Atlanta

A couple weeks ago Spencer, Will, Amy and I went to Atlanta to see the Broncos Falcons game. We were able to do this because Dad and Paige kindly bought this amazing package at a silent auction. The package included an Infinity for us to drive for the weekend - and all the way to ATL! (looong) - three nights and two rooms at the Ritz-Carlton and tickets to the game at the Georgia Dome. We had a really good time, and Amy and I discovered the most amazing coffee ever: the coffee at the Ritz-Carlton.

Below is all of us inside the Aquarium.


The boys in the stadium in their Falcons gear.


Picture of the field - Broncos have the ball which means Cutler is in.


All of us after the game.


The final score - on the flat screens in the bathrooms. Go Broncos!


The boys at the top of the Westin hotel at the Sun Dial - the revolving restaurant.

Congratulations Mom!

Congratulations Mom on becoming an American citizen today! Today at the Clinton Library my mother was naturalized! Since she moved here in January of 1973 she has been a legal alien. She never wanted to give up her Brasilian citizenship. But now, dual citizenship is offered and she can have both. So, after much hard work and some traveling to Memphis, my Mom is now a citizen of the United States - and is also able to maintain her citizenship in Brasil.

Congrats Mom!

Hogs-a-palooza

The first Little Rock Razorback game was this weekend and it was kicked off in true Hog style. Again, Dad had his tailgating spot, and again we all showed up to join in the fun. The game would have been a "good game" if it had been against an SEC rival and not Louisiana Monroe (huh?), but it was just a little ridiculous that it came down to literally the last minute as we scored and won by one point! I didn't go to the game, but Kim and I held down the forts just fine and had just as much fun. Plus, we got a new cooler out of it!

Will and me at our spot. It's always SO GREAT to see the boys. They're constantly growing and changing, but they're always sweet.


Mom and Morie came out and had a ball - even Mom! :-)


It's my version of My Two Dads. Dad is manning the grill of course, and Morie is keeping him company.


Spencer and me - and his big red hat he purchased for $6. Spencer saw Jermain Taylor again tailgating. Last year, he actually hung out with him for a little bit. Will and I have decided he's a JT magnet.


Kim and I watching over the place while everyone went to the game.

More of St. Croix

Like I said there are so many pictures of St. Croix I've added more below.

Spencer and I on the ferry in the bay in Christianstead going to K Island. A very small island (more of a big sandbar that fits a hotel and restaurant) in the bay. This is right after the boys got done with their deep sea fishing trip.


Will and I at the restaurant on the K.


The entire family minus Spencer (sad!) at the Cruzan Rum factory. We had a fun time learning how the rum is made. And a lot of fun sampling all the rum after the tour.


Below is the view of Cane Bay from the deck of our house. The little yellow boat you see is Dad and the boys diving "The Wall at Cane Bay." They call it The Wall because not far off the shore the ocean floor drops 13,000 feet - probably right where their boat is now where the water gets darker.


Here are Spencer and Will in first class on the way back home. Dad and Paige somehow got upgraded and gave their seats to the boys. They were cute when I walked by and took their picture. They were amazed they could have whatever they wanted for free - Will had two cups of coffee and three Cokes!

STX U.S.V.I.

There are so many pictures from St. Croix - 413 to be exact - so I will try to post the "most interesting ones." The entire (immediate) James family went at the beginning of July - me, Cole, Dad, Paige, Spencer, Will, Nanny and Sherry. We rented a house pretty much on the beach - it was actually up the hill (a 2 minute walk to the beach) which let us have a wonderful view of Cane Bay, which is located on the north shore of St. Croix. I never slept in past 9 and there was so much to do every day all day. Dad, of course, stayed the busiest of all of us while the rest of us enjoyed having full days and relaxing days. It was certainly a great time - thanks so much Dad and Paige!!

This is a picture of Dad and Nanny at the Off the Wall restaurant and bar that is on the beach down the hill from our house.


Dad and all the boys went deap sea fishing the second day we were there. This is them coming back from their eight hour trip into the bay at Christianstead. It's so beautiful there!


This is our family picture at the Rainbow Cafe - this restaurant/bar was located on the beach in Frederickstead. If we look like we're glistening a little - it's because it was hot. But hey, it's not so bad when you're on the beach in the Caribbean right? Right.


Spencer, Will and me at a stop during our jet ski tour around the island.


Cole and me during our jet ski tour. I love this picture - not because it's the most glamorous - but LOOK AT THAT WATER! The color of the water has nothing to do with the camera. That is how it looked. It was beyond amazing and I'd love to go back. Cole started calling it "his island" and still talks about moving there!

The Busiest Weekend Ever!

This weekend was one of the busiest but it was a lot of fun. Friday Mikey and I drove down to Little Rock and Spencer, Will and I went to eat at the Rumba Room downtown in the River Market. Below is a picture of Will and me - Spencer didn't want his picture taken. But that's okay, I haven't posted a picture of Will yet since he's always out of town! :-)


Saturday morning Mom, Morie, Joseph and I went to the airport and picked up my grandmother from Brasil - Vovo. That's Portuguese for grandmother. Below is a picture of Vovo and Morie with our Czech beer we were tasting. Both Mom and Morie and Dad and Paige are getting exchange students from the Czech Republic this fall. How exciting! Just what I need - more teenage boys in the house when I go home. Just kidding!


After I spent time with my family in Little Rock, I drove back to Fayetteville Saturday evening for Elise's birthday celebration - and ENGAGEMENT! Ricky proposed to her that afternoon and we double celebrated that night. Congratulations you two! Below is a picture of the two of us at Lulu's for her birthday dinner. It was very good - I loved the patio! One of the best in Fayetteville for sure. Patios are very important.


Then, Sunday morning Kate Jones and I drove back to Little Rock. After I spent more time with my grandmother, I drove down to Hot Springs to meet Cole and his family for his niece Bella's first birthday party! She was so cute and had a great time. Below is a picture of Bella and Cole. She's really loving her Uncle Cole and he adores her. They were really cute. The party was a lot of fun and the cake was so yummy - it was Dora-themed. After we rested, Cole and I drove back to Fayetteville that night. A lot of driving but I had a lot of fun this past weekend.

Here for the Beer!

Dad and his team - Here for the Beer - participated in the Memphis in May BBQ contest for the fourth time year and WON 3rd PLACE - again! Cole, Joe, Kim and I all went to Memphis to cheer on his team and also met Sarah P there. For those of you who don't know Sarah P, she was my roommate throughout college and is from West Memphis and her dad competes in BBQ Fest as well.

We had such a good time! We got there on Friday and hung out all evening and Saturday as well. Dad and his team submitted their ribs entry early Saturday afternoon. After that you wait for the judges's golf cart to come by - they only stop at the top three tents. As the golf cart was approaching our tent Dad refused to look and finally I started yelling at him "Dad, it's you. It's really you!" After the judges leave we had about 20 minutes to get our tent ready for the judges return to sample the ribs. We ended up winning 3rd place overall and tying for 2nd in the blind tasting. This is the second year Dad's team has won - in 2005 they won 3rd place overall and 1st in the blind tasting.

Below is a picture of Dad, Paige and I with our BBQ Fest neighbor at the Friday night party.

Cole, Kim, Joe, Sarah and I at Silky's on Beale Street Friday night.

Dad and I on Saturday waiting for the golf cart to come by!

Dad and his teammates in front of their "Here for the Beer" banner.

Uncle Mike flew into LR on Friday night and on Saturday he drove Nanny and her friend Patsy to Memphis to see Dad's team. Below is a picture of them leaving the tent on their chariot - or a golf cart.

The Original Blogging Family!

I haven't seen my cousins in a couple months - but we made up for lost time. I baby-sat all three BY MYSELF and we had a good time. But, as I was running around the house and eyeing the kitchen (that's where the food is!) I realized why some moms do loose hella-weight when they have kids! They a) do run all around the house after them AND b) there is no time for you to eat! You have to take care of them first! But still we had a lot of fun!

Below is a picture of the three of them on our walk - note Kate's leotard. Too cute! Abby and I counted caterpillars the whole time and Alex was an angel.

"At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards. My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros."

Congratulations to Cole! He graduated from the University of Arkansas on May 10th, 2008. (I'm a little late posting the blog because I had to get pictures from his family.) His degree is a Bachelor of Art in Journalism with an emphasis in Advertising and Public Relations. He's very interested in Public Relations and is pursuing a job in the Ad Agency world. But, if you catch wind that the Lakers (or Kobe or Bret Favre or Jay Cutler) are needing a PR person - let him know! :-)

It was such a fun weekend - and it was also Mother's Day weekend so we had almost our entire families up here. Cole's family came - complete with him Mom, Diddy, Dad, Grandpa, Nan, Trey, Jen, Bella and Uncle Gary. And, my mom made a visit as well. We had a very good time hosting them and having them here in Fayetteville with us.

Below is a picture of Cole and his Mom and Diddy.

Jen and Cole outside of Bud Walton.

Cole with Trey and Bella - who was on her best behavior!

Cole with his Nan and Uncle Gary.

Cole with Mom and me.

"Knockers Up!"

This is what my Nanny told me when I told her to smile for the picture! But we had a good time! I went to Little Rock this weekend and of course, we went to Nanny's house on Sunday and she cooked us the best lunch. We had lots of fun. And while we were there Dad, Spencer and Braxton (our cousin who lives in Oil Trough) picked up the BBQ Fest platform (he stores it at Nanny's) since BBQ Fest is in two weeks. See, Nanny is wearing her "HERE FOR THE BEER" shirt.

Below is a picture of Spencer and me at Nanny's. Will couldn't be her this weekend (SAD!) because he was at kayak school at the Mulberry River. He was learning to do "rolls" I think. I'm not sure, I'll have to ask him about it.

And Friday night Dad, Paige and I went to Grumpy's and had a good ole time. Below are a few funny pictures of us.