No More

we wont be blogging anymore. its boring and im just not really into it.

Whew! And now, we rest....

Boy, it has been an exciting couple of weeks. As everyone probably knows by now, our beloved Saints made it to and WON the SUPERBOWL!!!! It was so awesome and couldnt have happened to a better group of players or fans. It all started with that last fieldgoal kick in overtime against the Vikings. When Garrett Hartley made that kick it was like the whole state exploded. I actually got kinda dizzy and had to sit down on the floor. There were fireworks and screaming and cheering coming from every direction. Looking back on it, i think that one kick was more intense and exciting than anything that happened in the superbowl game itself.

Donny switched jobs again. He went back to the same company that was giving him the runaround a few months back. He's back at a plant he's worked before and seems to really like it. He gets home at a deicent time too, which is good for Justin. He was off for just a few days this time, but Justin really got used to having his daddy around. We took another river road trip, but the pictures turned out kinda dreary, since it's winter and everything is dead. I thought about that before we left, but I didn't know it would be as depressing as it was! i think we might re-do that leg of the trip come spring.

Feb. 5th marked the beginning of the Mardi Gras parades here in Houma. We always send Justin to his grandparents and go to Paco and Kasies for the Hercules parade, which is usually pretty wild. Not this year, it kinda sucked. They werent really throwing anything and they were rude and when we went downtown they were throwing thier trash and empties at us. Not cool. The following Sunday was SUPERBOWL SUNDAY!!! We took Justin to the parade that morning, along with our friends the Austins and Paco and Kasie. We went to the Austins after the parade and cooked and watched the game. Good times were had by all. Tuesday night the Saints parade was on TV and boy, that was something to see. They pulled that parade together so fast, it really was amazing. All the different krewes donated floats, including a train float that Sean Payton rode, waving the Lombardi Trophy the entire way. An estimated 800,000 people attended that parade, the largest number in the recorded history. Good times were had by all. The following Friday was the 2010 Olympics Opening Ceremony. Those ceremonies are always cool. Good times were had by all....well, except maybe for the Luge competitors. They lost a fellow athlete during pratice that morning. The worst part was NBC showing the accident over and over, even in slow motion. That was, in my opinion, in very poor taste. NBC has lost a lot of points with me over the past couple of months. I really only watch it now for the news. I get a kick out of WDSU's news anchors and reporters.

My folks drove down to visit the next day and we all went to the sunday morning parade. Again, good times were had. It was cold, and Justin got cranky but thats okay. It was too cold to attend the Monday night parade so we took the night off and got up early the next morning to get ready for Mardi Gras day. I always enjoy WDSU's coverage of everything that goes on in New Orleans and they did not fail me! They were already acting kooky before 9am. The ONeals went out to the street around 11, had a little trouble finding parking, but everything worked out. Good times were had by all.

And now its all over. Kind of a relief. We've still got a week of the Olympics left, but somehow I dont think that will really compare to everything thats been going on around here. Overall, its been a fantastic time.

HAPPY LOMBARDI GRAS!!!!

Spending time with Daddy (Feb. 2)

Depressing trees (Feb. 3)

Sitting on a buffalo at the Columb House

Hercules Parade (Feb. 5)

Greg, Donny, Paco

Reyna, Kasie, Carmen

Everyone was all ready for the Saints game!

Parade Superbowl Sunday (Feb. 7)

He didnt really get into the whole parade thing

Ready for the Superbowl!

Our Hosts

My friend Jamie had a baby somewhere in all that (Feb. 11), I made this blanket for her

Parents at the parade (Feb. 14)

Parading

My mom trying to catch stuff

Mardi Gras Day (Feb. 16)

He still was not that into the throws

Not amused at all

Someone was finished with the whole Mardi Gras thing

The Saints....

WON THE FREAKING SUPERBOWL!!!!!

HOLY SHIT!!!!! (WE ARE SO HAPPY!)

Have a Holly, Jolly, Techmas

So, another holiday season has passed and boy, did the O'Neals hit pay! We got some wonderful gifts from our wonderful families, we couldn't as for anything more. First, we were blessed to have two Christmas days instead of just one. One in Pierre Part, the night the Saints played the Cowboys (cry cry) and one in Petal, where we stayed for a few days. Donnys sisters went in together and got us (well, me really) a Kindle, an item I was not too familiar with. I had heard of it, but never really seen one except for that time at Chick-fil-a (which we have started going back to, BTW) when the lady behind me had one and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the heck she was doing. It's really cool. At first I was not sure I would be into it because I like to have the books up on shelves displayed around the house, but this little thing is really neat. I'm currently reading "The Second City Unscripted-Revolution and Revelation at the World-Famous Comedy Theatre" by Mike Thomas. Donny's parents got Justin a Fisher Price wii-like game, with a baseball bat, tennis racket and golf club that you swing at the TV. They got us a wii, with the Fit Plus, which is a lot of fun. I've gotten my expert bike course down to 8.1 miles! We watched the Saints game at Donnys sisters house, while Justin stayed across the street at his grandparents house, playing with his biggest gift of all-a huge triceratops that Donny's crazy sisters picked up somewhere. You can sit on it and feed it and it roars at you. It's wild. I have no idea where I am going to put it. It's currently in our dining room next to the tree. Donny and I also finally decided to upgrade our phones, since Donnys was 4 years old and looked like a house phone. I got a Sanyo and Donny got a Hero, the Sprint version of the iphone. It's pretty sweet. The next Wednesday we packed up the Mountaineer and took off for Mississippi. My sister and her fiance drove in from Ohio as well, getting in late that night, around midnight. We all went to Christmas Eve mass, then returned to the house for our traditional wine, cheese, and Peter, Paul and Mary. My aunt and uncle came to visit for a bit too. It was nice. After Justin went to bed "Santa" (aka Billy, Sara, and Donny) put his new bike together. When Justin came out the next morning he was not interested in the bike at all. He wanted to go back to the bedroom and watch the TV. I think everyone standing around staring at him kinda made him shy for a minute. He never really got interested in the whole Santa thing either. We didn't even get a picture this year 'cause he didn't want to go. Oh well. We all enjoyed opening presents, the O'Neals got a new printer from my folks! Yea, been needing that for ages. And my sister got us a little camera for our computer because she wanted to be able to talk to Justin on Skyping. We had the family dinner at our house, which was a lot of fun. I think there were about 25 folks there. We went to Kathys house later that night, then out to the End Zone, where we saw a bunch of folks, as usual. I even saw an old roommate that I had not seen or heard from in about 6 years. The next night we went out to Purvis to see the Lewis lights, which have yet to get old, despite going year after year. Overall, it was a great holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!!!

Our Tree

Justin opening presents in Pierre Part Justin on his dinosaur

Playing his video game Christmas Eve

Before Mass

My parents, Christmas Day

Yea, Christmas!

Not interested in the bike.

Opening presents

Me, Christmas morning

Us, Christmas Day

Riding his bike

The (almost) whole crew

The Lewis Lights

Merry Christmas!

Off to the Wild Blue Yonder

So, we had a wonderful trip to San Antonio for my brothers BMT (Basic Military Training) Graduation. Justin and I rode with my parents. The trip turned out to be a quick drive cause there were 3 of us driving. My sister flew in, as did Wesleys wife and step-daughter. I missed Donny. I won't be taking any more vacations without him. If we can't all go, then none of us will go! It's just not the same without him. Here are some pictures from our trip!

Waiting for Wesley to run by

Talking to a military guy The Odoms

Wesley and Julia

Wesley and Sara

Wesley and Reyna

Knitting Lessons

Proud Family Members!

Military Family!

A Happy Day

Justin and Julia

The Alamo

At the Alamo

Cool tree with cool Hotel (the Emily Morgan!) behind it

I wish I were Big

Trying to touch the Dolphins

My Dad, Justin, and a dolphin

Watching the dolphins

Watching the "Waterfalls"

Watching the Sea Lions

Katrina, the Gator

Justin and Nannie

Reyna and Shamu

Reyna and Allison

Justin and Nannie

Getting ready to leave :(

Bye, Uncle Wesley! We are very proud of you!