Tahoe

So Sean and I get another weekend by ourselves! Thanks again Aramark! We are headed to Tahoe this time, a place I've never been. I've always wanted to go there because I hear it's beautiful and the skiing is amazing. So we booked a little extra time to stay on Sunday to get in some skiing, etc, except there's no snow there. Yep, they are actually getting it while we are leaving. It's supposed to snow on Sunday, so hopefully our flight will get out on time.

We're excited to spend some time by ourselves. I plan on reading and sleeping. I'm looking forward to the quiet. Hopefully my parents are NOT looking forward to quiet, but a rambunctious fun time with the kids! What I'm not looking forward to, or maybe I'm just not quite prepared for it, is the cold. The high in Tahoe for Friday is 47 - ok, I can deal with that, it was 47 when I got up this morning (although it got up to 70s). But the high for Saturday and Sunday is 26. Um, that's cold. When was the last time I saw 26? Hmmm, I'm seriously not too sure. I guess I'll have to stick the thinsulate in my leather coat. Do you people who live in that weather wear long underwear all of the time? I do believe my blood has thinned. How quickly I forget winter.

Zoolights

We had our annual trip to Zoolights. Zoolights is great - it's where the Phoenix Zoo puts lights on everything. It's pretty amazing. They have camel rides and such as well. There is one area there where these trees light up and are coordinated with some music. The kids loved it. They were out dancing to it. I videotaped them, but it was too dark to see what's going on.

Here are some pics

The lights

Aunt Aileen - Or Eeen, as Lauren calls her

Our good friends -- Nate and Kristen

pictures

I realize I haven't posted many pictures recently. Heck, I only had 2 blogs for the month of November! 3 with this one I guess. Soooooo, like everyone else we had some Thanksgiving. I hosted it at my home for the first time. I cooked 2 turkeys. One we did in the oven (the big one, thankfully) and it was done in time for all 26 guests. The other we decided to fry. Well, we had to wait forever for the oil to heat up, so that became our turkey dessert. I think it was better that way anyway because everyone wanted to watch it go in and see how it was done. The overall concensus is that it was more moist, but my thought was - how much money did I just spend on all of that oil? I personally don't know that it's worth it. Maybe if you fried up the whole neighborhood's turkeys........

Anyway, here are some pics since I haven't shared any recently.The turkey going in and then coming out. It was a big deal folks.

We had a crazy rain downpour with hail. It looked like snow! There was a LOT of it.Sean with his "Christmas ball." It's a wad of lights that don't work, but we needed the rest of the lights to finish the roof line! He's a little embarassed about that...The finished product.Our family, although it's a blurry picture.Lauren during light hanging. It was a little chilly and she wanted to wear a hat.I can't get those silly crocs off of her. Annoying.

Grant's hanging out with Aileen and Lauren is taking a nap. Sean is in Tucson for business. Ahhhhhh. I am going to do this before I get to work on my assignment do this week for school. Yes school. I've got one class down and 11 to go until I receive my MBA. Then what? Ah, that's the question. Let me know your ideas!

So while I'm sitting here thinking, chewing on some Bit-O-Honeys, let me ask you a question. What is your favorite candy? I mean anything - jelly beans, twizzlers, snickers, homemade toffee (yum), starburst, etc. What do you just love to eat when you have a candy craving? I have a few faves. Bit-O-Honey is definitely one of them - although I don't have them often. My mom makes the best toffee, which we have at Christmas. I love Twizzlers though. They really do make this mouth happy. They are low-fat, easy to eat, etc. How about you?

so sue me

Yeah, I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been avoiding some things I guess. Mainly, I guess all of the politics and the election. Oh, we're doing good here, I've just come to some realizations. I won't share them all, but the main one is that God's in control. Am I just realizing that? No, but I've been reminded of that. Also, these are exciting times we live in! The first African-American (well, half anyway....) will be President in a couple of months - I'm proud that Americans have gotten over themselves and race isn't an issue. I'm sad that some seem to think if you didn't vote for him, then you're a racist. That is a weird presumption to make. Still trying to understand that one anyway. Maybe if you didn't vote for him then you simply don't agree with his agenda? Seems like a simpler presumption to make....

I think God put him in charge for a specific purpose. Without sounding like I'm a conspiracy theorist, I believe our world's getting ready to become "one." As exciting as that sounds, it signals we're closer to the "end" than ever before. Since he's being touted as the world's president (that in itself shows you something), the world may be coming together for peace, one currency, etc. - we're ushering in a new era here folks. And it's exciting! We need to be praying. We need to be telling others about Christ. We need to be praying, praying, praying - can't stress that one enough.

Ryan's Skin Tags

Dr. Sean did a little surgery on Ryan while he was here. He cut off 2 of them from Ryan, his 4th and 5th skin tag removals. Pesky skin tags anyone? For a small fee, Sean will remove them for you. Cauterizing is available when needed. Don't act like you don't have any - are you over 25? I'm guessing most of my readers are - except my niece and nephews who read this.... And if you're over 25, your body starts doing some crazy things my friend. Crazy things.

missing the fam

So I don't like living far away from my family. It stinks. I was reminded of it more when my brother, wife and daughter came to visit. It was so great to have them here and just hang out together. We didn't have to do anything special but just spend time together and talk. I love my little bro and he has a great wife and baby girl. I miss them, and my older brother's family too. They all get to live by each other up in Missouri, but I am stuck down here in Arizona. Don't get my wrong, I love Arizona. I love Sean's sister Aileen - probably couldn't survive without her. Her parents are great too, hanging out with the kids on the weekend and whenever I need help. We are never lacking for someone to watch and love the kids. I don't think we've ever had to pay for babysitting yet, and they are being loved by their family at the same time. It would be very difficult for me to rip them away from them. At the same time though, my heart yearns to be with my family and I miss them. It's so far to drive and getting so expensive to fly, so trips are not frequent (how many times can I say "so" in a sentence?). I just wish we could all live by one another like we want. But how can we do that when we all have lives where we are - lives that are good and hard to interrupt? I'm just being selfish and want everything all at once. I know we will all be together in Heaven, but that's a ways away right? At least we think so..... :) For now I'll have to settle on the once a year trip to Missouri and hope they'll come this way sometimes too.