"Duckling!"

These precious little creatures are the reason for this set of pictures. I went out for a run, and when I saw them I just had to go back to my apartment and get my camera so I could show Jason! While watching them waddle around and look for food with their mommy, an older Asian couple (pretty adorable themselves) walked by, and I waved them over. The man said, "Oh yes, duckling!"

According to Mary Grace, this is one of the "turkeys" that hangs around the little pond behind our apartments.

 

 

 

Brett's Sportin' Purple Now

In case you didn't know, Brett Favre, Jason's long-time idol, is now quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings. Jason has already bought a new #4 Vikings jersey, and we got tickets to their preseason game against the Houston Texans in Reliant Stadium, about 12 miles from our apartment. So last night, or should I say yesterday afternoon (we left around 3:00 p.m. to get there super early), we went to see Brett and his new team.

 

 

 Did I mention we got there early? 

On the right is Reliant Stadium and the old Houston Astrodome is on the left. 

  

 We had plenty of time before the game, so we looked around the park at the sculpture gardens.

 

 

 

 

Check out this adorable little fellow!

This is the view from our seats after they finally let us in to the stadium. We took a ton of pictures, mostly of Brett and Adrian Peterson.

 

  

 

I bet you can guess who took this one. I'll give you a hint: it wasn't me.

 

This woman and her friend were sitting right behind us. Just minutes after I took this picture, she stripped down to her Texas bikini!

 

Helicopter and Combines

What a day! On Saturday, August 22, I went to work with Jason as usual, but this time I got to ride in a helicopter and a combine! It was a big change from sitting in the apartment all week :) Here is the type of helicopter I rode in. It is especially fun, because there are no doors; you can feel the breeze and lean out into the air!

This is the pilot, Chris!

Chris asked me to take pictures of the other helicopter team members while we were flying. Look at the Mexican just working away, not even afraid of the helicopter right behind him!

While we are flying, I can't stop thinking about how lovely the variety of textures and lines of the fields appear from so high.

This is right before I had to jump out into the bed of Jason's truck!
Just Kidding :)

After the helicopter ride, we went to help harvest.

Maybe next time I'll get to drive!

Tennie & Bill Come For A Visit

My parents drove all the way from Dockery, Mississippi to stay with us for my birthday week! This was their first visit to Texas, and though they did not have a Garmin to guide them, they got here using a fairly recent map. We tried to keep them busy with many "activities" while they were here including eating at our favorite restaurants, Cheesecake Factory, Japaneiros and Lupe's Tortilla.

We also went to Salt Grass Steakhouse.

On my birthday, we went to see the current installation at the Rice University Art Gallery in Houston. Artist Henrique Oliveira uses discarded, weathered wood from temporary construction fences in his hometown of Sao Paulo. http://ricegallery.org/

Luckily, we were the only ones in the gallery, so we stayed for a while and played.



This will give you an idea of how large the installation is:


Every year for our birthdays, my parents cook us a lobster dinner...so we could not miss out on our tradition this year.

Unfortunately, our apartment is not yet equipped to handle lobster dinners, so we had to make due with a hammer!

Ever since our anniversary dinner at Perry's Steakhouse, Jason has been trying to recreate the banana's foster recipe that we watched them make beside our table. We had it three nights in a row after our anniversary and two times while my parents were here....good grief, but it sure is yummy!

My mother's grandmother, Mama Tennie, lived for part of her life in Victoria, Texas, a few hours south. We drove there one afternoon to explore and visited the courthouse that Mama Tennie's father, a lawyer, would have worked in during the early 1900s.