Thanksgiving Update

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Barbara and I had a great Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day we spent most of the day at David's parents. Joe was there and Liz joined us for several hours before they headed back to Austin for Black Friday at Book People.

Friday we watched the A&M v. UT game at BW-3 in Midtown. As always, one of the teams Barbara and I root for won. Trips to Spec's (for Dave) and IKEA (for PastaNoodle) followed.

Saturday was filled with work on PastaNoodle's room, followed by a visit by the Houston Boyce's (e.g. Elissa) and Kerry.

Sunday, more work on painting inside and out. We went to the 5:30pm mass at Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral , which we soon plan to join. The Mass was celebrated by Archbishop DiNardo and was very interesting. He presided with his mitre and sang much of the Mass.

The Co-Cathedral is 1 of 2 official cathedrals for the Diocese of Galveston-Houston - the other is St. Mary's in Galveston. A new Sacred Heart Cathedral is under construction.

Misc. Pictures from November (and Maybe October):
Barley explores PastaNoodle's new Pack-N-Play (courtesy of Tad.)






Barley tests out sleeping in the Pack-N-Play








Elissa's First B-Day Cake!









Barley helping Barbara grow PastaNoodle.

Inexcusable Delay in Baby Shower Posts

Things have been busy in preparation for Pastanoodle.

On 11/4/06 the Carter's and Johnson's threw Pastanoodle's first baby shower. It was wonderful, and included a onesie (sp?) decorating contest and daddy's beer garden.

On 11/11/06 the Aggie Girls threw a Aggie Girls only baby shower, which was a scavenger hunt through College Station.

On 11/17/06 Joanne and Heather threw a girl's luncheon shower - the last but not the least!

Below are some teaser pics (as well as a pic of Jewels, Gillian and Abie - just because they are cute!)



Tiffany and Keri held a onesie decorating contest









Tiffany's mother stitched burp clothes to prepare the new sports fan












The Aggie girls made a bonfire out of rolled diapers, including the tea house on top






Yes, if Pastanoodle is a studious as his/her mother he/she will graduate from college in 2029. If he/she follows dad's course it will be 2031. Man, it is getting old not knowing the sex!









The Aggie girls were painstakingly fair when it came to UT/ATM paraphernalia. A good time to send out a reminder that we love all the ATM/UT stuff, but please no items making fun of one school or the other.





On election day the Pasta's, Johnson's and Carter's gathered to watch the early returns. The onesie below may indicate which side we leaned towards. It will be a long two years!

Ghosts of Halloween Past

For recent pics see posting below

Mackenzie







2003 - Mackenzie and freshly minted Abagail








The Gang circa 2004

Willowbend Halloween 2006

The Moms as the moms
Todd Johnson as Todd
David Pastalaniec as Retired Luke Skywalker
Madeline Carter as a Gypsy
Mackenzie Johnson as Kim Possible (yes, I had to look it up!)
Braden Carter as Superman
Abagail Johnson as Cinderella
Gillian as herself (but with illness)

On Halloween we trick or treated with the Carter's and Johnson's. (Dave's 5th year in a row, he thinks) (v. 10 years in a row to Beer Fest, hmmm.) Little Gillian was under the weather, but everyone else was in high spirits. Lots of fun, and candy, had by all. Afterwards the Johnson's served up some fine Italian Sausage and Peppers. And, yes, a light saber can double as a traffic control device.



Superman, Kim Possible, Gypsy and Cinderella
















Superman, Gillian and Gypsy












The moms (and mom to be!)

















Cinderella




















Clown and Cinderella













Gillian













Kim Possible and Cinderella


















Retired Luke Skywalker