On March 7th we went to our first wedding of 2009.  My friend from work was married on a ranch in Magnolia.  We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the beautiful ceremony.  The reception took place in a red barn that had chandlers hanging from the ceiling.  It was very elegant and such a great night.  We are so excited for the Elberts and wish them many years of happiness!

On March 14th, we attended our second wedding of the year.  Katie’s older brother Adam was married in Austin on Lake Travis at an Art Museum.  Despite the cold weather, the wedding was breath taking.  They had a string quartet playing during cocktail hour and a fun blind jazz band playing during the reception.  It was our first wedding to attend with a live jazz band.  We had a great time hanging out with Katie, Justin, and Heidi.

Spring break had ended for us and I had to return to school on March 16th.  It was so nice to have a break from school and I was very refreshed and ready to teach again on Monday.  The week went by very fast and we had many visitors come and go.  Hollis’ mom and sister stopped by the house on Monday night.  They had been up in north Texas looking at colleges for Teresa.  It was great to be able to see them and visit with them about the college they were interested in.  On Wednesday night, Conner, Hailey, Jennifer (my sister-in-law), and my mom came to see our house and go to the zoo.  We were able to open Conner’s birthday gifts on Wednesday night and eat brownie cake.  On Thursday we woke up and went to the Houston Zoo.  We had a great time visiting the different attractions and were exhausted by the end of the day!   It was so great that Haliey and Conner were able to visit and hang out.   Rex and Touche’ were sad to see the kids leave, Rex finally had someone that would chase him around all day long!

This weekend we will have another house full of people!  We are looking forward to another fun and exciting weekend! 

Hollis and I found out a month ago that my sister-in-law and brother are pregnant with their third child.  They went to the doctor yesterday and had their first sonogram!  They told my niece and nephew, Conner and Hailey, about their new brother or sister last night.  Conner is hoping for a baby brother and Haily is now hoping for a baby sister.  They were able to look at the sonogram and see the baby who is about an inch long.  The kids are very excited and Hailey is singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” to her new sibling.  We can’t wait to meet the little one on October 19th! 

Here is the upload of pictures taken on the Vegas trip from my iPhone (which will explain the picture quality).

For more pictures (Jessica’s Album), please visit…

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2694376&id=8308156&l=599e2

Somewhere in the Nevada Desert

Blue Man Group Display…

Heads Up Poker Championship…

Big Slot Machine at Bally’s…

Eiffel Tower outside of “Paris”…

Bellagio Fountains at Night…

View of the strip from the Rio…

Thrilled to be headed back to Houston…

I picked the seat with the most foot room…

It was about the only luck I had on the trip…

Until next year?

They say all good things must come to an end, and that’s what happened today when we left Las Vegas. It was a great trip, and I think everyone left wishing they had just a couple more days to hang out at our favorite casinos.

The four of us arrived early Sunday and were able to see most of our sight seeing in before noon. Being Justin and Katie’s first Vegas trip, we had to show them the extravagent Vegas hotels and casinos. We even stumbled upon a live taping of a heads up poker tournament at Caesar’s casino where I was promptly pushed out of the aisle where I was observing to make way for world-famous poker superstar, Sammy Farha. This was our third trip to Vegas, and our second time to see a poker star. (Doyle Brunson on trip #1).

After we were able to see almost everything we wanted to see, we hit the tables. The Abshires took an early lead on the gambling front during the first session of “let it “ride” before we even checked into the hotel. From that point on, our new gambling friends never looked back, as it was clear that they would be the trip’s winner. Jessica and I tried to catch them over the last 24 hours on the trip, but our lucrative 4.5 hour black jack session was too little too late.

Other highlights from the trip include a late night/early morning poker session, a couple yard long drinks for the girls, tipping dealers to pay for their daughter’s education, making fun of all the weird Vegas tourists, meeting Sam Driver for a few last minute Bacarrah (sp?) tips, and generally having a great time with our friends.

As soon as the plane took off, I began to miss Vegas. I can’t wait to come back again. Maybe you can join us.

We each sat down with $100 at the “let it ride” table. I turned mine into $40. Justin turned his into $589… Early lead to Justin