Glacier Bay in Alaska

The incredible view from our balcony when we got up Sunday morning.

It was the most amazing sunny day as we cruised through Glacier Bay. Some people were even hanging out on the deck in swimsuits. We had to shed layers as we went through the afternoon. Didn't last long though. Temperature dropped as quickly as it went up.

This is the Marjorie Glacier. It was HUGE. The ship hung out here for an hour or so as it spun around so you could see from both sides of the ship.

We took up our spot on the railing and waited as the ship turned. Our patience was rewarded as we saw the glacier "calve" several times on our side. I got lots of good pictures of ice chunks falling into the water.

We're about to pull out of the port in Juneau, so hopefully this will upload before we lose our wireless connection. (this is the 2nd try, actually...)

Grandma, we'll try to connect again tomorrow if we can! ;)

4th of July

We forewent the annual family reunion down south to take the older girls over to Mawmaw & Pawpaw's for the weekend. (And with gas prices, the closer location was more favorable...) Plus, since we sold our house in 3 days (more on this after we close next week) we had some little repairs we needed to get to after receiving the inspection report at 5pm on the eve of a holiday weekend.

So, here are some shots of yesterday as we visited with Mawmaw & Pawpaw at the Lake. They had festivities and were glad to have some kids to share it with.

Bit enjoys our first big tomato from our garden - we took it to share with Mawmaw & Pawpaw since only two people really like tomatoes at our house.

Bear got a flag tattoo on her face while the others were out riding a boat around the lake. It was a LONG boat ride, so she took a throw at the dunking booth and listened in on some Karaoke for a bit while we waited for the others to get back.

Sno-cones were a hit. Nice and cold on a very warm day.

Pawpaw let Little Buddy back up the golf cart on the way back to their house. Little Girl was keeping an eye out for him as he drove. He knows what he's doing, but he scares us to death. Oh, I hope the next 7 years go slowly before he's allowed to get his driver's license.

The kids did the little poppy thingies out on the driveway at Mawmaw & Pawpaw's house. Here's Little Buddy chasing Dad & Heidi with one.

Little Girl just stood there and threw all of her little bag one at a time on the ground in front of her.

Mawmaw & Little Girl played a few games of Uno. I think Little Girl won most of the games. She must have had a good teacher...

Heidi really enjoyed her turn to ride on the golf cart. She NEVER voluntarily gets into anything with wheels. EVER. She HATES to get into or out of the truck or van. We were amazed when she jumped up into the golf cart, hardly before it stopped. The only thing we can figure is that she enjoyed the thought of the wind blowing through her ears... On the other hand, maybe she's claustrophobic like Mom and Little Buddy...

Making faces... Bear

Making faces... Bit

Making face... Little Buddy

Making faces... Little Girl

Fireworks on the lake

I like the outlines of all the people sitting out on their docks on the water watching the fireworks.

I finally made it to California - and BACK

I was praying that if California is ever going to fall off into the ocean, please don't let it by while I'm there for the first time. It didn't help that Dad says to me on his way out of the hotel room the first morning that if an earthquake comes, remember to get out of the building. Well, I was awake then, thank you very much.

Obviously we got back home safely and other than that it was a very nice trip. The weather was incredible. Absolutely perfect. We arrived back in Dallas to a "balmy..." something - I didn't catch the temperature because I was stuck on the word "balmy". For that, I was wanting to get back on the airplane and head back to CA.

This is where Dad had meetings each morning. No, really, he had meetings here each morning.

We went to Muir Woods - one of the redwood forests close to San Francisco. AWESOME trees! Dad got called a "tree hugger". He wouldn't "hug" anymore trees for me - perspective or not.

Dad at the Golden Gate Bridge leading into San Francisco. Even in May it was windy and chilly up on that hill looking down into the bay.

We met my cousin and her husband in SF for the day since they live fairly close to the city.

Beautiful Broadmoor

By a really funny "turn" of events, we were the winners of an all-expense (well most) paid trip for 2 to Colorado Springs to stay at the Broadmoor - 2 nights/3 days. We were told it was a fabulous resort, but what would we know of fabulous resorts. I smiled and nodded and thought we were very lucky.

By "turn" of events, I mean that Dad won the trip by turning the game wheel at an employee appreciation dinner for his company and gambled the prize he won on the wheel to win one of the bigger grand prizes. And, of course, he won. The fact that he won the Broadmoor trip was hilarious in several ways (you'll just have to wonder) and I think I laughed at that the rest of the evening. This was in May.

Ok, back to the trip. Having an amazingly busy week leading up to the trip, I did absolutely no thinking about it or packing for it until after the Halloween carnival at school the evening before we left. I got home about 9pm and we were driving to the airport at 7am the next morning. I really couldn't tell you what I had packed, if anything went together and if I even had the right clothes for the weather in Colorado Springs. Being exhauasted, I had no choice but to take a short nap (short flight) in our first class seats. Dad had cashed in some upgrades so we could fly first class on our 5 star trip. Thank goodness the flight attendant woke me up with warm cookies so I could fully enjoy our comfy seats.

Our landing was smooth, rental car pick up was quick and the drive to the resort was fairly short. Driving onto the resort grounds was a bit overwhelming. The gate guard stopped us to confirm we had reservations and from that point on, we were Mr. & Mrs. to everyone. They put a printed tag on our dashboard and every time we drove up, the valet attendants were so numerous and calling us by name we had trouble knowing which one to tip. We got there a bit early and our room wasn't ready, so we checked our luggage and did some walking.

We found a place for lunch and then decided to get the car and drive up to Seven Falls and Garden of the Gods for some sightseeing. There is so much to do in the Colorado Springs area and you don't have to drive for hours to get to it all.

This is the entry to Seven Falls. Look at that tree growing right up through the little building!

Our camera battery died (like completely) just as we drove into Garden of the Gods, so we spent the next hour exploring the Colorado Springs area looking for a Best Buy.

When we arrived back at the Broadmoor, our room was ready and they called the bell man while we went on up to our room. He arrived shortly with our luggage and I swear I thought he was moving in with us. He walked in with our luggage and pulled the luggage stands out of the closet and started setting up the suitcases. I really though he was going to start unpacking them for us. He stood there (invading my space - you know how I am with my space) and proceeded to tell us everything we needed to know about the area. If I hadn't been so exhausted and still reeling from the sudden altitude change, I might have heard more of what he said. I was at a 45 degree tilt the whole time he was increasing his tip. He was a very nice man and he got a very nice tip by the time he headed out the door 15 minutes later.

We did a lot of walking around the resort. The fall colors were amazing and the whole atmosphere was so peaceful. We stayed in the main building, but there were at least a dozen other buildings as well surrounding the lake in the middle of the resort.

We rode the cog train to the top of Pikes Peak. These trees are actually growing straight up - that's how steep the grade was up the mountain on this train! It was so cold at the top of Pikes Peak and the air was so thin, we could hardly breath outside in the wind.

Outside the resort, the colors were beautiful (the Senior Open golf tournament will be held here next year). And inside the buildings, the decor and details were amazing.

One of our many nice meals, we enjoyed dinner our last night at one of the classy spots on property: Summit. Very contemporary and VERY good. And very green. Everything was green...

And speaking of green, I'm saving up to go back to this place. It was a WONDERFUL getaway...

Bringing Home Baby

It snowed the 1st day of December as we said "goodbye" to our sweet little Lucy. It snowed the 2nd day of February when we said "hello" to our sweet little Heidi!

Heidi is home!

The day began with Dad and Mom dropping the kids at all the schools and heading out on the slick snowy roads for Terrell, our halfway meeting point with the breeder. We were so glad school was not cancelled or delayed for the day! We were anxious to get on the road though, not knowing what kind of delays we might encounter along the way due to the past 12 hours of snow. We made good time and sat at the outlet mall in Terrell waiting for a little while watching cars and wondering at each one - would it be her. She drove up right at the scheduled meeting time. It was so cold outside and Heidi had gotten a little carsick along the way, so she was shaking. Mom bundled her right up and jumped in the warm van with her while Dad finished some paperwork with Stacie. Her 7 little pounds felt almost weightless bundled up in her special "princess" blanket. After Stacie left, we sat and cuddled her in the parking lot for a bit before heading back home with our new little bundle (detouring by Dad's office for a quick show-off).

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We got home and introduced Heidi to her new surroundings. The quiet little bundle suddenly burst into action. She had dozed and snuggled all the way home, so she was rested and ready for play.

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When the kids walked in the door from school, we timed it so that Heidi would walk through the living room so they would see her as they came in the front door. They were SO excited. Little Buddy was surprised and hugged her like crazy. Little Girl giggled and giggled. Bit and Bear had sneaked a peek at Mom's e-mail a few days ago and ruined the surprise for themselves . . . BUT, they were all surprised at how small little Heidi is! We really didn't get a good perspective in pictures and even the pictures we've taken don't show how cute and petite her little facial features are! She's SO cute!!! She has SO much skin to grow into! Pawpaw said she has more wrinkles that he does!

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And what a spunky personality she has! She's all out sleeping or all out playing. She even made it through her first night without any accidents and only a slight whine or two. Dad took her out at 2am and 6am and she went with no problem and went right back to sleep. Little Buddy kept her company all night in a sleeping bag by her crate. He said he had to tell her a couple of times during the night that "it was ok." He put his fingers in her crate so she'd feel someone there with her. He loves his sweet little Heidi.

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