I'm one less an organ...

My gallbladder surgery went very well! However anesthesia + narcotics = an unpleasant Stephanie! I came out of the surgery in pain so they gave me some morphine, quite a bit actually, and then ended up giving me more meds when I got back to my room. Along with all that narcotics and the anesthesia I was so sick! It was horrible! I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 a.m., had surgery around 9:00 a.m. (I think. I was so out of it.), back in my room by noon, and didn't go home until 5:30. Not at all the easy surgery I was expecting! Actually, I guess the surgery was easy, but the recovery was a bugger! I'm doing so much better now! Not quite 100% yet, but well on my way. I know that I will feel so much better once I've fully recovered. Can't wait for some spicy Mexican food! :)

T.J. and I are so blessed with such wonderful friends! We appreciate all the flowers, food and visits! T.J. even had a friend that made a snuff run for him Friday night because he didn't want to leave me. So sweet!

At last, summer is here!

I'm so excited to be out of school for the summer! It is definitely a perk of being a teacher. Like April, May flew by. I can remember time dragging on when I was younger, now you blink and it is gone!

May was busy with end of the year stuff, finishing up Junior League, and working on the house. I will get those remodeling pictures up soon! Ending up the school year is always so busy, I seem to forget from year to year. I think I suppress those memories. :) It is also bittersweet! You teachers will understand what I'm talking about. You are so exhausted with all of the end of the year "stuff" you have to do (there is a ton!), excited about being off for the summer, yet sad about not seeing your kids everyday. I was blessed with a wonderful class this year. They were so sweet! It was hard letting them go. It is usually this way for me every year. My kids are why I teach!! Next year I will be teaching 4th grade. I'm looking forward to it. I will know the kids for the next two years because I taught them in 2nd grade. Huge perk!! We spend Memorial Day at the Racquet Club with some friends eating and hanging out by the pool. It was very relaxing!

Now June is here! TJ and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary yesterday. I will post more about this later. It was a nice day! Tomorrow I'm going to have my gallbladder removed. I have to be at the hospital at 6:30, ugh! Too early!! I'm ready to have it done so that I can start feeling better!

I hope you all had a great start to your summer! I'm hoping with more time on my hands I will be able to update my blog more than once a month! :)

Help!

Does anyone know how to change the font of the blog title? I figured out how to change the font of the text and everything below the title bar. Please help! :)

Where did April go?

So, I think I blinked and April was gone and May was here. I can't believe how quickly it came and went. As busy as it was, I had a great time visiting with family and friends! Sorry this post is pretty long. There are several pictures of my adventures visiting.

My first stop in April was in Ozona where we celebrated Ryan's 3rd birthday and Easter. Melonie had Ryan's birthday outside at their house. It was a Mickey Mouse themed birthday, as this is Ryan's absolute favorite character. We had yummy cake, ice cream, busted a candy filled pinata and had a great time!

Ryan and his cake. This is a normal smile

when posing for the camera. Such a silly boy!

Posing wearing his Mickey Mouse

ears that TJ I got him.

Practicing swinging at the pinata. He had

a blast doing this! He's a little destructive!

But what a sweet face!!

I stayed in Ozona the rest of the weekend to celebrate Easter. Twylah out did herself, as usual, with our traditional Easter lunch. Then we headed over to Melonie's to see if the Easter bunny had visited. We found that boy did he ever! The yard was decorated with lots of eggs, boiled and plastic. The boys were so excited! Anthony decided to not participate this year as he thought he was too old. This made me so sad, because in my mind he is still the baby. After hunting eggs, I headed home to see my hubby, who was slaving away at the house. When I got home, I found all the laundry done and house cleaned. I guess the Easter Bunny visited me too! :)

The best part about Easter is that He is Risen making it possible for us to have these precious times with our families. I'm eternally grateful for Him!

I love this picture of the Coltyn and Riley!

Sweet Cousins!

Waiting on lunch...Anthony, Ryan (who wasn't cooperating),

Coltyn and Riley hanging out on the front porch.

Ryan scoping out the Easter eggs.

Sweet Coltyn. I love this picture of him!

Riley not wasting any time picking up eggs.

Ryan helping Riley find eggs.

The boys being oh so patient while we take pictures.

Through their sweet little smiles they were

asking us to hurry so they could count their eggs.

Our baskets runneth over!

Pretty girls! Twylah and Melonie

Like Mother, like Daughters

The Stewart family!

The girls!

My next stop the next weekend was to Abilene. I went to visit Terra, Josh, Mom, Mark and Megan. Friday night I stayed with Terra and Josh. We had a great time visiting and playing. Of course we had to go to Taco Bueno so that I could have my regular burrito and nachos. It was so good! Saturday morning we got up and took Josh to the park. Then we went to see a house that Terra was looking at buying. That house didn't work out, but another one did. Congratulations Terra on being a new home owner! I can't wait to see it. After that it was off to Mom's for lunch. She made her famous gumbo, which was so good! Then Megan and I went to get pedicure's and hang out. It was so much fun! I miss being able to see them! I met back up with Terra and Josh for dinner then I was off to Midland. Terra has some great pictures on her blog: Joshua Michael Corrigan. I haven't uploaded them yet. The Sunday I got back from Abilene, I got a stomach bug, or so I thought. I couldn't seem to get over it. I finally went to the doctor this past Thursday and found out I have gall stones. I will be having my gallbladder removed as soon as school is out. Not much fun, but hopefully I will feel better!

The last stop of April took us to Amarillo. TJ and I went to visit Jeremy, Allison and Thayne. We had the best time! Thayne is absolutely adorable and so much fun! T.J. and I were just talking about how we were ready to see him again! Hopefully soon!

Mr. Cool Baby Thayne! As cute as he was

in his hat and sunglasses, they didn't stay on for long.

Playing with Uncle T.J. His laughs were the best!!

This was my month in a nutshell! I told you this post was long, sorry! I'll do better at staying up to date. As you may have noticed, T.J. wasn't in many of these pictures. That is because while I was touring West Texas, he was at home slaving away on finishing our new front door. I'll post pictures of our home remodeling another day. He has done a fantastic job so far!

Happy Easter

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love what it stands for, the newness of Spring, and the fun we have, as a family, getting together. I'm traveling to Ozona tomorrow for Ryan's birthday party and then we will have our normal Easter lunch and egg hunt Sunday. I'm so excited about seeing everyone!

I hope all of you have a very Happy Easter!

Love,
Steph.

Happy 30th Anniversary Twylah and Tony!

On March 23rd Twylah and Tony will celebrate 30 years of marriage. What a wonderful milestone! Lacretia and Melonie hosted a dinner celebration Saturday night in Ozona. We had a yummy dinner of brisket and all the trimmings and lots of fun! With 4 boys around it is always entertaining! Melonie had a beautiful cake made, which Ryan could not wait to eat. He talked about it all day. It was great to use as incentive (not bribery) :). "Ryan if you smile for the camera you can have cake", "Ryan if you eat your dinner you can have cake", it worked every time! :)

It was a great day! I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the love these two wonderful people share. Twylah and Tony, I hope you have a wonderful anniversary Monday! Love you!!

The beautiful and tasty cake.

30 years looks good on the two of you!

Ryan, Mel, Tony, Twylah and Lacretia

Ryan, Mel, Steph., Lacretia and Twylah

Twylah cutting the cake.

FINALLY! I get cake...mmm

Ryan with his piece of cake.

Ryan loves his cousin Coltyn! Either that or he's beating him up, who knows!

What cute brothers! Coltyn (8) and Anthony (10)

Poor Riley had an earache and didn't feel well.

Ahh...this is what I call relaxed!

Ollie's favorite sleeping position...

Cracks me up everytime I see him sleeping this way!

Have a great weekend!