Vegas

I hope you two have fun in vegas! There is so much to do there.

Sarah and I are going to wineries on saturday with Curtis and Sara. Christina may come along as well.

We finally got rid of those ugly blue couches this week!!!

Vegas... 2 more days!

So D and I are leaving for Vegas Friday afternoon. I'm trying to decide where I want to eat, and what I want to do. Saturday we'll be meeting up with my friend Matt Watts (the male GB attendant at our wedding) and his girlfriend Sarah. I think Saturday we'll just be lounging by the pool and hanging out. I'm not sure what the rest of our plans entail, as he's basically charting the course, we just along for the ride. Matt and his girlfriend arrive in Vegas tomorrow. He'll be getting a lay of the land and deciding what he wants to do... as last I heard he plans to pop the magic question on Saturday evening.

Friday, D and I will get there, whenever, and possibly will arrive dinner time. Not sure what we'll do or what our plan is. I really want to walk the strip... get some exercise in, and enjoy the sites. Most dinner places I seem to be interested in are $$$... though there are a few that are pretty cool, and don't look as pricey. Just depends on what we're craving and how much money we've got.

Do you remember where you guys ate, if you went anyplace fancy? D and I grabbed quick eats most of the time, and I think the last time we went the only place we really sat down to eat was at the ESPN zone in NYNY back in 2006. We just wanted to drink and hang out and gamble... and Derek spent all our gambling money in 5 minutes. Yeah, he's not very good. In fact he was so bad, he was out of money before they offered him a free drink..... so any places you can remember enjoying??

Memorial Day Weekend!

Hope you had a happy memorial day weekend. I got to talk to mom on Sunday. Sounds like they had a nice BBQ at your new place... enjoyed the time w/ family and liked the grill/deck. Of course mom talked about what a joy Ellie was - what a beautiful baby girl you've got!!!

We had an event filled weekend as well. D's mom left Thursday, and Nigel arrived in town Friday... but Nigel headed straight to Sedona, so we didn't see him until 4 on Saturday. Derek and I mailed mom and dad their medals yesterday... so that should be arriving by this weekend. In the same package, Derek and I mailed a little dress for Ellie. We were out a couple of weeks ago and saw it and thought it would be perfect! Just took us awhile to find the nearest post office and buy the package to mail it... but mom said she'd get that to you next time she sees you both.

Anywho... hugs and kisses! I miss you lots!!!

D's bike!

D's old bike in red and gray... his new one in blue black and white!!! look at the difference in the tires!!!

Congrats on your 4th Wedding Anniversary!!!

Just wanted to wish you both a happy anniversary! I hope the two of you enjoy today, and your weekend. I still remember and feel that incredible surge of overwhelming happiness from 4 years ago.

My baby brother met his soulmate and was getting married. I gained a sister. Now I have a beautiful neice. Things are GREAT!

All my love and best wishes!!!!

4th Anniversary

Today is Sarah and My 4th Wedding Anniversary! We don't really have anything too special planned. I'll probably cook dinner tonight and we'll watch some tv. Tomorrow night Mom and Dad are babysitting so that we can go out to dinner someplace nice and maybe see a movie... we haven't really solidified our plans.

I forgot to mention that Tuesday night Sarah and I finally bought a grill. Its a 3-burner propane grill (uniflame). I've already made some BBQ chicken, and it was yummy!

Last night we bought some chairs for the deck, thanks to a gift certificate to Target from Mom and Dad! Plus, they were on sale. The chairs barely fit in my car and I scratched the heck out of my doors getting them in and out. Now all we need is a table and an umbrella and we'll be ready for a party.

D's Triathlon

Yes he really did. I'll have to post a picture up when the link is available. He did really well too considering all the obstacles he faced... poor knee (still not recovered from the marathon), first open water swim (like swimming blind!), and riding a mountain bike w/ a flat tire for 12 miles! CRAZY!

But yeah, he is excited.. and is signed up for another in September and wants to do another in October. I'm thrilled that he likes it so much!

The Ren Bib

I am sure the bib is still really cool. Did you guys enjoy yourselves? I'm sure it was a lot of fun. I've been to one of those once 8-10 years ago???, and just thought there'd be more stuff... I guess I was expecting a carnival... but I don't really remember much else... i went with some dude... but my memory is eluding me at the moment.

Me, I totally overate this weekend. My tummy hurts, and of course trying to limit the calories after binging and having 1-2K more calories than I need a day, is tough because my tummy is all stretched out and wanting to be filled up. But I'm only running 2 1/2 miles on the weekdays now, instead of 4-5 on the weekdays and 6+ on the weekends... so that decrease in calories, stinks... it is 1500 calories + less a week... which stinks!

The triathlon was cool though, that was a lot of fun to watch. Really gave me an understanding of how much MORE fun the marathon was for you guys since you stopped at the different relay points and hung out with mom and dad, than D's folks that just waited at the finish... what a boring 2 hours that must have been! I know it made a huge difference for us! we really appreciated the support! Derek said it was nice to see me all the points along the way! I was yelling GO DEREK GO! and he was like, I could hear you, you were sooo loud! IT WAS AWESOME... and that made me happy. I'm glad my loudness came in handy for something other than being obnoxious... so do tell more about the ren fair please!!!

Ren Fair

We are going to a Ren Fair this weekend...

I've always wanted to know what one was like. Ellie is coming too, I wonder if we can get her a cute baby jester hat...

If anything cool happens and I get a picture of it, I'll make sure to post it.

Pretty Baby! 8 1/2 months!

What a pretty little girl ellie is! Looks like she had a nice mother's day... and had fun on daddy's birthday! I hope you both had a nice time too!

8 teeth

Ellie has 8 teeth now and I think I see even more starting to come in! pretty soon she'll have a cute pearly white smile, and we need to start brushing those teeth.

Happy Monday!

Hope you both have a nice week!

Derek is on his last week of classes. He graduates on Saturday!!!! YIPPEE!!!! After 2 long years, he'll finally be done. I can't even describe how excited he is. It seems like forever ago too.

Anywho, just want to wish you both the best, Todd I hope you're over your cold!

Mother's Day Weekend!!!

I hope you have fun celebrating Todd's birthday... AND MOTHER'S DAY!!!! What a fun weekend for you both! I just wanted to start the weekend off early, and wish you a happy mother's day! I hope you got my card.. . don't open it until TOMORROW THOUGH!

Derek and I really enjoyed seeing you both, and finally meeting little Ellie! Sarah and Todd, you both are wonderful parents.

pics of the deck

I took a couple quick pics of our new deck. its a little dark, I took them at 8:30ish... not the best light for photos.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOODLES!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODD! I hope your day rocks. I know you said you didn't feel well... and I hope you feel better soon. Since I couldn't be there I wanted to send you a note through the computer... and then this little monkey hopped on my back and wanted to wish you a happy birthday too! Since he was just SOOO CUTE I couldn't say no... and Derek loves monkeys! :-D

SO AGAIN... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Deck is 50% complete

I should have taken some pictures of our halfway done deck. They have finished the floor, but there currently aren't any railings or steps. That means I have to take davey on walks because he can't jump up onto the deck without steps...
I'll post some pictures when its done.

The 5th of May... who's gonna party?

Happy Cinqo De Mayo! Hope you two have some fun Ellie party w/ tacos for tonight. Derek is making Chicken Chowder... i forgot about taco/burrito day. Had I remembered, I would have made my world famous chicken enchilladas. Hmm, I might make them this weekend, or when our company is coming to visit.

Derek's parents are coming out, for a week, for Derek's graduation. Even though he's not walking or anything, it is still a moment that deserves some recognition. And Nigel and his girlfriend Erin are coming out to visit memorial day weekend. There is a wedding on Sunday, they are going to, so it will be a fun and busy trip. Of course the weekend after that, Matt Watts is going to be in Vegas with his girlfriend, and we've agreed to meet them up there for an afternoon. (It is a 6 hour drive, about as far as Chicago from St Louis) but should be a lot of fun. Plus I think Derek deserves a little more than a pat on the back as a graduation gift, and he does love Vegas. So May is going to be a BUSY MONTH! Thank goodness, nothing is going on until October! (Kristi's wedding.)

So, because of the impromptu trip to vegas, we aren't going to do any celebatory parties tonight. Also, this weekend, we'll have to lay pretty low also. Ah... getting old and responsible... soo much fun! Ha!

Monday morning!

I hope you both had a nice weekend, and are staying clear of the "swine flu" (sung to the bob seager song night moves). Yeah, i think the swine flu is funny. Everyone is freaking out about it here. Gotta love the media blowing all this out of porportion. Sure, swine flu is serious, in Mexico City. Sure 100 people died in Mexico City. Let me think, are their hospitals up to par with the USA's? Is their health care? Do the citizens of Mexico and residents of Mexico City have the same socio-economic status as the USA and ease of medicine? I'm gonna take a stab and say, NO. I'm also going to throw out that 40k people die of the regular flu a year, and we aren't closing schools for 2 weeks at a time for that. I just love the hysteria that is going around. Makes me laugh that everyone thinks this is a case of the outbreak monkey.

So anywho... sorry I ranted. How was your weekend? I hope it was awesome. Miss you both lots!!!

Fun Friday w/ Grandma!

That should be fun! I hope you and Sarah have a nice time tonight. I am sorry to read that Sarah got a flat tire! How frustrating and scary! I'm glad that she is okay, and that it was taken care of so easily. (But probably still an incredible pain!)

Just wanted to wish you both a happy weekend!