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"