January 2019

We had some more fun in between our visitors.  

We went camping at Whitney Lake State Park over the MLK holiday.  It was very, very cold.  The girls slept in our sleeping bags at night and we had a heater in the tent.  They are getting to be pretty hard core campers.  The afternoons were a bit warmer, so we went hiking and cooked by the camp fire. 

Beautiful sunset at the state park.

I always want to remember her skip.

I made a batch of home-made yogurt.  It turned out perfect!

Vegas!

Bryan's parents drove to Texas to watch the girls for 5 days so we could attend an Optometry Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Doesn't Bryan look excited?

He went to continuing education classes while I toured the strip.  I haven't been to Vegas since college!

Look behind me!

All the hotels were decorated for Chinese New Year- the year of the pig.

In the evenings, we went to some shows.  We saw the Blue Man Group

 and Cirque du Soleil's The Beatles LOVE.  Both were fantastic!

Grandparents came to town!

January has been all sorts of exciting with Bryan's promotion and both sets of grandparents coming to visit.  My parents came at the beginning of the month.  Both girls were out of school for winter break and we were able to have lots of fun checking out the area.

 One of our first stops was Salado, Texas.  It's a cute little city with antique shops and a fun water feature.  

It got a little chilly in our house, so we used our wood fire place for the first time and the girls roasted marshmallows.  

 We played games at night when the girls were asleep.  Dad got really mad at Bryan once over a game called Cover Your Assets.

 We played at Urban Air (grandpa included).

 We traveled to Dallas to go to an indoor water park called Epic Water.  It was really cool and reminded us of a lot of the swimming pools in Europe.

We had to make a stop at Buccee's- the biggest gas stations in Texas.  It is more than just a gas station.  They make amazing fudge, BBQ, and beef jerky.  They also sell clothes, toys, kitchen ware.  It is amazing.  Just don't expect to go there with car trouble, they don't sell anything for that!

 Grandma reading to the girls.

 One of our last adventures was a trip to the zoo

 and the Sillos in Waco, Texas.  

Bryan's Major Promotion

My parents came out for Bryan's promotion at the beginning of the new year.  

It was a small party at the Thomas Moore Clinic during lunch hours so all available could attend.  Bryan took the week off while my parents were in town, which turned out to work well for all of us.  We had lots of help gathering the food, cake, party supplies, and children.

The cake was made by Lily's Cakes and it was huge! And perfect for a promotion party.  Little did I know, Lily is kind of famous.  She won one of the seasons of Cake Wars a while back.  Her little shop is right around the corner from our house.

Kate got a hold of my phone camera and took most of the pictures of the food venue and all the attendees. 

 Jane looks excited for the party! Or maybe the pay raise??

It was so special to see my dad, retired Colonel Koplin, pin Bryan into the rank of Major.  The pictures come from my mother's camera.  Sorry they are so blurry! I am not sure why we don't have family pictures or couple pictures.  Oh well.  It was an exciting day! I am so proud of my Major and Doctor.  I love you Bryan!