The Alamo Bowl =(

The Boarnet, Fries and Denham men went to see the Aggies play in the Alamo Bowl Saturday night. Needless to say, it wasn't the best night of our lives. We took a pretty good beating by Penn State.

Mark's theory is that the A&M Quarterback has separation anxiety with the football. That's why he wouldn't throw it more. Whatever the reason, it was disappointing.

However, I did learn one very important lesson. Via park-and-ride is awesome. For only $6 you can forget about walking 2 miles from your parking spot to the dome, and you don't have to wait for an hour in the parking lot afterwards just to get on the street.

Here are some pictures and video from our Alamobowl experience.

Alex looking adorable













Jack holding Daniel


















Ian eating a hot dog with daddy cramming food down Daniel's mouth to keep him happy.



















Cousin James holding Ian

















This is the look most often associated with Daniel if his parents aren't directly in front of him.

Dinner at Jody's with the Houston Boarnet's

We had dinner at Jody's house on Thursday night. We got take out from Carino's Italian Grill. We had a good time just hanging out and spending time together. Here are a few pics




Meme with Ian and Alex













Darren with Daniel

















Meme with the boys



















Ian and Alex looking angelic













Ian with Jake (Trent's Pug)


















Mark helping himself to some spaghetti.

















Daniel showing of his Cabbage Patch Doll














Meme saying "cheers"

Gingerbread Houses

My sister Jody had a Gingerbread House making party. Here are a few pictures. We had a great time. Ignore the fact that this is underlined because I can't figure out how to make it stop =)



James with his gingerbread house "maze"














Brett and Paul
































Jacob Cohen's house






























Jerry and Jacob
















Jerry's stunning masterpiece












Trent and Mark's house

Day 2 in Gilmer

It was day two in beautiful Gilmer Texas. We had quite a busy schedule today. We got up and going at around 7. The hotel breakfast was unexpectedly nice.

Our first stop was to Connie's house at around 10. We hung out, talked and looked at photo albums. Connie has two wonderful kids named Taylor and Anthony. Taylor is 10 and Anthony is 15. Her husband Larry is a super friendly. We ordered Pizza Hut and ate lunch with them.

From there we went to Granny's house. Granny is Donna (my birth mother)'s mother. While there, I met Donna's three sisters, Janelle, Melanie and Kathy. There are pictures down below so you can see everyone. We figured out that I look alot like Melanie. We have the same hair and exact same eye color. Granny is hilarious. She has a very sharp wit and a great sense of humor. I really enjoyed spending time with her.

THEN we went to see Granny Betty. Granny Betty is Donna's step mother. Donna's parents divorced when she was pretty young and Betty played a big part in raising her. Me, Mark, Connie, Christy and Donna all went over to Betty's house to visit, then we went to eat dinner at Catfish Village. It was sorta like Clear Springs Catfish in New Braunfels.

Overall we had a great day, even though it seemed very short. We drive back home tomorrow, but first we are having breakfast with Donna here at the hotel.




Mark waking up.














Me with Kathy.













Kathy with the kitty.












Melanie's daughter, Melanie, Me and Granny













Mark with Granny














Janelle's daughter, Janelle, me and Mark.












Me and Granny













Donna, Kathy, Janelle, Me, Melanie and Mark














Me, one of the nieces, and Donna.













Me and Granny Betty.

Our Trip To East Texas

This weekend Mark and I are taking a journey. We're going to visit my birth mother, Donna, and meet my two half sisters Christy and Connie. I have never met my sisters before, so I was mostly nervous about that. I've met Donna once before, a few years back when she came to San Antonio.


The first leg is done. We drove 6 hours to the little town of Gilmer Texas. Population approximately 4000. We were supposed to stay at Gilmer's Executive Inn. Let me begin by saying that this is the most depressing motel anywhere. We checked in, went to our room, and quickly discovered that the heat wasn't working. Did I mention it was 40 degrees outside? We asked for a new room and they gave us the one next door. Great! This room had snails crawling in the bathtub and dirt all over the bathroom floor. Mark just sat on the edge of the horrible bed with his coat still on while we tried to figure out what to do next. Christy recommended the Holiday Inn Express in Longview (20 miles away), which is where we are now. For those traveling to Longview in the future, I highly recommend he Holiday Inn Express. We have a king "suite" for $99 per night with free breakfast. The hotel in Gilmer was $55 per night with free fleas and bedbugs probably.

We had dinner tonight with Donna, Connie, Chrisy, Christy's daughter and husband Holly and Jimmy. We had great BBQ and nice conversation.

Tomorrow we are going to get together with alot more people. I'll update




right to left: Holly, Jimmy, Connie, Trent, Christy and Donna













Mark and Donna












"Baby"

Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Birthday Mark

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends.

We spent Thanksgiving with Mark's family today. Betty, Mark's sister, did the cooking this year and it was all wonderful. Like 99% of all homes on Thanksgiving, she cooked enough for 20 people, when we only had 6. We had enough leftovers to keep us fat and happy for a few days.

I took another listing yesterday. It's a small fixer-upper on the east side of town. If anyone who reads this is in the market for a rehab job, contact me. It's listed at 57K, and it's near a Pittman Sullivan Park.

What else...... hmm...... Oh yeah. Today is Mark's birthday. Thank you all for celebrating his birthday by eating turkey and dressing. He really appreciates it. This year he got a new robe, two pairs of flannel sleeping pants, a gift card for a massage, and some new boxers. Yipeeeee

All that and the Cowboys are kicking Butt.

That's it for today!

Pug Halloween Party

Today was the 2007 SA Pug Club Halloween costume party. I know it's after Halloween, but I didn't set the schedule. Jake didn't really have a costume this year, although he did have a pretty autumn-colors "court jester" type collar. Chanel 4 news was there filming for a fluff piece on tonights broadcast. I helped with the voice-over, and they took some close-ups of Jake.

Here are some pics:

THE KING

The King meeting his great grandson for the first time

PlayPug Bunny with Nunu Hefner. These two actually live down the street from us.


















PlayPug Bunny


















This is Jake's new friend. Her name is Weenie Bean.






















Jake playing with a friend.



















Hula dancer.



















Spider Pug! EEK






















Princess Pug

Everybody Hora !!

This weekend is my 2nd cousin, Nicole Cohen's Bat Mitzvah. I didn't take a camera, but I did snap a few priceless pics with my blackberry.



This is my 91 year old grandmother, Meme, dancing to We Are Family.














Here's my mom looking psychotic doing the YMCA. I guess it's standard practice now to pass out silly plastic hats at Bat Mitzvah's.












Jack, Jody, and Mark watch the festivities.











I haven't been to a Bat Mitzvah since my sister's in 1979 and let me tell you;
Things have changed drastically.

I've heard urban legends about Bar and Bat Mitzvah's in NYC and Los Angeles costing $100k up to a million dollars. Luckily my cousin Jerry has more sense than to go overboard. Nicole's Bat Mitzvah was lovely and she was very poised and confident. Mark and I were very impressed.

Square dancing is FUN

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

????? 20 YEARS ??????

(Trent Boarnet)
This weekend was my 20th high school reunion. On Friday night there was a tailgate party and then we went to the football game. I had a surprisingly good time. My best guy friend from high school (John Trolligner) was there so that made it even better. Previously we had decided we were not going to the Saturday night dinner thing, but when I heard my best girly friends were in town, I couldn't resist.
We had a really nice time. Mark finally got to put some faces with the names he's been hearing about for all these years. Overall, we had a great time.





This is Alan Matney and his wife with us. We grew up together in New Braunfels.











This was my group in highschool. Tracy Floriani, Me, Jodi Sparks (Lowther) and Jason Conners. We were the people your mother warned you about.











Me with Susan Boise. We have known each other forever because in Home Room, and then in Advisory Class, we always sat next to each other. Suzanna Bock was also there but we didn't get a picture together. I sat next to these 2 ladies for my entire childhood.








Here is John Trollinger with Jeanie T. I call her Jeannie T because I'm not sure how to spell her last name.













Here is Jodi with Leigh Ann. I hope I spelled your name right.