Yet again!

Hottest Chili

That's what I normally go for whenever our church ward has a Chili cook-off. I've won that category 3 times. My chili is called 'The Cure for the Common Cold' and it comes with a warning label. 'Keep away from children and pets. Not recommended for people who are pregnant or nursing, or people with heart problems.' Well I was a little disappointed to find out there wasn't a category for hottest just 'Best Chili.' So imagine my surprise when I won that title! I got a lot of comments and most people were too scared to try it, but enough people voted for it so I won!

I'm thinking of entering other chili contests now.

Oh and my prize was a $40 gift card to Macaroni's Grill. AWESOME!

Baby update! She's doing great and she is three pounds and kicks like crazy, especially when her brothers and father talk to her through the belly button. She's breach at the moment but she'll turn around.

HE'S GOT THE PAPER! IT"S OFFICIAL!

On May 20th, Dr. D Brent Halling finally graduated with his PhD. He would like to thank his Parents for making the trek to see it, and for all their love and support. Also thanks to our cousins in Houston who threw a party for him and put up the whole family for the night. It is always fun to see you. And thanks to our wonderful friends who watched our boys during the graduation. The boys were very happy to be with you instead. Thanks to all. Oh and I'm sure, he thanks his wife too:).

Mother's Day

My boys did a fabulous job for M-day. Kenneth probably won most creative present for making me a rock basket out of 100% recyclable material. Brent also got me Josh Groban "Awake" concert on dvd. Sam wrote me a book about a fish, and Evan gave me his hand print. But I think the icing on the cake was coming home after meeting one of my favorite authors and finding my home really clean! Brent said the boys cleaned without complaint too. Oh the joy!

Stepenie Meyer

I had the most wonderful experience last weekend. I got to meet Stephenie Meyer! She had a book signing for her new Sci-fi book The Host. I just finished it yesterday and I was impressed. It has nothing to do with her amazing Twilight series, but it was very good.

I couldn't get any of my video clips to download but it's amazing to hear her talk. It was almost like a RS lesson. (Also I think she's pregnant. We both have 3 boys and it would be cool if she got a girl too.) I had a blast with my friends from Houston, and I miss them so very much. Thanks for the ticket Tara, and it was great to see you guys again.

Adoring Saturn

Our neighbor Phil shares our passion of the night time sky. He recently set up his GPS/autolocator telescope to find interesting sights, and it was a perfect night for viewing Saturn, even in a ligthed subdivision in Central Texas. We experimented using Katie's new camera by holding it up to the eypiece of his telescope, and with a single click of the camera tells an amazing story of what we can see. We did not fully optimize the shutter opening considering we could see four of Saturn's moons with our own eyes, but the best camera images could show the largest moon, Titan. Even in these images you can see some of the color we saw. I made this montage of some of the clearer images. If you download and image enhance, you would be able to make out Titan a little below and to the left of the smallest Saturn image. Saturn is truly a remarkable sight!