Thanksgiving at the Ranch

This weekend we enjoyed a great time at the ranch.  Little Luke was such a busy little guy working his little digger, practicing his walking and enjoying the great, COLD, outdoors!

The best turkey recipe ever! You can't mess up...

How To Cook A Turkey:

First, buy the turkey and a bottle of whiskey. Pour yourself a glass of whiskey and put the turkey in the oven. Take another 2 drinks of whiskey, and set the degree at 375 ovens. Have 3 more whiskeys of drink and turn the oven on. Take 4 whisks of drinky and turk the bastey. Stick a turkey in the thermometer, and glass yourself a pour of whiskey. Bake the whiskey for 4 hours, take the oven out of the turkey, and floor the turkey up off the pick. Pour yourself another glass of turkey. Now just tet the sable, and turk the carvey!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
(Thanks E for this turkey how-to... )

P. Nemir Dry Goods turns 100 years old.

Navasota, Texas - population 7000 outside of College Station, Texas.  This is where the Paul Nemir family settled once they immigrated from Lebanon.  Being a proud Nemir and granddaugher to the late thoracic surgeon Paul Nemir, Jr, I was honored to visit Navasota this weekend to celebrate P.Nemir Dry Goods 100th celebration.  When the family settled in Navasota, my great-grandfather opened a dry goods store - a local department store in the central square of town now housed in three historic buildings.  My t-sipper cousin Robert Nemir owns and manages the store with great success as he has taken this local small town gem to new heights with its internet presence.  www.pnemir.com.

The 100th anniversary was a special celebration with a private party for family and long-time customers.  The celebration included a complete spread food and drink, of course.  Over 40 door prizes including Justin boots!  The ceremony had a special talk from my great Aunt Ruth Nemir Harris - who also celebrated her 94th birthday that weekend.  Aunt Ruth shared notable memories with her dad running the store... helped to paint a picture of what life was like as the store survived the depression, war - you name it. 

The mayor of Navasota declared Nov. 19th, 2011, P. Nemir day and he was there to read the proclamation and celebrate with the town. 

P. Nemir also recently received a city grant to help with efforts to go "GREEN."

Ben and Rob having a chat about a very important and interesting matter... Luke and his "knee-walking" - he is quite a sight to see with his mobility choice.

Before the kick-off began - a quick photo with Rob.

My mom, Virginia Nemir Lukefahr with Aunt Ruth.

Rob kicking off the 100th celebration - complete with Luke doing laps on the stairs (THE ENTIRE NIGHT) behind the presentation.  Ben is close behind supervising.  Every once in a while Luke gave his two cents about the speakers and door prize recipients.   

 One of my favorite items, YellowBox flip flops made special edition flops for P. Nemir store 100th.

After leaving one Hilton candyland celebration, we were welcomed with a delicious sweets table at P. Nemir.

  

It was such a special time and I loved every minute of sharing this with my family and celebrating my cousin's accomplishments and hard work.

P. Nemir is known for outstanding customer service.  The kind that is hard to find these days... The kind that is worth a drive or call to small town Navasota to make your purchase. 

(Oh - and for those of you that do not know... Nemir means "tiger" in Arabic.)

Happy 100th P. Nemir!!
www.pnemir.com
(Become a friend and LIKE P. Nemir on facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/P-Nemir-Dry-Goods-Company/264923400212719

Avery H. turns 1 with a SWEET celebration!

This  weekend Luke got his first taste of a true candyland!  The Hilton's had a delicious first birthday party celebrating their precious daughter Avery.  Avery is Luke's unassuming girlfriend/best friend/playmate.  Very special!  Momma Annie is my best friend and check out all of the details her and dad David put into Avery's bday!

Annie with Avery's chocolate and vanilla 2 layer cake.

Yes, it was as tasty as it looks.

 A quick pic before all the festivities kicked off.

A candy bar complete with candy buttons, laffy taffy, M&Ms, rock lollipops, gummies (Haribo, of course), Jelly Belly's, and my personal favorite - candy necklaces.

A banner of 12 months of Avery.

The Hilton family.

The infamous cake smashing - Avery was such a lady. Dad really smeared the icing... She was very particular about her icing messiness. 

Avery showing her book to Luke.  There is always time for a good book.  Thanks Aves for making sure Luke is on task with his book club reading.

No Hilton party is complete without a little love from bull dog Sampson.
It was a great party with friends and family.  Thanks Hilton's for hosting a fabulous Saturday shindig.

“Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.”

This holiday season I have an extreme urge to shop like crazy and buy lots of gifts for my family and friends... Great - but lately I feel like the urge is overwhelming.  I feel like I get so caught up in how perfect and fitting my gifts should be that I lose track of the true meaning of the gift in the first place... to show appreciation, love and thanks to the receiver. 

I also want to make sure that I start as early as possible teaching Luke how important it is to give in the right mind and with the most true intentions. 

Albert Einstein said, "It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it." 

I hope we can instill a spirit of giving in our son.  We must...

We are starting by doing little things like Operation Christmas Child.  Samaritan's Purse International Relief has a program called OCC that allows anyone to put together a shoe box for a child in need around the world.  I did a graduate internship with SPIR during grad school and OCC is a huge part of this organization.  This year Chick-Fil-A teamed up with SPIR to help make OCC even more successful than ever.  (Man - do I love the Chick...)  So, we packed up three large shoeboxes and dropped them off at Chick-Fil-A to be delivered to a sweet little boy and girl around the world. 

From this week until the end of December, I will do something to give back to someone or an organization. I write this not to boast but to keep myself accountable.

I encourage you to think about other ways to give back this holiday season to those who will not be expecting any gift at all. 

What do David Yurman & Anthropologie have in common w/ fibi and clo?

As a lead fashion agent for fibi & clo sandal line (www.fibiandclo.com), I am pleased to share with you some exciting news!!  Not only will fibi & clo be introducing a line of wedges in early 2012, but fibi & clo founder, AnaLiza, has recently hired an assistant jewelry designer to help her with a collection of jewelry for 2012. This designer has worked with David Yurman, Anthropologie and Silpada jewelry!  The jewelry will be high quality with the same great, low price.... and in some cases even better prices!


Many of the pieces will correspond with sandal designs.  The new jewelry collection will be ready by March of 2012.


Until the new pieces are completed, check out some of fibi & clo jewelry pieces that can be yours! Just call me at 210-995-8434 or email me at helenlukefahr@gmail.com.

Gold dangle earrings with various colors of blue stones - about 1.5 - 2 inch drop - Just $18!

Gorgeous black and CZ rhinestone drop earrings. Great quality. Stunning for the holiday season and your sassy night out! $25 - a steal!

Gold drop with small light brown dangle stone - lightweight and perfect accessory with your boot or fibi & clo sandals! - $18!

My favorite!! Multi-colored stones set in gold - great quality! Looks fantastic with fall colors - oranges, purples, tans, browns, greens. $25 (I have these in brown/black multi stone also!)



Exquisite gold drops with deep red stones. Very attractive! $25

A modern twist of two-tone strands and classic pearls. Looks stunning with your traditional pearl earrings. Great with black cocktail dress or white button up and black slacks. Sleek and unique! - $40

One of my favorite pieces in the fibi & clo collection! Large green stones draped in gold chain. Absolutely fabulous! - $50

These are a few of the pieces in my fibi & clo inventory.  Interested in what you see or want to see others?  Contact me.  If you like these styles, get excited about the new designs of 2012. 

NYC in December - Baby It's Cold, and Spectacular, Outside!

Just booked our wedding anniversary trip to NYC!  What a fun time to be in New York!  Pull out the fur, jewels and my tall boots - I am ready people!

Monday Mornings in Methodist hospital

Many of you know that my littlest Luke was born a tad early and had to go into the neonatal ICU for nearly a week after he was born. He had some lung issues - but he is good now! 

Because Luke had trouble breathing, the medical team had to take Luke right away and I was only able to hold him for a few seconds.  I was not able to nurse or spend too much time with him.  So because of that, I had to start my nursing through pumping.  I really wanted Luke to get the best medicine of all - mommy's milk.  So, I worked hard to be able to give him this even though he had to get it through  a GI tube.  To make a long story short - nursing was a challenge and it started out a challenge.  We worked through it and I was able to nurse for around 8 months and Luke pretty much decided he was done once I got pregs with Caroline.

Because of my challenges with Luke, I got to know the lactation consultants and Methodist Women's Center REALLY well.  About a month ago, the head of the Women's Center asked if I would be part of a new peer to peer counseling program for moms with babes in the NICU to encourage nursing.  I jumped on the opportunity.  The really challenging thing... I am mainly working with moms who have babies born less than 30 weeks - so the really tiny ones.  Babes weighing 1-2 pounds at birth.

I am so honored to be asked to be the first in Texas to do this as a volunteer!  I will say - it is so emotionally challenging.  The other day the NICU doc asked me to go talk to a mom who had a 21 week old baby about nursing.  I could barely keep it together.   This mom was completely distressed, of course... and all I could say was the best thing you can do for your baby right now is give them your milk... Everything else is out of her control - poor mommy.  It was so hard.  That baby was the size of my palm and covered with tubes and masks and you name it.  Heart breaking.

But I am so happy to help encourage nursing if mom wants to do it.  There is so much to think about in the NICU and most of the time you are having to commute back and forth.  Tough.  Hopefully just being there for these mommies and encouraging them will help ease their struggles a bit.  So, I am there every Monday morning to volunteer in the NICU.  What a special opportunity.

My sweet little son.  I am so grateful for the good health of my precious son.  Thank you God for all gifts - especially ones that come from the most difficult of challenges.  With that said, Caroline - you behave and stay in mommy as long as possible!!

Nothing like spaghetti face!

13 months old and a pasta lover already!! 

A Total Mom Moment

Luke had his first little haircut today... and I know this is a boring topic to most but it was so precious to me. We went to this cute little kids hair salon and he got to choose which seat he preferred: Barbie, one from Cars, and a mini cooper. He chose the Cars chair (or really I did.)

Then his stylist put on his little smock and Luke was ready to go! While Luke was busy honking the horn and pressing a button on the car that said "I eat losers..." - Stella the stylist was going to town and mom was taking pictures. 

After a few snips here and there, Luke's little fly-aways were a bit more tamed and he had a successful first hair cut!

After the hair cut, Luke got a balloon and his first lollipop!  He was unsure what to think at first... but that did not last long.  Soon enough he was in lollipop heaven!

 Mom decided to complete the outing with lunch at Chick Fil A!  On the way to Chick Fil A (maybe a 1 mile drive) I looked back in my rearview mirror only to see a little Luke head looking straing at me through my rearview.  I thought... "Oh that cute little Luke.  I just adore him..." Then I thought, " Wait a minute!  Why can I see him looking straight at me?" Then I realized that I forgot to actually buckle him in.  Oopsie!  I got so excited about his little lollipop and Chick Fil A - I forgot about his restraints... so he had a little joy ride for a few sweet minutes.

It was a fun morning with my favorite little guy!  Although I will say that $20 for a little guy haircut seems a bit high... I paid close attention so maybe I will try to cut his hair in the future... Can't be that difficult right? :/

Home

I heard this song on the radio recently and it gave me goosebumps.  I am so easily moved by music - especially patriotic songs - and this song is really powerful to me.  Home - by Dierks Bentley

Sit back and listen to the words.  I love being an American! Who could ask for a better home than the USA.   

What to do with your hotel goodies?!?

Have a lot of these?  I do!  When Ben started traveling for work - a few years ago - I asked him to bring home his hotel tolietries because I like to donate them.   Well, I have yet to donate them and have a TON sitting in boxes!  And they keep on coming.  Ben brings home about 10 items each week!  My latest mission is to find a place to donate these tolietries.  Originally I thought about sending them to the soldiers... and I still might but Joe always seemed to have plenty of tolietries when he was abroad - those provided and those sent my family and friends... So I started to think more domestically (although my soldier idea is still an option).  I emailed both the Ronald McDonald House and the large homeless shelter here in town and I am hoping to hear soon if they can use these items.  I did find an organization called The Shoebox Ministry in Scottsdale, AZ that takes shoeboxes full of tolietry donations... but I am still looking locally first. 

Anyone else had experience with this type of donation or have suggestions?