Heading home

Tomorrow I fly home for the holiday week-end. I am quite excited to be heading back to the farm and Mark. It should be a great week-end as Matt is coming home and sister Jan and brother Larry are also coming, along with our "sister" Cyndy from Ankeny. I hope to see some friends while I am home, too. I hope everyone has a great Labor Day week-end.

Some misc. pics of you know who. :-)

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Happy Birthday, Matt!

My first born turns 30 on August 27th. Now why does that make me feel rather ancient? It seems like yesterday he was at Ogden High, UNI, etc......time, it does fly by. Matt was born on his grandparent Kalkwarf's wedding anniversary so that makes it extra special. In honor of his day I have posted two pictures. One is Matt with my parents when he was just a wee one and the other with his cousin Erik and Uncle Kevin. In that picture, Matt is the "tiny" one on the right. Matt is about 6'3" and around 280? so calling him "tiny" is a bit of a stretch but these two guys are bigger! They all three need to play FB somewhere! I love you, Matt! Have a great day!

FB season is nearing....

All this IOWA grandma can say is: GO HAWKS!!!!
(Ignore his tags.....we wanted to make sure it fit before we pulled them!)

Drew and the lunch lady

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TGIF

It is Friday and another week comes close to ending. My old friends at school are just finishing up their workshops and in-service today and the kids come Monday. I cannot believe I am officially starting my second year of retirement. The first one went incredibly fast and was oh so enjoyable. I am thinking the second will be likewise. :-)

Mark and I have been babysitting all week, naturally, but he has found time to pull out an evergreen bush in front of the townhouse. It didn't look desert enough for my tastes so we are going to put in a barrel cactus in that spot. The one I bought is pretty tiny so I will most likely be scattered to the wind by the time it gets a substantial size but someone in the future will enjoy looking at it. :-) Maybe they grow faster than I think?

We were invited over to the Thiel's for dinner last night and had a good one and we all enjoyed Drew who was in lively spirits!

I am putting on some pics from yesterday and last night. A couple show Drew in a very unhappy state which is most unusual for him. He had just finished bumping his head and was not particularly pleased about that.

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Close to a crawl

Drew came to the town house today to visit at grandpa and grandma's house. He tried out a new toy grandma bought and also decided it was time to practice getting ready to crawl. Megan hopes he crawls for the first time in front of them, but the little guy came very close today of doing it front of us first. I didn't feel too bad, though, as I recall being told by baby sitters that Matt or Megan crawled today or Matt or Megan walked today! It would only be fair if I get to see Drew crawl and walk first, as I seemed to always be second in my working years! :-) He continues to be a great joy in our life and we enjoy this time with him immensely.

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The most beautiful place.....

Mark and I spent the week-end in Sedona, AZ and we both agreed with USA Today that is has to be arguably the most beautiful spot in America. My photos don't begin to do it one bit of justice but am posting them anyway!

We left early Sat. morning and made stops at two ancient Indian ruins, Montezuma's Castle and Montezuma's Well. Both were very interesting and quite remarkable. Following those tours we headed up to Sedona and the beautiful red rock country and home of Oak Creek Canyon. I had packed a picnic lunch and we ate and spent several hours exploring the creek and all its beauty. We checked into the Amara Resort and Spa around 3:30 and were thrilled with its luxury! (Thanks Megan and Andy!) We walked around uptown Sedona and all the tourist trap gift shops and found a place for dinner Sat. evening. Great western ribeye and atmosphere.

Sunday we did a bit more exploring, had a hearty breakfast at another great restaurant and took a trolley ride that gave us a chance to view and learn about all the mountains surrounding the area and all their unique names. We reluctantly headed back down to hot Phoenix around 1:30 and arrived around 3:30. I understand Phoenix set a new heat record for yesterday and may have done the same again today. It is scorching hot in many areas of the US, though.......

Today we are back watching Drew and it was very good to see his big smile this morning. Funny how you get attached to the little ones........

Anyway, Mark and I had a glorious week-end that we will remember forever! Hope yours was glorious, also.

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Time to catch up!

Mark and I have been having a great time watching Drew, doing more little things to the town house, etc. Drew is still the dream baby, so easy to care for and love. I can hardly recall the last time he has cried for anything over 10 seconds. Happy, happy little boy! I read yesterday how Baby Einstein videos may be producing Baby Homer Simpsons instead of Baby Einsteins and got a good laugh over that. We are not too concerned as Drew gets lots of stimulation and one on one so it will be over grandma's dead old body that he turns in to a Homer or horrors: Bart. :-)

The townhouse patio faces west and in this town that is not a great position this time of year so we bought two roll down screens and they have made a world of difference for us out there. As most of you know, we love to grill and be outdoors so this helps tremendously, not to mention the misters that Andy put up when they lived there. We have had many pleasant nights out there. Mark also hung all the wall decor so it is really looking homey right now. That man is a godsend and I am very glad he is mine!

This week-end we are going to Sedona and courtesy of Andy and Megan we are staying at a resort and spa in the city that was rated in USA TODAY as the number one beautiful spot in the United States. That makes me think I will have some photos to post next week. :-) I was there several years ago but Mark has never been so we are excited to see Sedona and the red rock country.

Here are a few photos....can't post a log without a few photos!

Let's make some noise!

More swimming

Drew getting better in the water

Swim lessons are working!

Visitors on the week-end

My nephew Erik and his two daughters were visiting Sharon and Arne this past week and came to see Drew on Saturday and spend the afternoon swimming in the pool. Kadin and Gracie are so brown compared to white Drew!! Darling little gals. Pictures are from that visit and also a picture of Matt and Drew visiting in Omaha two weeks ago and naturally a few pictures thrown in of Drew. He is sitting alone now but every once in awhile gets too excited and tips over! Hope everyone's week is going well.

Happy, Sad

Our town house

Mark and I have spent a lot of time fixing up the town house so I have included some pics of the new paint and new furniture. I went a bit dramatic on the paint but we both really like it. All I really have left to do is put up some wall decor and plant some desert plants in the patio and it is good to go! It is a perfect little second place for the two of us during the winter. I think we will really enjoy it. Megan and Andy also put in a security system so that makes me feel pretty comfortable living in the big city. The only trespassers I ever had to shoot before were raccoons and rabbits.....I didn't want to have to shoot anything (one) here so I really like the alarm system being in place. :-) I hope some of you come for a respite from the mid-west winters and stay for a spell with us in beautiful AZ winter temps! You can come now if you wish, but don't bring many clothes.......it is too hot to wear any. :-)