a whole slew of pictures

There's a whole slew of new pictures up on our gallery, including bunches of house pictures, Piper pictures, and the last batch of College Station photos.

We spent the weekend at the ranch in celebration of Uncle Mike's and Dad's birthdays (we split the difference between the two). In attendance: Mom and Dad, Uncle Mike and Eve, Carolyn, cousin Lisa, Eric and Miles, cousin Michael, and Matt and I. There was much food, fun, and lake time to be had by all. Miles was very well behaved. Carolyn made a fresh strawberry cake from scratch that was amazing. It was really nice to see Michael who was finally back from Dresden, and Miles was so much bigger and interesting than last we saw of him (three months vs three weeks brings quite a change). Matt and I enjoyed seeing Carolyn meet her great-grandchild for the first time (as well as Mom and Dad meeting their great-nephew). And we only rubbed it in a little that we'd met Miles before Michael did =P

We didn't have to hover around Miles and the Drehers too much though because we got them all to ourselves last night. They came back to Dallas and saw our house for the first time. We sat around the den and watched Miles and watched Piper watching Miles, grilled steaks, and had a merry but low-keyed time. They were our first over-night guests and it was very fun to host them.

The local nursery had a sale offering 50% off ALL plants this past weekend and I stocked up on Friday. I got bee balm, sage (2), oregano, basil (2), another coneflower, chives, ornamental peppers (2), sweet potato vine, dwarf bamboo (2) and a black elephant ear. In the process of planting I got extremely dirty and later muddy when it rained on me. I also got compost to make all my plants happy and used it to seed my own compost pile with good things as well. Speaking of my compost pile, the wandering jews (excuse me, "purple hearts") that I planted are extremely pleased with their home and are already starting to wander. *tear* they grow up so fast!

The other activity on Friday was a trip with Matt to IKEA in the god-forsaken land of Frisco. We proceeded to get almost everything on our list, including mirrors and rugs. And IKEA is always a great time. On the way back home we stopped at the Purple Cow diner/soda fountain for dinner and had real cherry cokes and they were amazing. I'd forgotten how fabulous the real thing was.

Tomorrow cousin Katie is coming to visit for a couple days! I don't know if she wants to do lots of stuff or just hang out and enjoy being away from home, but either way I think we'll have fun. And Piper always loves company! Speaking of that, I should get back to laundry - there are sheets to wash!