Adventures in Life

We are back home. We left Illinois on Wednesday and stayed the night in the hotel. We had an early flight back on Thursday so staying close to the airport was nice.

Rest Area

Arch Drive-By Picture

Gabe's parents met us in St. Louis and we went on the Budweiser Brewery Tour. Alex really liked looking at the horses.

Horse on Brewery Tour

We had dinner in St. Charles. It is a neat little historic town.

Alex really liked this bike rack.

We had fun walking by the waterfront and exploring the park.

We flew back on Thursday and we are attempting to catch up on everything that happened while we were gone.

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Alex and I picked Brandi and Maddex up at the airport on Tuesday. I didn't have time to get everything done before picking them up. Their flight was an hour early, so I did not get a chance to get a balloon for Maddex. Luckily, I was leaving an hour early to run some errands and checked their flights arrival time before I left. I was really surprised to see that they were going to land in 12 minutes. Luckily I don't live too far from the airport. We relaxed most of the day, but we did walk to the park to play.

Alex hanging out in a basket before we left.

On Wednesday, we went to the mission and to the desert museum. We didn't get to walk around the entire museum/zoo since we showed up around lunch time. Maddex was pretty hungry so we at lunch at the cafe.

Thursday we decided to go for a swim. The water felt great. We also went to the Pecan Factory and bought a pecan pie.

Maddex in the pool.

Friday we did not do a whole lot. Alex wasn't feeling well, so we took him to the doctor (he is okay now). We also missed our appointment for pictures. We were going to have photos taken of Maddex and Alex. Unfortunately, the picture appointment was at 10:30 and the doctor was able to fit Alex in at 10:00. We could have rescheduled, but Alex would not have been up to it.

Saturday was their last day here (they actually left in the afternoon). So, we decided to go to The International Wildlife Museum. Maddex had a great time running around and pointing to all of the animals.

We came back home, had a quick lunch, and them dropped them off at the airport. We have spent most of the day getting things in order.

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Today we went to the Tucson Museum of Art. We waited to go until now because the first Sunday of the month is free. Other than going to the grocery store, we really haven't done a lot today.

Brandi and Maddex will be coming to see us on Tuesday. That should be a lot of fun. Maddex is 6 months older than Alex.

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Today we walked around the strip before taking Gabe's parents back to the airport. Their flight left a few hours earlier than ours.

Bellagio ceiling

The "Welcome to Las Vegas" Sign. Ironically, this was on our way out.

Gabe, Alex, and I headed out to Ethel M. Chocolate Factory and toured the factory and enjoyed the free chocolate samples. There is also a neat little cactus garden that you can walk through. Just in case you are wondering, the "M" stand for Mars...maybe you have heard of that little company.

We stopped for lunch and then drove out to Hoover Dam. For a brief moment, we were back in Arizona before heading back to the airport to fly home.

The flight home wasn't too bad. Luckily, Gabe doesn't work tomorrow so we can relax.

Posted by at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today was busy and fun. I headed off to classes in the morning. Gabe and Alex met me for lunch and a gondola ride in the Venetian. It was really fun, plus the water was clear and clean (unlike the water in the canals in Venice...they were gross). When we were in Italy a few years ago, a pair of my tennis shoes became wet with the water of the Venetian canals...they smelled like sewer after that I never was able to get the smell out of my favorite (discontinued) tennis shoe. I digress...

Gondola Ride

Gondola Ride

After lunch, I went back to more classes. Once they were over for the day, we all went to the Shark Reef Aquarium. Alex liked watching the fish swim around.

Jellyfish

After we had dinner, we put Alex to bed and Gabe's parents watched him while we went to see Criss Angel: Believe. I recently started watching Criss Angel: Mindfreak, so I really wanted to see his show in Vegas. Umm...I think I should just keep watching him on TV...or maybe not. I am glad that I went, but I was a little disappointed. Anyway, Gabe and I had really good time out together.

Posted by at 11:18 PM | Permalink

Today was another day full of classes for me. Gabe, his parents, and Alex all went to have their pictures made. This was their Grandparent's Day present. I will post some of the pictures once I get the CD. They also went to the MGM hotel to check out the lions.

When I rejoined the group, we went to the Fremont Street Experience. We had a yummy dinner at Tony Roma's restaurant and then we watched the laser light show. I also did a little shopping. I bought thank you gifts for the people watching our dogs and I bought us a Christmas ornament.

Fremont Street

Alex loved the laser light show.

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We left for Las Vegas today. I have a conference to attend. I still need a few TQ CE credits. Basically, it amounts to listening to a 2 hour lecture and taking a test to see if you actually paid attention and learned something. I have quite a few hours I will be attending.

Alex on the airplane.

Once we checked into our room, I changed clothes. Gabe, Alex, and I grabbed lunch at the Grand Lux Cafe and then I went to class. Gabe & Alex headed to the airport to pick up Gabe's parents and then to Target to get some necessary supplies (i.e., diapers, baby food, etc.). I joined them again in the evening and we went to the buffet at the Wynn for dinner. Since this is our hotel, we didn't have to go very far for dinner. I think I got my monies worth at the dessert portion.

I was pleasantly suprised when Gabe's mom gave me several baby blankets for Greyson's Gift. Be sure and check out the website and/or my original entry to see how you can help.

Posted by at 6:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Clara now has health insurance. Yes, our dog has health insurance. It was cheaper to take out an insurance policy rather than pay the vet bill. The good news is that she is feeling better. She still has to finish out her antibiotics, but she is no longer moping around and peeing indoors. I think we finally have the smell out of Alex's room. If not, then I am just going to rip out the carpet and install hardwood flooring. Hardwood floors were my first choice for the bedrooms, but our builder didn't offer them as an option.

My parents left on Saturday. While they were here they played with Alex a lot. My mom ordered Kobe Beef Steaks. My dad grilled them while they were here. The steaks were pretty good. My mom and I made some candy. My $5.00 Wal-Mart mixer finally died after about 7 or 8 years of use. The candy was too thick and the motor started burning up. My mom decided to buy me a mixer and we headed to Wal-Mart. They didn't have a lot of choices and my mom wasn't happy with any of them. We went to Macy's the next day and I am now the proud owner of a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, Hand Mixer, and Food Processor (Architect Series).

Friday, while Gabe was at work, we all went to have pictures made. It will be my parent's gift for grandparent's day. They should be in around the end of the month. I also made five more Christmas presents and wrapped presents. Yes, you read that right, I wrapped Christmas presents. My Dad had some extra space in his suitcase, so he offered to take some presents back with him. This will save us money since we won't have to ship them. There are still some presents that we will be taking with us in December, but anything I can send back with someone helps. I told my Dad that if his checked bag was randomly selected for a search, the people would think he was crazy for having wrapped Christmas presents in his luggage.

My Jeep arrived on Saturday morning (we had it shipped from Illinois) along with the check for the new car. After everything was together, we went to the car dealer to buy Gabe's car. He ended up purchasing a Ford Escape. I will try to take a picture later and post it.

Alex driving the Jeep.

Posted by at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Alex and I picked up his pictures on Friday. I will try to post them sometime this week. These are much better than the 6 month pictures. Friday night Gabe decided to start looking at new cars. He is considering trading in my Jeep. We told my dad that he could have it, but apparently no one really uses it. He is happy that we might be able to use it to get a new car. So, that is how our Friday night was spent, at the car dealer.

Saturday afternoon was also spent at the car dealer. The only catch to the plan is that my Jeep is in Illinois and the car dealer is in Arizona. Every attempt that we have made to get the car out here has fallen through. At this point, it may or may not happen. We did manage to make it to Babies R Us to get Alex some more baby food and another sleep sack. He is outgrowing all of his current ones.

Sunday we did not go to the car dealer, but Gabe did work on the logistics of getting the car to Arizona. We went to Wal-Mart to look for a birthday present. Our great-nephew will be 4 this month and he likes the comic book heroes. Well, Wal-Mart didn't have an age appropriate toy or shirt, so I just ordered something online. Hopefully it will get here this week so my parents can take it back with them. They should be arriving tonight.

Yesterday was allergy shot day. The entire process takes 2.5 to 3 hours. While I was at the doctor's, Gabe ran an errand. We stopped at IHOP on the way home as well as AutoZone. I wanted to hit the grocery store, but Alex was getting sleepy and it was near his bedtime, so we just went back home.

I have a ton of stuff to do today. My parents are coming tonight and I don't know how much I will be able to get done once they arrive, I also have to take Clara to the vet. She has peed in the house twice since we returned from South Carolina. At first we thought it was Elsa. She did not get her bladder medicine while we were gone. This morning Gabe caught Clara peeing on the carpet and there was blood in it. I am assuming she has either a bladder or kidney infection and needs antibiotics.

Posted by at 7:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We have been pretty busy lately...even more that normal. Wednesday, July 1, I went to a Pampered Chef party. Alex stayed home with Gabe.

On Friday, July 3 we went to the Old-Fashioned Independence Day Festival. We had a lot of fun. We decided to watch the fireworks from home instead of the festival. We had a pretty decent view out of our extra bedroom window. Alex really enjoyed watching the fireworks, but I think he might not have enjoyed them quite as much if he would have heard the boom. We decided to watch them from home so things would be more quiet and less hectic.

Alex modeling his beads.

We had lunch with Kevin at a Greek restaurant on the Fourth of July. We were actually late due to some confusion at Babies R Us. We bought Alex a car seat and when they went to get it out of storage for us, they couldn't find it. It took them 40 minutes to decide that their inventory system had not been properly updated and they did not have the car seat that we had paid for. Apparently the stores have two inventory systems. One system said that they had 1 car seat in stock and the other system said that they had -1 in stock. So, they ended up ordering one for us. I would not have minded the situation that much (we saved $80 on the car seat) except it made us late for our lunch date. Everything worked out ok and Kevin was pretty understanding.

During the evening of the fourth we had Mike over for dinner. We grilled hotdogs and hamburgers. We also had pasta salad, chips, and apple pie with ice cream for dessert. Alex went to bed and as we sat outside eating dinner we watched fireworks from our back yard.

Monday I went over to J's house for some socializing. There were quite a few people there and we snacked on yummy low calorie desserts. I made yummy chocolate mint cookies. I forgot to take a picture, but I will post the recipe in a different post.

Recent we have watched a few movies. We watched the entire first season of True Blood. It is about vampires that have come out in society and they are now seeking equal rights thanks to the invention of True Blood. It is a blood substitute that fulfills all nutritional requirements and stops the need for vampires to feed on humans. The main character is Sookie Stackhouse. She can hear people's thoughts and really has an interest in vampires. Her brother, Jason, just seems to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bill, a vampire, becomes Sookie's love interest. The series is based on books by Charlaine Harris.

We also watched Babylon AD. It was a much better movie than I had expected. Vin Diesel takes a job to smuggle a girl to the United States. We are currently watching Insomnia. It is doing a great job of keeping my interest (I always do two things at once). Al Pacino is sent to Alaska to investigate the murder of a girl. He kills his partner while attempting to apprehend the suspect. He does not admit to what he has done. While dealing with his guilt he is still trying to catch a murderer.

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Today was our first full day back at our house. We (Gabe's parents, Gabe, Alex, and I) went out to eat at a restaurant that is supposed to have the best Mexican food in Tucson...sorry, I don't remember the name. Cooking their meat is a three day process. It was pretty good.

Gabe & Stephanie at the Mexican Restaurant.

After lunch, we went to Biosphere 2. Two groups of people lived in it while sealed in. The first group was for 2 years and the second group was for 6 months. It was pretty interesting.

Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2

Inside of the Biosphere

Now we are back home relaxing. Gabe's parents have to leave really early for the airport.

Posted by at 9:03 PM | Permalink

We left for the airport really early. It is a good thing that we did. There was a problem with the computers at the airport and we were at the ticket counter for over an hour.

We were in Seattle, so here I am at a Starbucks with my Light Carmel Fappuccino.

Gabe's parents picked us up at the airport and we went out for dinner at Solaris. Now to start the unpacking. Luckily, Gabe has tomorrow off from work.

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Amy came over to watch the American Idol singing competition between Adam and Kris on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun. She had to work late on Wednesday, so she was unable to make it for the final episode of the season. I must say, though I like Kris, I still think that Adam should have won. I also wanted Gilles to win Dancing with the Stars. I guess Shawn was pretty good too.

Gabe's parents arrived on Wednesday. They are taking a vacation of their own while staying in our house while we are gone on vacation. It should work well for everyone.

Alex helping me pack. He had his own suitcase, half of mine, and part of Gabe's. All of this was in addition to a large diaper bag and half of the carry on.

Picture of a snake that was in the desert behind our house.

I managed to get my hair cut on Friday. Gabe had his hair cut as well. His didn't take quite as long as mine. We drove to Tucson and they dropped me off for my hair cut. While I was there, they went to Sam's, World Market, and Gabe managed to get his hair cut. They came back to pick me up and they were just starting to wash my hair (the girl was really running behind). It usually takes about an hour, but this time I think it took over two. We were all starving and went to Jason's Deli for dinner. Every time that Gabe and I go, I always say I am going to get the salad bar, but I never do. This time I did and it was yummy. Off to Canada tomorrow.

Posted by at 11:18 PM | Permalink

Aaron flew home on Sunday. We decided to have brunch at a buffet, but the line was way to long considering that one of our party needed to catch a flight. So, instead we ate at a McDonald's on the way to the airport. We all hoped that they were still serving breakfast, but we missed it by about 20 minutes or so. After dropping Aaron off we went to a few stores in Tucson and headed home. I worked on some more Christmas presents and finished a few.

Monday Alex had an appointment for his shots. He did really well this time. He cried a little when they gave them to him and once Gabe picked him up he started smiling at everyone again.

Wednesday Josh and Amy came over for dinner. Gabe grilled and after dinner we played some Wii. It was a lot of fun.

Wednesday my phone decided to give me a message from last Thursday saying that our picture was in from Alex's 6 month portraits. So, we headed up to pick it up and stopped off at Olive Garden for dinner. We also stopped at a couple of other stores. We don't head up that way very often, so we did everything that we needed to while we were up in that area. I also ordered the CD with the copyright for the pictures from the 6 month session. I should have the CD in a few weeks and be able to start printing pictures (and post them on my blog). I need to get my hair cut before we leave for our vacation. Hopefully I can find the time to get that done.

Posted by at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last Saturday morning Gabe took Aaron to his workplace to look around. It is a really cool facility. Alex and I stayed home for a couple of reasons. The primary reason is that Alex cannot go because he is too young. It isn't a big deal though, I have already been back in November.

When they returned we went to the copper mine. We watched a video and went through the museum. We didn't take him on the tour though. We were on a tight schedule to get a lot of things in that day.

Next, we went to a Spanish mission, San Xavier del Bac. We walked around the area, but unfortunately we were unable to go into the church. There was a wedding going on while we were there. Gabe and I have been inside the church before and as expected, it looks like it was transported over from Spain.

Mission from the outside.

After the mission, we headed out to the Colossal Cave. This was the first time that Gabe and I had been as well. We went on the cave tour and headed back home to get ready for a party.

Colossal Cave Entrance

Here we are inside of the Colossal Cave.

Alex about half way through the cave tour.

We all went over to Kevin's house for his party. We decided to walk since he doesn't live too far away. The only problem was neither Gabe nor I printed out the address. We finally figured out where he lived and had a good time.

Alex, ready to go to the party!

Aside from eating and talking to everyone, I joined in on a game of Texas Hold 'em. We were going to leave in time to watch the movie Bolt, but that just didn't happen. Our community has free showings of movies outside. You bring a blanket or lawn chair and they supply the movie and popcorn. We basically tried to do the most things we could during the time that Aaron was out here.

Posted by at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here is a fun idea that you can do when you have visitors. Go to your visitor center and pick up a bunch of brochures and maps. Place them in a binder with some additional information (non-emergency police number, grocery stores, favorite restaurants, etc.). I placed my information in plastic sleeve protectors. Keep the binder around and when guests come they can look through the binder the figure out what they would like to do. You can keep adding additional information to the binder for future guests to use. So, if you ever come out here to visit I will have a binder full of information for you to look through.

Check out my other fun visitor idea here. I recently added a mini lint brush.

Posted by at 11:38 AM | Permalink

Last Friday Aaron, Alex, and I all went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We walked around half of the zoo, but the temperature kept rising and we left. It was just too hot for Alex...even if it was a dry heat. The animals were all in hiding/sleeping.

Gray Fox

It has consistently been reaching around 105. The high is always listed as 99, but it gets about 104/105. It isn't too bad if you are in the shade, but Alex overheats easily, so we don't do a lot when it is really warm. The only problem is the temperature rises until around 5:00 p.m. So we do a lot in the evenings. Back to Friday.

We relaxed for a while and Gabe came back home. We drove up Mt. Lemmon and had a great time. It was nice outside and the sun was setting, so it wasn't beating down on us.

Hanging out on a rock at Mt. Lemmon. The pictures just don't do Mt. Lemmon justice. It was a lot of fun walking around.

We had plans to eat at the restaurant on the top of the mountain but this is the off season and they are only for breakfast from 9:00-11:30 a.m.

Moon rising over mountain.

We didn't make it. Instead, we drove back down the mountain and ate the Arizona Pizza Company. The pizza was pretty good.

Posted by at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Alex and I did make it to the airport to pick up Aaron. We came back home and relaxed while we waited on Gabe to get home. He was actually late, but it was planned. He had a meeting at the local school (he is on a curriculum committee). We grilled for dinner and then walked around the neighborhood (even though it was still in the upper 90's after the sun went down). Thursday was pretty relaxing.

Alex & Aaron

Hanging out in front of a Saguaro.

*I am going to have a lot of short little entries until I manage to get caught up.*

Posted by at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well, Gabe is still sick. I have been the sole care provider for Alex for four day now. Since he is sick and running a fever Gabe doesn't hold or touch Alex. Alex will stare at him and smile. Then he gives Gabe a look like, remember me dad? I think he misses Gabe putting him to bed at night. Every night I put him in his crib he wakes up 3-4 times screaming. So, I am not getting a whole lot of sleep. Gabe is going to the doctor today.

Random picture of Alex sleeping, so there is more than just a picture of a box meal (keep reading and you will understand).

There was a major scare on American Idol last night. Adam was in the bottom two. Luckily Matt was sent home. I think I might actually vote next week. I always assumed the final would be between Danny and Adam, but now I am not so sure. It seems like Allison and Danny might be a strong possibility. I still like Kris too. Decisions, decisions.

Gabe and I watched Yes Man last night. It is a movie, staring Jim Carrey, about a man that always says no to everything because he is afraid to embrace life. He then takes a self-help seminar and starts to say yes to everything. The movie had both Gabe and I laughing out loud. I would have laughed a little more, but I was holding Alex and he was sleeping.

I never really followed up on the NCAA basketball bracket from Gabe's work. I won!

A friend from Illinois is coming to visit me next week for a long weekend. It should be a lot of fun.

Last night when we checked the mail I had a package. It contained a lot of awesome things from Macaroni Grill. I signed up for a blog giveaway on Hip2Save and I won! It had a colander, serving spoon, Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken & Pasta, cheese grater, and three coupons for three free Macaroni Grill Entrees. I am looking forward to trying the chicken meal. Maybe we can give it a try tonight.

My surprise package! Thanks to Hip2Save.

We are scheduled to have Alex's 6 month pictures made on Saturday. I hope that Gabe is feeling better. Otherwise, we might not be in any of the pictures and they might be Alex only.

Posted by at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

On Saturday (April 4) I decided we were cleaning out the garage. We got a head start by working on it a few hours on Friday night. We finished it Saturday! We had a ton of recyclables, some trash, and a truck full of items that we donated to the local thrift store. Gabe had to wait until trash/recycle day to be able to park his truck in the garage, but it is there now!

My parents flew in on Tuesday evening. Wednesday we went to the mall and did some shopping while Gabe was at work.

Friday morning Gabe and my Dad dropped Elsa and Clara off to get their teeth cleaned and we all headed to Tombstone. We walked around the downtown area and had dinner at a local restaurant.

Tombstone Sign

Tombstone Carriage Ride Tour

Bird Cage Theatre

We were stopped by the border police on the way back. I think that was my parents first border check. We came back and picked up the dogs. They have a follow up appointment in a couple of weeks. When we came back from Tombstone our yard was mostly finished. There are a few finishing touches here and there that should be completed this week. So, I am going to hold off on posting pictures of our yard until it is completely done.

We went out to dinner at Solaris on Friday night.

"Air Alex". He likes to stick his tongue out when he "flies" through the air.

Gabe & Alex at Solaris

Stephanie & Alex at Solaris

Saturday night was a lot of fun. We played Wii and had prime rib. Yummy! They left bright and early on Sunday morning.

We worked on organizing things in our house Sunday. Gabe managed to hang one of our two outdoor ceiling fans and we rearranged our patio furniture. We had some leftover prime rib, so we had it for Easter dinner. If things weren't so busy, we might have invited some of the other people from Illinois that are living in Arizona over for Easter dinner. Maybe next year.

We didn't take Alex to have his picture made with the Easter Bunny this year. So, I snapped a picture of Alex with one of our decorations.

Alex and bunny.

Yesterday we dropped my car off at the dealer. I need a new fan belt. I received a phone call this morning and they informed me that they don't have the part they need. So, I will be without a car until Wednesday evening. I was going to the post office, grocery store, drug store, and Wal-Mart today, but it is a little difficult without a car. I guess we will be running a few errands once Gabe gets home from work. At some point I will post some pictures of our house. Most likely it will be sometime next week. We are getting ready for our party this Saturday (the one we previously canceled due to illness).

I have recently started using Google Reader and I love it. Instead of having to look at all of the blogs I read, I can quickly go to the blogs that have new posts. An added plus, I can post to blogs that only allow individuals with blogger accounts to comment.

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Posted by at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Laura went back to Peoria on Saturday afternoon. Before leaving, we had lunch at In-N-Out. My friend Tony loves them. You can even order off of their "official" secret menu or their other secret menu.

I finished Eclipse and I have started Breaking Dawn. I think I am on page 12, so I have a bit to read.

I have been working on Christmas presents. As of right now I have three finished and six started. I should have the six completed by the end of the month. The quilt for my grandma is one of the six. I am still working on the binding and I will hopefully finish it in two or three days. I usually work on it while we watch Ugly Betty and American Idol.

I am going to post pictures off all of the Christmas presents I am making after Christmas. I would love to do it as I complete them, but then everyone would know what they are getting for Christmas.

Posted by at 5:05 PM | Permalink

The weather was nice on Thursday, so Laura, Alex, and I headed out to the zoo. It was a lot of fun to walk around outside and see the animals. We explored a part of the zoo that Gabe and I never found. It is a pretty big area and we usually go to the right when we enter. Next time we go, we are going to start with the left. In the evening we caught up on Ugly Betty episodes. We went to Spanky's diner for dinner. It is a pretty fun place that is reminiscent of Greece. I kept waiting for John Travolta and Olivia Newton John to jump out and start singing.

Coyote

We had dinner at the Cow Palace tonight. They have pretty good steaks. Across the street is the Long Horn. My goal is to Gabe to eat there with me at some point. He always wants to go to the Cow Palace.

I am making pretty good progress on my quilt. I have been working on it in the evenings while we watch T.V. I would say I am about 3/4 of the way through with quilting. After that I just need to sew on the binding and then I will be finished. I probably have around 3 or 4 days left at a minimum.

I have been reading while feeding Alex. It takes him 20-30 minutes to eat a bottle, so I have been reading and I am almost finished with Eclipse. Breaking Dawn is next in line.

Posted by at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I finished the pillows for the couch in our bedroom, but I don't have picture to post right now. Laura, Gabe's sister, arrived in Arizona Friday night. It was pretty late when she arrived, so we didn't do anything Friday.

Saturday we got up and headed to Tubac. It is an artsy community that was having their annual craft fair. We walked around the fair and looked at the booths. We didn't purchase anything other than food. We had Gyros and a funnel cake. We headed home for a little while before heading back out again.

Next we headed to the ASARCO copper mine and we went on the copper mine tour. It was really interesting to see how copper is mined. My favorite part was the copper bubbles.

Copper Mine

Alex, Gabe, & tire used on the 240 ton haul trucks. The tire weighs 7,600 pounds.

Copper bubbles

After the copper mine we went to Sushi Cho for sushi. Yummy!

Yum...sushi!

Sunday we went to the San Xavier del Bac Mission. It was really interesting and a great place to take visitors. I think Gabe and I might go back and watch the 25 minute video when we have more time. After the mission, we went to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. We purchased a couple of things. I am starting a rock collection for Alex. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant Gabe and I both like, La Placita. I have discovered that the single taco dinner is more than enough food for me.

San Xavier del Bac Mission
"The White Dove of the Desert"

We rented a few movies on Monday using the Red Box at Wal-Mart. I will give you more details about renting free movies next Monday. We watched Pineapple Express Monday night and it was bad. I did not realize it was a movie about drugs. I don't recommend it.

Tuesday Laura, Alex, and I stayed home and worked on a project. I am currently making a quilt for one of my Grandmas for Christmas. We also watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and The Good Student. Umm...the second Sisterhood movie was not as good as the first and The Good Student was not my favorite movie, but it did hold my interest. The Good Student is about a "relationship" with a student and a teacher. The student goes missing and the rest of the movie is spent trying to find her and it is also spent exploring the odd relationships between various members of the community.

American Idol was on last night and of course I watched. I was very disappointed when Tatiana was not sent home. I was pretty sure she was going home when she was switched from her original holding room to another one. As of now, my two favorites are Danny and Jamar. The only problem is I don't know who I would root for if they both make it to the final. I am looking forward to tonight's episode.

Today has been another "at home" day. We watched December Boys. I recorded it on our DVR because I like Harry Potter and Daniel Radcliff was in the movie. His nickname was Maps even though I kept calling him Harry Potter. It is about a group of boys in an orphanage and they were called the December Boys because they were all born in December. The orphanage received a large donation from a benefactor and the boys were sent on a holiday. The December boys were sent first since it was December. So, the movie is about their adventures on holiday at the ocean. I feel pretty neutral about this movie. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it.

Other than American Idol, I am not sure what we are going to do tonight. I am hoping that the weather warms up so we can go to the zoo during the day soon. The high today was only 66, so we didn't make it.

Posted by at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Alex's eye is much better. Unfortunately he does not like the eye drop in his eye every three hours.

We dropped the dogs off at the kennel on Friday and we flew out to St. Louis on Saturday. Alex ended up with half of my suit case and part of Gabe's suit case. So, when we arrived at the airport we had two large suit cases, a medium suit case (that Gabe emptied and packed into the other bags), a car seat, a diaper bag, two carry ons, and a baby. We could barely carry it all. It is a really good thing that Gabe left the medium suit case in the truck.

We flew Frontier Airlines and they were all very nice. The lady at the check in counter said we could check any baby items for free and to keep it in mind for our next trip. It is nice in thought, but I don't think that it is that practical to pack any more stuff around. Going through security was much easier than I had anticipated. The TSA worker was very helpful and came over to help me through security. I sort of think he saw me and thought "oh great, she is really going to slow things down." :)

Alex was great on the airplane. He slept the entire time we were flying. I hope that he is just as great on the trip home.

We stopped at Sam's to pick up some diapers before arriving at his parent's house. The weather here definitely reminds me of winter. There is snow on the ground and ice on the trees. The roads were basically fine though.

Ice and snow

On Sunday, Aaron came to Peoria. Originally we were going to go to Chicago to the German Village, but the weather was too bad to take Alex. Instead, Aaron came to see us. We went to Folepi's Village and saw the Festival of Lights floats. Luckily the village was inside and we were able to see the floats from the comfort of our heated car.

The cacti followed us to Illinois!

Aaron, Gabe, and I came back and we all had dinner. Aaron had to leave since he had a long drive back to Chicago and he had to work on Monday. Laura (Gabe's sister) and Nate (Laura's boyfriend) came over we opened our Christmas presents and watched old family videos. Gabe and I also wrapped all of the presents on Sunday morning. It was like a little Christmas for us too, since most of the packages had been shipped to his parent's house months ago.

On Monday, I watched while Gabe, Duane (Gabe's dad), Troy (Gabe's brother), and Shari (Gabe's sister-in-law) all played Settlers of Catan. The Gabe was put on hold around 5:00 p.m. Gabe, Duane, and I went to a military supply store to buy some MRE's for my brother for Christmas. We had ordered some from a site on the internet, but I was really disappointed in them. They were only the entrees and not the complete meal that I was expecting. It is all fixed now (I still need to wrap them though). We stopped by Laura and Nate's place on the way back and then we headed to Sam's to pick up some chickens for dinner. After dinner, the game playing resumed.

Today has been pretty laid back. Troy, Shari, and Sophie (Troy & Shari's daughter) headed back to their home. I think we are going to watch a movie tonight. The snow is much nicer when you can enjoy it from the comfort of a heated house. Gabe and I also need to pack. We are going to leave tomorrow and head south to Southern Illinois to see my family.

I think that we are crazy for coming here for Christmas. We should have had people come to sunny Arizona instead!

P.S. I will most likely add pictures in early January.

Posted by at 1:43 PM | Permalink

I should be picking up the bedroom, finishing up the birth announcements, working on Christmas cards, or one of the other million things I need to do since Alex is sleeping. Instead, I am writing an entry to update everyone...what dedication.

Friday my mom wanted to go shopping. Now, just in case you are wondering I am not the "get up and go out at 4:00 a.m. type" and I did manage to order my shower curtain at Kohl's online at 11:00 p.m. (actually Gabe did it for me because I kept falling asleep). We went to the mall around noon thinking the die-hard shoppers would have returned home or at least stopped for lunch. We were wrong. Cops were directing traffic at the mall. It was ridiculous and finding a parking space (note: just a space not necessarily a good space) was nearly impossible. We did however luck out and found a space at Dillard's. Little did we know Dillard's is located at the opposite end as Macy's, which just happens to be the store that my mom wanted to shop. Stores had cue lines set up and shoppers were only allowed in when another shopper had left the store...crazy!

I found Alex a couple of cute outfits and my mom purchased my birthday present, Gabe's birthday present and his Christmas present, and a few things for Alex. She also found Alex an ornament.

Alex's ornament

My Dad and I managed to get our tree up.

Alex helping us clean.

On the way home I stopped by Home Depot and picked up a ceiling fan that the Home Depot near us didn't have. Actually they had one, but it was a return item and it was missing the blades.

Gabe's parents arrived Friday evening. Saturday my parent's watched Alex while Anna, Duane, Gabe, and I went to his office. This time I was able to take the tour and see what Gabe works on. My mom also made spaghetti and meatballs while we were gone. Duane, Anna, Gabe, and my Dad all attempted to go to the pecan factory on Saturday, but they missed the store being open by 3 minutes.

Sunday was my birthday and we had our Thanksgiving dinner. We were supposed to have the meatballs on my birthday and the turkey on Saturday, but the turkey was still a little frozen. My mom made a very yummy carrot cake. I couldn't find the candles, so I had one taper candle in the middle of the cake to blow out. My Dad was also our "professional photographer". He took several pictures of us so we could pick one out for our Christmas card. Gabe and I decided it would just be easier to take our pictures at home instead of taking two dogs and a baby to a photo studio.

Alex in a Santa hat.

Very early Monday morning Gabe dropped my parents off at the airport. Their flight was delayed due to the weather in Chicago. Luckily, they had a four hour layover so they did not miss their connecting flight. Monday morning we applied for a passport for Alex. Monday afternoon we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum with Gabe's parents. Alex slept through the majority of the zoo.

Alex enjoying the Desert Museum.

Alex hanging out with the javelina.

The three of us with a cactus on an 80 degree day in December! Maybe I should throw this picture in our Christmas cards too.

We went to Sam's on the way home and received our Christmas present from his parents a little early. We picked out a mini-fridge for the upstairs of our house. This way we can store the pre-made bottles upstairs instead of having to go downstairs at 3 a.m. We put it to use for the first time last night and it was wonderful.

Mini-Fridge

Tuesday morning we had lunch at Agave and then went to the copper mine gift shop and museum. They offer a tour of the mine, but there just wasn't time (they had to catch a plane home). I came back with Alex and Gabe dropped his parents off at the airport. When he came back we worked on the house a little more.

Entrance gate to mine property.

Gabe is at work right now, but he will be coming home in a few hours. Alex has his one month appointment today and he is getting a shot. I am not looking forward to the shot.

I think that wraps up the update. I am going to pick up our bedroom and then get back to cards, packages, and wrapping Christmas presents.

Posted by at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gabe picked my parents up from the airport last night around 10:40 p.m. Alex and I stayed home. After wading through the maze of boxes, we finally made it to bed sometime after midnight.

This morning we headed out to have lunch at a Mexican restaurant that we really like. Unfortunately, they were closed for Thanksgiving. I guess you can't really blame them for wanting to spend time with their families. We ended up going to Arizona Family Restaurant. It was our first time there and it was pretty good. Gabe and my Dad ordered breakfast and my mom and I ordered lunch.

After eating we headed out to Gabe's office. He gave us a tour of the facilities. Alex and I hung out in the car for part of the tour (safety glasses were required).

We came back home and worked on clearing out some boxes. Now, before you think I forced my parents to unpack boxes, my mom really wanted us to get things organized so we would all have somewhere to sit (and I think she knows the lack of organization really bothers me). Gabe and my Dad managed to install of the ceiling fans. We still have three more to purchase since Home Depot was out of the fan that I wanted for the kitchen area.

We took a break and went to eat Thanksgiving dinner at a buffet. We have a turkey in our refrigerator, but it is currently thawing. We will have it in a few days when Gabe's mom and dad arrive.

We came back and finished the room we were working on downstairs. Then my Dad and I came upstairs and began working on another room that was box city. It isn't any where near completion, but it is looking better. Maybe tomorrow we will be able to finish it. I need to throw some towels in the dryer and maybe start another load of clothes. I am so tired right now I would fall over if I wasn't reclining in a chair with arms. There are a few Kohl's deals that I would like to purchase online, but I don't think that I am going to be able to stay away (Alex may have a different plan).

Alex in his "gobble 'til you wobble" outfit. There is a turkey on the onesie.
I hope everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving.

Posted by at 11:03 PM | Permalink

One more day until a day off! I have not been keeping up with my to do list today though. I have been getting up earlier in the mornings to get a few things done. Today I managed all of the laundry and picking up a few rooms.
Clara has not been the best dog lately. This past weekend, while my parents were visiting, Clara decided to eat the food left out on the counter in the kitchen. We have left food on the counter before and she always left it alone. She basically had to stand on her hind legs to reach the counter with her head and front legs. She managed to eat about two dozen cookies, an entire package of valentines candy (including aluminum foil), Godiva chocolate covered raspberries (I bought them for Gabe for our anniversary) , and some other things that I can't remember. She threw it all up in a pile, red aluminum foil and all, that my dad described as "a three inch tall pile". We hoped that she had learned her lesson. So, today when I went to work I decided to give her another chance and let her roam free around the house. That was my mistake. When I came home tonight, Gabe informed me that Clara ate a package of chocolate covered blueberries, fudge, oatmeal cookies, sugar candy, and a cookie from Ron Paul. She must really like chocolate, cookies, and chocolate covered fruit. Somehow she managed to stand up on her hind legs enough to remove a bowl with batter out of the sink and then proceed to lick the batter out of the bowl.
We just finished watching American Idol. I am getting tired of the auditions. I think that they are getting on with the "real show" next week...at least I am hoping. Currently we are watching Welcome to The Captain. It is different. I will probably give it another week.
I just finished P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. It is about a girl named Holly and her ability to cope when her spouse is taken from her by an illness. She must put her life back together. It is not my normal type of book, but it wasn't terrible. I will probably watch the movie to see how it compares to the book. It will probably be a renter since I doubt that Gabe will be too interested in watching it. Cecelia Ahern is also one of the creators of Samantha Who?, a show that I like. Well, maybe I should get back to my list.

Posted by at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

My parents went back home today and I left for work. Only two more days until I get a day off yippee. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my days off? I will be meeting a friend for lunch and then running a few errands here and there. I have started making a detailed list of things to take on our trip maybe I will finish that on Thursday as well.
We watched the Superbowl last night and the game was great, but I felt that the commercials were lacking. There were a handful that I felt were actually Superbowl worthy. One of them was the Planters Cashew commercial. It cracked me up. I am sure that you will be able to find it on YouTube if you missed it last night.

Posted by at 10:29 PM | Permalink

Friday evening my parents came up. We went to Islamorada Fish Company, the restaurant at Outdoor World. I had a steak and a baked potato. The steak was pretty good (especially after I salted it). We walked around the store and then headed to the supermarket. Afterwards we came back home.
I had to work on Saturday, but they came up to the office and once I was home we relaxed for a little while. We had reservations at Meson Sabika for dinner. Yes, this has been quite the Meson Sabika week. I love the dates wrapped in bacon, but anything probably tastes better wrapped in bacon. My nephew came over (he attends a college about an hour and a half away) and we ordered pizza. I think that he left sometime between 2 and 3 a.m. Gabe and I went to bed after he headed out.
Today has been quite the shopping day. We went to Marshall's and I found a pair of shoes. I am going to take them with me to Spain...they are really comfortable. Gabe and my dad dropped my mom and me off at Ikea and then they went home. Now Gabe and my mom went to get the pizza and White Castles. Dad and I are watching the Superbowl. I am pulling for the Giants...I like the underdog. They should be back soon from their food run. It has been a busy and fun weekend. Back to work tomorrow.

Posted by at 4:43 PM | Permalink

Happy 2008! To celebrate the new year we stayed home and had a great time. My brother and sister-in-law came up (they were taking their son to college) and Aaron came over. So, we all played Wii and watched Transformers. The movie was much better than I expected and I liked it. For those of you wondering, my cheeseball turned out great. We had a very yummy ice cream pie for Gabe's birthday. Yesterday we started taking down our Christmas tree. I think that we will finish it tonight. Some pictures that I ordered came in the mail today, so I think that I am going to work on our 2007 scrapbook today. It is already 2008, so I at least need to finish up 2007.

Posted by at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gabe left for a business trip on Wednesday morning. After working I picked Laura, Gabe's sister, up from the train station. She is going to be staying with us until Sunday. Wednesday night we surfed the net and relaxed. Thursday we spent a lot of time shopping and getting things done. I had to drop my car off at the dealer to get an oxygen sensor changed. They gave me a loaner, so it wasn't too bad. We watched Juno yesterday evening. It was okay, but it was nearly as funny as I expected. We were given a free t-shirt for attending the premiere. I can't really say what I have done today...laundry, picked up my car, etc. Now it is almost time to go to bed...almost. Gabe is putting up the blinds in the bathroom. We received them in the mail yesterday. Gabe and I purchased the "Press Your Luck" DVD game. I used to love watching the show on T.V. Gabe won tonight. I kept getting too many whammies.

Posted by at 10:19 PM | Permalink

We are now being recognized by the employees at Menards. We go there a lot and I think that they may start to believe that we are stalking them. I think that we might go there tonight to pick up a few things. Saturday Gabe's parents came up and we went to the movies and saw The Game Plan. It is a really cute and funny movie. Before the movie Anna (Gabe's mom), Laura (Gabe's sister) and I went shopping. I found a new rug for the bathroom. We also sent to a Lithuanian restaurant/shop. I found normal size barley! I make a stew with barley and the tiny pearl barley just doesn't do it for me. Today Anna, Laura, and I went to Ikea for breakfast. They headed out around lunch time and Gabe and I went shopping, to the post office, and to the library. We came back and took the dogs on a walk. It is such a nice day outside. I am going to shower and then I think that we are heading out again. Menards here we come!

Posted by at 5:42 PM | Permalink