We have an announcement!

We wanted to formally announce that Gatlin will be a big brother around September 23rd.  We are anxiously awaiting to find out the sex on May 1st but just wanted to let everyone know our big news.  The baby looks and sounds healthy and hopefully I will start to feel better soon as this baby has been kicking my butt!  At least it means the pregnancy is progressing well!  We'll definitely keep you updated along the way and praise God for blessing us with another child.

Vegas, baby! Yeah!!!

On March 24th, Kyle and I will be celebrating our (gulp) 8th anniversary!  Has it really been that long?  So, when we found out a pilot training buddy of Kyle's (Russ) was getting married in Vegas, we couldn't resist but take an early anniversary trip.  We took an evening flight out of San Antonio last Friday and landed in Vegas around 9:15pm.  After an hour shuttle ride (mind you, the airport is about 5 minutes from the strip), we finally arrived at Mandalay Bay, our home away from home for the next four nights.  We met up with some friends, Joe and Stephanie, on Saturday that Kyle knew from college and spent the day touring Vegas.  We ate at a French bistro in the Venetian and Kyle and Joe rode the coaster in New York, New York.  The guys also tried to race go karts but that didn't end up happening (stay tuned for more on that).  Saturday night was the wedding and a nice dinner at a Wolfgang Puck Italian restaurant.  Yummy!  The wedding was fast and intimate, but very nice.  We got to spend some time with Russ and his bride and another couple from Kyle's pilot training class and it was so much fun to reconnect with them.  We also met up with a friend from San Antonio who had moved back to Kentucky. She happened to be staying at the same hotel we were so, we spent a good part of Sunday lounging by the pool.  This is also where I had my one and only celebrity sighting of the trip, Ty Pennington from Extreme Home Makeover and Trading Spaces.  We saw two shows while we were there, Mystere (fabulous!) and Beatles, Love.  They were both great shows but we definitely liked Mystere the best.  Monday we spent the day with one of Kyle's buddies from Eglin, Dave.  We went to Planet Hollywood for lunch and then to see his house in North Las Vegas.  What a great home!  Take two of the go carts went off without a hitch this day and Kyle and Dave had a great time seeing how fast they could take the turns without crashing.  Silly boys.  We reluctantly headed home but were so warmly welcomed by our sweet, sweet boy that we decided that there is definitely no place like home!

Our room.  Kyle's favorite part... the TV in the bathroom!

Kyle jumping for tickets.  He got me a pink bling ring the size of a silver dollar.  Boy, does it look real! ;)

Joe, Stephanie, and myself at New York, New York

Kyle, Russ, Andrea and Matt after the wedding

Yes guys, this is my attempt at paparazzi.  This is Ty Pennington!

Serious racers!

Action shot.  The guys joke that even if they were sitting still, it would still be blurry! :)

8 years of marital bliss!

Train Show!

Gatlin is a huge Thomas the Train fan for those of you who may not be able to tell.  His room is overflowing with Thomas track and trains, he has at least three shirts with Thomas on them and countless Thomas DVDs.  So, when we told him that we were going to a train show to RIDE on Thomas the Train, boy, did our little boy freak out!  Kyle was out of town so my mom and I took him downtown and were immediately overwhelmed with all of the train paraphenalia to be seen.  Not only were there Thomas booths but there was every model train type known to man.  Gatlin got a conductors hat while I stood in line saving his spot for the train ride.  After about thirty minutes, it was Gatlin's turn to ride.  Lucky for him, he got to sit in the very front as the conductor.  He was proud as punch and had a blast!  We found these Thomas tents that he played in for over thirty minutes and, needless to say, we ended up going home with one.  Thanks Grams!  We ate lunch on the Riverwalk then we all headed home for a nap.  Who knows, maybe someday Gatlin will be conducting a real train.  Do they even have those anymore? :)

Goldstein family San Antonio vacation

Yes, that's right. We took a week long vacation right here in good ole San Antonio! Kyle's parents and our niece and nephews came down and we all stayed together in two mini condos. We were joined together by a mud room which made it very private and perfect for four rambunctious children to romp in. We did almost everything you could do in this great town of ours. We, of course, went to the Alamo after watching an Imax movie to help us all bone up on our Texas history. We saw the Ripley's Believe it or not museum and also the wax museum. We went to the Natural Bridge Caverns (a first for all of us) and got a private tour. We also went back to the Wildlife Ranch where we had our "help me Jesus" adventure. Fortunately, there was no repeat performance of that!

Kyle's brother and sister in law joined us on Thursday and on Friday, we took on the San Antonio Rodeo, complete with rides, corny dogs and calf roping!

On property, we enjoyed swimming and water slides, a lazy river, video arcade and even an outdoor movie complete with a picnic and popcorn.

All in all, it was a relaxing vacation and many cherished family memories were made.

Reunion with family

Back from the pool. The Force is strong with this one

Twins about to be eaten!

Natural Bridge Caverns

Gatlin's first carousel ride

Hayley, Jacob, and Hunter on the Super Shot