Baby Its Cold Outside

When we moved to Castroville, I was reminded of how hot it was going to be down here ALL YEAR LONG. Over the years, I might have complained about the weather and on an occasion even wished it would just cool down. But we in the Lowe family are all praying that this cold weather would just go away and bring back the heat.

Christmas 2009

What a wonderful Christmas we had. This was Ava's 2nd Christmas but the first one that she could truly enjoy! We are blessed with so much, but most of all we have a wonderful family. I thank God each day for the joys that he has bestoyed upon us and look forward to many years of memories.

This entry will be full of pictures and not words (I can't believe that I could even do this) but I think I can capture all of the Christmas festivities in photos much better.

Ava was not the only baby at the Lowe Family Christmas. It is so great that Connor is here now but I don't know if Ava has quite accepted that she is not the center of attention, though.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Let's get to these presents....

Sweet Connor with T, Aunt Pat, and Aunt Pam

Merry Christmas Ahma!

Another shot of the duo with their Great Aunts

Oh wow, the red wagons. Our first of many Christmas "projects" from Pancho and T

Thank goodness Tio and Chris put together Connor's wagon. It took us about 2 weeks to finally get to ours.

Christmas #1 was just too exciting for Pancho and Ava

I love this picture of Bubby, Ava, and me!

KK and her little kids

Ava got to take part in Will's first deer! Very exciting.

The family shot over Christmas out at the Ranch

Christmas #2 was full of kids, cameras, powertools, and most of all family

Ava's best bud!

Christmas at the Ranch would not be the same without the trivia game. I do believe that team Katy, Greg, Bill, and Ashley were the winners!!!

I like this tradition of boots for Christmas

Hey Will, Merry Christmas

Christmas #3 and Daddy got some new boots too. I think I am as excited as he was about this!

We love our bunny Aunt Jeanne

Nothing is better than clothes!!!

Finally, she got this present opening down!

Thank you T-Ray for the ball shooting, music singing, toy o'fun. It is great exercise chasing after all the balls.

I guess all the rules go out the window when Grandma and Grandpa are in town.

Happy 2010!

Thanksgiving and Birthday all in one month

I have a feeling November will always be a very busy time for us. Hunting season is in full force thus the store is humming, Ava celebrates her birthday on November 17th, and then Thanksgiving is right around the corner. This year, we had a very eventful November and I think the theme of this month was party.

We started the birthday celebration on the coast with Pancho, T, Uncle Harley and Aunt Pat, and Uncle Don and Aunt Pam. Our dear friends the Wilsons came down with us for the festivities. Pancho and T have a beautiful home in Rockport that has a great dock to fish off of. While I don't think it is a norm, I successfully caught my first salt water fish and it was a RedFish. Needless to say, Adam spent the rest of the night fishing for something that could beat me, but alas, he never did.

The Infamous Red Fish

The second birthday was in Castroville with KK. We went to a great steak house and then back to the house for a banana pudding cake. If you have ever been around Ava you will know that bananas are her favorite and when you add them with vanilla wafers.....oh boy you have made her day!

Ava spent a few days at home with KK and was not excited at all to return to the daycare. But when she walked into her class and saw the balloons and the cupcakes and presents her mood quickly changed. We are truly blessed to have the sweetest daycare that Ava attends.

Finally, the 4th Birthday, yes 4th Birthday was spent in Spearman with Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle T-Bill and Aunt Rosie, and Uncle T-Ray. Not only did we have cake at this birthday, we had a green jello salad and lasagna. Life could not get any better.......until a fancy pink four wheeler came around the corner.

Ava is not only walking, she is driving.

The bad news is she takes after her mother. She drives as fast as she can into every wall in the house and then just keeps on driving until you turn her around so she can do it again. Good thing we have insurance.

I don't know where she gets this, hopping onto her car prepared to make a phone call....

All in all November was wonderful and it was nice to go home and see my family and good friends Jenn and Lindsey and their kids. We are truly blessed! I know Christmas will be just as fun and cannot wait to celebrate every moment.

Happy Halloween

This year for Halloween we decided to paint pumpkins - well at least one pumpkin. It was so much fun but a bit of a mess.





I also had every intention of finding the perfect Halloween costume for Ava, but it ended up that we went to Austin for Halloween and had a pretty full agenda. Trick or treating was not in the cards this year, but I am sure she will not let us miss another Halloween full of sugary goodness.

We did, however, have enough outfits to last almost every day of the Halloween Week....

A Few Trips in September and October

Well ,the past two months have been a whirlwind. Between work and Ava, life just does not stop no matter how much I wish it would. I was looking through my camera at the photos and videos and truly cannot remember where the time has been.

We did have two very fun trips over the past two months. One was a trip to Spearman and the other was a trip to Concan. Just a little recap on our travels:


A Trip To Spearman
Jenn, Jeran, Ava and I took a trip up to Spearman the first week in September to visit Kasey and Blake and Lindsay and Bentley. Oh what fun we had playing with the horses and the tractors and of course catching up on lost times. IT HAD BEEN FOUR YEARS SINCE WE HAD ALL BEEN TOGETHER.

Jenn and Jeran on the Tractor

Ava just stood in front of the tractor. There was no way she was going to attempt sharing the tractor with Farmer Jeran!

The whole crew for a shot on the couch. It didn't work that well but at least it will be something to remember the trip by.
Introducing Mr. Blake Butts!


Ava and Jeran saying good bye to Spearman. Little did I know what was in store for us the rest of September. We successfully caught almost every type of flu imaginable. We dodged the H1N1 but caught the stomach bug (evidence was left in the isle of the Southwest Plane) and then it was just downhill from there. Thank God for immunity and I am glad we are done with that fun.


A Trip to the Frio River:
We also took a trip to Concan in October. Concan is a sweet little place nestled between Hondo and Uvalde on the Frio River. It has a beautiful golf course, wonderful people, and most of all great atmosphere, oh and did I mention cell phone service is minimal. IT IS THE BEST.


Ava loved watching the fish in the river but hated the fact that it was a little to cold to play in it. I tried to take a few pictures of Ava by the river and I am sure you all can imagine how well that went, but just in case, let me narrate -


Ava saw all of the rocks stuck in the mud and felt it very important that she check them out.




So after much work she pries a rock out of the mud, checks it out from a distance,

........and then (and there is no photo because I am screaming no...so you can guess) she sticks it in her mouth.........

So, after we get the rock out of her mouth, she decides to offer a taste of the rock to me....do you see the mud smeared on her cheek..... Just an absolute mess.