Baby it's cold outside

We have all been secluded indoors so far this week. The temps yesterday were in the 50's and Monday was rainy so we haven't been on a walk yet this week. Today looks to be nicer so we will try to get outdoors later this afternoon. Sox needs a walk and so do I!

From the pics below, you can see Drew still loves his thumb when he isn't golfing and Kayley just likes to smile!

Grandma's day

Rainy days and Mondays......used to get me down. Retirement and Drew and Kayley changed all that. :-)

A typical day for granny and grandpa at the Thiel household.

Rainy Sunday

We finally have to say goodbye to our 80 degree weather that we have been enjoying for days on end. It rained during the night and is supposed to be rainy most of today. Rain is always a welcome occurrence in AZ so guess that is a good thing. Mark had a good chuckle while watching a local meteorologist last night.....he said we should expect "heavy" rains, anywhere from .25" to .50". That would be considered a drizzle in Iowa! But when you only experience about 8 inches of total rainfall per year, I guess a 1/2 inch in one day IS a downpour. :-)

We had a great hike in the McDowell-Sonoran mountain preserve yesterday. The scenery was beautiful as we made our way to a formation called Balance Rock. It was a guided hike and about 25 people made the walk.

Mark and I went to the PGA Superstore yesterday afternoon in Scottsdale. It is huge and I could have spent all day at that place. I would have been broke, though. Golf equipment and apparel is rather pricey but they did have several racks of 50% off which I enjoyed browsing!

Some pictures from the McDowell Mountains:

Saturday

Time for a hike this morning with the ladies. It is going to cool off rapidly this week-end with a good chance of storms but hopefully we will get the hike in before the rain appears.

Kayley and Drew had a very good week. Twice this week Drew had afternoon "power naps" of over four hours! He plays hard and sleeps hard!

Kayley had an appointment yesterday with her developmental doctor. I will let Andy describe the details in her blog but the short version: we are to work on her gaining core strength for future sitting and crawling and she would like us to start more solid foods since she isn't that great of a bottle feeder. When feeding her we are to let Kayley work the food off the spoon rather than the traditional way of scraping it on the roof of her mouth. Seems she doesn't like to use her upper jaw/lip a lot and this should help stimulate that along with some other tricks she suggested. Over all she thought Kayley was doing great. I agree!

A day at the park

A little bit about nothing

It's already Wednesday. Another week of my life flying by! We have had a good one so far......good weather, walks to the park with the grandkids. The only bummer of the week was the Cardinals loss in the Super Bowl on Sunday. They gave it everything they had though, so we cannot complain too loudly.

Andy took us to a Phoenix Suns game on Monday night. It was the first NBA game that Mark and I have ever attended. We had a great time watching Shaq and company.

TGIF

Happy Friday! It is another gorgeous day in the valley. Andy's patio thermometer is reading near 80 degrees. That was enough to get me out of the house with Sox and Kayley and go for a walk. Grandpa and Drew opted instead for an afternoon nap.

We have had a good week. Wednesday Mark got a ticket from Megan to attend the FBR Open and it also had a Greenskeeper pass which allowed him unlimited food and beverages. Not a bad deal, huh? He had a great time and got some good pics of some PGA players. Tomorrow we are both going to the Open. I am worried my two favorite players (Phil and Freddie)won't make the cut as they played pretty poorly yesterday! Hopefully they will shoot better today and be able to play on Saturday.

Of course Sunday is THE game....Cardinals vs. Steelers in the Super Bowl. Cheer for the Cardinals everyone!!

A video from the week and FBR Open pictures of Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples and J. B. Holmes:


Phil Mickelson getting ready to putt

Super Bowl Week begins

We are all pretty excited about the Arizona Cardinals making it to the Super Bowl. I know they are considered underdogs but I am really thinking they can beat Pittsburgh. Iowa boy Kurt Warner is the Cardinal's QB so all you people back in Iowa "should" be cheering for the Cardinals, too! I guess we will all find out next Sunday! Go Cardinals!

Some pics of my two favorite grandchildren......

Great day for a hike

Ten gals met at North Mountain in Phoenix this morning for a great hike. It was surprisingly humid and we were all damp at the end of the four mile trek. We then were all starving so went to a diner for a hearty breakfast. It was a fun time and a good workout.

Kayley had a great week. Her bottle feeding is getting easier with each passing day and she continues to grow at a good pace. Drew keeps grandpa entertained and busy setting up his bowling pins and playing with his Thomas the train set.

Sox and Drew like to be very close to Grandma during Kayley's feedings!

Swimming lessons

Drew has swimming lessons every Monday night and is really learning to like water. That is a good thing since he has a pool right outside his patio door!

Hiking group

Several ladies have decided to do a different hike every Saturday morning. I love it, naturally! The gals are all lots of fun and the beauty of the hikes speak for themselves. The following pictures are from this past Saturday at a Cave Creek park called Spur Cross.

Lots of presents

Birthday slide

Happy Birthday, Drew!!!

Drew is two years old today! He and I are going to make his cake this afternoon and he will frost it. I imagine it will be the prettiest cake I have ever seen. :-) It is supposed to be 75 degrees this afternoon so Grandpa is going to take him to the park, too. He will have a busy day.

Happy Baby

Sunny Tuesday

We are enjoying a streak of above normal temperature in Phoenix. I know back home in Iowa it is COLD, very cold. Sister Jan and family in MN is even colder. Mark and I do not miss those temperatures! Some pictures from the past few days......

Drew and daddy's flashlight

Kayley enjoying the outdoors

Grandma and the kids chilling out

Kayley wearing Drew's hat to keep that bright sunshine out of her eyes.

Sunny Monday

It was a beautiful day to start the work week. Mark and I took both Drew and Kayley outside several times today to enjoy the nice weather. Two short videos of their day. Kayley was in a good mood (nothing unusual there!) and Drew had fun teasing Sox with Andy's flashlight.

Just a walk in the park

For all my cold weather friends, I almost hate to post this. It was just beautiful outside so Mark and I took the kids for a stroll and a stop at the park. They enjoyed it and grandpa and grandma enjoyed the sunshine.

Picture "catch up"

I have been a bit behind with my broken computer so will just post some pics that have been accumulating. A little heavy on the Kayley side, but Drew has had his fair share! I see a couple of "double" posts of pictures, but I am too tired to remove them and plus she is worth looking at twice!

Grandpa and Drew

Drew loves to bowl

Grandpa and Me

My computer died.......

This was not a good start to a new year. One day the screen on my laptop went black. I could "read" it with the help of a bright flashlight glaring on the screen but didn't think I wanted to do that for the rest of my life. I had it estimated for repair and decided that over $700 for a 6 year old laptop was unacceptable. Long story short, my dear husband purchased me a new one and it is due to arrive by UPS on the 6th. Until then, no posts of pictures or videos. Fortunately, Megan and I gave Mark a laptop for Christmas so I can get my Internet "fix", but it doesn't have the right software on it for video editing. I will make a post when my new one arrives. Happy New Year to everyone! Marla

Christmas at the Swensen's

We were all invited over to Sharon and Arne's for Christmas Day dinner and festivities. We had a great time and a delicious ham dinner. The kids had fun with Rock Band.

Matt had a flight out the next day and we hated to see him leave but we were so happy to have him join us for the Christmas holiday. Hopefully that will become an annual affair!

Christmas morning

Oops....I goofed at the end and let the song run after the video was over. When the screen turns black, the video is over. :-)

Cousins from New Mexico

Nephew Erik and his girls Kadin and Gracie stopped by for a visit Christmas Eve day. Drew had lots of fun with them but I wouldn't let him go swimming with the girls!