December Celebrations

December was a busy month for us. Not only were we out of town for Christmas and New Years, we were in Austin one weekend to celebrate the wedding of Kevin Wilson (Greg's cousin) and Paige Averitt and the next we were in Nacogdoches celebrating Linda's (Jennelle's sister) graduation from SFA.


The wedding was beautiful and we had lots of fun. It was great to see and catch up with family we had not seen in a long time. Unfortunately the wedding occured prior to us getting our new camera and therefore we have no photos! We know photos were taken by other family members so once we have those we'll edit this post :) Congrats to the newlyweds!


The graduation weekend was also fun. Again it was nice to spend time with family we had not seen in a while. The ceremony was as most graduation ceremonies are: long and not that exciting until your loved one is walking across the stage. Jennelle's dad's camera also has the majority of the family photos so again we'll update this post once we have those. We are very happy we were there to help celebrate this milestone :) Congrats Linda! We know you'll make a great teacher.


I guess you could say the highlight of our stay in Nacogdoches was seeing its nightlife. On Saturday night Linda took us to some of her favorite hang outs. We got to see what the heck college students did for fun in such a small town. We spent the majority of our evening at a bar called the Sports Shack (which was more like a dance club than a sport's bar) and got to meet lots of Linda's friends. We got to be the cool older siblings and treated them to shots and Flaming Dr. Peppers. I think we were a hit ;)

Lucie, Linda, Jennie, and Greg

Sisters :)

Bad form! The bar only served drinks in plastic cups but we attempted Flaming Dr. Pepper's anyway. Not the best idea for two reasons: 1) They wouldn't allow us to light them on fire due to it being in plastic cups and 2) a small plastic shot glass does not stay at the bottom like a glass one does. While everyone managed to handle that OK, Greg had some spillage issues.

Christmas Time Is Here...(as sung by the Peanuts)

There are no Scrooges in the Berger household! Feeling peer pressure from our neighbors, the Griswalds, we felt like we needed to show some Christmas spirit.

Just kidding...that's their house! We kept it simple and just wrapped a few trees in the front yard. For first timers, we think we did a pretty darn good job!

Happy Birthday Oreo

To celebrate Oreo's 2nd birthday we decided to go all out...we reserved the patio at Canyon Cafe, invited all her doggy friends, and served a three course meal to all the pups.


Just kidding! We actually attended an event hosted by The Humane Society of SA and Canyon Cafe called Paws on the Patio.


Dogs were treated to a three course meal, the proceeds benefiting the shelter. It was perfect timing with Oreo's birthday! She really enjoyed her birthday dinner as you can see from the photos. Each course was scarfed down in about 2.4 seconds.
















Though she was a little shy at first (can you believe it?!), Oreo also had lots of fun meeting other dogs, several of which were in Halloween costumes.

We be grillin'

On Saturday night we hosted a BBQ at our house. Greg grilled some yummy Teriyaki burgers and we all had a fun time just relaxing, sipping margaritas, and enjoying the cool weather. Oreo and Cooper (Lauren and Phil's dog) kept us entertained as well.

Little Miss Piggy

BEFORE / AFTER

Oreo and Jennelle matched the other day so we thought it would make a cute photo op.

First attempt, someone blinked ;)

Decided to try an outside shot with the new grill but that same someone wouldn't hold still and look at the camera.

Then that certain someone was more interested in chewing on their Nylabone then looking cute for a photo.

Finally a compromise and a sweet photo :)

Let me see your grill...you wanna see my wha?!

Greg decided to put the pile of bricks next to the house to good use by building a grill.

Although he had no previous masonry experience, it turned out really nice.

Oreo: "Where did my labor run off to???" / The finishing touches

Ta da! / Oreo's "stand" of approval










Inaugurating the grill

Berger Brew!

For Greg's birthday Jennelle got him a beer brewing kit. After collecting 60 bottles (luckily we received some donations) it was time to start brewing!

The beer is fermenting in the second bathroom tub.
Oreo enjoyed barking at it.

The beer is "sleeping" in the second bathroom linen closet. When we bought the house we just knew that second bathroom would come in handy someday!

The first bottle of Berger Home Brew!
Greg enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Weekend at Lake Livingson

For the Memorial Day weekend holiday we headed out to Jennelle's parents' lake house on Lake Livingston. It was a fun weekend filled with kayak rides, a game of Settlers, and of course naps.

Oreo making the most of being able to be on a couch.

Greg and Oreo both intently watching the ducks next door.
Like father, like daughter.

Oreo napping with her granddad.

GO SPURS GO!

If Oreo has a "9" on her back that can mean only one thing...the Spurs are in the NBA Finals and she wants to support her favorite point guard, Tony Parker :) Move over Eva!

(you have no idea what it took to get this done...let's just say it involved lots of peanut butter)





Oreo is not alone though in her support...the whole city is going crazy for the home team!

Happy Holidays

We would like to wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! As you can see we've been terrible about updating the blog lately...can you guess what our New Year's Resolution will be?