The download is ~8MB... so it may take a while depending on your internet connection. I'd try to make it smaller, but to be honest, I already trimmed out a lot of stuff, I wasn't going to trim out any more! Enjoy.
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Perhaps the New Year’s resolution for 2007 should be to write more posts on the website. Maybe it’s being busy at work, maybe it’s being busy as new parents, maybe it’s just being lazy, but whatever the reason, we haven’t posted since October. I blame my sister. Had she just sent us anniversary pictures that I requested, I would have at least had a Halloween picture posted of Carissa in her costume. But instead, we had to hold them as ransom.
As it stands, I’ll try to do some quick catch ups:
After my parent’s anniversary party, we celebrated Halloween by attending First United Methodist of Pasadena’s annual costume parade. Carissa’s first costume was a chicken. Why a chicken? Well, I picked a chicken costume because I thought it was cute, and Jonda picked a lady bug costume because she thought it was cute. And Carissa picked the chicken costume out of those two... turns out, I was right… she made a pretty cute chicken. Though I’m sure she would have made a cute lady bug too.
After Halloween, November seemed to fly by… We went to Austin with Dee and Jake to party on Sixth Street. I became sick though before we ever left the hotel, and the weekend was somewhat of a bust. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving as usual at Debbie and Terry’s house. We even got to play a little Texas Hold’em after Turkey. Tico and Lexie flew in from Florida for Thanksgiving, and we enjoyed their company as we watched the Texas A&M Aggies beat t.u. in Austin for the first time since 1994. WHOOP! Given the past couple of years… it was a great season for the Ags. Speaking of Ags, we found out that one of our Aggie friends is going to be a daddy! Congratulations to Dave and Tracy Thomas. Also congrats to Todd and Mary Limbaugh on their upcoming little one. Dave and Todd are my poker pals… something tells me that our poker table conversations might differ a little in the future.
December kicked off early with our annual Christmas trip to Rockport. Carissa got to hang out with people her size. Hunter and Alex be-bopped all over the place and Great Granny and Papaw Slaughter brought all of them stuffed horses for Christmas. We played our yearly Christmas Bingo, and Jonda won me a pretty nice set of tools. We taught Mom and Odie how to play progressive rummy… wait scratch that… we taught Mom how to play progressive rummy. We taught Odie how to hate progressive rummy.
We followed up Rockport by taking Jonda’s parents out to dinner in Kemah for the Christmas boat parade. As usual it was a lot of fun and the boats were crazier than ever. We saw a boat full of Elvis Impersonators, topless college boys (in 40 degree weather), drunk Santas, vikings, pirates and girl scouts. It was a fun way to celebrate Cassandra’s birthday.
We then celebrated Christmas with my brother Joey a little early that next week since he was leaving for the Air Force boot camp later in the month. We went hunting but didn’t shoot anything, although I think it rained 3 inches while we were in the deer stand.
Our Christmas this year was wonderful! We went looking at lights with Pat and Odie, celebrated Christmas Eve with Jonda’s family, and had Christmas lunch at Bobby and Vanessa’s. Carissa got many new toys to play with and loves to roam the living room playing with everything. We had Christmas in Ace on New Year’s Eve weekend and it was a ton of fun as usual. We played 42, Catch Phrase, and some more progressive Rummy. Plus we found out that Carissa doesn’t care much for Fireworks.
The big news for me in December is that I gave my notice to quit my job. After 2.5 years with the M.D. Anderson Cord Blood Bank, I have chosen to leave me position to go to work for ICAP Energy, an energy brokerage firm in Sugarland, TX. It is with much hesitation and disappointment that I leave M.D. Anderson as they have been an absolute joy to work for, and the mission that they work for is a wonderful cause. I strongly recommend donating your cord blood if you’re delivering in Houston at one of their participating hospitals (currently The Woman’s Hospital of Texas and Ben Taub General Hospital). You could be saving someone’s life… particularly that of a small child. It’s easy to do… and takes little to no effort on your part. Jonda did it… and I’m proud of her for doing so.
I will miss the Cord Blood Bank Family, and I appreciate the opportunities that Dr. Shpall and her team provided for me during my tenure there. However, I’m looking forward to new opportunities and responsibilities with ICAP where I will start in January.
Another person starting a new job in January is Ryan Wilkerson. Jonda and I went to College Station the weekend of the 16th to watch Ryan and Valerie graduate from Texas A&M University. Ryan will be going back to work with KPMG consulting services doing financial tax work similar to what he has done for them in the past as an intern, except this time… he’ll be making that non-intern salary! Congratulations to these two on their huge accomplishment, and we’re looking forward to that wedding in 2007!
Ok, so there was the update… long winded as usual. And I know you really didn’t want to read all that stuff anyway. If you’re visiting, you really only came for more pictures of Carissa. Well, truth be told, I’ve turned in my laptop, which had my video software on it… and all my pictures now reside upstairs mothballed on a backup disk somewhere. The good news is… I’ve got a lot of pictures to post, I’ve just got to put them together and get them online. Maybe that’ll happen sooner than later… Plus, it’ll give you something to look forward to…
We hope all of our friends had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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October 22nd marks my parent’s 25th anniversary and we celebrated with a Hawaiian style Luau in early October. Jonda and I are blessed to have wonderful parents. We celebrated Raymond and Cassandra’s 25th sometime back, Mike and Veronica’s this month, and we will one day celebrate Pat and Odie’s. They’ve all been great role models for us, and we congratulate Mike and Veronica on this great milestone. Click here for photos. (Thanks Beth!)
;)
In addition, we want to congratulate Veronica on her new job… and wish her much luck as she begins a new career adventure in Lake Jackson. We’re very happy and proud of you!
And quickly, we want to also congratulate Mr. and Mrs. Adam Clark who were married yesterday at Tribute Country Club in Dallas, Texas. We were happy to have been able to attend a grand and beautiful wedding and reception, and we hope that Adam and Stefanie are enjoying their honeymoon in Cabo.
For those who inquired about recipes for the food that was served at Mike and Veronica’s anniversary party:
Baked Pineapple Casserole:
INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 5 slices white bread, torn
• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a medium-sized casserole dish.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream together margarine with sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir bread and crushed pineapple into the mixture. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned.
Mexican Sour Cream Rice:
INGREDIENTS
• 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
• 1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large pot, bring the rice and chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.
3. In the pot with the cooked rice, mix the sour cream, green chile peppers, 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, corn, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish, and top with remaining cheese.
4. Bake uncovered 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is bubbly and lightly browned.
(I actually used minute rice with a 1:1 ratio of rice to chicken broth rather than the long grain white rice.)
Grilled Chicken Teriyaki
INGREDIENTS
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
DIRECTIONS
1. Place chicken, teriyaki sauce, lemon juice, garlic, and sesame oil in a large resealable plastic bag. Seal bag, and shake to coat. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours, turning every so often.
2. Preheat grill for high heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Remove chicken from bag, discarding any remaining marinade. Grill for 6 to 8 minutes each side, or until juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a fork.
(We of course used chicken tenders and skewered them. I think when we made ours, it was 2 cups teriyaki, ½ cup lemon juice, 2 tsp sesame oil, 2 spoons of garlic since I was going from memory.)
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Almost two weeks has passed since Turtle left us. We still find an occasional toy, rawhide, or pig’s ear tucked beneath a sofa or a pillow… and it makes us feel a little blue. We would like to thank everyone who has sent flowers, cards, or their thoughts and prayers. We are blessed to have such great friends and family, and we are blessed to have had such a great dog for the past seven years.
Last Thursday, Jonda was in Vegas on business and Carissa and I were watching a football game, missing Jonda, and feeling a little blue over Turtle. Carissa decided to turn my “blue” into smiles… I think the following video has made me crack up about a gazillion times since, so I had to share...
In addition, we’ve got a few new photos to share with you to hopefully make you smile:
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We lost a close friend yesterday. She was one of our best friends.
We met her in December of 1999, and she had a smile that would make anyone else smile when she walked into a room. Carissa especially liked her… and she was special in that she was one of the few that could make Carissa instantly stop crying and start giggling.
She past away due to an unknown intestinal illness which caught Jonda and I by surprise. She was young and it wasn’t her time to go, but Jonda and I have accepted the fact that she is gone. She will be greatly missed.
The good thing is, that we both know that “All Dogs Go to Heaven”… and that’s where Turtle Wilkerson Cherry is now.
You can learn a lot from a dog. Turtle taught Jonda and I responsibility. How to care for and watch out for something that doesn’t necessarily know how to take care of itself (she was great training for the future Carissa). She taught us that at the end of the day, a small wag of a tail could make even the biggest worries trickle away. She taught us that even a scrap of food on a plate should not be wasted as other’s don’t always get what we easily take for granted. She taught us that a sunny shiny day shouldn’t be spent indoors, that everyone enjoys ice cream, and that the game keep away is fun for all ages. Turtle taught us to stop and smell the roses… or anything else for that matter. She has taught us that one man’s trash is another Beagle’s treasure, and that it is always good to have a nice sized back yard to relax in...
Our favorite moments with Turtle were when she would welcome us home every day by zooming to the door to tell us hello, when she would get a new toy from Target and throw it all over the house trying to instigate a game of chase, when she would be asleep and you would tickle her feet and she would kick at you, when she was dreaming heavily with little barks as she chased rabbits and sea gulls, and when she would wake you up early in the morning by licking your nose…
Turtle had her “bad dog” moments, but if you count the number of smiles that she created on so many people’s faces… you would know that there really was never a “bad dog” day in Turtle’s life. We thank her for all of the joyous moments that she gave our family… we love her… and will miss her immensely, may she rest in peace.
;)
Turtle Wilkerson Cherry
September 1999 – September 2006
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