Christmas Letter 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Our 2010 Christmas Letter highlights some of God's blessings upon our family:

• Family is healthy and well!!!!! Definitely a great blessing!



• Ashley Graduated from Texas Tech!!!!!!! Raider Power!!!!!



• Randal and I are fortunate to work at jobs we feel called to and love. The people we work with are some of the best people ever.



• I am fortunate to work in a school system with awesome students, co-workers, and community support.



• FAMILY TIME has been big this year! We have been fortunate to see my parents several times, Mammaw Monkeyface twice, Danny's family twice, Greg twice and we even saw Clay Boy from California this year. We also have been blessed to see my Cousin Carolyn and her family and and Grayson's family too.



• We have cherished time with great friends, both old and new. Several of them stayed with us in what has been nicknamed the "Bailey Bed and Breakfast". Several friend trips transpired, such as the Valentines Weekend in Fort Worth and the "Girls" trip to Fredricksberg.



• Working with our church and feeding the homeless has been rewarding and humbling.



• Vacation time with Nana and Bert in Ruidosa, New Mexico was truly a blessing, and most of all relaxing. Especially the 60 minute massages. Randal and Ashley enjoyed the golf at the Inn of the Mountain Gods.

These are only a few blessings which God has provided for us in 2010. We look forward to the bounty of 2011. May you and yours be blessed with an incredible coming year.

Randal, Kelly and Ashley

Back to School Blues

The new school year, must be sub-consciously stressing me out! Randal and I went out to eat the other night, and when we were leaving I got in the Tahoe to leave. As I am waiting for Randal to get in I looked up and saw about six strangers just standing in front of the car staring at me. I was puzzled as to why they are pointing and looking at me with weird faces. Then all of a sudden, I got a whiff of leather.....leather seats. Instantly, it dawned on me that we don't have leather seats! Oh my gosh, I am in someone else's Tahoe! I quickly jumped out and ran to ours, apologizing the whole time, while they laughed, laughed, laughed, laughed....and while Randal laughed, laughed, laughed.......

I am an idiot!!!!!!!!!

Small Family Reunion at Mammaw Monkeyfaces

This last weekend, I traveled to Giddings, Texas for a small family reunion. It was nice to see my grandmother Mammaw Monkeyface and Auntie Madge, along with Mom, Dad, Danny, Mary Jane, Tracy, Trace, Aunt Cindy, Grayson, LaDonna, Justice, Libby, Aunt Gloria, Uncle Ben and of course the smallest, but sweetest.....Baby Kayden. Mammaw Monkeyfaces house was filled with lots of laughter. I am sure we wore her and Auntie Madge out. 8 month old Kayden kept us all entertained with his cute faces and giggles. We gave Libby a surprise birthday party. Both Justice and Libby are cute and smart girls, who have grown up so much since I saw them last. We wished everyone could have been there. We are hoping to have a Thanksgiving Reunion.

P.S. For those wondering: We call my grandmother Mammaw Monkeyface because my PaPa used to call us kids monkeyfaces when we were little. One day my daughter Ashley (about age 3) told him he was the monkeyface, and from that point on she referred to them as Papa and Mammaw Monkeyface. The name took and it is now the one all grandkids use for my grandmother.

Summer is zooming by! Basically, I have 3 weeks left until the new school year starts. People ask what have you done this summer? To be honest….I don’t think a whole lot. It seems the first two weeks of July we were on the road a lot.
One of those times, we took a small vacation to Ruidoso, New Mexico. We stayed 3 nights at the Inn of the Mountain Gods. Ashley and Randal played the course at the Inn. It is really a nice and beautiful course. Of course Ashley and I did some shopping in town! What could a trip be to Ruidoso without shopping in Midtown? A real treat we enjoyed was massages. Ashley, Nanna and I all splurged and each got a 55 minute massage. It was heaven!!!! Of course, no one can go to Ruidoso without eating at Casa Blanca. We ate there twice. Watch out for the green chilies. They were very hot! One of the favorite parts of vacation was the horse races. Every time we go to Ruidoso, we seem to miss the horse races, but this time they were there and we were there. It was a blast! I think I can do better at the races, then on the slots.
Enjoy summer it is fleeting!

Kelly

A Sweet Friend Refreshes the Soul. Proverbs 27:9

Summer is nice for many reasons. One reason is a given....NO SCHOOL!!!!! I love my job, but as all teachers will agree, we need our down time. It is healthier for us and for sure healthier for the kids. Just kidding. Another reason I love summer is it is a good time for visiting and catching up with friends. Last week was college orientation and several good friends brought their kids to town. Kiesha and Nancy N. came over one evening and we went to supper at Manna. We had lots and lots of laughs. Kiesha spent the night, which made the night even better. Next we had Nancy S. and Seth. They too came and stayed at the Bailey Bed and Breakfast. This made the week even better. I really did enjoy my time with Nancy. It was funny seeing her competitive nature surface. She had Randal in the backyard with his new golf toy, which helps correct your golf swing. In a few minutes, she became addicted and yearned for the perfect swing. That's Nancy.

This week I was blessed with another friend visit. This time it was my friend Tanya. She took Ashley and I to lunch in celebration of Ashley's graduation. She is so sweet and it was nice to see her sweet smile. Tanya and I used to walk almost every day. I miss those long walks and our long talks. I am excited because it looks like another friend get together is in the make for the weekend with several of the same friends and others. I also have plans with some new friends next week too.

When I think often of these above mentioned friends and others, both old and new that I hold dear to my heart, I think of this verse from Philippians, "I thank my God everytime I remember you!" Again, summer is great!

Summer Has Arrived!

School is out and the heat has arrived....It officially is summer! Other than a few medical appointments and grading my college online courses....I am pretty much free and loving every minute of summer. One of the best parts of summer is getting to visit and catch up with friends. Last week Althea invited Ashley and I along with a couple of other favorite friends (Abby and Baby Macy) to lunch in honor of Ashley's graduation. Thanks Althea for introducing us to such a quaint little restaurant called "Manna". It was wonderful! The food is so unique, but very very delicious!

Next week Nancy and Kiesha come to town to bring the kids to college orientation. We look forward to seeing them and having them stay with us. My sweet friend Tanya is coming the next week for a lunch date. Can't wait!!!!! God has blessed me with many wonderful people in my life, and those I have mentioned above are truly God sent blessings.

I ran across the saying, "What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about?" That is worth pondering! Until next time....keep enjoying summer!

It Has Been A Year

Wow! What a year! It is hard to believe we have been in Lubbock for almost one year. It has been a busy one with many changes! Randal has been busier than ever with his new position at SPEC. Working for a small 1A school has kept me wearing many different hats all year long. I taught both junior high and high school computer courses and the eleventh grade U.S. History. I helped coordinate Elementary and Junior High UIL, co-managed the Junior High and High School basketball concession stands and co-coordinated the Junior/Senior Prom. Everyone knows how fond I am of concession stand duty!!!!!!!! Along with all of this, I continued to teach part-time for a small college. God knew we all needed to keep busy this year to help us adjust to our new life. We have and continue to make new friends, but miss the old ones more than ever!

Ashley has had some big changes too! Last weekend she graduated from college! Ashley graduated with her Bachelors in Human Science in the field of Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Management. Randal and I were so proud to see her walk the isle for her diploma. These last four years have really gone fast! I remember how upset we were when she first left for college. We missed her so much! To help celebrate we had family in for the weekend: Ma, Nana, Bert, Tracy, Brody, Amanda and baby Kayden. Kayden is so sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our friend Sarah joined us for a fajita supper on graduation night. I will be adding some pictures from the graduation.

Girl Time

This last weekend was a girls weekend. The "girls" I am referring to are my mother, grandmother, great aunt, 2 aunts and niece. We all car pooled or met at my grandmothers house near the Austin area. Our weekend was filled with lots of laughter and fellowship. It was so nice to relive the past and tell stories on each other.

All I have to say... is if people think I am crazy, then they need to meet some of these ladies. They are hilariously funny! Some of them are also very musical! We found out that my aunt Cindy is a Lawrence Welks fan! It was discovered that 87-year-old Auntie Madge was a speed demon who liked to go at least 95 miles per hour. Did someone say "STOP!" at the STOP sign? All of this only makes sense if you had been there. Thanks ladies for the laughs and memories!