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!