Yeehaw...life is GOOD!

Well, my much-anticipated visit from Sue has come and gone, and we are SO happy that she was able to come hang with the Chessers for a fun Texas weekend. There is nothing like a visit from an old, sweet friend. Sad to say, Henry wasn't in top-form, because (as I suspected) he was cutting a tooth all weekend...it finally emerged on Sunday, and I think this is the last one for awhile because he has no more puffy spots on his gums. Anyway, this is how we all feel about cutting 3 teeth in 2 weeks...On Friday, we all went to Chimmichurri's in Kingwood. This is a new South American restaurant on W. Lake Houston (by the bridge), and it became an instant favorite with Jared and me after going for a date in November. Once Sue and I started planning her visit here, I knew that we MUST take her there. As I suspected, it was an instant favorite for her too! If you haven't been yet, you MUST go asap. We recommend the crab finger appetizer and the Dessert, No Thanks for dessert. All of the entrees are divine, but we like either steak or the flash-fried crab. Anyway, the ambience is delightful, the wait-staff helpful, and the price....well, worth it. Trust me, you WILL NOT be disappointed. Here are a couple of old college roommates reminiscing about their glory days back at Ole Miss...On Saturday, we tried to sleep a little after Henry's 3-wake-up night, and by the late afternoon, we were ready to head to the Houston Rodeo Cook-Off. Sue even picked up her first pair of cowboy boots while she was here, and we got all dudded up for the event. A big thanks to Jared's friends for hooking us up with tix to a sweet booth with a rockin' Elvis impersonator providing live entertainment...and to Justin's friend, Will, and Will's fam for also hooking us up with tix to their booth as well. The food was awesome, and I do believe that Jared is sated until St. Patty's (as I also foretold). Here are those silly old roommates again...Now, if anyone had an amazing time at the rodeo cook-off this weekend, it was Henry. We took him to see HORSIES for the very first time in his life. Since he loves DOGGIES so much, we thought horsies (which, we imagine, look like doggies on steroids to babies) would probably blow his little mind...and we were right. Here's Baby Boy taking it all in...One nice cowboy even brought his horse over for Henry to pet. I thought he would jump right out of Jared's arms with excitement.And, here's a family picture of our first time at the rodeo together! That scrunchy face that H is making is his new "smile" face. He is doing it almost EVERY time we put a camera on him. If anyone knows how to make the baby make a prettier face for pictures, I'd love to hear your tips! Here's one of the baby and his mostest favoritest guy in the whole wide world...note, shark teeth abound.

High chair pic of the week...

And, so none of you get pissy about me not giving you any house pics, here are a few. First, the mantle. Jamie, look, I used STICKS to decorate...crazy, I know. Bets, thanks for the candles...don't they look pretty next to the picture. And, Belinda, thanks so much for the candlesticks...I love old family stuff for our house!!

And, here's kind of the direction I'm going with the living room. The colors don't show up as bright as they really are, but I'm all into reds, greens, and golds. Eventually, I want mostly reds in here, but we already had so much green that I had to try to coordinate that in for now. The print over the couch is an awesome find that we picked up at Bed, Bath, and Beyond of all places. As soon as we saw it, we knew we must have it! I'm also looking for a nice set of end tables, and I'm going to get some more traditional lamps for the room as well. All in time, though...Oh, and I almost forgot to put these up. We went to the park the other day, and Henry was a wild man on the swings. He LOVES those darn things so much. So, here he is letting out his barbaric yawp.

And, here's one that Sue took...always nice to know that this kid actually has a mom...she just doesn't end up in pics much since she's always the one taking them!
And, we're done.

Please keep praying for Baby Jameson. Thanks.