HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Merry Christmas from Mike, Elaine, & Sugar

More Pictures from the Ice! Show at the Gaylord Texan

ICE! at the Gaylord Texan

http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylordtexan/ICE.cfm

Kris, the Snider's, Mike and I went to see the ICE! show at the Gaylord Texan. Mike and I saw this show last year. It had a few new sculptures this year. We ate dinner at the sports bar, walked around and checked out the decor and then headed to the show. I have attached the link to the hotel and below are some interesting facts about the ice and other information.

2,000,000 pounds: the amount of ice it takes to create ICE!

5,000: the number of ICE! blocks hand-carved and transformed into our winter wonderland

40: the number of artisans from the City of Harbin (China) Tourism and Development Commission, who sculpt the attraction by hand

34: the approximate number of days needed to hand-carve the ICE! display

14,000: the total square footage of the unique structure that houses ICE!

9 degrees: the temperature setting for the ICE! structure. A winter coat is provided to keep you warm!

1,400+: the number of LED lights frozen within ICE!

3: the number of types of ice used in the construction of ICE!
~ Clear “glass-like” crystal ice – so flawless that it is compared to Waterford Crystal – makes up 80 percent of the sculptures
~ “White ice” blocks, which are more like compacted snow, make up 15 percent of the sculptures
~ Colored ice, which is dyed brilliant colors, is used for highlighting and accenting the remaining 5 percent of the sculptures

52: the number of days you can visit this famous attraction before it melts away

2: the number of other destinations in the United States that are as cool as ICE! Sister properties Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee and Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida also host annual ICE! events.

No news is good news....

I am not sure I agree. We still don't have a date as to when the contractor is going to start on our house. We do know that there was a lot more damage than State Farm anticipated.

Upstairs:
Carpet for the two bedrooms.
Carpet for the Jack n' Jill bathrooms.
Wallpaper for the Jack n' Jill bathrooms.
Flooring for the bathroom.
Wallpaper for the bathroom.
Painting the baseboards.
Downstairs:
Paint for the powder-room.
Paint for the laundry room.
Paint for the ceiling in the dining-room.
Carpet for the livingroom.
Paint the ceiling in the kitchen.
Wallpaper for the kitchen.
Painting the baseboards.
Lower cabinets in the kitchen will be replaced.
The Kitchen island will be replaced.

The contractor is working with us to make some modifications and do more. We will end up paying some out of pocket, but we figure this will be good for us to have a new kitchen and it is already all torn up. No time like the present. :-)

SNOW IN TEXAS!!!

I can't believe I just typed that!! Yes, folks, it snowed and it was COLD!!!
Yesterday, the 29th, we had a high temperature of 80 degrees. The low last night was 36 degrees. That is the largest temperature range, since we have moved here. Very crazy. Today the high was 36 degrees and tonight it is 29 degrees. It isn't supposed to be this cold!!! This is TEXAS!!! It doesn't snow in Texas! :-(
Now it feels like Christmas time.

Our first Texas Thanksgiving

It has been a tradition for the last 9 years....I cook Thanksgiving dinner. Well, this year was no different...well, sort of. Instead of "family", we had "friends" family. The Snider's, Kiter's, Kalish's, Krissy, Chuck, and Josh came over to our place for dinner. There were FIVE dogs!!! Sugar, of course, was the hostess...Joe-Paw (Kris), Miller (Kalish), Lucia and Nicholas (Kiter) had a fun time running around and then eventually tiring out. They even got their own turkey dinner, compliments of Mighty Dog. :-)
We had the traditional 16 pound turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, brocolli, and cranberry sauce. Su made latkes. Wow, I liked those. I hope she makes them again. (hint, hint) Gretchen made an awesome Sweet Potatoe casserole with marshmallows on top. Oh my stars. Loved it!!! I am hoping she makes that again. (hint, hint) :-D Then we had pumpkin pie and homemade apple pie for dessert, with ice cream, of course. Yummy!!!
After dinner, Mickey and Mike set up the Wii and the 'boys' played for awhile. Tennis, Baseball, Boxing and some shooting game. They seemed to enjoy themselves. Then Winston, Josh, Chuck, and I sat down to play some good ole fashioned Texas holdem. Yee Haw.
I missed seeing Mary, Dad, Fran, Rich, Tim, Gwen, Tina, Phil, Jenn, Adrienne, Aunt Ellen, and of course Baxter and Kaiser and this would have been the first year with our little niece Allie. It helped having good friends to share a holiday.