It's Christmas time!

It's officially Christmas time in the Zuger household. We pulled out our decorations this weekend and put them up. It's kind of overwhelming to realize that they are going to be coming down again in less than three weeks since we'll be leaving for Virginia until after the New Year and I hate the idea of everything sitting out and getting dusty while we're gone. Regardless we're going to enjoy the decorations while they are up!!

Here is our tree

Is this not the cutest little ornament ever!?!

Christmas '09!

We got a new (to us) vehicle!

Finally!! Anyone who knows us well...wasn't that surprised when we announced that Sim's car had died. Sim had graciously been driving his 91 Accord through two Texas summers without air conditioning as well as over two years of not having a working spedometer (with no tickets....surprisingly). So when his bucket...finally kicked the bucket we were a little scared of the big decision that lay ahead. Luckily after just two weeks of searching we found our newest family member! :) Here she is!

We feel truly blessed for Sim to now be able to drive a vehicle that actually fits him! He has wanted a Tahoe since he was in high school working at Lindsay Chevrolet in Woodbridge so this is really a dream come true! :)

Zoofari with the Coast Guard Wives

Last weekend I was invited to go to the Bayou Wildlife Park with the wives from the Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless. The wildlife park is literally just a few minutes down the street from our house but I had never been. It was seriously the best time ever and I can't wait to go back!

As soon as we pulled up to the gate Sabrina's car was surrounded by an ostrich and llamas hungry for food! In fact it was almost difficult to drive into the park as the animals swarmed her van.

We all gathered and had a picnic lunch while the kids ran around and eventually discovered the petting zoo. This place just kept getting better!

It wasn't long before we boarded the tram to take us through the rest of the park to see all of the animals. I could not get over how cool it was to be able to pet the animals as they came up to the tram to eat right out of the buckets with food that we had been given. There were all different kinds of animals and the tram weaved through the entire 80 acres.

As our ride was wrapping up we all heard the sound of a helicopter overhead and looked up to see the Coast Guard helicopter heading out of Ellington Air Field. Yay Coast Guard!

Honoring our Veterans

Last week we celebrated Veterans Day with a day off! Well sort of...we were both off work which was welcomed with as busy as Sim has been at work! We were blessed with a GORGEOUS day with temperatures in the 70's. We started off the afternoon by checking out a local vineyard not far from our house that we have been wanting to try. Now you have to remember that we live in TEXAS and more importantly Southeast Texas, where it is hot and humid most of the year. Not really the best grape growing weather but we were excited to check this places out and see what it was all about. Haak vineyard is a family owned and operating winery and small vineyard. We arrived on a day they were bottling wine so unfortunately we were unable to go in the back for a tour of their wine cellar but on a postive note we were able to watch the bottling process through a window in the wine shop into the bottling room. After that we did a tasting of some of the wine that they make. The only grapes they are able to grow in their vineyard are the Blanc du Bois wine grape so we decided to get the full experience we would get a bottle of the Blanc du Bois (semi-sweet) and sit outside in the vineyard that the very grapes we were drinking had grown in!

As our afternoon wrapped up we realized it was time to head up to Houston for our dinner plans with Sim's coworker and his wife. We had made reservations to take advantage of a special deal the Melting Pot was offering for military families in honor of Veterans Day. They had never been to a Melting Pot before so we had a good time watching them figure out how the whole fondue thing works and we all ate and drank entirely too much! It was a really wonderful day, celebrated in honor of all of those who have served our country in the military. I am very thankful for the sacrifices made by everyone in the service and most importantly proud of my Coastie!