Anna's 1st birthday

It's hard to believe that a year ago this was our family

Anna is 1. It's really hard to believe! Where did the year go? We started out the festivities last Thursday with lunch with Anna's BFF Elise. Here are the two girls after lunch

On Friday (the big day) we had lots of presents to open. Notice Jackson's pile is on the left (we didn't want him to feel left out)

Anna was so excited for all the new toys

and so was Jackson

Anna got a couple of dolls. So far she likes to hug them and bite their noses.

And she just LOVES her new bike! What a big girl

Jackson thinks it's very fun having a new buddy to ride bikes with and of course Anna thinks she is very hot stuff

We do realize how obnoxious the pink/purple bike is but we had to do it

Anna got a new tea set for her birthday so Jackson is showing her how to pour tea

and Anna is tasting the tea

Birthday cake was a little overwhelming (probably because it was the end of the day and she was exhausted). It's hard to tell but the cake was a flower with stem and pot

She definitely was not into the cake. Look at that face!

birthday kisses

Instead of eating cake she opted for eating her feet. nice!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

Grandma, a.k.a GeGe

Today we lost Grandma.
The phrase absence makes the heart grow fonder is true, yet fundamentally flawed. You see, if you love someone like you love family, you always miss them when they are away, but you always expect to see them again. So mere absence may not be enough to make you love someone more than you already do. However, memories of someone that’s passed, that you’ll never see again eclipse any word such as fondness.
My Grandma passed away today, February 21st, 2010. I miss her already. I missed her before, but now I grieve. As I reflect as we all do at the end of life on the memories with the loved one we’ve lost, there are smiles and sadness in abundance. I remember the macaroni and cheese that she forced me to eat before she let me get out of my chair. I remember the cornbread she taught me to cook. I remember the lessons of a hard days work. I remember her fingers, literally worked until the bones turned in different directions. I remember her laugh with her mouth full of egg salad sandwich.
If you knew Grandma, you knew that if she called you to help with something in the yard you should plan on staying overnight and being outworked. Surely, there was more to do than just a simple yard task. But the reward of good talk, good memories, and a meal like you’ve never had before was at the end of that day. And oh was it worth it. Have you ever had cream corn that will make you lick the bowl? I have. Ain’t nobody’s cookin’ like Grandmas cookin.
If you knew Grandma, you know that last sentence has her scolding me in heaven. A teacher, professionally and personally, drove Grandma to do amazing things. A basketball player and coach, she never shied from the mix of academics and physical activity. Those of my generation didn’t even know there was basketball back in “her day”, much less women’s basketball! There was, and as usual she was good at it. I remember those stories, too.
If you knew Grandma, you know that there was no such thing as can’t do. I just couldn’t get the hang of water skiing one year, but she fixed that. I believe my fingers are still pruny from all the time I spent in the water. She suited up to jump in the water with me, using the old-school life preserver that simply was a cord around your waste. We worked for days to get it down, and she was there in the water with me every time. I remember that too, though the image of your grandmother in a bathing suit at 70 years old has a tendency to burn that one in your brain.
If you knew Grandma, you knew any conversation you had you were in for the straight truth. No ifs, ands, or buts. She wasn’t known for her tact. Grandma wasn’t the person you would go see if you were feeling out of shape and needed someone to tell you you were looking great. She was, however, the person to go see for knowledge and truth. She spent a good amount of time telling people around her that they weren’t perfect. But by not being perfect, it meant there was still work to do, more to be accomplished, more to be given freely.
As much as Grandma might have “helped” others strive for perfection, she never claimed to be perfect herself. In fact those that would declare “well I’m glad your perfect” after one of her “help” sessions would receive the answer the answer I learned to expect after so many years: Nobody’s perfect. But as with the flaw with fondness, there is perfection here. Grandma was perfect. Perfect now in the memories I have, the happiness of the past and the person she was to me.
She was the perfect Grandma.

Here are the three of us being silly last Spring when she came to meet Anna. GeGe reading to Jackson

and meeting Anna

Let it snow let it snow let it snow!!

We got over 12 inches of snow!!!
I had to send a lot of pictures because this is just unheard of in Texas. I had to break out my ski pants just to keep warm in the snow :)
Here's Jackson and Anna waiting to go outside Poor Anna has NO snow clothes so she couldn't get in the snow much. She just had to watch and Jackson and I made sure to go out when she was napping

Mike took a break from work for a little snowman building

Jackson tries the snow

Snowman #2

Fun in the snow. Jackson absolutely LOVED it! A few years ago he hated it but this was a good year to get lots of snow

snowball fights!

Jackson making a snow angel

Snowman #3 (they kept falling over so not sure what I was doing wrong)

Our pond all winter white

Beautiful trees

It was up to Bear's armpits in some areas!

And after all the snow we forgot about taking pictures on Valentine's Day. Here's Jackson examining his heart shaped pancakes

and Anna is all smiles as usual

Celebrity Sighting

Not sure if Jake, The Bachelor (from the ABC show The Bachelor) qualifies as a celebrity but he is on National television right now. Turns out he works out at my gym! He's super friendly and very down to Earth. Even let me take this picture! Kind of cool

Chef Manes

Mike has always had a love for grilling. Grilling anything and everything and he's really great at it. Recently he's also gotten excited about cooking. And I'm not talking about mac and cheese---I'm talking about really challenging 3 course menus. Last week he made a delicious Greek lemon chicken, artichoke and asparagus side and this beef steak salad---YUM!!! Oh and let's not forget the fresh nan that he picked up at an Indian market. This week he wanted to try a Spicy Thai Basil Chicken recipe. He wasn't happy with the first one he chose so he actually mixed two different recipes and the result was fantastic (although a little spicy)!

He's even got his fancy apron

Check out that yummy meal!

I can't wait for this next week's meal!

Anna's learning to walk

Here are some short clips of Anna walking. She's very proud of herself and Jackson says it's "awesome" and "like magic" that Anna can walk! He's such a supportive big brother

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

On the mend

FINALLY! We are on the mend at the Manes' household. No more fever from Jackson and Anna's ears are clear. YAY! Bear is unfortunately not any better but hopefully it's now just a matter of getting used to her new meds. Here are some cute pics of the kids:

Good friends
Cute naked nudies

Jackson--before his haircut

Anna loves to suck on the backdoor

Coming soon---walking video of Anna---the ONLY thing she wants to do these days (walking with help we should clarify)