My Sweet, Sweet Kitty

I called and set an appointment for Simon the other day for his yearly shots... and when I told the nurse that Simon is about 8 1/2 years old, she said "ahhh... he's almost a senior". I've noticed some grey hairs recently and the hair in his ears is turning white. I know he still has a few more years left on him but I still loved on him a little extra that night (and the following evenings).

Like most pets, he loves sleeping in the sun. It makes me giggle how he will "poof" up his hair on his body to let the absolute most amount of sun hit his skin - he loves it! This is a morning ritual for Simon and I. He wakes me up by purring in my ear and kneading my shoulder - I get up and walk out into the kitchen and pull back the blinds - he stretches and collapses on to the floor to spend the next few hours. Such a cutie...

And here he is in all of his glory :)

Michael's Turn

I thought I would post some pictures Michael took at a rock crawling event a little while back. I did not attend this event (I think I decided to relax and read a book instead) but I enjoyed some of the pictures he took. For some, this might seem a little back-woods but for others, it really is a good time. I'll probably try to make it out next time - I've always enjoyed my time on ATVs so we'll see if I enjoy this outdoors-y sort of thing also. Either way, he got some good shots. Enjoy!

Yum Yum!

Jambalaya... yum yum


We recently had a party - a jambalaya party. We invited all of Michael's co-workers and their families to enjoy a fun evening of meeting new friends, playing games outside, and eating yummy jambalaya... in our brand new cast iron pot (which, by the way, is big enough to cook enough food for 100 people). Leave it to me to decide to cook something I've never done before for a party of people I don't really know. Why don't I choose the easy way out and make something I know will deliver? I guess that's just not who I am :)

In the end, dinner was super yummy. I was quite nervous about the whole put-the-rice-in-then-cover-and-don't-touch-it-for-30-minutes thing. It just seemed a little ridiculous to me but it all worked! Everyone enjoyed it and I think this is one of the few times I'll catch Michael stirring dinner :)
(just kidding, babe)

Mom's Day

I was so lucky to spend Mom’s Day in St. Louis with my own mother and both grandmothers. We truly had a very special time with each other. All of us girls (on the Hoener side, at least) spent a beautiful afternoon going from nursery to nursery picking flowers and plants to plant in Grandmother Hoener’s (Coppee) and Aunt Hoener’s (Carolyn) gardens. I enjoyed not only taking pictures of some of the gorgeous flowers but also was able to capture of few fun photos of the family. Here are some of both – there is a fabulous picture at the end of 3 generations of the women on my Mom’s side and a cute picture me, my Mom and Dad. I was really lucky this year to have this time with my family. We had a blast!

Easter Fun

Easter in Texas. The weather was beautiful, both of my nieces were so precious in their new dresses (made by their mother), and I had a wonderful time celebrating life with my sister and her family in Dallas. I took some pictures of the girls outside before heading to church. The expressions of the girls cracked me up - I vaguely remember being photographed with my new dresses on many Easter mornings as a child.

Little baby Violet - such a sweetheart.

*big sigh* "When will you be done with the pictures..."

"Ditto," says Violet.

And then after church, the hunt began! We went over to a friend-of-my-sister's house for a massive Easter egg hunt... what fun! Grace was one of the older girls there (please note how full her bucket was that morning) but she still had a blast. Violet kept herself busy taking other people's eggs out of their unattended baskets. :) Haha...

Princess Ballerina Grace

In an attempt to commemorate my taking care of Grace last week, I decided to be a fun aunt and take her to Build-A-Bear as a surprise one day. I gave her the opportunity to pick out whatever stuffed animal she wanted and dress her (or him) however she saw fit. So this is what we got: a pink bear (with pink eyes) dressed in a pink ballerina outfit with pink shoes - accessorized with a crown, wand and a Hello Kitty purse. Grace was so pleased with herself! At first the bear was named simply Ballerina - but alas, when we got home and started playing with her, the bear's name just would not do. Therefore, she was renamed Princess Ballerina Grace - how cute is that? Hopefully Grace will enjoy cuddling with the bear and will think of me and my love for her when she plays with the fuzzy pink bear.

Grace

My beautiful niece - Grace. I was lucky enough to be able to go to Texas to take care of her (and the long-time family dog, Abby) while my sister and her husband and the still-nursing baby went looking for jobs and houses in New Mexico and Utah. Grace and I had a wonderful time. We haven't seen each other in quite awhile - especially considering how quickly little girls grow up. She was such a joy and such a cute young girl. I took her to school, we played at the park, I heard the Resurrection Story about two hundred and three times thanks to the fun Easter Story Easter Eggs she got at church on Sunday. I feel so lucky to not only be able to fulfill this need for my sister but also to spend such quality time with Grace. Hopefully she will have a few fond memories of Aunt Emily and the fun few days she got to spend alone at her house.

Silly girl - with her bright painted toes.

Oh, and she got to wear my necklace (which was sooooo exciting) and play with my fun pink purse. In all seriousness, though, I think anything pink would have been fun.