Mr. and Mrs. Higgins







My sister and I shot a wedding just before Thanksgiving and it was a blast! You guys know how to throw a party! :) Thanks for being patient during the holidays. Good luck and best wishes for a long and happy life together!

"Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's what's in the middle that counts..."



Anyone who's ever had an Oreo knows that it's the middle that makes it delicious. And as I sit here smack dab in the middle of this Oreo I call my life, there's absolutely no doubt that it's what's in the middle that counts. I'm blessed beyond measure with wonderful family and great friends, a past that's taught me lessons, and a future to look forward to. I love my life!

Line 'em up and shoot 'em!






When a few senior boys waited until the last minute for yearbook photos, that's what I did! Lol! Believe me, I know how it is to never know when a deadline is, Ryan was just a senior last year, and I don't think in 4 years of high school I EVER saw a picture order form! But we had a cattle call, so to speak, and got all these boys together and had a group session. Hope you all have a great senior year, guys!

The World Series Experience



Now that Mike's birthday has passed, I can share one of his gifts on here, (his other gift was some monster tool from Lowe's, that I have no idea the purpose for). Mike and I were lucky enough to get to watch the Texas Rangers in a DLCS game against Tampa Bay, we also got to take the kids to see an ALCS game against the Evil Empire, and a World Series game against the Giants. And even though they didn't win the championship, the excitement and the atmosphere at those games was something that I'm so glad we were able to be a part of. I knew I wanted to capture some of that for Mike in a collage for his birthday, and this is the result.

Just to highlight some of the photos:

Top left corner - Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz
Top right corner - Tailgating at the Ballpark - A BLAST!
2nd row, far right - Not one but TWO past presidents!
Bottom left corner - the Dot Race!
Bottom row, middle - MVP Josh Hamilton
Bottom right corner - a family friend, Invisible Man (he's been on many travels in the 15+ years he's lived with the Riggins family, someday he may even have his own post)

This season was a blast, and we can't wait for opening day - April 1st!!! Go Rangers!

A Birthday Wish


To the man that:

Sticks his finger in my ear in one of the few decent pics of us together...
Is the best at doing stupid toothpick tricks...
Has been to the state fair EVERY single year of his life...
Rewashes loads of clothes that I just washed and haven't dried yet...
Spends a small fortune on fireworks every year...
Not only forgave, but married the strange girl who stole his beer, used it as microphone, then spilled it on him on that New Year's Eve long ago...
Loves his pickup more than he loves, well anything...
Is the only one that can hold our vicious chihuahua still during nail clipping...
Would eat chicken-fried steak, gravy and mashed potatoes every day if he could...
Likes for cats to lay on his feet while he naps to keep his toes warm...
Is so competitive that he would never even let the kids win at Candyland...
Loves Pittsburg Hot Links...
Suffered silently and with a smile on his face while his new wife learned to cook...
Knows that there hasn't been any good music recorded since the 80's...
Barely remembers the 80's...
Makes to-die-for chocolate milkshakes...
Wouldn't dream of letting someone else drive during a long roadtrip...
Is Table Monitor during any family card game...

And is the best dad/hubby any family ever had...

.... Happy Birthday!

Nineteen


How does one learn to be the mother of an adult? One of my favorite songs has a line in it that says "Life's about changes, nothing ever stays the same..." And that pretty much sums up how I'm feeling today. It would be so much easier to focus all my parenting skills on life events like what to do when the dog chews off Batman's legs, or the consequences of staying up past a 9:00 bedtime, or even throwing together a rock collection display at the midnight hour for science the next day. But those types of dramas are behind us, and together we've moved on to the real world.

Remember, as much as these are unchartered waters for you, they are for me as well. So try to be patient with me, as I stuggle to figure out where I fit in to your world now; and I'll try to be patient with you as I remember that I raised you to make good decisions, to be kind to others, to have your own opinions, and to live a life that makes you happy, one you can be proud of.

Happy Birthday.

Farr Family








I'm pretty sure I'm going to insist that everyone from now on wear this shade of blue in their photos, because I LOVE it! And the shot of the boots making up the star was all their idea - too cool, and one I'll definitely use again! :)

Brady






Brady's the middle brother of 3 boys, and a great kid!

What She Is and What She's Not





She is.... a beautiful young lady
She's not.... really into make-up, hair or clothes

She is.... a lover of all things cuddly and furry
She's not.... a lover of anything girly or pink

She is.... quietly confident, determined, and stubborn
She's not.... someone who wants to be in the spotlight

She is.... a "Twilight" book fan
She's not.... a "Twilight" movie fan

She is.... hysterically funny.
She's not.... someone who makes fun of people (well, she does make fun of Ryan, but we all do)

She is.... surprisingly competitive
She's not.... afraid to get up on stage, or in front of people

She is.... crazy about ramen noodles, cotton candy, and gum
She's not.... ever going to eat a bean in her whole life

She is.... kind and considerate
She's not.... ever bossy or mean

She is.... a crazy cat lady in training
She's not.... a sports fan like the rest of us

She is.... a great cook
She's not.... a great housekeeper

She is.... an individual
She's not.... concerned with what most people think about her

She is.... fourteen today
She's not.... a baby girl anymore (except to her daddy)

A Christmas Confession


Hello, my name is Lori, and I'm a Christmas-aholic... I love Christmas. And I don't mean in the way everyone else does, in more of an obsessive way - just ask my family. I start listening to Christmas music, oh, usually sometime in July or August. And I consider Labor Day to be the official start of the holiday season. Other shoppers get upset if Christmas decorations are out in the stores before Thanksgiving, I get upset if they're not right up there with the jack-o'lanterns at Halloween.

As far as my own decorations, I have a Santa collection, a snowman collection, a Christmas mouse collection with enough mice to fill a china cabinet as well as decorate an entire tree of their own, enough regular ornaments to fill up my big tree (this year I've expanded to hanging 30 or so on some garland strung around a doorway), of course a nativity scene that I'm hoping makes it through the filming of "Attack of the Giant Kittycat", not to mention the yard stuff, i.e., 12 foot Santa. At one time, we had seven Christmas trees in our attic.

I've always been this way. It's never taken much more than a little sprig of red and green plastic holly or strains of Peanuts characters shouting "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!" to set me to humming "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". One of my earliest memories is visiting the Burns Fantasy of Lights display, when it was still on the Burns property. And of course I still have to visit it every year, and my favorites will always be the bubble-blowing robot and the ferris wheel with Snow White and the Dwarfs.

My obsession spills over into my personal life and relationships. My birthday is on December 21st. Most people say "oh, what a terrible time for a birthday!" but I don't agree.... it's the BEST time for a birthday! Who wouldn't want a birthday during such a festive season? And to top it off, my entire family's birthdays are in December! Mike - 10th, Ryan - 6th, Becca - 2nd... Oh, and by the way... Ryan shares a birthday with St. Nicholas, and Becca's middle name is Noelle.... I just can't help myself.

So yes, I'm a Christmas-aholic. You may think I need some sort of 12-Step Program or an intervention with my friends around saying "Lori, just put down the candy cane and step away from Santa's lap", but I disagree. For you Scrooges out there, I'll say a Christmas prayer for three ghosts to come and visit you in the night and bring you some holiday spirit. And to those of you who are like me - Be brave, come out of the closet with all the wrapping paper, come over and have some cider with me... we'll sing some carols and bake some cookies, and look for Rudolph's red nose streaking across the sky on Christmas Eve....

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