Let the countdown begin...

....we're getting closer to Christmas, and I've delayed on the update since Thanksgiving. It's amazing I'm still allowed to write these things since I'm so prompt on the updates...ha ha ha.

First off, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving...2 weeks ago...(better late than never for my wishes to you). We were busy with family in town. Tom, Mary, Katelyn and Caleb decided to spend the holiday in CO with us. It was a great visit and a delight to see them. The kids have grown so much and developed great personalities that light up any room they walk into.

We did the Turkey thing...surprise, surprise....were you expecting anything different?

We then planned out the "to do" items while they were in Colorado. Go to the mountains...this task proved to be more difficult than anything else.

The weatherman said we may have a few "flurries," which I thought would be great for the kids since they were in CO. Now, when someone says "a few flurries" I think of a light dusting, still see grass.......I don't think of 8 inches of snow. So Saturday when we woke up to see the ground covered we did the logical thing, instead of going to the mountains, we went sledding. It was great and I've come to identify that I may be the biggest kid on the block, seriously, I went down the hill more than anyone else and was smiling the entire time. Katelyn loved it, Caleb on the other hand enjoyed being pushed in the stroller by Tom. Tom informed us he was teaching Caleb how to "flirt with the girls." Gotta start 'em young. ha ha.

Since Saturday backfired for visiting the mountains we then decided to try for Sunday....I should know better than to plan anything....because it snowed again and the weatherman then said "if you have guests from out of town, don't let them leave." So much for "a few flurries" so we decided to drive anyway and go the the Denver Aquarium. Everyone had a great time and Santa made a surprise appearance at lunch. We then decided it was as good of time to let the kids sit on his knee and tell them what they wanted for Christmas....a pink computer in case you're wondering.

Caleb LOVES lions and thought this exhibit was great.

This is a photo of Tom and Katelyn making homemade doughnuts. Can't lie, they were great.

Overall, it was a great visit and one we appreciated. I guess we'll consider it our training run for Christmas in 2 weeks when 11 people move in for the week.

You're probably wondering about the updates with the mice, jeep and fridge......

Mice - we've caught a few more non-rent paying nor meal plan residence.....they have gone to Mouse Heaven.

Jeep - still sitting at the shop, the "cool" part we ordered online was delivered but without the piece we needed.....I guess someone before us needed it too....so Jeremy may have the biggest Christmas gift of all, a brand spankin' used Jeep or something....we're working on it.

Fridge - the appliance serviceman said it needs to be inside and will continue to stop working when it's below 40 degrees outside, who knew?

A nice funny update....Jeremy laughs that since I've moved to CO it snows a lot more in the Denver area and things break a lot faster. In fact, to support this statement he says that's why he lived for 10 years here without a shovel and then he met me......I move in with 4 shovels and 1 snow blower.......the snow blower now doesn't work.....see I bring the snow and I break stuff....anyone looking for house guest should remember that before inviting us....ha ha...anyway, we've shoveled 4 times this year and it's not even Christmas.

Also, a correction to the previous post....I forgot to include two additional things that broke this year.

Grill - literally caught on fire on the outside. Yes it was mine before we got married.
Lawnmower - that too was mine before we got married and it spend 5 weeks in the shop earlier this year, I guess it really kicked the bucket.

Have a great week and a holiday season! I'll be sure to update you soon.

Roll the dice...

What are the odds something else could break for Jeremy and I? Very high apparently!

We just received the bill for the water repairs, which insurance covers aside from the deductible, and thought we were home free. No more major purchases for a year was our plan.......that was until yesterday.

Jeremy called an informed me that his Jeep decided to stop working. Okay, into the shop where they informed us the part was on backorder.......National Backorder and no timeframe available. I addition there is no temporary fix for this since it's the steering column/ignition area. hmmm......we pondered our options for a bit - rent a car and hope the part arrives in 1 week, however realizing it may take 3 months.......not a good option....3 months of a rental car could be ~$2,000 not including the repairs to Jeremy's Jeep which total the value of the vehicle if we fixed them all. Option 2, look at a different vehicle. While standing and trying to decide what we should do, the service man at the shop offered to buy Jeremy's Jeep as is. (we were in shock) After pondering the options we decided to stop by a few places and see what a new/used vehicle costs these days. After looking around we realized you can get some pretty good deals on Jeeps, used/new, now because the economy is not doing well (in case you hadn't noticed). We didn't do anything other than look before heading home.

Now as you can imagine, a new car means more money this year and a part seems like a favorable fix. So we decided to rely on our friend......Ebay.....a reliable source at sometimes and it proved to be last night. The part, which is on National Backorder, appeared and we bought it immediately. Hopefully it will be here in a week so we can get the jeep up and running. We were thrilled. (I should note the disclaimer that we will find out today if the part we ordered is actually the correct part from the repair shop - otherwise we may be the owners of a 2006 Jeep)

After the whirl-wind experience of "to buy or not to buy a vehicle" we were beat. We were thinking that was a close call, not very funny and we should call it a day. Jeremy went to the garage to get something out of our 6 month old extra fridge and came in to announce it died. I looked at him and said, "you've got to be kidding me." The TURKEY and everything else in it.......what are we going to do? My brother Tom and his family are arriving tomorrow (now being today). Perfect timing! You're probably saying, use the warranty.....good idea but we bought this from a warehouse sale.....you get what you pay for I guess. So, today at 2:00 I'm heading to public transportation (yes, in Denver) to ride to Jeremy's office and then we are off to find a quick fix and get everything switched over before Tom arrives tonight.

I'm thinking Jeremy and I will have a glass of wine before they arrive......keep your fingers crossed that we make it through one more month without anything else breaking........2008 has been a learning experience for home ownership.

Incase you forgot everything that has broke or is just expensive in repairs, here they are:
Water pipe pressure non-existent (4 times we had replacements, etc)
Water leaked through the roof to cause damage to foyer, etc.
Double oven broke/replaced
Refridgerator broke
Jeep Dead

It's almost funny.....almost.

Have a great Thanksgiving though. Seriously, even though we have things breaking we're pretty lucky. We both have jobs we love and are doing well. We have great friends and family. We are able to be with people we love during the holidays and aren't in harms way like many service men/women. We have a roof over our head (when it doesn't leak), clothes and food and those are the main necessities. I guess it's pretty hard/ridiculous to complain about the little
things when I passed a homeless man this morning who doen't have a roof over his head or a warm meal. Be thankful for the little things, they add up!

Unexpected & Unwanted Visitor

We had a visitor and there's certain to be more.

Last night Elvis was on hunting duty and keeping a close eye on the kitchen.....which told me we had a visitor. He/She/They are not paying rent and are not on a set meal plan like Elvis, Sadie, Dibs, Jeremy and I. So, they have to go.

To lay down the law, Jeremy set a friendly "trap" with cheese. (I don't know if friendly is the best word) This morning I found one in the "trap." HA! Show's them who's boss.......(however, I'm leaving the remains for Jeremy)

I'm leaving a photo out since you can probably imagine the scene.

Maybe tonight will be lucky as well!

HOUSE UPDATE!

On a side note, we got our new entry installed yesterday and it looks great!

It will be stained on Monday. We're almost done with the rain damage repairs.

Yippie!

To Florida and Back...

I may not know what time zone I'm currently in, but I do know I'm not on vacation anymore.

Jeremy and I took a little break this fall from the rat race and headed to FL to enjoy a bit of wine and relaxation. The vacation plan was simple really, fly to FL, stay with the Kiefer Parents, drink wine, take naps, and read a book. I took two books and can honestly say they have not yet been opened. I also can honestly say I didn't take a nap. It was fun and busy. By the time we returned home I was in need of a nap and Jeremy had acquired a good chest cold.






For some reason 1/2 way through the wine experience I thought it would be "cool" to jump up on these boxes and take a photo. whoever said white kids can't jump obviously didn't know my potential......heck, I didn't even know my jumping potential. Probably not the smartest thing I've done, but it seemed like a good idea at the time



It was a great trip though. We headed to Epcot on Thursday for the Wine and Food Festival. Always a great time! There we ran into Matt, Stacy and the 3 kids, who were also on vacation. We chatted for awhile and then went on the boat ride at Norway (I think - but we had drank a few glasses of wine by then so it could have been somewhere else). We are pleased to say we made it all around the world at Epcot trying all sorts of wine and food. I would be remise if I didn't mention the spilling of wine.....at the 3rd stop....to think we were just getting started! However, dad (who spilled it) recovered nicely, bought another glass and caught right back up. Nice work!













Thursday night we went to the Hoop-de-Doo, a dinner musical event at Disney. We had a great time. I can also say I'm happy we didn't have to cook that night because I've never seen Jeremy eat so many chicken wing, etc. That in itself was amazing.











Friday and Saturday were low-key days. We swam with Mackenzie, Nolan and Kelsey.....correction, I swam with the kids while everyone else watched and laughed when I said it was cold. Jeremy got pushed in by Mackenzie so he got a taste of the temperature. ha ha




Since Matt's family spent 2 nights at the camper with us my parents brought along 2 tents to accommodate all the guest. Well, this green one hasn't been opened in......a really long time....I'm thinking 20+ years and has a great scent....so great, we gave it a day to air out and then closed it back up. No one was willing to stay in that one. Sell it dad - E-bay




Friday the kids prepared for trick-or-treating at Disney. That is the way to go. I've never seen so many decorations in a campground nor have I seen kids reap the benefits of candy. We "cleaned house" trick or treating and even used the golf cart to help us get around a little faster. More bang for the buck, right?



























Saturday we took the little 2-seater boats out on the lake. Jeremy was in one and Mackenzie and I in the other. I joked before saying we'd get drenched, knowing that you can't get wet in these things. I must have jinxed us though because the next thing you know a wave came over and I was sitting in a cold puddle. Then, on the way back to shore it began to rain......and not lightly, it downpoured so we were soaking. That's the last time I joke about staying dry.

We explored downtown Disney and found some fun shops to bum around. of course we found a few things too. Other than that we didn't do awhole lot. Great trip though, we may need to go back next year and see if we still like wine.


I'll toss photos up here. however, I'm not going to write clips for them all. Use your imagination!

What's next to come for us, well more travel.
I head to DC later this week and Jeremy will be leaving soon for CA and then Panama. (Yeah for frequent flier miles.....I hope)

Update - it's not broke

There must be a God because for a first this year, something is not broke in our house. YEAH!!!!! My manly-man of a husband tore apart the pipes under the sink to discover the reason the garbage disposal wasn't working was the pipes were clogged and backed up. I'm sure that was a pleasant smell, but he did it without complaining once.....which I think I know why.....he's the one who clogged it with the potato skins......priceless, it gave me something to chuckle about. However, I hope he's as kind about it when I clog it. Or else it will become the "you clog it, you tear it apart and fix it" projects. ha ha.

Life in the fast lane

We spent our weekend like every normal couple working around the house. Nothing exciting to it. We put our paintings, photos and clock back on the wall, moved the furniture a little more, mowed the yard, cleaned, cleaned and cleaned. Sounds exciting I'm sure.

One more thing..........Garbage Disposal = Broke. The hits just keep on coming. It seemed about time for that since the repairs from the water damage are almost done. It was time for something else to go.

Maybe in a week or so we'll add some photos again, which would mean I need to take some photos again.

However, our outlook is good. We're headed to FL on the 30th to the Wine Experience and to visit family......or should I have said to visit family and, if time permits, stop by the wine experience. We'll toast you all at 10 AM while drinking a glass of wine in Argentina or maybe Canada.

Renovations Continued and Estes Park

You're probably dying from suspense to know the updates from our water damage and see the improvements. So, here they are.....shortly followed by photos from our trip to Estes Park this past weekend (which was an adventure in itself).

We are back in the house officially and although nothing is on the walls or shelves, it is better than a hotel. All that remains are some minor repairs........and the entire front door entry which will be torn out in about 3 weeks and then a serious cleaning job. We can donate a heavy coat of dust/saw dust to anyone interested. Here are the photos from when we were in the hotel. They showed up a little better than the camera phone photos.

I think you understand the disfunction of having a fridge in the living room and toilet in the office next to a dishwasher. Something just doesn't go here.

Anyway, it's coming along and in a week or so we'll have update photos with the fridge in it's rightful spot and photos on the wall. It will look like we have lived her for 8 months......wait, we have.

Moving onward, we went to Estes Park this past weekend. Since we hadn't camped this past weekend I recommended it about a month ago; which seemed like a great idea at the time. Jeremy loves to camp so this would be something he would thoroughly enjoy. Again, it seemed like a great idea at the time until the weather man told the forecast. A high on Saturday of 46 degrees, fog, rain and then SNOW Saturday night into Sunday. What perfect weather for camping .....in a tent.....sleeping on the ground. However, I could not pull the whimp card since it is something I thought Jeremy would really enjoy. I was thrilled on Friday night when he agreed it did not sound fun so we opted for the cabin rental option.

We had a great time, aside from the fog on Saturday. Heck, you couldn't even tell we were in the mountains. There are a few photos which show the dense fog for you. The bright yellow are the Aspens turning colors, quite pretty. Then there are a few photos of the Elk.....I thought of my cousin Leon and his love for hunting when seeing a few of these animals....we did wake up to snow on Sunday and it had cleared off rather well so we enjoyed Rocky Mountain National Park. One additional photo I tossed in is of Jeremy taking photos, this was my view for much of the weekend (ha ha - it wasn't painful). He loves photography so we took advantage of the outdoors. Overall, a relaxing weekend, almost too relaxing since it took more coffee to get going this morning.

Renovation - Part II

The story continues........

Our house is offically a disaster scene.....well, sort of.....the contractors are finishing the floors this week so everything is moved from the main floor living area (aside from the living room/dining room which are now known as storage units). There are three photos below to highlight the new look our house took.

This is notably called the family room.....a perfect place to place catch with our dogs Elvis & Sadie.....as you can see there is nothing to knock over...in additioin, the fireplace and bookshelves are covered in plastic......it's pretty, don't you think?

This is called a bathroom in CO. Indoor plumbing is optional in homes now-a-days, don't you know? Can you see the places the painters missed by painting before removing the toilet and sink? (on a side note I didn't realize these were removed until I went to use the bathroom, that was a shocker!)

They say when you are married you are supposed to be domesticated....meaning cooking, cleaning, etc. I like to use this photo as my excuse why I can't do anything......to the left my fridge has been removed, in addition to the dishwasher.....oh yes, and I have no access to my cabinets where the food is stored.....and (yes, there's more) the pots are missing from the hanging rack above the center island.....see, this environment creates a problem.

These are all the photos for now, they are actually from my phone since I don't have access to the office where my camera is located....actually the office is now home to the kitchen table, a toilet, sink and dishwasher....I always thought the toilet belonged there. The living room and dining room now house a refrigerator, couch, loveseat, tv, kitchen table chairs, garbage, etc, and the bar..........

The joy of this "redecorating" was my misinformation of the start-date. To my knowledge, the floors were going to be done on Wed-Fri. which meant I would pack Tuesday night and move the dogs to boarding Wed. morning and myself to a hotel. Seemed like a simple plan until I arrived home Tuesday night to have my house looking like this....hmmm.....dinner?....a chair to sit on.....or maybe a drink from the bar.......yep, amid all this mess, I didn't have access to a glass of wine....that's a crisis in my book!!! The challenge was everything, as the photos show, was taped off and much of the area was with black tarp-like material and tape to keep the dust from the work from filtering thoughout the house. Overall, the dogs and I survived the night, the only seat in the house was my bed, so it was an early night and an early morning to escape before the workers showed again.

Moral of the story......no matter what the situation, always have a bottle of wine accessible (perhaps store it in the garage w/ a wine opener and plastic cups). Wine makes everything better.

Oh yes, Jeremy is still around......he's been traveling for work for the past week to San Diego and Panama. He's scheduled to arrive home tonight......Welcome Home Honey, it's called the Residence Inn in Highlands Ranch!

Hope all is well in your world friends and family!

Renovations - Part I

sorry for the lack of photos this week. The camera is buried below all the plastic used to tape off areas of the house during repairs. So use your imagination as I try to explain what improvements are in store for this week at the Gacnik household. (please contain your excitement)

Last week the workers showed up to repair our hole in the wall with insulation/drywall/etc. It almost looks normal. At that time they also installed the french doors in the office.

Over the weekend we had a nice rain shower and were pleasantly surprised when our roof didn't leak. Jeremy still plans to "caulk the heck out of it" as he says. I'm guessing it will have a nice layer on by the time he's done; which I'm not complaining about at all. The roofers claimed to fix it a second time but a little extra protection can't hurt, right?

At 7:00 AM today the workers showed up to begin taping off the house and start the paint job. They envision this to be a 3 day process. I'm sure it will smell great when we get home! Next week I'll be out of the house for a few days living in a hotel, the dogs will be at the vet and Jeremy will be in Panama on work. You're probably wondering why a hotel for me....well, that's when they're fixing the damage to the floors and we can't be there then.

In about 6 weeks we should have the new front entry. That will be a site to watch while they install it in 1 piece. Hopefully I find the camera before that so I can really update you with all the photos during what I will call "Renovation II"

Aside from that, all is calm on the homefront. I was in DC last week and found it educational. I don't think I would make a good politician, it's all networking and kissing other's rears. I think it would get annoying. Awhile back I thought I could be the next Sarah Palin in 12 years (same age then) but realized I wouldn't get to live in the White House, so that options out. It was a productive and tiring trip though. I think I saw a few important figures, but since I'm not political I can't tell you who they were exactly. .....but I've seen them on television.

You're probably wondering how my better half is doing.....he's doing well. Maybe I'll get him to type the update next week and then you'll really hear what's going on versus my random stories.

South Dakota

Well yet again, a delayed blog posting. Sorry about that. It's been busy though.

We traveled last weekend to South Dakota....they say it's the "hot" spot to be, so we ventured on a not-so-scenic drive to see the lovely state. I should also mention we were visiting my Cousin Rita, Jeremy's Parents and an Aunt and Uncle. So, I guess there was more to the trip than just to see some faces carved in a mountain. (ha ha)

We departed on Thursday to allow us a day with Rita and a day with Jeremy's family before driving back on Sunday. Again, it was a fast trip for us but really it turned out quite nice!

Friday we toured the Wild Horse Sanctuary outside Hot Springs, SD. Since Rita volunteers there we had a great tour guide and really learned the in/outs of the Sanctuary. I'm attaching a few photos from the Sanctuary. Also we went to the Mammoth Site; it was discovered in 1974 by a housing developer and was then turned over to the state. It's quite interesting to see the true remains from 27,0000 years ago. If you tour in July you can actually watch the digging take place live. Pretty cool. There's a photo attached of that as well.

To Rita's request we left the 3 dogs with her for 2 nights while we went to Mt. Rushmore to visit Jeremy's parents, Aunt Jan and Uncle John. I still am shocked Rita dared to watch 3 crazy dogs with 4 horses on her land. However, Sadie found that 5 acres was plenty to run on and she managed to sniff a little to close a Cactus (that was fun). Elvis, he loved chasing the Rabbits and hunting on the land. Dibs......well Dibs isn't the sharpest tool on the block so he went up to the horses and barked....dumb dog. I'm shocked he didn't get stepped on for going too close.

Continuing on, so we headed to Keystone, SD which is close to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. we met Jeremy's parents there as well as John and Jan. Within 5 minutes of their arrival we had a bottle of wine open because we were all "thirsty?" After visiting and breaking our FIRST wine glass we hit dinner and then called it a night. Saturday we visited all the monuments and then headed to Deadwood thinking a "great deserted ghost town." Little did we know the town has no problem with their population......they are officially a gambling town. So we visited a casino for a bit and then headed back to our hotel. As you can imagine we were quite "thirsty" after another day of traveling so we opened another bottle of wine. After the SECOND wine glass of the trip broke we headed to dinner. (Thank heavens the wine glasses were the hotels) Anyway, we had a great time and it was a complete fluke the wine glasses broke; it was completely unrelated to the amount of consumption, but it was rather hilarious the second time around.

Sunday we headed back to Rita's to get the dogs who were exhausted. You'd never know they were running 5 acres the entire time.

Aside from that, I started my new job with University of Denver this past week and it's going well thus far. It will definitely be challenging but that's a good thing. I'm headed to DC this week so I'll update you after that.

We are in the process of our home "renovation" due to water damage. Although the roof was "fixed" a week ago we had water inside again on Thursday night........that was fun. So, Friday the contractors were back to try again. Sounds like Tuesday the interior work will begin. We'll update you with photos here.

Today we went to a Denver Broncos Football game. It was fun and also exhausting knowing tomorrows a work day.

Until next time.....think dry thoughts for us...we've had enough water damage this year. ha ha

Whirl-wind Trip to Iowa

Hello again, we're back in Colorado after a 3 and 1/2 day trip to IA.

A great trip but fast.

The reason for the trip was my friend, and former bridesmaid, Stacie's wedding. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding on a lake in Panora, IA. It was great to see so many friends again and catch up. It seems like such a rarity and something I really enjoy. Although I can say, the humidity was a rude awakening since it's just hot in Colorado and we don't have the humidity.

Ted, Jeremy and I golfed on Friday. I once thought I'd joing the LPGA tournament and now I'm resorting to the idea I'll be the cady with the clubs.....maybe just the water girl. I'm not to the cady level yet. It was fun and I think we were 1 of 2 teams on the course. Great time though, although frustrating for me at times.

We stayed with Uncle Ted in Greenfield, which worked out great. My parents even came over to visit for Saturday. Again, we went golfing and this time Mom and Dad joined us. I can honestly say, they're not that bad at the game. I again, was not that great. Maybe this is why people take lessons. I've included a few photos from golfing....one is a reaction to my golf abilities...it's called frustration (perhaps this is when I realized I was only going to be a water girl versus the golfer in the LPGA - ha)

Jeremy and I stocked up on some IA meat. No offense to the Coloradans who think the meat here is great, but it's overpriced and has no flavor. When I say it's expensive it's 2x as much for meat here than in IA. So, Jeremy and I ended up with 4, yes 4, big coolers of meat on the return trip to Colorado. Have no fear, this was planned. I've included a photo so you can see what the deep freeze looks like.

All is well though, we returned to Colorado to some tornados (again a rarity) in South Denver. Funny thing is one came within 10 min. of our house. Cool, huh?

Next week we'll update you on the home improvements coming from the water damage. As of now it'll be a 2 week process and we get to move all the furniture off the first floor and move out for 4 days during some improvements. Could be worse.

On a side note, I resigned from my job and accepted a new one with the University of Denver starting on Sept. 8. I'm pumped!

Update II for weekend

Aside from the waterproofing blog below, we do have fun in CO.

A week ago we took Elvis and Sadie to the nearby State Park. We had heard there was an area specific to pets where they don't have to be on leashes, etc. Our intention was to allow Elvis and Sadie the opportunity to learn to swim.

Sadie has no fear of water and darn near drowned herself while retrieving the tennis ball 10 ft. off shore. She doesn't understand if she loses sight of the ball that she can't breathe underwater while submerging her head looking for it. I'm not sure what was more funny, that or Jeremy tossing me his keys thinking he would "save his little girl." I laughed knowing that she would sink him before accepting help. Stubborn girl!

Elvis headed into the water and quickly retreated.....chicken! He's a lab and is supposed to like water and swimming......we laughed comparing the two dogs! Elvis decided it was only okay to go in the water but only ankle deep....dare devil.

Sadie still dislikes car rides....Elvis loves them....especially in Jeremy's Jeep (a new adventure).

Of course we forgot the video camera and regular camera for the adventure, but next time we'll grab some shots and post them.

Waterproof

Homeownership is fun.....that's what we're calling it.

We're beginning to think our house is jinxed when it comes to water....any sort of water.

As you may remember our Water Pressure Valve went out earlier this year and has now been replaced twice because we've had continued challenges with it.

As of this weekend we started having pressure valve problems again and......we found out when we get 3 inches of rain our house is no longer water proof. Yep, instead of the water running down the outside of the window it runs down the inside (I'm guessing that's not a good sign). Also, Saturday morning while Jeremy was traveling back from Panama I noticed that our front area rug in the foyer was damp and looked up to see paint bubbling/running down the wall above the front door covering a 6 ft. area....hmmm....I don't think Plumbers fix this like the pressure valve. So after grabbing all available towels in the house and moving the rug the day was spent swaping towels in and out of the dryer. We've decided that when Jeremy travels to Panama that's when the challenges occur, first Sadie now this. We've also agreed that the previous family sold at the "right" time! Anyway, it'll be taken care of and hopefully is the last serious home improvement project for the year.

Aside from that, we have a wedding in IA this weekend so we'll be on the road for a couple days. Hopefully we'll have some fun photos following.

Fishing and Visitors

Jeremy and I gave fishing a try this past weekend. Granted, we only went to a reservoir close by so we haven't hit the true mountain streams yet. That may be this weekend's adventure. Anyway, the photo above is representative of the success we had.......or lack there of. It was fun through.

We also had visitors again. It's a good thing we bought a house with extra bedrooms because they have been used multiple times this summer. I think this was our 5th set of house guests. We could almost run a bed and breakfast at this rate. Anyway, my cousin Amy and her 3 kids, Trey, Megan and Claire stopped for a night while driving from Sedona, AZ to Greenfield, IA to visit her dad (and my uncle) Ted. We went to the indoor "kiddie" swimming pool, complete with a hot tub, climbing thing, lazy river, and come rope/log contraption. After feeding the kids it was off to bed. Trey was delighted with all the He-Man Toys that were Jeremy's growing up. He thought they were the coolest thing ever (hence the photo above) and all the kids were fascinated by the basement. Living in AZ this was the first basement they had seen. So to be "underground" to them was great! Jeremy missed the visit since he was in Panama on work. So Amy is yet to meet him which means we'll have to meet up again.

The last photo is of Amy. I made sure I had a bottle of wine chilling for her arrival. Traveling across country with 3 little kids would drive one to request a glass of something. Nothing like pizza and wine......I'm sure they go together somewhere.

We'll post again next week.

Chicago

Sorry for such a delay in our posting here. However, better late than never!

It's been busy around our place. I was in Chicago for a girls weekend with some friends from college. It was a hoot and I don't know the last time I laughed that hard for that long. The trip started off shaky and almost was a "no-go" for me when my flight was cancelled on Thursday. So, thanks to frequent flier miles I re-routed to go through Moline, IL (yep, I stopped by home for 4 hours) then drove to the suburbs of Chicago to meet up with my friends Carrie and Melissa. We rode the train downtown, went to a Cubs game (which they won), Visited Navy Pier and took a Segway tour of the city. I even sat next to someone famous on the "L" after the game; his name is Jeff ? but he sang the 7th inning stretch and is in movies such as Daddy Daycare, WallE, Rocker and some comedy show. I was the nerd who didn't know who he was until everyone else started making a big ordeal out of it.....then I felt obligated to ask for a photo like a crazy woman. (I posted the photo above, maybe you know him) It was a great weekend and I needed a nap when returning home! However, there was no time for that.

24 hours after returning from my Chicago trip I hopped on another plane and headed to Seattle for our summer Sales Meeting. It was like any other meeting, rather boring.....but, we took a tour of the city on "The Duck." The Duck can tours the city by land and water. It was a new experience being in a car/boat in one. Good times. I returned home on Thursday.

Jeremy throughout it all was hanging out at work and home and "doggie-sitting." Sounds like he survived just fine. This weekend he saw the new Batman movie and went golfing. Overall, it's going well. He's off to Panama in a week. Nothing like spending an entire day of travel to spend one day working on site then turn around an travel an entire day. Sounds like fun, huh?!

Sorry our life isn't more exciting right now......the most exciting thing we have is a broken sprinkler system which makes our yard look like a true desert!