Merry Christmas!!!!

Here are a couple videos from our Christmas morning! Our kids never seem to get too old to do some of our traditions! :) Sorry, I don't know how to turn the first one right side up.

Snow in Louisiana?!!!!!

It's hard to believe, but it actually snowed here last Thursday morning! I think the last time it did that was like in 1936. We've had flurries once or twice, but never actually sticking to the ground. Savannah has never seen snow before, so she was pretty excited. The really crazy thing is that today it was in the 70's! That is Louisiana weather! This is our front yard (I was too cold to walk across the street to get a full picture- also, these pictures are pretty bad because I had to take them with my cell phone since Rich was in San Diego with the real camera!- yes, he missed the one and only snow day we'll probably ever see here.)

This is down our street.

Savannah!!

Our pet Iguana enjoyed the snow.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This was the view from our condo at the beach in Destin, Florida where we spent Thanksgiving this year. Actually, we've spent the last 5 or 6 years (or maybe longer, I'm not sure) there for Thanksgiving! It is our favorite time to go because there aren't many people and the weather is often still nice enough to get a tan on the beach and swim in the ocean. It's only a 6 hour drive from Lafayette and we've stayed at the same place since Rich & I discovered it 11 years ago by mistake. We took a trip for our anniversary that year and stayed at a Holiday Inn nearby. Our room was so bad that we got up the next morning and immediately started looking for a new Hotel. These condos at Pelican Beach Resort were new and so we ended up there and brought the kids every year after that. The summers became very busy so we started coming for Thanksgiving. This year we thought it would be rainy and cold, but everyday was sunny and warm! Our friends, The Nielsens have come with us almost every time and The Bridges joined us for the last two years. We had a great time on the beach, going to the movies, shopping and playing cards. If anyone ever wants to join us. . . . . . .

Savannah & Ryan Nielsen making sandcastles

Three Beach buddies- Mike Nielsen, Clayton Bridge & Hunter


Three Beach beauties- Bree, Emily & Kayla Bridge

Greg & Linda Nielsen, Rich & Jill, Cindy & Alex Bridge

Happy Halloween!!!

So Halloween has come and gone and I gotta say that it's not quite as exciting as it was when the kids were little. Now I'm the only one who wants to dress up! Actually, as you can see below, Hunter channeled his inner Dwight from our favorite TV show, The Office, but Savannah just had some friends over to eat junk food and run through the neighborhood begging for candy. We had our usual neighborhood pot luck dinner and Savannah and I carved the pumpkin below for the mutual Halloween party a few nights before. Not much else to report at the Stewarts in the last few weeks. I have two more performances of my play, Rich is finishing his last class for his Phd, Hunter made the High School Soccer team again this year, and Savannah is getting ready to try out for Honor Band. Life goes on. . . .


Sav with her buddies on Halloween night

The two on the left are supposed to be Andy and Angela, and Hunter is Dwight. The Office rocks!!

Family, Family, Family!!!!

What a great month!!! It's been very busy, but in a good way! We have had so much family come into town and that never happens to us, so we have been loving it! Barbara (Rich's mom) came back to see us with Jennifer (Rich's sister) and her two cute little kids, Addison and Carter. We had so much fun just hanging out with them and they were so great to come out and see my play- (twice!) Not only were they here, but my dad and his wife Stephanie also came for a couple days to see my play. All this family around is really making me homesick for the West! We are just darn lucky to have family that we like being around! :)


Barbara, Rich and Jennifer at my play.

Mother and son battle it out with Mario Kart.

Savannah and her cousin Addison had fun doing art projects.

My dad and Stephanie at the play.

Trip to the Zoo

It's been years since I've been to the Acadiana Zoo, but it was really fun to go with Jen, Barbara, Addie and Carter! We fed the animals. . .

. . . took a ride on the train . . .

. . .captured a monkey . . .

. . . and caught various diseases from nasty looking starving llamas! Boy do I miss the zoo! (Just kidding, we really did have a great time and most of the animals didn't look nasty)

Fun with Cousins!

We had a lot of time to just hang out and play with Addie and Carter!

Addison and Savannah served us food while we watched General Conference at the "P & S Theatre."

Carter, Savannah and Hunter had fun building with their old marble set.

Savannah tortured Carter with this Elephant mask :)

Fun with Grandma!

Hunter introduced the Wii to his grandma & grandpa Wayne. I think they're playing tennis here. It was pretty entertaining to watch


Grandma was the boxing champion of the night! :)

I'm acting again & loving it!!!

I'm so excited to be back on the stage! I'm doing a musical at Abbey Player's called I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and I have to say it is definitely at the top of my list of my favorites! We have a spectacularly talented cast and the show is sooooo much fun! My mom and her husband Wayne came out for the opening weekend. They saw it three times :) (They're not biased or anything) It was great to have them here.

This is after the show when we greet the audience.

This is our whole cast, Larry, Scott, me and Jessica. I don't have any other pictures because we change costumes so fast and so many times that there is no time to stop and get photos. There are 20 different scenes and we play all different characters throughout. If you're in town, come check it out!

Arizona Trip to celebrate my dad's birthday!!

I went to Arizona last weekend because my dad's wife, Stephanie, threw him a surprise party for his 65th birthday. This is his reaction when he walked into his house that night and saw all of his kids, brothers and sisters and friends yelling "Surprise!" I have to say that Stephanie really pulled off a good one! My sister Jennifer and I flew in the day before and he was really surprised to see us. Then, we all went to have family pictures taken and about 100 people went to his house. We got back and had a great party. She had a band and catered food. It had a hunting theme seeing as how my dad is the major hunter that he is.

Jen, her daughter Zia, my dad, me and Stephanie at their house in Gilbert, AZ

We all went bowling one afternoon and, of course, my dad beat everyone! This is my brother Tim and his son, Clay. We had a lot of fun!!


Me with my dad at the bowling alley. It was such a great weekend hanging with all my family!!!

More Arizona Pictures!!!

My sister, Jen, Zia, Dad, Me and Stephanie at my Dad's house

We had fun bowling with Jen and Jackie

Cody(my nephew), his date, Nicole(my niece) and her fiance, Jake at my Dad's surprise party

Jen, Tim, Jackie, Tanya and me at the surprise party