The Ussery Update

On Sunday morning (the morning after Andrew's wedding), we left the hotel and made the hour drive to the ranch to spend some time with Mom, Armando and Uncle Calletano (or Uncle Larry as we like to call him...but that's a long story - haha). They arrived there last Friday to spend a few days, go to Andrew's wedding (about an hour from the ranch) and then they will head to Port Aransas on Thursday for the weekend. Mom and Armando love spending time at the ranch (which is outside of Devine, Texas) and eventually hope to make their home there - it's their happy place! We got out there Sunday in time for a delicious breakfast and to scope out the area. It's such a nice and peaceful place - so relaxing! About mid-morning, we went into Bandera to walk around downtown and visit some craft booths in the downtown square area. We also shared some nachos on the patio of a nice little restaurant on main street. We even got to see a short parade of horses. After we were back to ...

Andrew and Heidi were married Saturday night! It was a beautiful ceremony and everything went great. They had a small, but lovely outdoor ceremony with parents and siblings (w/their spouses and children). They were married in Pipe Creek, Texas at Heidi's Aunt and Uncle's house - it was an amazing place and gorgeous setting! It rained ALL day Saturday and then about two hours before the ceremony the rain stopped, the sun started shining...God is good!! Afterwards, Heidi's Dad provided everyone with a yummy BBQ dinner...then we all enjoyed cake and punch while playing and visiting outside. So happy for them! Here are a few pictures (we took several) ... The Groom! The happy couple! The proud parents! Big Sister and Little Brother! Me and my new Sister-in-Law! The other happy couple - me with my sweet, handsome husband!! We also spent all of Sunday with my Mom, Armando and Uncle "Larry" at the ranch so there will be a separate post on that and a few pictures as w...

Here are a few pictures of the Ussery dining room! We really love this room and the way it's decorated...plus it looks out into the front yard and driveway so we can see what's going on in the neighborhood. We didn't have an actual dining room in our house in Arkansas (more like a dining nook in the kitchen) so we really appreciate having this nice, big room - just wish we used it more. We tend to sit at the bar since it's just the two of us, but we use it some...especially when we have company in town to eat our meals, visit and drink coffee or play games. We also used to do our weekly devotionals at the table, but lately we've been sitting in the living room. Maybe this will encourage us to use this room more... This is actually looking into the entry way from the hall. I added this entry way area because it attaches to the dining room. This is the front door of our house and the dining room is on the left. This is a shot above the front door showing our "...

Andrew & Heidi - To be wed on Saturday!

Here are picture sof the Ussery guest room! This is a very plain and simple room, but nice and comfortable too. It's one of the few areas of the house we have yet to paint - haha, but we will get there! You will notice that other rooms in our house have so much color, but this is still white as can be - plus it's the room used least often. As you can tell we have the nautical/lighthouse theme going on in here. We've had this decor in our guest room since we've been married. Since we've moved to Texas, we've had several people sleep in this guest room...much more so than in Arkansas, simply because we are kind of in the middle of everyone now and it's a bit easier to come and visit us. This is taken from the doorway - entering the guest room! Our guest bed is quiet comfortable! We've used it ourselves for naps, being sick, etc and we get many compliments on how cozy it is. I LOVE this bed too because it was in my grandmother's house, then my Aunt Ev...

We want to wish all the mothers in our lives a very HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY ! We thank God for our mothers and grandmothers and pray that they have a wonderful Sunday. Below are a few pictures of our Moms... This is a picture of John and his Mom (Karen) and brother Jason. John's parents and his brother Jason and family live in Mount Vernon, Arkansas. This is a picture of my Mom (Mari) and my brother Andrew - they live in Odessa. This is the most recent picture of my stepmom (Kristin). Her and my Dad also live in Odessa. Here is a picture of my Mom, my Grammy and I on my wedding day. I love this picture of the three of us on such a special day! My "grandmas" on our wedding day! From left to right...this is my Grandma (my stepdad's Mom - she lives in Pearsall, Texas), my Grammy (she lives with my Mom and stepdad, Armando in Odessa) and my Grandma Stone (my stepmom's Mom - she went to be with the Lord at Christmas 2007). We also remember John's grandmas and my gr...

Below are pictures of the Ussery living room! Our living room is open to the kitchen, which we really like for conversation and being able to see the television while cooking. The living room is on the back of the house so the door in our living room goes out to the back patio/backyard. We want to do a different picture or decorative piece over the TV, but we are still working on that! I started our living room photos with a couple of pictures that we love in our living room... This is a shelf on our DVD bookcase. This picture of us is the most recent professional picture of us...it was for the church directory and we were really pleased with it. There's also the Willow Tree figurine called "Together" we got when we were married and a picture of our wedding party! The "love" shelf if you will - hee hee! This picture of Calvin is on the same bookcase...we got this frame on vacation last year and love it! Calvin is curled up on our bed in this picture - he loves o...