We want to wish each of you a safe holiday full of joy and laughter and a bright and prosperous 2008.  
     
January New Year's Eve found us in the middle of a murder. Honest!!  Ok, I admit it was a murder mystery evening (and we paid good money to be there) and I'll even admit that if it had been a real investigation and I was a real detective, the crime would still be unsolved. 

My work shut down for 3 days because there was ice on the roads!!!  (Note it was a LITTLE ice but see numerous comments below regarding moving south.)

  
     
  January 30th brought us our first grandchild. Natalie Lynn Frizzell was born to our son Jamie and his wife Luchi in Bogota Colombia. She is (of course) beautiful.  
     
February I traveled to Bogota and spent a week rocking the baby and enjoying my new role as "Grammy" - or whatever she decides to call me. Mick (Gramps) is anxious to meet her, even if the first word we heard her say was Aggie.  
     
March In March we went to Vegas with my nephew Colby for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. We enjoyed showing him around and educating him on how to properly donate money to the casino.  We did enjoy watching a ton of basketball and drinking Cadillac Margaritas.  
     
April Along with Mick's brother Jim and his wife Judy we flew to Buffalo, New York and drove over to Niagara Falls for a long weekend. The falls were nothing short of inspiring and amazing. We crossed over into Canada and for all of his teasing, Jim did manage to bring Judy back across the border.

This is a great weekend getaway and we can't begin to describe the sheer volume or power of the Falls.

 
     
  We also added a deck to the back of our house in April and planted 3 palm trees. I think that was when we realized just how far south we had moved.  
     
May We made the trip back to the Lubbock area to check on family and friends.  Paulette had a new hairstyle after her brain surgery but was doing great.  
     
June In June, according to some folks we reverted to our youth. Micky twisted my arm and forced me to buy a convertible. We found ourselves going to McDonalds to get an ice cream cone, but we went to the one way across town.  McKito (the dog) loves riding with the top down. After a few cases of sunburn (we have moved south) we learned to carry sunscreen and wear hats in the car.   
     
  Bill and Dixie (Mick's sister and brother-in-law) came down for a long weekend. Jim and Judy joined us and we had a great visit and did a lot of reminiscing and catching up.  
     
July We left July 4th and spent nearly a week on the beach of the Mayan Riviera (south of Cancun). I should say we lolled away the days. We didn't realize how little we did until we started looking at the photos and wondered why we didn't have more.  Then it dawned on us, you don't take pictures while you are napping on the beach.

Mick's parents celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary on July 7th. 

 
     
August August was a hot reminder of just how far south we had moved and the humidity and heat kept us indoors. We made another trip to the Lubbock area and spent a few nights with Paulette and checked on our parents.

My parents celebrated their 61st anniversary on August 1.

 
     
September This was a tough month for Mick. Tech football opened in Lubbock and his boss retired with about 15 minutes notice. We had known he was eligible and was thinking about it, but one Friday he said, "this is it" as he walked out the door.

To relieve the stress and to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary we traveled to Kinder, Louisiana to donate some money to the gambling association and eat fried alligator.  Just one more way we know we have relocated south - fried alligator is now one of my favorite foods.

 
     
October October was a great month!!

Casey and Lori announced that they were expecting our 2nd grandbaby (due in May).  

Micky was selected for the position of Conservation Chief (the one his boss vacated). It is a very prestigious position, there are only 5 in the state of Texas.

AND Tech beat A&M.

I finally got our web site finished (www.texasbeachbums) and it already needs updating.

  
     
November We ventured southeast for a week on the beach in Punta Cana with our friends from Canada. We taught our friends to talk like Texans - Tamara said she had never realized that bullshit was actually a 4 syllable word.  And they taught us to toast in Russian-  Dai bozha (die [as in to die] bo-zhe, zh = second g in garage) meaning God's gifts.

We spent a lot of time playing in the surf. Mick was thrilled until he looked at the map and realized we were on the same island at Haiti. The beach was beautiful and we enjoyed seeing a new part of the world. 

 

  
     
December We headed to Shreveport to watch the Red Raiders play basketball the first weekend and made a donation at the casino. We will be traveling to Austin for Christmas with Casey and Lori and then to the Lubbock area to spend the holidays with our friends and families. New Year's Eve will find us in Kinder for fried alligator, slot machines and football.  
     
Our Parents Tom and Julie are maintaining. Tom will be 91 in December and Julie (at 82) is his primary caregiver. They enjoyed the summer but are dreading the cold weather ahead.  Faye's (my mother) cancer is in complete remission. J.L. (my dad) turned 80 this year.  He had a stint put in his heart and will have another hip replacement in December. They too are not looking forward to winter, other than all the Silverton Owl basketball games they can attend.  
     
Our Kids Jamie is still teaching English and Luchi remains in her position (comparable to bank president in the states) at the bank. Natalie is busy and loves to talk on the phone and dance. Jamie is working hard to make sure she understands football. Thank goodness for the internet and today's technology. Courtesy of youtube we know she likes to bang on tables and lick windows.

Casey's business is thriving and growing. They just bought new office space and relocated their business.  Lori's job recently took her to Boston for meetings and Casey went with her. Poor Kaiser (the dog) has no clue how his world will be rocked in May when the baby arrives. Lori is doing great and she and Casey are opting to wait until birth to know the gender. I am having no problem finding the coolest of baby things that are not gender specific.

Bethany is a sophomore at Corpus A&M and loves college life. She will be taking her first communication (her major) course next spring and she is finally getting excited about classes. She plans to finish her degree so she never has to wait tables again. For her 2007 meant her first apartment, her first fishing trip (and she caught one) and learning to skeet shoot.

  
     
Then there's us . . . . Well, Micky has the big corner office, we have one new grandbaby and one on the way and we have palm trees in our back yard. 2007 has truly blessed our life.  
     
2008 We know we will be traveling as we head to Vegas in January.  In April we are taking a cruise with Jim and Judy who will be celebrating their 40th anniversary. Micky is confident I will find somewhere to go in the fall.  Our new grandbaby will arrive sometime in May and Natalie hopes to visit Texas in July and meet her Gramps and her great-grandparents and of course her brand new cousin.

We enjoy the area and really appreciate being 5 minutes from work, for the first time in our married lives we actually come home and eat lunch together. 

You are all invited to come and visit. We will even let you choose - you can share a bed with the dog or with the cat.