What a week in TX looks like

I'm warning you in advance: This is a LONG post with LOTS of pictures because we had a LONG week with TONS of stuff to do while we were in Texas.

Last Sunday, Todd & I flew into Dallas, TX. My sister's new in-laws threw them a reception/party as a celebration since they got married alone in the mountains of Arkansas this past December. This is my sister & my brother-in-law Scott. This picture was taken last Thanksgiving and my mom just got the pictures from the photographer who took them. I absolutely love this shot of Nichole & Scott.

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This is my sister & her new in-laws (thanks again to the Thanksgiving pictures). We love the McDonald family. They're kinda crazy like us and they threw a great party with a live swing band and lots of dancing.

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I wish I had better pictures from their party but I was too busy dancing away.

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On Monday, we said goodbye to Nichole, Scott & the McDonald's and drove 4 hours to College Station, Texas- the home of Texas A&M (the only real school in TX. Sorry BF!). My brother is a senior at A&M this year and I wanted to show Todd around my old stomping grounds. Jonathan & I got to stand in front of the giant size Aggie Ring for a cool photo op.

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Then it was off to the Alumni Association & a visit to Kyle Field. (Doesn't my husband look thrilled?)

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Then it was to the famous Dixie Chicken for some Shiner Bock beer and a little pool for the guys.

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After a very full day, we drove another 3.5 hours back to the ranch and I think we were home by 11pm that night. whew! Day 2 down.

Day 3 consisted of a little party prep around the ranch for TACO BELL NIGHT. My mom knows Todd loves Taco Bell so she made everything Mexican that she knows how to make. She also invited several of my cousins and it soon became baby central. There were 3 babies born in a matter of 2 months. My cousin Jessica had Evie about 6 months ago.

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Several weeks later, Evie's cousin, Harper Grace, arrived on the scene.

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And days later, my cousin Katina gave birth to Sadie Victoria.

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We also played a little game of cornhole that night. Cornhole is an unknown in TX so Todd & I showed them what we do up "north". Only thing was- my cousins Jeremiah & Jessica ended up showing us how to play.

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This marks this 2nd time Todd & I have lost at cornhole recently. (Guess we need to put it back in our driveway and practice a bit?) I was sure that we would win so I had a trophy waiting for the "winners". Unfortunately we lost but Todd still got his "Husband of the Year" trophy. (See the last post if you don't understand what this is)

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Wednesday was boys & girls day. Todd, Rodney & Jonathan woke up at 4am and headed to Louisiana for some gulf coast fishing. They apparently caught a ton of fish but didn't happen to snap one picture of the experience. (sounds fishy!). While they were having their boys time, I was with my mom and her 2 best girlfriends for a girls day of fabric shopping. Yep, you heard me FABRIC shopping! My mom & her friends are quilting now so we drove 2 hours to "fabric heaven" to get material for Todd & I a 5 year wedding anniversary quilt. (Apparently it takes 3 years to make it so she wanted to pick out the fabric now) After all that exciting fabric hunting, we had a fabulous lunch at a seafood restaurant near Kemah, TX. Here's my mom & her crazy sidekicks Aunt Tammy & Paula. Love them!

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Thursday was the fish fry from the catch the day before. Again, we had people over and my parents fried up some fish, hushpuppies & french fries. But none of that was exciting as the company we had. The huge hit at the party where my friend Amanda's kids. She had a 3 year old daughter, Madilynn AND 16 month old twins- Payton & Hannah.

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They had a great time playing at our house. But their favorite part was bathtime. My mom put them in her big 'ol bathtub and they had a ball. I hope Amanda doesn't mind that I'm sharing these naked pictures of her children but I think they're SO stinkin cute.

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Friday was my favorite day- lunch at my MawMaw's. I don't have one picture from that lunch. I chose to put my camera away and I just enjoyed the afternoon. My mom cooked Chicken N Dumplings and people stopped by MawMaw's cottage (a.k.a. the barn she now lives in since Hurricane Ike destroyed her hosue) during their lunch breaks. I got to see most of my aunts and several cousins. I loved that time! I love my big ol crazy Cajun family!

And if all that wasn't enough excitement, Friday night we ended the trip with a new baby born. One of Rodney's heifer's gave birth to a little calf. PapPaw called about 8p that night and said that we were about to have a baby. So we hopped in the truck and headed down to the pasture. It was a beautiful Texas night.

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I have never seen a calf being born so I was excited. We got in the field and had to find the heifer because she had separated herself from the other cows. We waited around until it turned dark but she still hadn't had the baby (even though we could see the calves feet hanging out the mama's backside- I'll spare you those pictures). The heifer was NOT happy we were there so we left and went back to MamMaw & PapPaw's for a drink. 30 minutes later we came back with the truck and a few flashlights to find this- just minutes old.

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Saturday before we left, we checked on the new calf. She was learning to nurse and looked like she was doing really well. Now, it was time to name her. My mom usually does all the names and so she used Todd & I's cornhole team name- TANDICE. Don't think I have ever had a cow named after me. Actually now that I'm looking at this picture of Tandice sucking her mama's teats I wonder if my mother was trying to say something??????????

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Exhausted yet??? Well, so are we! A few more pics of the animals on the farm.
A donkey they can't give away. I can't tell if this is Laverne or Shirley. Whoever it is - its about to be gone. My parents are trying to give the donkeys away because hay isn't growing in the pastures b/c of the drought and the donkeys are eating up all the food that is needed for the cattle.

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Somebody with a drooling problem.

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A pretty girl.

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And some T-Bone that will taste yum yum good on my plate very soon.

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We had a great time! Its always good to be home. This trip was long & exhausting but worth it.

And I leave you with the Levins' ranchers. 4 of my favorite people- Rod, Mom, PapPaw & MamMaw. There truly is NO place like home!

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P.S. Thats my PapPaw who we just found out has prostate cancer. If you think about, will you lift him up in prayer as he starts his radiation treatments next week?! He's still kicking the ranching life at 84 but he has definitely slowed down. We all kinda like him so want him to be around for a bit longer. Thanks!
Love,
Tandice (the couple, not the calf)

Here's the entire thing if you've got a few minutes-

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