Texas vs. Rice Game

Jeff and I got tickets from a guy at work for the Texas vs. Rice game this last Saturday night. It was a super fun date (thanks to Julie for babysitting!). We got to go by Stacey's tailgate and although the game was not a nail-biter, it was fun to be there. The craziest thing was the Rice band - 'the Mob' who had a very interesting half time show. It included police arresting UT football players and Michael Vick jokes about training Revielle. They made a 7 on the field to heckle our score from the A&M game last season. We were totally in shock, but it was too funny. The other thing was one of them marched the half time show with a toddler in a backpak carrier out on the field. It was bizarre.
The game was great and it was a very fun date. Especially since Jeff will be gone all week in California. We got to see a couple of freshmen players that looked really good. And of course, the most important thing we won!

Kittens on the Raymond Ranch

One of our cats had kittens that we found a couple of weeks ago. There are five of them and we have had so much fun playing with them. They are creatively named- Blacky, Tigery, Tigger, Fluffy, and Orangey. Not sure how two of them got normal names, but Tigery the Tiger cat is my favorite in the pic with Beck. Can you guess what Blacky and Orangey look like? It's been fun and good for the kids to have them to take care of. Thank heavens my parents are going to take a couple of them!

Erin and Cullen's Wedding

Last weekend my cousin, Erin Stafford married Cullen Mills. They met at North Texas where he was the quarterback and she was the president of her sorority. They are so sweet and make an amazing couple. The got married at the University Christian church on the UT campus and had a fabulous reception at Scholtz's Beer Garden. It was a wonderful night, wish I would have gotten a better picture of them! The first pic is of the Nelson crew- all of the family on my maternal grandmother's side. It was great to see everyone, and I'm so glad that we didn't scare Cullen off! Bristol enjoyed watching everyone and was obsessed with cups as always. Madalyn enjoyed playing with Brittany, Erin's niece and flower girl. It was definitely in my top 5 weddings ever.

Mason Garrett Larvin Arrives!

And now all of the babies are here! Mason Garrett arrived yesterday around 5 pm and weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long. Poor Kim had to have c-section but seemed to be in good spirits when we took them dinner last night. They also delivered at Seton Central and will be there a few days. It's always nice to add to the cousins list, and we definitley think he's a keeper.
The first picture is one of the quilt that my mom made for Mason, stepping in for Grandma Nell who made all of the grandkids quilts. Even me and Cody - her adopted grandkids. Kim with precious Mason, and one of Beck with new big brother Eric. Beck and Eric were born in the same hospital on January 15, 2004 just 3 hours apart.
Welcome to baby Mason, and congratulations to Danny and Kim!

Baby #2 - Mason Lynn Randolph

As I had posted some time ago, I had three really good friends that were all due within a couple of weeks of each other. Addison joined us on the 25th, and now on September 9th Mr. Mason joined us. He's the son of one of my friends from college Marjorie Harrigan, now Randolph after she married Rodney last May. She was a bridesmaid in our wedding and truly a dear friend. And look - he's totally precious as you can see, and the Randolph family is doing great. They are so sweet and totally happy - it's always so much fun to watch everyone go through this. Especially the first time! So, now we're just waiting on my cousin Kim who's scheduled on the 18th. More babies!!
Mason was 8 lbs 2 oz, 20.5 inches long and was born at Seton hospital (where all the Raymond babies made their appearance). He is the fourth generation of men in his family to have the name Lynn - it's all about tradition and family. Love it. Welcome Mason!!

Madalyn joins the Brownies

Madalyn has joined Brownie Girl Scout Troup #2283. We've been to one meeting and I got picked to be in charge of fall product sale - get ready to buy some nuts and some cookies in the spring. Our cousin Lea did a long stint in the GS, so I'm hoping she'll help keep me and Maddy on track. She'll earn 'try-it' patches for the front of her vest, and we get to buy the ones on the back. I couldn't help it though, I had to get the spanish one that had the burro pinata on it. Ah, it all comes back to the burro. =)

Fishing with Jeff

After the kids got to fish at Cody's skeet shoot, Jeff and the kids have had the fishing bug. Here they look like they've got a fish at the petting zoo. We've gone a couple of times at Cody's tank and have really enjoyed it. Beck is either totally interested or could care less, but really likes his new Cabella's fishing pole. This night Madalyn caught 6 fish and Beck caught 5 - go Team Raymond. (Note: this was the same day Labor Day weekend when we went to visit Addison. I promise that we do change clothes!)

More of Miss Addison

We waited a week and then took the whole Raymond Clan to meet Miss Addison. She is doing really well and is so beautiful. It was a quick visit, but we got to take some cute pics. Madalyn was even brave enough to hold her this time. I'm sure there will be lots more pictures of her to come!

Abbie's 8th Birthday

Madalyn's good friend Abbie turned 8 a couple of weeks ago. Here's a cute pic of the polka dot queens from her birthday party at Mamacita's in San Marcos.

Madalyn in 2nd Grade

And to cap off the weekend and get our week started right Madalyn began 2nd grade this morning. She's growing up so fast, its hard to believe. She's in Mrs. Ortega's class and very glad to be back with all of her friends. She had picked out her very special first day of school outfit, backpack and lunchbox. We're looking forward to a great year and are hopeful for another year of perfect attendance!

Busy Weekend 2

Right after basketball practice on Friday we got the call from my best friend since 7th grade, Nicole, that she was in labor and headed to the hospital. She had a beautiful baby girl, Addison Claire Reeves at 2:21 a.m. on August 25th. She was 20 inches long and 7 lbs. and 9 oz. It was so wonderful, and Nicole and Jimmy are doing well back at home. Addison is absolutely perfect and we're so excited to get to watch her grow up!

Busy Weekend

In true Raymond fashion it was craziness with the basketball games, Jeff's fantasy football draft, Cody's annual skeet shoot, the Bristol night race, we had a couple of other things going on- including Dad renting a bobcat and doing some serious work over at our house. It looks so much better, and after a day of hard work Mom, Dad, and Jeff made a ton of progress. This is Bristol and Dad playing on the bocat.

Last Basketball Games

After 6 funfilled weeks last Saturday, the 25th was the last week of games for basketball. The Mercury ended up with a 2-4 record and they don't keep score at the little kid's games. I recently heard the ex-UT Head Coach, Jody Conradt, speak at an event and it made me realize how much I love doing this and that it's the easiest and best community service I can do. It really was a lot of fun and I can't wait for the spring. The kids got really cool bobble head trophies (which Beck ripped off in about 30 seconds) it was very entertaining. You can tell how pleased he is by the huge smile on his face. And our favorite fan was there - Ella made it to the game to cheer Maddy on.
The guy in the pictures is Mike Blackwell and this is the second time we've teamed up to coach. His daughter, Abbie, and son, Miles, are the same age as Madalyn and Beck. Abbie and Maddy are in the Dual Language program together so we've paired up to coach the kiddoes and help each other out. The Blackwells are an awesome family and we're lucky to have them in our village.

Bristol's First Haircut

August 18th - If you have been around me at all, you know I've been dreading this day. But I finally gave in to Cody and Jeff's nagging and plaintive pleas as Bristol's hair was getting out of control. He had a serious comb over and the fun habit of rubbing his head on the car seat to that it became a fro in the back. So, at 18 months they went on a boy outing and took him to Mike's Barber shop on Main Street in Buda. It's old school and the only place we've taken Beck. There were no tears, he took no time at all and was obvisouly more ready than I was!
Here are the before, during and afters. Not to mention the best thing about a haircut at Mike's - a sucker when you're done.

Bastketball Win at the AT&T Center in San Antonio

One of the things that we like best about the Jr.WNBA League that Madalyn plays in is that we get to go to the AT&T Center and play on the same court as the Spurs. Then after the girls played we got to watch the Silver Stars play the Comets, Houston's WNBA team. It was really fun, especially since my cousins Lori and Sarah came with us.
The first one is a great court shot, then of me in action in the huddle, then the girls after our win - Madalyn, Reid, Devin, Abbie, Nicole, and Celie. And last but not least, on the Spurs bench. Those are some really nice chairs!

High School Musical Fever

For my birthday, Jeff bought me two tickets to the Zachary Scott Theater production of High School Musical. It was FABULOUS. Madalyn, my hot date, and I had a great time. She got autographs on her shirt from the whole cast and we took pictures here with Gabriela and Sharpay. So much fun!