Scenes from the holiday

We had a very nice Christmas here in Arizona. The only thing missing was Matt. I would have dearly loved for him to get down here over the holidays but it wasn't meant to be this year.

Christmas Eve I made chili and appetizers and we spent the evening with Megan, Andy and Drew. Christmas morning we got back to their home to watch Drew's very first Christmas gift opening. I do think he was a bit overwhelmed but he loves his new "stuff". We had a breakfast brunch after the gift exchange. Around 3:30 we left for Sharon and Arne's home for Christmas dinner, which was absolutely fabulous. Lisa, Taylor, Dan and Nick were there so that made it extra fun. We all went home happy and full!

Below is a little slide show of the morning with what I think is a "very" appropriate song for a Christmas in Phoenix. :-)

Drew's First Christmas!

Drew and his dog

Twice the grandpa fun

Drew has the pleasure of having both of his grandpas here this week. Andy's dad Butch arrived Friday night from LeMars and is spending the week with them. Drew is getting lots of attention from both grandpas......about all grandma is good for this week seems to be feeding him and changing diapers and putting him down for naps. Other than the feeding part, that doesn't make me rate very high on Drew's scale this week!

Beautiful week-end for a 1500 mile drive!!!

Well, Mark and I made it to Phoenix Sunday afternoon but considering what weather we encountered I have decided to become a mailman. We drove through rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow and still made it!

I landed in Omaha Friday night at 6:40 p.m. and Mark picked me up and we went to our hotel. Matt came by and the three of us went to dinner at Friday's. Our hotel was right by Westroads shopping mall where the horrible shootings had occurred on Wednesday. The mall was closed and it was very eerie driving by and seeing the Von Maur store all lit up brightly for Christmas and no one in the parking lot but a few police and media vans at 8 p.m........

Saturday morning we listened to the weather report and it said Kansas (which would be the biggest part of our drive that day) would have freezing drizzle all day. It did. Our truck was coated with ice but amazingly we only had one iffy stretch and the rest of the Kansas roads were clear and perfect driving conditions. Kudos to their DOT for getting that miracle stuff down on the pavement to keep it from freezing! The trees and powerlines were sagging the entire day but the roads were just great. We drove nearly 13 hours that day and made it to Tucumcari NM around 6 p.m. Obviously, we were pooped and most glad to get into that hotel and off the roads....until the next morning!

Sunday started out great. I-40 was clear all through New Mexico. When we entered in to Arizona we had to make a decision which way to descend the mountain to get to Phoenix. Our choice was I-17 through Flagstaff or a state highway through Payson. We settled on the Payson route and I was very worried at first because when we started to descend it was raining and 40 degrees. Shortly it was 31 degrees and snowing. It was beautiful up there with the snow covering the tall pine trees and the snow falling but I saw no beauty.....only a very curvy and sloping road ahead and prayed it wasn't slippery. It wasn't so then I started (sort of) enjoying the beauty of the day in those snow covered mountains. :-) We got to the town house Sunday right at 5 p.m. So, considering the horrible weather we drove through I will have to say the roads were great. Now today is a different story up on top of those same mountains! Flagstaff and Payson areas could get anywhere from 6" to 14" of snow. Yikes! Glad we came through yesterday! As for us today, I took the grandson and the dog for a walk and was sweating pretty good when we finished. Ah, my kind of weather! :-)

Mark and I are going to buy a Christmas tree tonight for the town house. It needs some holiday touches badly. A tree is a good start. Well, hope everyone has a great week and drive safely!

Feeling MUCH better today...

Drew kept me on my toes today........all smiles and go, go go. :-)

A little under the weather.....

I babysat Drew this week-end and he is coming off a little battle with flu, lots of teeth coming in and a cold. I really couldn't even get him to smile (see pics) for the camera today and that is RARE. :-) Despite all that he has still really been a good little guy. Hope he starts feeling better soon!

I fly to Omaha Friday night and am meeting Mark and Matt for dinner. I am looking forward to that. Mark and I will leave Saturday morning from Omaha for our truck trip to Phoenix.

Mark said it is very cold right now in Iowa. It has actually been pretty cool here and lots of rain....for the desert. It cleared up today and was sunny and around 70. Drew and I did a 40 minute walk this afternoon and it was really nice.

Well, hope everyone is well and continues to stay healthy and cold, flu free!

What do you think?

Does anyone see any resemblance between Megan's baby pictures posted here and her son Drew? She and Andy's brothers have this question going on at gatherings and they all say he is his father's son. :-) Perhaps....or not?

My niece Sarah sent us a link of her and her siblings on an "elfyourself" website. It was so cute that I decided to make one of Drew and Grandpa and Grandma. Happy Holidays, everyone! Click here
If you cannot view it, you need to install flashplayer which can be downloaded here!


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Happy Thanksgiving

I flew into Des Moines Tuesday afternoon after narrowly escaping being dumped in Kansas City due to severe fog at the DM airport. It cleared just enough to land that small jet and saved Mark a trip south down I-35 to pick me up at KC. That would have been a bummer! As it was, all was fine and I was in his arms around 2:15. :-) On our way home we stopped in Boone for Thanksgiving dinner food but he had already purchased the bird so it wasn't too big of a load. That evening he prepared a nice pork chop dinner of which I did not have one bite. :-( Drew had the flu the Sunday before, Andy Monday night, Megan Tuesday afternoon and I got it right when Mark said "get the salads out, chops are done". It was me that "was done" for the about the next 4 hours. It was a quick working flu but horrible. I haven't had something that severe for about 20 years! So much for that shot I had a few works earlier to prevent this stuff!

Wednesday Matt was supposed to come from Omaha but I-80 was a wintry mess and he couldn't make it until Thursday noon. It was so great to see him finally!

Yesterday was our belated Thanksgiving gathering. Larry and Jody came around noon bearing lots of delicious relishes and snacks and two pumpkin pies. Megan, Andy and Drew arrived around 12:45 and we ate at 1:00. Everyone said it was good but the cook never thinks so...... :-)

Spent the afternoon in mini-misery from eating too much. Later in the afternoon Jan and Clayton stopped by and last night Kevin, Sarah and Katie came for the evening to meet Drew and visit with us all. It was a really great day! I hope everyone had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.

Some pictures from Drew's first visit to the farm. The toys in the pics and the high chair are from Mark and his brother when they were infants, sooooo, they are around 60 years old. Everyone wondered if they had lead paint. Hmmmm, not much different than today, is it!

Fun with Uncle Mitch

Another week-end gone

I truly cannot believe it is already time for the holiday season. I fly home Tuesday for the Thanksgiving Day week-end and am really looking forward to it for a variety of reasons......I get to be with Mark for 6 days, Matt is coming home, Megan, Andy and Drew are coming to the farm (Drew's very first visit to that neck of the woods), brother Larry and brother Kevin and families are coming to dinner, etc. I love preparing Thanksgiving dinner but it is the same amount of work whether it be 4 people or 15 people so the more the merrier to have their fill!

Mark had a good week-end topped off by dinner last night with great friends Jan and Clayton at their new home. Jan had a birthday so here's a big birthday greeting to her! Love you guys....

My week-end was equally good...and busy. Saturday morning Megan and Drew picked me up at 6:45 am for a fund raising walk for breast cancer starting at Tempe Beach Park. It was only a 3 mile walk but their were LOTS of walkers so I would say the cancer society had a very successful day. It was very fun and Drew was a trooper the whole way. That afternoon Megan, Drew and I went to several stores and the mall and had a good time. What is there to hate about shopping! Last night we went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant but took Andy this time. :-)

I have posted some pics of the breast cancer walk and also one I took of Megan and Drew today...... Here is wishing everyone who visits this blog a very happy Thanksgiving! Don't eat too much. Ha!

Bah, humbug.........

Mark and I have our work cut out for us this holiday season! First photo is our town house and the second photo is our next door neighbor's town house! The picture does NOT do this place justice.....it is lit up in every nook and cranny available. :-) They were putting them up this past Saturday and we had a good laugh because the gal said she wanted to get them up because it was below 90 degrees!! At home Mark tried to put them up if it was possibly in the 30's. :-) I don't think Christmas out here is much different than Iowa anymore. No snow there for what seems like several Christmases...... Naturally, had to throw a photo or two in of my grandson! Merry Christmas everyone. (Maybe we should get Thanksgiving over first, huh?)

Finally!

Megan has tried 3 week-ends in a row to get Drew's pictures taken and finally got the job done yesterday. The first time Drew was having stranger anxiety and no really good pics could be found. The second appt. found Drew fighting a bit of a cold and runny nose so it was cancelled. The third time (yesterday) I went with her to Babies R Us for the photo shoot and things went much better. He was a little timid at first but then got a tad more comfortable with the photographer and put out a few smiles. I have added them here.

The week-end here has brought cooler temps, low 80's and quite nice. I even "thought" about putting on something warmer to grill last night, but decided that shorts and flip flops were still comfortable. :-)

I went for a long walk yesterday and plan to do so again today with Drew. (There is a Cardinals home game and I am babysitting from 10:00 on today). Drew and I are going to drive up to Terravita this afternoon and hike around there with sister Sharon. The terrain is such that Drew's jogging stroller should work fine IF I can fit it in my Camry. May have to take a tire off to squeeze it in, though!

Mark is busy chopping stalks and ripping the ground. I hope the weather continues to "hold" in Iowa so he can get those jobs completed!

Well, wishing everyone a very enjoyable Sunday and have a good week.

Daddy, Drew and chunky food

TGIF

This week seemed to fly by. Mark is busy in the corn and the weather is behaving so that is a great thing. Another Halloween has come and gone and it is on to seeing Christmas decorations in stores everywhere now. :-)

Drew is doing great. He keeps me hopping every minute he is awake. A very busy young boy! He still has a very happy personality and when he smiles at me I just melt. :-) They are coming to the farm for a day and night during Thanksgiving so I am very excited to have him meet our family and friends at home.

Hope everyone has a grand week-end!

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Grandma's spooky Halloween......

Tigger came trick or treating last night to Grandma's house. It was most definitely a "treat"

A conversation with Grandpa

Great long week-end with Mark

Drew and I picked up Mark at the airport Thursday afternoon at 3:30. It was so great to see him. I was afraid Drew would have nothing to do with him as he is into not liking strangers but I think he remembered him from his visit in August! He whined a bit if granny got out of his line of sight, otherwise was great with grandpa. That first night we were invited to Megan and Andy's for dinner.

Friday Mark helped me babysit all day. We all went for a long walk through the parks that morning. It is just beautiful especially in the morning so we thoroughly enjoyed that time outdoors. That evening after Andy got home we all met Megan at a pizza restaurant close to where she works. Following a great dinner we met sister Sharon and Arne and Lisa, Nick, Dan and Taylor for bowling. Erik had just flown in from Los Alamos for the week-end so it was a special treat to see him.

Saturday morning Mark and I spent some time around the townhouse. Went for a walk through this housing complex. Went to a Mexican restaurant at noon for a salad. At 3;15 we Megan and Andy dropped Drew off with us as they had a wedding to attend. Drew helped us eat a ribeye dinner cooked by the greatest griller I know. :-)

Today we had a 9 am tee time followed by stopping by Megan's so Mark could see Drew's Tigger halloween costume before he leaves tomorrow. I hate to see him leave but the corn fields are calling him desperately!! Won't be long and he can join me for a long stay in the desert. Hope all is going well for everyone visiting this blog!!

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A Monday morning adventure

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Good morning

I haven't been posting many photos lately and needed to catch up on the still shots I have taken over the last week or two.

It is really nice here lately. The temps are in the low 80's, I am not running my air conditioner anymore (yeah!) and it is a really nice time to be in Arizona. Many say October is one of the best months and I can see why. The three of us (Granny, Drew and Sox the goldendoodle) take a long walk every morning since the heat went away. Every afternoon we get a blanket and frolick on the lawn. Drew dearly loves the outdoors so I think he takes after his grandma. :-) If he should happen to be in a sad/bad mood all you have to do is open the door and walk outside with him and he is all smiles again.

A couple of photos are from this past Saturday. Megan and I met Sharon and her grandson Nick and girlfriend Brit for a nice hike up Pinnacle Peak. The trail was very crowded, all due to the nice cool temps, I am certain. Sunday Megan and Andy went to the Cardinals football game and I babysat. Mark and I have tickets to two Cardinal games in December so we are really looking forward to seeing their brand new stadium and the games.

Mark is coming for a visit very soon and had hoped to have all his harvesting done. Ha! It just keeps raining and raining and raining in Iowa. Very depressing, to say the least. It has been quite the year for the Iowa farmers.....and none of it good it seems. Hopefully he can forget about it for several days while he is here. We plan to golf and hike and play with Drew the rest of the time!

I hope this finds everyone in good health and spirits! Marla