A Birthday Surprise

Mark and I have birthdays only 4 days apart so it's always a party week! This year we both turned 25....

Okay, not really, but isn't this a cool cake? For Mark's birthday we kidnapped him from work and took him to a park for lunch.

Then we went Frisbee golfing that night. The course we went to had a ravine going through it so of course we had to rescue one of our Frisbees that got pulled in. We had fun making up our own rules for the course.

I had to throw this in... Adriana's hair is getting long so we try to put little clips or bands in it, but she likes to take them out. :)

For my birthday Mark surprised me by flying my sister Emily down for a few days! I'm sure my face would have been great on film when I answered the door to see her standing there! Mark really got me this year. Her daughter, Kathryn, is 6 months younger than Adriana so they always have fun too.

We enjoyed hanging out and also saw a few things in Dallas. 

We went to the Dallas Arboretum which was awesome and all in bloom. The girls fell asleep on the way there, but enjoyed all the flowers and water fountains once we got there.

This is pretty close to downtown Dallas as you can see in the distance. This is White Rock Lake.

The flowers were all so beautiful. I loved the colors of these ones.

Adriana had lots of fun giving hugs and kisses to Kathryn.

We sure miss them, but it was fun to have some time together! Thanks Mark for making it such a great birthday!!!! And thanks Emily for coming and hanging out with us for a little while, we loved it!



Here is a little video of the endless hugs Kathryn got while they were here.

THE TANNER ADVENTURES OF 2008+

Here's an overall update of what we've been up to. We emailed it out and decided to journal it up too.

Since our last letter (16 months ago, but who’s counting?) nothing has changed,
really . . . well . . . except for a few little things. Here's the rundown:

We had a baby (a very cute one, I might add) named Adriana Rachel. Adriana is a Mexican name. We thought that was very appropriate since she is Mexican. (She was born in Mexico and, therefore, has dual citizenship.) Our little Mexican was born on March 24 at 11:44 pm weighing 9 lbs. and 21 inches long. She is our pride and joy.

Sarah learned how to speak Spanish . . . mas o menos.

Mark got a new job in a totally different field. He was in HR with Cemex, but now he has returned to actuarial work with BlueCross BlueShield of Texas.

We moved to Dallas (in December) and had to say goodbye to our wonderful friends from Mexico, whom we love dearly.

Adriana went from no skills (except crying and sucking) to many skills: rolling over, shimmying, crawling, standing up, walking, running, climbing, blowing bubbles, smiling, laughing, melting everyone as she smiles and laughs, bouncing, picking things up and putting them in her mouth, other fine motor skills, bow hunting, and growling, as well as significant improvements in her crying and sucking skills.

We did some fun traveling. Over the summer we spent time with the Hansens in Vail, Colorado and then with the Tanners in Utah. Sarah’s parents also came to visit us in October and we did some traveling around Mexico!

Our main accomplishment in Dallas (other than Adriana’s speedy growth) was buying a house! We lived in a hotel room for three months while we looked, so we were very grateful when it finally worked out. We love our home!

We had a myriad of other excellent experiences, too numerous to mention. We will really miss the Mexican people. We hope the coming months bring many great things to you and your family.

With Love,

Mark, Sarah, and Adriana

Overlooking Guanajuato

The mummies in Guanajuato...ooooohhhhh

All about death and mummies there.

Grutas de Garcia (cool caves near Monterrey)

Some of Monterrey's awesome mountains!

A Second Addendum

I just want to clarify something about the chili cookoff: They were not trying to make us feel good. The judges did not know which chili belonged to which chili-maker. Sarah simply made the best chili. It cannot be disputed. She is the best chili-maker in Wylie!

An addendum

I need to add a bit to Mark's last post. First of all, he is great and I am lucky to have a husband like him. Second, he was right with me during the whole race and is the reason I did so well! He is my free personal trainer. So way to go Mark!



And about the chili... it was pretty good for my first time especially since I don't even like chili that much. I think they were just trying to make us feel welcome since we are new here. The funny thing was that I got the recipe off the Internet as one of the easiest ways to make it. I'll post it if anyone wants to try it. You be the judge.

Easy Chili Recipe

1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 (16-ounce) cans kidney, pinto or black beans, drained and rinsed
2 1/2 cups Salsa - Thick & Chunky
1 (4-ounce) can Diced Green Chiles
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1. Cook and drain the ground beef, onion and garlic in large skillet until beef is browned.
2. Add the beans, salsa, chiles, chili powder and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Cook, stirring frequently, for 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Garnish as desired before serving.