The Mionskowski Family

The Nursery

2012-01-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

I think we have finally finished decorating the nursery for baby Grayson. We used the Fischer Price Precious Planet animal theme for his room. Here are some pictures of what it looks like. Notice the letters above the closet that spell out his name. Per request from Mark, these had to be in Superman colors :)

32 Weeks

2011-11-20T20:06:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe that I have now made it to 32 weeks in my pregnancy. Time has gone by so fast, and I know the last 8 weeks will go by even faster with the holidays approaching. We still have a little bit of work to do on the house to get it ready for Grayson to arrive, but it's definitely coming together. I will post pictures of the nursery when its done. Until then here are some pictures to show you how much my belly has grown.

Boston

2011-11-11T12:29:00.000-08:00

In September, I got to travel to Boston for a training conference. The best part about it was that Mark got to tag along with me. While I was sitting in class all day, he got to tour around Boston and see the sights. Although sitting in a conference room all day was really hard on my pregnant body, I did get to enjoy some of the sights in the evening as well. We attended a Red Sox Baseball game, visited Harvard, road the subway, and enjoyed the view from the top of the Prudential building a night. While we were there, we also met up with one of my moms friends, Debbie, to have dinner at the famous Regina's Pizza. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Suprise Baby Shower

2011-11-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

On the same day as our Halloween party, I also had a bunco get together scheduled earlier in the day hosted by one of our friends Heather Schmit. To my surprise she had turned this into a baby shower instead of playing bunco. What a little sneak. She had been planning this since May or June of this year, and Mark was in on it the whole time. I have to say I was completely surprised and shocked when I walked into her house. Even my mom and sister n law came in from San diego for the shower, which was even a bigger surpise. I can't express how thankful I am to have such wonderful friends, and a big thank you to Heather for such a fabulous party. Here are some pictures from the shower.

Halloween Party 2011

2011-11-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

We had our annual Halloween party again this year. Although we didn't have quite as many people as last year, it was still a ton of fun with some awesome costumes. I have to give credit to Mark because he did all the work to get the house decorated and setup for the party. Here are some pictures from the evening.

Princess Leia joins the force!

2011-03-22T19:35:00.001-07:00

On Monday, March 7th, we welcomed Princess Leia into the family. She is a female fawn pug that we adopted from the Arizona Pug Adoption and Rescue Network (APARN). She is 14 months old, is in perfect health, and full of energy. She has a bald spot under her chin because her previous owner had a neck collar on her that was way to tight. We are hoping her hair will grow back, but if not its ok. She is still a beautiful little girl. The boys (Obi-Wan and Anakin) have accepted her into the family very well. She definitely keeps Anakin busy chasing him through the house and playing tug of war.

Vickie becomes an Aunt

2011-03-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

Nathan Makara Ades was born to Swain & Lynn (Vickie's brother and sister in law) on January 12, 2011, weighing in at 6lbs 8oz, and 19 1/2 inches long. He is such a cutie!

2010 Year In Review

2011-03-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

So, I am still wondering where year 2010 went. It flew by in a flash, and I was really really bad at updating our blog. So, as part of my new years resolution, I am planning to get better at posting updates. I figured I would start with a year in review from 2010 to get everyone caught up on what Mark and I have been up to.

One of the great things about living in Phoenix is the spring training games. We like to follow our San Diego Padres all over the valley, and one of our goals is to visit every baseball stadium here in Phoenix. We were able to get to three different games, and visit 2 new stadiums in 2010. The first was to the Los Angeles Angels stadium, then to the brand new Chicago White SOX stadium, and of course to our beloved Padres stadium.

In April, we were invited to our friend's house for a murder mystery dinner. There was 4 couples all together. Marianne, is a wonderful chef, and cooked us a five course meal with wine pairings for each course. Mark's character was "Otto Von Schnapps" and mine was "Marilyn Merlot". Below are some pictures from this fabulous evening.

Mark and I attended our very first professional basketball game in April 2010. It was the last game of the regular season for the Phoenix Suns. I am not a huge basketball fan, but have to admit being there at the game was a lot of fun, and they really get the crowd involved during the game. I would definitely go again.

In May we went to the Foreigner, Kansas, and Styx concert here in AZ with our friends (Heather, John, Mary, and Don). We met for dinner first at Majerles Sports Grill, and then walked down to the concert venue. Kansas came out first, then follwed by Foreigner, and Styx. Overall this was a fantastic line-up and a heck of a show and I truly believe that this music and they guys playing it will stand the test of time. Most of these bands are going on more than 30+ years with most original members looking at 60 soon, but are showing no signs of slowing down.

The first week of June we headed to Niagara Falls, Canada to visit with Mark's mom, do some things around the house for her, and also get to see some of Mark's friends. While we were there we got to visit the African Lion Safari. This animal park is unique by the fact that you get to drive your own car through the park. One of the highlights was being so close to the lions, having the baboons jump on your car, and an ostrich pecking at our window.

In September Mark and I took a road trip to Zion National Park in Utah, Las Vegas, and Laughlin, Nevada. Zion was very beautiful and the weather was perfect. The first day we were there we hiked the "Narrows". This is a strenuous route due to the demands of river hiking, slippery rocks, and swift water crossings. The views of the narrows were amazing and it took most of the day to hike in and out, approximately 10 miles round trip. The second day we took a shuttle bus throughout the park and hiked various smaller trails to get a good look at the rest of the park. We loved Zion so much, we can't wait to go back.

Next was Las Vegas, NV, where we stayed at the MGM Grand Hotel. After all that hiking it was nice to relax in such a nice hotel and lay out by the pool. We also went to go see the show "KA" by Cirque du Soleil. While we were there we met up with our friends Heather and John for lunch downtown and then visited the famous pawn shop that is featured in "Pawn Stars" on the History Channel. We were a little upset that we didn't get to see Chumlee, but it was fun to walk through the store. I have to admit for being a Pawn Shop I thought the items were very over priced.

Before heading down to Laughlin, NV, we stopped by the Hoover Dam to see the new bridge that was built over it. It was finally complete when we were there, but no one was allowed to drive on it yet. This bridge is amazing site to see.

One of our last stops was Laughlin, NV, where we met up with our friends Heather and John again. They frequent Laughlin quite a bit and were able to get us 2 nights free at the Riverside Casino and Hotel. While we were there Mark and went to church service in one of the theaters at the Casino, and then that same night we went to a burlesque show (compliments of John and Heather), which was in the same theater that the church service was held in. Definitely felt a little strange. The show was actually very entertaining and we all had a terrific evening which including a very nice prime rib dinner and of course some gambling.

On our way home from Laughlin, we stopped in Oatman, AZ. This is an old mining/ghost town, where the wild burros roam through the street looking for food from the tourists.

In October, Mark's favorite holiday finally arrived. A couple weeks before Halloween, we had our annual Halloween Party, where Mark was the Joker and I was Bat Girl. The night before Halloween, we got dressed up again and went to McFaddens at the Westgate with our friends Matt and Nelly. McFaddens has a costume contest every year, and its fun to watch the people arrive with the various different costumes. Some of them are amazing and very original. On Halloween night, we handed out candy in the drive way with our Neighbor Tracee. This has been an annual thing that we have done the past 5 years.

In December, our friends Heather and John put of this very cool event called Santa Express. Heather and John own a trucking company, so we helped them decorate a 24 ft flatbed truck with Christmas lights, hooked up some christmas music, and headed out into some of the lower income neighborhoods in the South Moutain Area of Phoenix to give out free stuffed animals and candy from Santa. John dressed up as santa and we were all of his elves helping out. A couple of months prior to the event, Heather starts collecting and buying stuffed animals at places like Goodwill, etc. This year she definitely had some help from us and several others, so we ended up with 28 trash bags full of stuffed animals, and they were all gone by the end of the night. It was a great night, and I am very greatful Heather and John lets us be a part of such a wonderful event.

For Christmas my Mom and Dad came a little early for a visit, but left just before Christmas because they wanted to be home just in case their 1st grandson decided to come earlier than expected. That meant that it was only going to be Mark, myself, and Mark's mom for Christmas. So we decided to have what I called an orphan party on Christmas Day. We invited any of our friends that didn't really have a place to go for Christmas because their families were in a different state, etc. We had a great turn out of approximately 15 people total. We cooked 2 turkeys and everyone brought their favorite dish to share. It was great to be surrounded by such great friends on such a special day.

The highlight at the end of the year is the Insight Bowl. This is a bowl game here in Phoenix that my company sponsors, so we get free tickets every year. I was especially excited because Iowa was playing, and our friends (Heather, John, Mary, Don, & Matt), got to join us. What made it even more special was that Iowa actually won. It was a very exciting game, and we had a lot of fun with our friends.

Flagstaff 2009

2010-03-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

Just before the new year, Mark and I decided to take the dogs on a road trip up to Flagstaff, AZ. We drove up and played in the snow, and then stayed in a pet friendly hotel for the night. It snowed the whole day we were there, and of course the next day on the way home was clear as a bell. I think Obi really enjoyed the snow, but Anakin wasn't to fond of it. I leave you with some pictures of our trip:

Kiss Concert

2010-03-22T20:36:00.001-07:00

In December, Mark and I went to the KISS concert. I have to say that I am not a huge KISS fan, and only know some of their most popular songs. However, this was one of the best concerts that I have ever been too. They are not just rock musicians, but performers. They sure put on a show for us, and got the entire audience involved several times throughout the night. This is one concert I will never forget.

Thanksgiving 2009

2010-01-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving 2009, we traveled to San Diego to spend time with my family. My brother and sister-in-law hosted a wonderful dinner at their house.

And the dogs so desperately wanted to come in and get a hold of some of that delicious turkey.

Halloween 2009

2010-01-17T19:11:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween started out with a night of pumpkin carving. You be the judge on which ones looks better.

We also had our first annual Halloween party this year. Mark's decorations around the house were a big hit.

On Halloween night, we celebrated by dressing up and handing out candy to the kids, while sitting out at the end of our driveway with our neighbor Tracee. This has been something we do with Tracee every year since we moved to Arizona.

Afterwards, Mark and I headed over to McFadden's Restaurant & Saloon to continue enjoying the Halloween night and to watch all those that arrived in costume for their costume contest.

Arizona State Fair

2009-10-30T21:36:00.000-07:00

Mark and I enjoyed visiting the San Diego County Fair or orginally called the Del Mar Fair each summer while we lived in San Diego. So, last weekend Mark and I visited the AZ State Fair for the first time since moving to Phoenix. It was very similar to the Del Mar Fair. It had tons of food, tons of rides, exhibits, farm animals, etc. In fact, I think it had more rides and food than I ever remember in San Diego. We walked around most of the fair seeing all the sites including my favorite the animals, and we even watched a demolition derby type car race. I think they called it a figure eight. I didn't think I would like it at first, but it was really quite fun to watch. I leave you with some pictures of the night:

Mark and I actually split this huge sausage sandwich.

Mark trying deep fried bacon for the first time.

Cruise 2009

2009-10-20T17:41:00.000-07:00

Mark and I took a cruise to the caribbean this year for our vacation. We were able to visit different ports that we haven't been to in the past. Our cruise ship left from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Since our ship didn't leave until 8p.m. on Sunday, September 27th, we were able to spend a full day touring around San Juan. We visited 5 beautiful ports and only spent one day at sea. See a few pictures below, and all pictures at the Mionskowski Family Photo Site:

http://mionskowskifamily.shutterfly.com/

We first toured around on foot through Old San Juan, Puerto Rico:

Formal night on the cruise ship:

We played on the beach in Barbados:

We took a bus and catamaran tour of St. Lucia, enjoying the views of the magnificent Pitons:

We rode Segways on the beach in St. Johns, Antigua:

Took a jeep and speed boat tour of St. Maarten:

Scuba dived in St. Croix:

Obi-Wan loves his squishy ball!

2009-08-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

I thought this video was so cute. Here is Obi-Wan wanting to play with his favorite toy, the squishy ball.

July San Diego Weekend

2009-08-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Since Mark was lucky enough to have a three day weekend (Sunday thru Tuesday) off from work for no special reason, we decided to take a road trip to San Diego. Mark hadn't been to SD since last Thanksgiving, so we had a lot of visiting to do with friends and family while we were there. Since the dogs were with us we decided to take them to dog beach in OB to let them run around and cool off. Of course Anakin our social butterfly had a great time playing with the other dogs. We were so proud of Obi-Wan as well. We took him off the leash and he was brave enough to walk out in the surf a little. Usually he turns into a momma's boy and hides between my legs when he hits the water. Here are some pictures of the beautiful SD day.

Entertainment Week

2009-08-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

The week of July 6th, we had a fun filled schedule of entertainment.

First, on Tuesday, Mark and I got tickets to the Padres/Diamondbacks baseball game. We were so excited to see our Padres play in AZ. Our tickets were in the "All You Can Eat Seats" at Chase stadium.

That meant that Mark could eat all the hot dogs, chips, popcorn and soda he wanted.

Mark on his first hot dog

Mark on his 10th hot dog

On Wednesday, we went to go see "Wicked" the broadway show that was playing at ASU Gammage Theater. I have been wanting to see this play for so long. So when it came to AZ, I was so excited. I bought my tickets about 6 months in advance. It was a great show!

On Thursday, we went to go see "Asia" and "Yes" in concert. The original band members of the 80's band Asia are touring with Yes. As some of you may know, Asia is Mark's favorite band of all time. We have seen them play 4 times in the past 5+ years that I have known Mark. Asia played all their hit songs, and sounded great!

Birthday Surprise

2009-07-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

For my birthday, on Monday, June 29th, Mark took me to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill. After a long day of work for both of us, we got home and changed quickly and headed up to the restaurant. I had my favorite, filet migon wrapped in bacon, with blue cheese on top, YUMMMMM!

The whole night Mark had me fooled that he didn't get me anything, not even a card. He has been working so many long hours I figured he didn't have time to pick out a card, and I didn't really expect a gift since I don't really need anything and didn't provide him with any hints of what I wanted. After dinner, he excused himself to the restroom, and when he returned he put this on the dinner table:

Inside, was a beautiful necklace to match the ring and bracelet he had given on other prior special occasions. Now I have a complete set. What a wonderful husband I have, who spoils me rotten! Even without the blue bag, it was a very nice evening spent together. Thank you, Sweetie! I love you very much!!

San Diego Weekend - June 2009

2009-07-12T18:21:00.000-07:00

The weekend of June 19th I traveled to San Diego to see all of my maids and their children, and of course for Father's Day. All three of my bridesmaids from my wedding have now had children (all boys). Saturday we all got together at Elizabeth's house to visit with everyone and have a delicious dinner. Thanks again Elizabeth, for having the whole crew over at your house! Here are a couple of pictures from the evening:

We also tried to recreate a photo that we took at Elizabeth's house approximately 6 months ago. I think I had posted it on our blog sometime in Nov or Dec. 2008. It was really hard to get everyone to look at the camera with all the kids being so active now.

I can't believe how much all the boys have grown. They are all just adorable.

On Sunday, I spent the day with my family. We took my dad out to breakfast and then to dinner before heading back to AZ. I also spent a nice time with my mom and sister-n-law at the Senior Follies show at the East County Performing Arts Center.

Mionskowski Family Pictures

2009-07-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

For those that haven't found it yet. I added a link to the right under "My Blog List", which will take you to our family photo site. I will be posting all of our pictures here from events and trips that we take. Enjoy!
http://mionskowskifamily.shutterfly.com/

Africa in AZ

2009-07-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

After getting back from our trip to Canada in June, Mark and I had a couple of days together before heading back to work. We decided to take a road trip 2 hours north of Phoenix to Camp Verde to visit the "Out of Africa" animal park. We walked around the entire park admiring the amazing animals. During our walk we passed by "Boom Boom" at Rhinoceros that the park had rescued. He was laying down in his habitat, and when we stopped to see him we started calling his name. His ears perked up, and then he finally got up and started walking toward us a few steps. Eventually he decided it was too far of a walk and layed back down again.

It was also predator feed time during our visit, so we followed the animal caretakers drive around, stopping at each habitat throwing a total of approximately 400 pounds of raw food to eagerly waiting carnivores. It was really interesting to see how large animals, including lions and tigers, feed and go after their food.

Afterwards we took a bus ride through the preserve visiting the zebras, ostriches, giraffes, etc. We even got to stop and feed a treat to one of the giraffes on site. See the picture below of the giraffe giving Mark a big wet kiss!

Niagara Falls

2009-06-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

The first week of June, Mark and I took a trip to his home town of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Our first stop once we got off the plane in Buffalo was to hurry over and visit Katie, Mark's God Daughter. Our plane didn't land until 7:30p.m., which meant that we would be arriving at her house close to her bed time. However, when we arrived she was eagerly waiting for us in the foyer with her ASU jersey on that Mark had sent her. We can't believe how quickly she is growing up. We had a nice visit with Lisa and Kurt (Katie's parents) before heading off for the Canadian border. But before crossing we had to stop at our favorite restaurant "Goodfellas" in Niagara Falls, NY, for some wings and pizza which we ordered to go.

We arrived safely at my mother-in-laws house about 11p.m. on Monday night. As soon as we got up on Tuesday, we made our first of many trips to Costco in St. Catherines to stock Isabella up on food, etc. Once we got home we got to work. Mark and his mom had a long wish list of things to get done before we left. Tuesday we worked on trimming the bushes and mowing the grass. Wednesday and Thursday, I painted her back fence, while Mark mowed the lawns, resealed the driveway, washed and waxed her car, got the oil changed, and bought new tires.

Sometime during all that work, we managed to take Isabella wine tasting through Niagara on the Lake, and then to a nice dinner.

Of course we also had to take a drive down to look at the falls. Its so nice at night because they shine different color lights on the falls and the area isn't bustling with gobs of tourists.

Friday before we left, we sat and visited with Lucia, Mark's godmother, who made a wonderful apple/rhubarb pie for dessert. Afterwards we met a couple of Mark's college friends for dinner and drinks.

The time spent in canada went by way too fast. Although is wasn't a relaxing vacation, and we didn't complete everything we had hope to do, it was nice to visit with Mark's mom. I think she really appreciated all the work we did. It's least we could have done for her. I am really lucky to have such a wonderful and loving Mother-in-Law.

Spring Training 2009

2009-04-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

One great thing about living in Arizona is Spring Training. Our beloved San Diego Padres belong to the Cactus League, and we are lucky enough that they get to train right here in Phoenix during the month of March. Although it is hard to find the time where both my schedule and Mark's allow us to go see a game together, we managed to see them twice this year. We visited them on March 22nd at their home field in Peoria when they played against the Arizona Diamondbacks. We had great seats, right behind home plate. Even though they lost, it was great to see them play on such a beautiful Arizona day. From the picture, you can see it was a bit windy, but the temperature was perfect.

On March 30th, we met the Padres again in the city of Goodyear, AZ for a game against the Cleveland Indians. The Goodyear stadium is new to Arizona. It just opened this year and is home to the Indians. Our poor Padres lost again, but it was a great game and the weather was once again beautiful. We sure hope the Padres do better in the regular season.

Spring training games are so much different than regular season baseball games. There is not a bad seat in the house in any of the stadiums, and you sit so close to the players. I do have to say that after visiting several of the spring training facilities here in Phoenix, my favorite is still Peoria, AZ where the Padres train. The food and atmosphere is awesome.

AZ Beer Festival

2009-03-17T20:19:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, March 8th, we attended the The Great Arizona Beer Festival at Tempe Town Lake. The Festival featured tastes of more than 100 specialty and micro brewed beers. Of course Mark got to visit with his old friends at the Coronado Brewing Co. who were there pouring the famous Mermaids Red and my favorite Orange Avenue Ale, as well as, some other flavors. We had a great time visting with our friends and trying all the different beers they had to offer.

Playing Catch Up

2009-02-15T17:27:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a few months since we have posted anything on our site, but we are still alive and kickin here in AZ. I am going to try and play catch up with this post.

Thanksgiving 2008, we took a few days off and traveled to San Diego to visit family and friends. On Wednesday, prior to Thanksgiving, we met my good friend Jennifer and her baby Jacob for lunch. This was Mark's first time meeting Jacob, and this picture proves Mark's theory that he makes babies cry.

On Thursday, we had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house. We really enjoyed the time we spent with my parents, brother and sister-n-law. Unfortunately Mark had to work on Friday, so after dinner we made the 5+ hour drive home to AZ.

We stayed in AZ for Christmas this year, but had the pleasure of my whole family coming out to celebrate with us in our home. We sure had a house full, including all five dogs (Obi, Anakin, Stryker, Jack, and Lucky). We also opened up our home for dinner to our neighbors, Reggie and Tracee. Our neighbors Rochelle & George, and some friends of Mark's from the restaurant, Judy and Francisco also stopped by for dessert.

For New Years Eve, we first attended the Insight Bowl at Sun Devils Stadium in Tempe. My company sponsors the event every year, and we are lucky enough to get free tickets. After the game we headed off to Four Peaks Brewery to have dinner with friends, then went to see Frank Caliendo (comedian) at the Tempe Improv. What a great show! It was even better since Mark was able to somehow get us seats on the main floor of the venue instead of being stuck way in the back up in the balcony.

The weekend of January 24th, we headed off to Vegas for a nice weekend together. We stayed at The Wynn Hotel. We were able to get a great rate on Hotwire, $114 per night! I still can't believe the deal we got. Vegas must really be hurting. We drove out to Vegas on Friday night after work. Our first stop when we got there was the Hooters Hotel, so that Mark could get his wing fix. On Saturday night, we went and saw The Blue Man Group over at the Venetian Hotel, and then stayed up gambling at the tables until about 4am in the morning. Sunday, we met our AZ neighbors (Tracee and Reggie) who were also in Vegas at the same time, for brunch at the Paris Hotel. I definitely recommend the Paris brunch buffet to anyone. It was awesome! After brunch we made the long ride home back to AZ.

Also in January, Mark's mome came to visit for 3 weeks, and to get out of the freezing cold Niagara Falls weather. While she was here, we took her to see a broadway show, The Lion King. Mark and I had already seen it, but I think Isabella really enjoyed it. We also took her to the Great Canadian Picnic that they have here in AZ every year. Unfortunately, this year was much smaller than past picnics. I am sure it was because of the economy.

On Wednesday, February 11th, Mark and I went to the NBA All-Star Jam Session here in AZ. I got VIP tickets thru work. It was an invite only night before it was open to the public. They held it at the Phoenix Convention Center. I was very similar to the football experience they have during Superbowl games, but for basketball instead. The entire convention center was overloaded with basketball courts, basketball video games, etc. I am not really into basketball, but for people that were, they had players there signing autographs and such. It was definitely fun to people watch :)

And last but not least, I purchased a new car in September 2008. I ended up getting a Nissan Murano. I wanted a small (crossover) SUV, which would be easier to haul the kids (dogs) around in. I am having a lot of fun driving it. Mark has been using my Honda Accord to drive back and forth to work.

Well, this got us caught up through February 2009. I hope to do better to keep everyone up dated with what we have been up to the rest of this year. Mark and I wish everyone a very happy year to come.

Monday Night Football

2008-11-24T21:03:00.000-08:00

One of Mark's regular customers that comes into the restaurant was generous enough to share his season tickets with us on Monday night, November 10th. It was the Arizona Cardinals vs. the San Francisco 49ers'. We had awesome seats. They were on the 45 yard line, 13 rows up from the field. It was one of the most exciting football games I have ever been too. It was amazing to see the entire stadium stay filled until the very end. I don't think one person left their seat to go home until the last play was over. Thanks John for the tickets!

Baby Weekend

2008-11-24T20:48:00.000-08:00

The weekend of Nov. 8th, I traveled to San Diego, CA to visit my girls. All three of my bridesmaids from my wedding now have baby boys. Jennifer was the last one to have a baby on October 10th. First, I spent the afternoon with my mom shopping for a cedar chest. Something I have been wanting since I got married. Once we were done shopping we headed over to Jennifer's house to spend the afternoon with her and meet baby Jacob. Afterwards we headed down to our friend Elizabeth's house for dinner. Our friends Kristen, Josh and baby Andrew also joined us. Below is a photo of myself with Jennifer and Jacob (1 month), Kristen and Andrew (3 months), and Elizabeth and Nicholas (1 year). It was really nice to get the chance to visit with the gang and their beautiful baby boys.

Halloween

2008-11-11T20:30:00.000-08:00

It has become a tradition since we moved to Laveen, AZ, to sit out on our driveway with our neighbors Reggie & Tracee, handing out candy to the trick-o-treaters. 2008 was no different. Mark was dressed as Indiana Jones, me as Superwoman, Tracee as minnie mouse on vacation, and Reggie as a pirate.

Of course our babies (the dogs) were dressed up as well. Anakin was a pirate, and Obi-Wan as an army sargeant. We had a great time as usual.

Trip to Canada

2008-10-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Mark and I returned from a trip to Montreal Canada. I had to go to my company's Montreal office to perform an audit, so Mark was able to tag along. Mark and I took Friday off from work and flew to Montreal. After we landed we hopped into a rental car and drove to Quebec City for the weekend. We toured around town seeing the sights. Quebec is a very beautiful city. What a great time to go back east, when all the trees are changing colors. I can't even describe how beautiful it was. While we were in Quebec City, they were holding a summit with more than 60 leaders. They had many streets blocked off, different motorcades driving through town, and police all over the place. We were hoping to tour inside the parliament building and the Castle Frontenac, but with the summit going on they had all of these sites closed. We still were able to see a lot, and really enjoyed our time in the city.

(St. Anne de Beaupre Basilica)

(Yes, that's Mark next to the waterfall)

(Castle Frontenac)

On Sunday, we drove back to Montreal so that I could get ready for the work week. While I was at work during the week, Mark got to tour around Montreal on his own. The weather was very cold, and except for Tuesday's rain the weather was pretty clear. One of the most exciting things we did in Montreal was go to a Canadiens hockey game. What an experience! The game was sold out on a Monday night and the energy in the arena was amazing. They really have some loyal fans in Montreal. I definitely want to visit Montreal again so that I can see more of this fun city.

Busy Busy Busy!

2008-10-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while since we have posted anything. Mark and I have been very busy at work and also fixing up our rental property that we purchased this past July. Yes, we bought another house here in Phoenix. The house is in the same neighborhood as ours, in fact it's right behind our current residence. It is a one story house with 3 bedrooms and 2 full bath. The house had been sitting empty since November or December, and was being offered as a short sale. The house has some minor cosmetic work to be done inside including all new paint, carpet, and tile throughout. It also has a huge backyard that had already been landscaped. However, since it was empty for so long the weeds had taken over. We have been slowly working on the house together, and my parents even came over for a week the first of October and did a ton of work for us (thank you so much to Mom and Dad). Our plan is to have it rented by the first of the year. It will definitely be something new for both of us being landlords. Wish us luck. I leave you with a couple of "before" pictures (front and back).

That's our residence on the other side of the wall in the second picture. I will post some updated pictures when the house is done.

San Diego Weekend

2008-08-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Mark and I packed up the dogs and headed to San Diego. The main reason for our visit was for my very good friend, Jennifer's baby shower. My mom and I both attended the shower on Saturday, and had a great time visiting with Jennifer and her family. Jennifer has 8 weeks left to go, and looks great!

While the girls were at the shower, Mark, my dad, and all the dogs headed to dog beach for the day. I think Anakin and Stryker (my parents dog) had a great time chasing other dogs, playing in the surf, and running after tennis balls. Obi decided to be a moma's boy. He is not to happy about being in the water or having other dogs running all around him. He pretty much sat in between Mark's legs the whole time.

On Saturday evening Mark and I went to dinner at the Coronado Brewing Company (where Mark use to work). We had some really good food and got to visit with some old friends. Afterwards we crashed a house warming party that one of his friends was having.

Sunday, we got to meet Andrew Jacob for the very first time. Andrew was born on August 4th to our good friends Kristen and Josh. We had a very nice visit with Kristen, Josh, and her family before heading home to AZ. I leave you with a picture of Mark holding baby Andrew.

Staycation

2008-08-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Mark and I did what people are calling a "staycation". We had the opportunity to stay at the Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa, here in west Phoenix, or Litchfield Park to be exact. We took the dogs over to our friends Lauri and Ron to stay for the night, and headed over to the hotel. We spent the day at the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Day Spa which the hotel has on site. We each had a massage, and then took advantage of all the amenities including the pool, jacuzzi, steam room, etc. It was a very nice relaxing day. That evening we walked over to Red's Steakhouse for dinner. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and very nice bottle of wine before turning in for the night.

We had a great weekend, and it was just what Mark needed after working 14 days straight. I guess you can say that we celebrated our 1st year anniversary a bit early. Wow, I can't believe we have been married a year come this Monday. It has gone by so fast.

Cancun

2008-07-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Mark and I returned from a week long vacation in Cancun, Mexico on July 12th. We stayed at the Omni Hotel right on the beach and had a great time. The view from our hotel room was awesome! We had an all inclusive package, and took advantage of the yummy daiquiris and pina coladas that were included.

We took an all day trip to Chichen Itza (Mayan Ruins), visited a natural sink hole (Cenote), and had a buffet lunch with authentic Mayan food. We also went scuba diving at some coral reefs off the coast of Isla Mujeres, took a wave runner tour, went snorkeling, and took a ride on an aqua twister (high speed jet boat). We were on the go so much, we felt like we needed a vacation from our vacation. The weather was great, other than the 90% humidity all week (yuck!). We have now returned to our daily routines and await our next adventure.

4th of July Weekend

2008-07-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, just before the 4th of July weekend we had the pleasure of welcoming Isabella (Mark's mom) back to Arizona. Isabella came out for a visit and to babysit the 'granddogs' during our vacation in the week to come.

On the 4th of July, we bbq'd at our house with our neighbors Reggie and Tracee. We actually got to see a few fireworks from our backyard. The following day we took Isabella and drove up to Sedona to do some sightseeing. We ate lunch at the Oak Creek Brewery, toured the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and then attended mass at St. John Vianney Catholic Church. Sedona has become one of our favorite places here is Arizona, though there are many more places to see.

Hello!

2008-07-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to our blog. Since Mark and I moved from San Diego, CA to Laveen, AZ at the beginning of 2006, our life together has been very happy and exciting, and better yet, very busy. We plan to use this blog to keep our family and friends up to date on what is going on in our lives. Stay tuned for more.