Thanksgiving 2014 Recap

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents home in Texas this Thanksgiving. It is always a fun time with plenty of good eats and lots of catching up since they live so far away. We split up the drive to their house by staying overnight at the L'auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles. We had a lot of fun exploring the hotel and grounds and playing some slots. They also had a game room for Evan. He spent quite a bit of time there and loaded up on prizes.

Checking in!

Hotel "Beach"

Selfie in front of the water.

 

 

Enjoying the cozy fireplace.

While we were on our visit, a trip to "The Farm" was a must. The day was gorgeous and the temperature was in the low 70's. We did some target practice, checked out some baby calves, picked beans from the garden and repaired some down "hot shot" lines. What a great place to combine work and play!

Baby Calves...so cute!

Gorgeous, peaceful day!

Target Practice

Dad showing off his sharp shooter skills.

The farm is a great place for a driving lesson!

On our way to visit my parents my Uncle Matt passed away. I was so happy that his rosary was held while we were still in town and that I was able to attend. It was so great to see so many Aunts, Uncles and Cousins that I hadn't seen in such a long time. Godspeed Uncle Matt!

Joe and Matt

Visit to the Farm

We recently spent a few days at my parent's house in Texas when we took the boys there for their annual summer visit. While we were there we made a trip to their farm and had a nice afternoon cookout. It was hot, but we all enjoyed being outdoors and poking around to see what was new since our last visit.

I have many fond memories of the farm as that is where my paternal grandparents lived when I was growing up. I used to stay with them for a week in the summer and as a "city kid," had a blast being outside in the country, exploring and spending time with my cousins. There is a wonderful sense of freedom being away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The pace is slow and there is time to enjoy the sweetness of just being.

Chillin' Chad

Some juicy grapes. My parents don't eat these, but use them to make wine.

Todd putting a new picnic table together.

One of the great things about being in the country is the freedom to have target practice without the fear of hitting your neighbor's house. Evan couldn't wait to shoot his guns!

Todd taking his turn. Is it cheating to use a stepladder to steady the gun?

My dad trying out his aim.

Evan helping season the burgers on the pit.

"This one needs a bit more pepper."

Texas Fun

We met my brother on Saturday so that he could pick up the boys and take them to Texas. They are going to stay with my parents for a week and then stay with him for the second week. They were both excited about the trip and having fun 24 x 7.

Evan went nuts for the escalator at the Isle of Capri, where we ate lunch, and must have gone up and down at least twenty times. We definitely need to hit an amusement park, soon. Have fun y'all!

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Texas Drop Off

We drove to Texas today and dropped the boys off with my parents. We typically meet half way, so the drive is not too long for either of us. We had a nice lunch and visit. I gave my Dad his father's day card, since I knew last weekend that I would be seeing him soon. We also gave Evan his birthday present, as he turns 8 next Wednesday and we won't be with him.

My parents are taking the boys to a family reunion tomorrow and then dropping Chad off at camp in the afternoon. This is his second year and he had a really great time last year, so he is very excited.

My parents have promised Evan that there is a lot of petrified wood at their farm, so that is one of the things he is looking forward to this week. The heat is really bad, so I don't know how much time he will get to spend outside, especially with his poison ivy, but I'm sure he will relish the attention of two doting grandparents.

Two silly boys enjoying the drive to Texas.

Evan with a nice smile and Chad making a funny face.


"We are hungry after all that driving!"


My favorite guys!

Dad opening his Father's Day card.

Evan opening his birthday card while I smile for the camera.

"Let's see what's in here."

"I love opening presents!"

"Yea, a Nintento DS; I have been asking for this for months!"

Deciding On a Name for a Blog

One of the first challenges that I had when starting this blog was coming up with a name and URL. Todd is very good at coming up with names, slogans, etc. Me…not so much. When we lived in Irving and Todd worked at a Spinner's Pizza store, they were looking for a name for a new product that they were launching that included two pizzas. Todd came up with the name "Twin Spin." The owners liked the name and it appeared on all of their advertising including their TV commercial. The jingle on the commercial had a rap beat. I remember some of it to this day:

Twin spin, twin spin, that's the word,
Spinner's is the best, or haven't you heard?

A couple of years ago I had to come up with a name for a small business that I was starting. I like names to mean something, so I reached into my memory bank to see what I could come up with. When I was growing up, my great grandparents had a home in a small community in south Texas known as Hackberry. We would have family reunions there every few years and it was always fun for me as a child to go there. Interestingly, we never had a reunion "in Hackberry," it was always "at Hackberry;" kind of like having an event "at the White House" or "at Buckingham Palace."

Considering all of the fond memories that I had of Hackberry, I decided to use that as part of my business name. I added the work "creek" to it because I liked the idea of flow that I associate with running water. Thus, Hackberry Creek was born. My whole family, including my boys, help out with the venture. We sell beads and jewlery making supplies and sell through our site on eBay and through our website.

Since so much of my life and the life of my family revolves around my business, I decided that I would like to use the name "hackberry" in the title of my blog. I used the url name finder at NameBoy, which is a pretty nifty tool. You can put one or two words in and the generator comes up with a list of available url's. These were some of my favorites:

Thehackberry.com
Hackberrytime.com
Hackberryzine.com
Hackberryzone.com
Hackberrywire.com
Hackberryworld.com

I finally decided on thehackberrylife.com. Hackberry for me has come to symbolize some of the things that I value most in life such as simplicity, fun, working together and family.

Welcome and Fun With the Banzai

I am so glad that you are here, reading my first blog entry. Welcome!

I must give credit to fellow blogger, Blair, whose blog I have been reading for the past few months. I look forward to reading her posts about her girls' adventures. She makes it look so easy which has inspired me to give it a try.

I am originally from a mid-sized town in Texas, but moved to the swamps of Louisiana about ten years ago with my Cajun husband, Todd. He would say that we don't technically live in a swamp since we don't have to take a boat to get to the nearest road. I like to stay high and dry, so to me, there is a lot of water around us.
We have two sons. Chad is 12 and Evan is 7. They both have birthdays in the summer, so are on the verge of being 13 and 8. We can't believe that we will soon have a teenager in the house.

My boys were very excited today as we just got a new toy called the Banzai Skimboard Surfer. Here is picture of the box.

Looks fun, right? Here are some videos of their first attempts. I think they will get better with some practice. Thanks for reading my first blog!