Conference, Catching Up & Cute Kids

We just got back home from a weekend in Utah. It is was a fun, whirlwind trip. (It always seems like vacations are never long enough.) We came into town to see General Conference and also to see this little guy...

...and his family. :) It was the first time Russ and I had met our little nephew and he is now 6 months old! He is such a cutie and we he had fun playing with him and just staring at him. We also got to see Russ' brother and sister who live in Utah and it was so great to catch up with them and get to see them! Plus, Russ' sister is the best cook and she made us dinner. :) We also got to catch up with friends we don't get to see near enough. Aside from the mini blizzard we were in...on our vacation...in April we had a wonderful trip seeing friends, family and General Conference.

Sweet Home Alabama

Here are some more pictures from our visit to Alabama to see Russ' family. It was fun to get to see his immediate family but also to get to meet and visit with some of his extended family. I'm pretty sure he's related to just about everyone in the state of Alabama, and I love it! It's always a good time to see them and we're excited for our next trip.

 

We got to visit the farm Russ' great grandpa and grandma own. It was a fun tour! And if you're in the market for quality limousin cattle, then I'd recommend Circle B Farms.



Nothing says farm more than hay rolls right?

Russ, his brother Logan, and their great grandpa, better known as D-Daddy.

The Brown Boys (minus Michael, and Larry)

Back Row: Russ, Ruth-Anne, Logan, Mama Brown

Front Row: D-Daddy, Nana

Russ and Nany (his dad's mom. She's 90 years old.)

Two lovely ladies, Ruth-Anne and Nany.

Russ and Daddy Brown.

Overall our visit was a complete joy. :)

A Night in Nashville

Russ and I got back last week from a visit to Alabama to visit his family. We had a great time. (More pictures of that visit to come.) But when we flew in, Russ and I flew in to the Nashville airport, which is a little over an hour away from Russ' house. We were excited for the opportunity to visit Nashville a little before we headed to Alabama. One of the places we visited was the Opryland Hotel. One of the first words that comes to mind to describe it is, ENORMOUS! It is basically like if someone put the Riverwalk in San Antonio into a building. It has shops, restaurants, hotel rooms and even a river, within the hotel. We had fun looking at all of the lights and sights inside the hotel and were getting ready to head to Alabama, when all of the sudden Russ' sneaky family surprised us with a hotel key! Turns out one of our Christmas presents was a night at the hotel. It was an amazing present to say the least. We had such a fun time and thanks again to the Browns for all their plotting, scheming and thoughtfulness. Below are some of the pictures of our visit in Nashville.

Since it was Christmastime the hotel was decorated with what they said was something like 2 million lights. You can also see some of the rooms in the background.

Here is a Christmas tree in the hotel. It was huge!

We went on a riverboat ride inside the hotel. I had been on riverboat rides before, but this was the first one inside.

Us in the Opryland Hotel. We had been traveling that day so that's why we look so rough.



Logan and Ruth-Anne (Russ' brother and sister.)

The view from our room. And yes, we were inside!

Since Nashville is called "Music City" they have a street , called Broadway, where there are tons of little clubs and shops that have live music just about all day. It kind of reminded us of 6th street in Austin. It was cool.



See if you can spot Elvis.

Cool old building in downtown Nashville.

We also visited the Country Music Hall of Fame.

We figured while we were in the area we would stop by our old friend Miley's house, some of you may know her by her stage name, Hannah Montana. We found out where she lives and took a visit to what is known as "Singing Hills Farm." We couldn't pass up taking a creepy picture of their front gate. (Notice that even celebrities are sometimes too lazy to pick up the newspaper.)

Lance Armstrong who?

One of the things Austin has no shortage of is bicyclists; so Russ is able to fit right in. He got a really good deal on a nice road bike that he loves to ride when he gets the chance. In an attempt to keep up with him I too found what I consider not so much a "nice" bike as a "cute" bike, which I think is way more important. We found a little beach cruiser bike at Wal-mart for super cheap and knew we couldn't pass it up. Because my theory is bikes are meant not so much for riding as cruising, so that's exactly what we did today in Texas' crazy 80 degree weather. We had a fun time and hope to get to do it again soon!

My sweet bike.

Russ' real bike.

Us right before we got really, really sweaty.

Trick-or-Rice Krispies Treat

So I realize it is now November and we are just switching to a Halloween themed blog but, since it has been like 3 months since our last post, I figured it's a step in the right direction.

This past week we celebrated Halloween. On Saturday, we went to our ward Trunk-or-Treat and had a fun time decorating our car and passing out candy for the kids. We racked our brains trying to think of what to do for costumes but, then inspiration struck while we were on the cereal aisle at the grocery store. We decided on Snap, Crackle and Pop of Rice Krispies fame. We roped my mom into going as Snap, Russ was Crackle and I was Pop. Below is 2/3 of Snap, Crackle, Pop. Enjoy.

Not Pictured: Snap

Happy Birthday Dear Russ

This weekend we got to celebrate Russ' 27th birthday! We started his birthday festivities at Carrabba's, as requested by Russ. Then we came home to have some cake and open presents with my family. We had a great day and can't wait to do it again next year!

Can't have a party without balloons!

Russ' favorite part of his birthdays is his mama's famous Strawberry cake. Although he ate mine with a smile, I'm sure it's just not quite the same as when Mama makes it. :)

Yes, yes, those are sparkler candles.

You know you're becoming an adult when you get excited to unwrap investment management books.



Us singing "Happy Birthday" to Russ. Note the 4 part harmony.

I was lucky enough to get a picture with the Birthday Boy himself.

Down By the Sea Shore

Russ is getting ready to start his Masters of Accounting Program at UT, so we figured before he started school we'd have one last hoorah. We decided the beach was the perfect getaway. Now, Texas isn't typically known for its beaches but Russ and I did some research and decided on Port Aransas. It is a cute little island about 4 hours away from Austin. It was kinda cool because you needed to take a ferry ride to get there! We had a blast and enjoyed our mini vacation together.

Russ in front of the Texas State Aquarium.

Us in front of the Gulf of Mexico.

Only in Texas would you find cows at the beach.

On the pier we must've gone a little too far and encroached

on a very territorial pelican's home.

Closer to a hungry pelican than I ever want
to be again...who knows what they have in those oversized beaks.

Russ + Sarah = Love