First day without daddy.....

Andy went back to work today. I imagine it was hard for him because of Drew and also because he has been gone a week and things have piled up, I am sure. We got along fine here. Megan and I took Drew for another prick in the foot to test his bili reuben level. The light blanket came off yesterday because it started to go down so we hope it continued that trend with this latest test.

Mark scrubbed all the tile floor for them today while I swept and moved the furniture and did some dusting. I took Sox on a 50 minute jog/walk and hopefully pooped her out. The dog has been incredibly good with the appearance of Drew in the household and hasn't acted jealous at all.

And of course, a new picture or two of Drew....just in case he changed since yesterday. :-)

Our first Sunday with Drew. :-)

We have been staying with Sharon and Arne at night but spending most of the day at Megan and Andy's. I have been trying to do some cleaning for Megan. She was incredibly sore from her "anything but normal" C section but is doing much better today. She will definitely be taking it slow for a few more days so any help we can provide will be good. Andy might go back to work tomorrow so then Mark and I will probably be of even more help to her without him. I am so proud of Andy and his role in this. The guy is a champion diaper changer and just wonderful with his son. Megan is quite lucky to have him, as is Drew.

Drew had another poke in the heel this a.m. to check his jaundice level and it was down enough today that they were able to remove his "light blanket" which will be a big help to them. They were pretty much confined to the chair where the blanket was plugged in....now we can walk all over the house with him. Won't be long and I will be taking him on his first jog. Just kidding, Megan!!

Pics are of Drew with his mom, dad, Aunt Sharon and Grandpa and Grandma Swanson. A few years ago I dreaded the thought of being old enough to be called Grandma and now all of a sudden it is the sweetest sound in the world!!

You knew there would be more pictures.....

I promise the pictures "may" slow down, but for now it is TOO MUCH FUN shooting them and posting. I had to put a picture of Grandpa and Grandma meeting grandson Drew for the first time yesterday. An awesome experience that many have experienced and we now have finally joined that group!

Dalhart, Texas......

We left the farm this morning at 5:15 a.m. and drove to a Dalhart motel arriving around 6 p.m. Long, long day but as the pictures will show, I should have kept driving until I arrived in Phoenix to see our new grandson. :-) We just came back from a delicious steak dinner at a steak house within walking distance from our motel. I have a feeling it was the ONLY place to eat in this cattle town, but am not certain. We hope to get out of here early tomorrow and should be holding my new grandson Drew by dinnertime tomorrow night. Now that will make tomorrow's long drive worth it all..........

The green glow is a blanket to help with Drew's jaundice.

Meet our grandson, Drew

via cell phone photo...........

It's Official!!!!!

I am now a Grandma and will be sleeping with Grandpa tonight! Andrew (Drew) Jacob Thiel was born this morning at 7:22 a.m., weighing 8lbs 8oz, 19 inces long and 12 days early. I am so excited I can barely type this post. As soon as Andy sends me pictures I will get them posted on this blog. If old man winter had not decided to finally make an entrance this winter we would be on our way to see our new grandson. As it is, the entire route to Phoenix is a glaring sheet of treacherous ice so we shall wait a day or two to begin our new adventure as Grandparents. Our life as we knew it has just officially changed!

I called Matt to tell him he is now an uncle. He is excited, also. Hope he can make it down there in the next few months to see his new nephew!! Knowing Matt, he will wait until Drew can play catch with a football. :-)

Something's in the air......

Well, it looks like our first major snowstorm of the season is approaching us late Saturday through Sunday. Sure hope our grandson doesn't decide it is time to make his appearance around that time! I won't drive in bad conditions, just too dangerous and scary.

It was so nice in Boone today while I was shopping that I decided to go for a run when I got home. I made it about 1/10th of a mile and felt extremely chilled. I forgot how nice it can be in the shelter of a town and totally a different story out here in the country. :-( So, guess I will do a Chico DVD in the warmth of my home instead. I certainly prefer running, though.........

I don't think Megan will last until her due date of Jan. 30th as things are moving "right along" and I give her about a week to 12 days to go into labor. I have started packing again for our return trip. We will be driving down so can take extra items to leave there for when I go down permanently to nanny. When I get there in late April it will already be quite warm there so need summer stuff to start out this gig. I have no clue when I ever will get back to the farm so am taking most of my things I feel I will need. I would like to have room for items for the Townhouse but our Camry is small for packing due to the Hybrid battery in the trunk. Oh well, that is why they have Costco and Target stores everywhere!

The next time I post will be to say grandparenthood is NOT FAR OFF!

A busy day

Began the day with an 11:00 baby shower at one of Megan's fellow attorney's home. It was a wonderful affair with the BEST food I have ever had at a shower of any type. Many guests and Megan and son fared "very" well in the gift department. Andy's trailblazer was filled to the brim on the way home. She received more baby presents than Mark and I did wedding presents!! When we got home around 2:00 we started trying to organize the baby's room and see what items might still need to be purchased before the arrival of their son. My assessment is that not much will need to be purchased immediately. We weren't really finished going through everything but then it was time for Mark and I to head to the airport and return the rental and get through security. It was hard to leave......I wanted one more walk with the dog and one more chance to give daughter a much needed massage. :-)

Our flight was good and Dan and Katie were there to pick us up right on time. Dan drove the Camry home. Good thing....I don't think I recall how to drive it after a 3 week layoff!!

There is NO snow on the ground. Evidently what came down last night melted off today. Dan and Katie said it has been really warm the whole time we were gone. Unbelievable for Dec-January.

The pics are from Megan's shower today. I need some sleep. Later.......

Our last day in AZ...

and I am sure our daughter and son-in-law are breathing a sigh of relief. We came "close" to the point of overstaying our welcome I am sure! It will be nice when the town house becomes available and we won't have to bug people for a place to stay any longer. I cannot say I am exicted to get home and if you take a look at the picture Katie sent of their place across the road from us you will see why I am not elated. I hardly remember snow! :-)

Megan's c0-workers from her firm are having a baby shower today at 11. I am glad our flight is not until tonight so that I can attend. They needs lots of stuff so a shower is a good thing. :-)

Well, my next posting will be from warm and sunny Iowa. Until then.............

Another great hike.....

There really are so many hiking places in Arizona I wonder if you could hike them all.....we shall give it our best effort! I drove to Terravita this morning and Sharon and I drove to Care Free State Park (??????) for a 5.5 mile hike on the Go John Trail. It was breath taking and very quiet today. On the long hike, we saw only two other hikers......we discussed mt. lions and bobcats and then I started thinking about them a bit too much! I think rattlesnakes are probably more of a worry, though. Whatever, nature is gorgeous here and I will coexist. :-) Photos are from our hike today...... the photo with the hole is an abandoned mine in the middle of nowhere. At least they fenced it totally in.

another day of golf....ho hum :-)

Mark and I just traveled down a few miles on Union Hills to Paradise Valley Golf Course to play 18 holes. It wasn't your "beautiful desert course" but it was great fun. The front nine we golfed with a father teaching his 5th grade son how to golf. The play was a bit slower but we both enjoyed watching them interact. The son got better with each passing hole. The second nine we were paired up with a SW Airlines employee and an elderly gentleman. Both were great fun and we enjoyed the time together. FORE.....

Getting closer to being Grandparents!

Megan is at 36 weeks now. She is wishing it would be over soon...like all pregnant ladies. We will soon be grandparents and getting very excited......

Christmas at the Swensen's

Golfing on X-mas Eve Day

Andy booked an 8:43 tee time this morning......frost, believe it or not, kept us off the tee box until 9:43. No problem! It was beautiful golfing-not our skills but the scenery and the weather. We had our coats off after 3 holes. This was a gorgeous course and worth the money spent. I cannot think of a better way to spend December 24th. Can you?????? The pics are from the course,

A new hiking place

Sharon came at 9:45 this morning and we went on 7th street south by the Pointe Resort for a hike in the small mountain beside the resort. It was a fairly steep climb to the top and on our way down it started to rain. :-( I felt pretty cold by the time we made it back to her car but it was still fun anyway. Along the route we saw some hikers had definitely been in the X-mas spirit and decorated a cactus and tree along the way. That put me in the Christmas spirit finally. :-)

After the hike we stopped by to get Mark and we went for lunch at Costco. Big slice of pizza for Sharon and me and a hotdog for him. Cheap lunch and good to boot! Only three more days until Christmas...........only 39 more days until baby. :-)

Babysitting is tough work......

Especially when it is for two very active pups! Megan and Andy's friends Ann and Damien dropped off their little white fuzzy Bailey while they fly home to Iowa for the holidays. Since Megan and Andy are both at work we are babysitting the dogs today. I actually thought Sox was going to kill little Bailey, but was assured it was all in good fun. ???????? Oh well they have been together six hours now and they are both still breathing. Whew! They are both quiet for the moment so Mark is trying to take a quick afternoon snooze before WWF round two kicks in with the dogs.......

This and that.....

We leave tomorrow for Arizona. Mark and I are really excited to go. Mark gets to meet his granddog Sox for the very first time. I foresee him getting a rousing welcome from Sox, as Sox gives everyone a rousing welcome. We also look forward to seeing their remodeled kitchen and the progress being made on the new pool in the backyard. Sister Sharon had invited me to go hiking on Monday with her but then said we should wait until Wednesday because of this:

...A COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WITH UNSETTLED WEATHER THIS WEEKEND...A MUCH COLDER AIRMASS SETTLES OVER ARIZONA LATE TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL DEVELOP WITH A THREAT FOR SHOWERS EACH DAY....HOWEVER HIKERS... CAMPERS...AND MOTORISTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF MAJOR CHANGE TOWARD COLD UNSETTLED WEATHER.

:-( Oh well, it gets better after this system pushes through!

Matt had to leave Wednesday for Kearny, NE to take classes and tests for his appraiser license renewal. While sleeping at his hotel some apparent punks trashed his car. He was livid and I can't blame him. They took a crowbar to all his windows but they didn't shatter but all have to be replaced none the less. The small port window in the back door did shatter and they stole some CD's and a coat. His back seat is full of shattered glass and shards. The crowbar was also used on his door to try to open it and that was mangled all to hell, too. I feel so badly for him but I suppose worse things could have happened, such as an accident. I am sure they will never catch the jerks that did this. Some people's kids!! Geez.

To all my friends and relatives, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See ya next year!

A very nice day for December

It was sunny today and actually above 50 degrees. I decided to make hay during this nice weather and went for a run of 5 1/2 miles. I will pay for that tomorrow, I am sure. I must remember I am no longer a spring chicken but will never concede to being an old hen, either! I was totally soaked with perspiration afterwards and have never worked up a sweat like that in December, other than maybe getting my credit card bill......

I have been trying to decide what to take to Phoenix for our trip. Sister Sharon said to think in layers.....you peel them off as the sun warms the valley. I did notice on weather.com that our first week in the valley will be in the low 60's. Hopefully it will warm up a bit the rest of our stay, but 60's I can live with!! I rented a car for our first week there so we will drive ourselves to Megan and Andy's on Sunday. Megan is taking the second week off so won't need to rent a car then. Will probably rent a car our last week, also. The Valley was made for shopping so I need wheels to get me to those great malls. :-) (Insert Mark rolling his eyes and reaching for a beer after that comment.)

Well, only 3 more days until we leave on a jet plane and I am getting quite excited. Ready to take Sox for a walk with Megan, ready to see Megan 7+ months pregnant and ready to visit with Andy and see their new pool, a work in progress. They also have a completely remodeled kitchen since I was there in October so lots to see there. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

A week-end in Omaha

Mark and I left home yesterday to spend the week-end with Matt. He got us FREE rooms at the Marriott through one of his fitness clients and the hotel is just beautiful. Beats the Super 8's we had stayed in before. It is nice to have "connections"!

Matt was working when we arrived around 3 P.M. so we went to Westroad Malls to kill some time and money. :-) Actually, we got out of the mall quite cheaply: 6 pairs of men's briefs at half price in Penneys. Normally we would not drive all the way to Omaha for Mark's briefs but since I failed to pack him any it left us no choice. One can never have too much underwear....or is that shoes and purses???

Matt arrived at the hotel around 5:30, we visited for awhile and then walked down to the hotel's steak house. All three of us had their special, all the prime rib you could eat. It was a delicious meal. Following dinner Matt took us on a Chirstmas lights tour of the "better" residences of Omaha. We went to Linden Estates and Bennington Lake. Most homes started at one million dollars and it was truly amazing. Such wealth....and lights! The home included in thispost was one of the "cheaper" ones. Unbelievable.

He is working today and should be here in an hour. We are going to Cabella's then out to an early dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then to the Quest Center. Matt bought us all tickets for the Creighton vs. Xavier BB game tonight, so that will be fun.

We will be driving home tomorrow.

Only two live plants left......

I have been trying to eliminate my "live" plants in our home. I figure that when I am in AZ Mark will not have time/remember to water them. I don't do such a hot job myself so I cannot expect him to care for them! I couldn't toss out my two favorites though. One is a Christmas Cactus and it is blooming right now. I am glad it is doing it a bit early as we will be gone for 3 weeks over the holidays and I was afraid I might miss out on these lovely blooms. The second picture is a bonzai from the Peterson clan in memory of my mom. I love this plant, worry that I will kill it, etc. So far, it is still alive..... If I can fit them in my car in the spring when I leave they will go with me.