Uchi BDay Dinner

Another year and another great birthday celebration!!!  We moved here almost a year ago and ever since I've been dying to check out one of the most talked about restaurants in town, Uchi!  Shaun suprised me with a bday dinner there and boy was it spectacular!!!  Once of our best restaurant experiences to date; amazing food, service, and ambiance! 

Saratoga Springs

I traveled to Saratoga Springs for the weekend wanting to hate it but loved it!  If we can't have the Richards in Austin at least they've found an amazing new town to call home ;)  It didn't take but 30 minutes to fall in love with this town; it has a charming downtown area, horse track and memorabilia everywhere, a gorgeous lake, and a beautiful park lined with tall pine trees on the long drive in.  It really is picturesque! 

The weekend flew by but Sara and Eric were the best hosts!  They took me on a driving tour of town, beautiful homes, and a circle around the lake.  We also enjoyed girl time at the spa and adult time out on the town.  But my favoriate part was being reunited with Alli again!  We enjoyed a day at the mall to meet Santa and see Happy Feet2.  Then I got to join Alli for her first ice skating experience, it felt like mine too as I haven't skated in ages.  I really miss getting to share in all these fun activities with her, she puts such a big smile on my face! 

Pfall Pfest

As the reigning Czech Chili Champion, Shaun has been anxiously awaiting the annual Chili Cookoff in Pflugerville since we moved here.  We were tempted to enter but weren't sure of how things operated so decided to use this year just for recon.  We got to taste more than our fair share of Chili, fired off a few rounds of paintball, enjoyed the miniture ponies, and danced in the streets.  Pflugerville has no shortage of Pfun!  We are now prepped and ready for next year's Pfall Pfest and hope to be going home with a Chili Cookoff Trophy!

Haunted House

Each year we slowly get more and more into Halloween.  We've always loved the holiday and the fun costume parties it brings but now we need to make sure our house is just as decked out as we are!  This was our rookie year so we started out simple with tombstones, hay bails, spookey music and spiders but boy did we take some mental notes for next year from our neighbors.

Not So Scary Scarecrow

Cali in her Skeleton Costume

Cali Handing Out Candy

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Catherine and I started this tradition when we lived in California and I'm happy to report this is a tradition that will never die! Maybe it's because I love Halloween, maybe it's because I'm a little competitive, but regardless it always leads to a good time. At least that's what I think as the reigning Champion ;)

San Diego & Seattle

I love that my company is headquarterd out of San Diego, not only because I love Southern California but it also gives me so much more quality time with the Bennetts! Shaun flew out to meet me for the weekend, on his way to Seattle, so we could celerate all the September/October birthdays! Reagan and Harper got showered with gifts and a trip to the Zoo while Phil and Shaun got spoiled with a round of golf at Torrey Pines. I think all our birthday boys and girls were pleased ;)





As if Torrey Pines wasn't enough, Shaun then flew onto Seattle to enjoy coffee tastings and smoozing with the big wigs!

Frequent Flyer

We need to start a rapid rewards program for our house because Meredith should be getting points for all her visits to Austin! We love having her visit so much, it really helps prevent us from getting homesick ;)

She traveled into town expecting a nice fall weekend but it's still summer here. We spent the first day floating in Lake Pflugerville and then headed downtown to check out the Mean Eyed Cat. Then day two we headed out to a swimming hole, Krause Springs, and enjoyed another relaxing day along the water. Our whole weekend revolved around water, music and sports. VT and the Browns dominated some of Saturday and Sunday but we enjoyed some live music outdoors on Sunday in SoCo. We just stumbled across this outdoor pavillion under huge oak trees and feel in love with Austin just a little bit more. Now you understand why Meredith keeps coming back!