefully .....Wynonna was very nice, she took the time to talk to Julia and I know that made a huge impact on Julia........what a great experience! Thank you Wynonna! (I gave her a Christmas card with my blog address so maybe she will read this: ) Well, anyway we are so blessed to have had such a wonderful time this weekend.

Julia ready to go to the Wynonna Concert!

Home for the Holidays! Down Home Cookin' and Singin'

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday we had the wonderful opportunity to take a trip to Tennessee and Arkansas to visit family that I have not seen in way too many years. Some of them were kids the last time I was there and now are grown with kids of their own. Doug and Julia had never met many of them. We had such a wonderful time. I am very thankful that we were able to take the trip ......I spent a lot of time there on Summer vacations when I was growing up.....it felt like going home! I really have missed it there and will definitely be going back sooner than later. Julia had a wonderful time.....getting to meet so much family that she didn't even know existed.......she got to sing and play with her cousins.......she got to drive a go cart....feed horses.....go bowling......and eat.....eat....eat so much good southern home cookin'!! We filled our tummies and our memories with southern hospitality . I Love all of ya'll thank you so much for getting everyone together while we were there !

Grandparents Day! Happy Thanksgiving!

Last Friday was Grandparents day at Julia's school, it is an annual event that the school puts on to celebrate Thanksgiving. All the kids dress up as Pilgrims and Indians(native Americans)- also they have lots of food and fun. Julia had her grandparents there with her. We had a turkey dinner in her classroom and made crafts. They even had a real live turkey! Gobble Gobble!I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.