Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Pam's Wedding Pictures!

I just uploaded about 40 pictures of Pam and Ches' wedding to facebook. I think this public link will work if you don't have a facebook account.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2792011&id=8365610&l=90ecf82832

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Fireflies!!

Guess what I saw today?? Fireflies! Well, we actually saw them Monday night, but I saw them again tonight. There is a hidden away park (well it's really a parking lot) that we like to go to and let the dogs run around. Cyrus and I usually throw sticks, play catch, or whatever. Its like a little piece of nature right in the middle of Fort Worth. Anyway, Monday night as it got dark, we caught a glimpse of a firefly, and then we realized there were a bunch of them.

We both realized we hadn't seen fireflies in many many years. It reminded me of when I was little and we would go out to my Grandma Sicking's farm in Muenster every Friday to take care of her when she was sick. But even before that, we would go visit and sometimes spend the night. Night time on a farm in the country is about the most amazing thing in the world. In addition to fireflies there are all the smells of "farm" life (hay, horses, cows, dirt, fresh air). We would wait until dark, then go out and hunt for fireflies. They are easy to catch. We would catch them in a jar, poke holes in the top for "air" and sleep with the jar in our room that night. We literally used them in place of a nightlight! Cyrus said he did the same thing when he was younger on his grandparents' farm. Life was so good back then!

Here is a pic of a small piece of the park - it's so wide open.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Them are some real cowboys!

We recently celebrated our 1 year anniversary of the opening of our Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store! We opened our doors on May 16th, 2008. We're still hanging in there and business is beginning to pick up.

Taylor thought the best way to celebrate the year was to cook out some steaks at the farm. We all thought that would also be a good opportunity for all the girls (including me) to see what life on the farm is really like. It was really muddy that day, but we got the job done.

You start out by getting the big cows in the chute. Then you can doctor them with stuff like Katie and Cyrus are doing.














Then you get the branding iron ready - thanks, Jen!














Katie operated the side of the table to squeeze the calves in when you get them in the table. Taylor did the branding (see the smoke!).














Jen held the nose pinchers while Taylor tagged the ear.














And then...the poor little calf is too small for the table. So you have to do it the old fashioned way....which is... put a rope around its neck, let the calf out of the table, and Taylor and Cyrus run after it and get it on the ground and tie it up!!














More branding. Awesome cowboy shot!














Taylor's favorite baby, Bandit. Isn't he cute?














Here are the chocolatiers / cowboys - Cyrus, Taylor, Katie, and Jen. I'm taking the picture, and Erin is also missing (somebody had to run the store that day!).

Saturday, May 30, 2009

The Spazmatics!!

Yes, they are as funny as they look. We went to see the Spazmatics last night in downtown Fort Worth. The place was packed because these guys have a good reputation. They played every hit 80's song and put on a hilarious show! I would definitely recommend seeing them if you get the chance. Even Cyrus couldn't help but sing and dance. Thanks for the invite Olivia!


Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Wedding Bells

Here is my mom making my sister's bird cage veil!! It's a tradition (she made my veil). Maybe I'll get some wedding pictures up soon. A BEAUTIFUL bride, a handsome groom, a lovely ceremony which beat the rain, and a crazy, loud reception to follow!!



Here is groom Ches mowing the lawn for probably the 15th time. We had a lot of cleaning to do at the ranch!


Here is the barn we cleaned. It took forever but looks awesome now! That's Pam and their friend Dave moving wood.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Crawfish, Baby!

My dad's lumberyard (Joe Walter Lumber Co.) hosted its 3rd Annual Crawfish Boil last Friday night. It was very casual, the weather felt WONDERFUL, and there was lots of food and beer -- my kind of party!

It was funny because Cyrus couldn't make it (selling chocolate) and Pamela couldn't make it (in another country) so lots of people were confused thinking I was Pam, or Ches was Cyrus, or that we (whoever we were) were getting married soon! Don't worry, Cyrus and I are still very happily married!


I managed to snag a photo of Pam's "soon-to-be" (in 11 days!) playing with his food! Here's Ches:


Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Pam Getting Married!!

I know this is late, but my sister Pam is getting married in 19 days! We've known for a while, but now its on the internet! hehe. We gladly welcome Ches to the family!

Back in February I threw a surprise, Texas-themed engagement party for them. They chose not to have showers, but a party is always a good idea. It was in Gainesville, and we had a great turn-out. It only would have been better if Pam wasn't sick that entire day -- we had to lure her out of the house and get her to come!

The cute couple!


Texas Cake & Guests


Celebration Pose

Monday, March 30, 2009

China Pictures (Round 1 of 2)

See if this link works to look at pictures! http://s570.photobucket.com/albums/ss143/lisavestal1/China%20March%202009%201%20of%202/

Highlights:

(not China) Tokyo - Shibuya District


Big Budda (Hong Kong)




Typical Chinese Facade on the Street



Typical Chinese Lunch - Lazy Susan of Goose, Chicken Feet, Mussels, etc.


Cyrus at Vtech Factory Show Room (Wall-ee)


Round 2 will be posted this week!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

We're Back!

China was amazing to see. It is definitely a different culture, and I'm glad we got to see it. We started off with a 1 day layover in Tokyo, and then "China" started with Hong Kong. After a couple of days, we crossed the border into China and visited factories, local restaurants, and malls of Schenzen, Dongguan, and Gaungzhou. We visited a furniture company, Valspar, V-tech, a toy company, small kitchen appliances company, and a gas appliance company. We took a 2 hour train back to Hong Kong where we visited the Hong Kong Science park which helps new technology ideas get started into businesses. We took a ferry to Macau island which is a huge gambling city (just like Vegas). All in all, we did a few touristy things - we took a Gondola ride up to a Big Budda statue on a mountain, visisted many markets and shops, walked along Hong Kong's "Avenue of the Stars" (Chinese stars that is), saw the laser show, and stayed in fancy hotels (for cheap). But the best part was the amount of non-touristy things we got to do - spend a whole day with South China University students, local restaurants, Science Park, universities, manufacturing facility tours, and driving through the streets of non-metropolitan China. It was a really great trip, but we are glad to be home!

Pictures will follow. I could only upload 250 at a time, so this is the first batch. It's late, so I'll load the second batch another day. I know there's a lot...maybe you can scan. I tried to put descriptions on some so you know what you're looking at. Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Off to China!

This will be a non-value added post again. However, we are getting ready to leave the country for a bit. Going to Tokyo, Hong Kong, and China! Be back end of March. The blog will be a good place to load pictures for everyone to see when we get back. Hopefully that will be the jumpstart to keep me updating more regularly.

There is no other news. Cyrus continues to keep the chocolate store running smoothly. He has really become an excellent little entreprenuer and store manager! We still have two employees, plus my sister-in-law, Erin. We are assuming an "intern" for the next few months that wants to learn about chocolate and cooking, with an intent to "hire" when summer comes. She seems very excited about learning! We will lose Jen in the fall to college. I continue to struggle keeping up with the accounting (Quickbooks) and it's killing me!

As for me, I am still in school (MBA at TCU) which is the main reason for lack of blogging. I will take two tests the week of May 5, take a 3-week ethics course, then a 1-weekend simulation course..........AND...........THEN..............BE.................DONE. I expect to throw some kind of huge party when that happens (end of June). I am pumped about getting back some free time!

Okay, time to finish work then pack. Zàijiàn (Goodbye) for now!