family weekend

(my favorite from the whole weekend- it's precious the way cole is leaning against his daddy!)

the weekend with mom, dad and the girls was great! i wish i could post all the photos i took, but it's just not gonna happen. i guess i should probably do a narrative recap...

elissa flew in to phoenix wednesday night- her flight came in at 9 pm, so we didn't make it to bible study... we got home a little on the late side (for us, anyway) and after a good but short night's sleep, we were rarin' to go! thursday, elissa, cole and i went to explore the "shopping" here in casa grande. there's not a WHOLE lot, not like back in wisconsin, but we hit up kohl's, had subway for lunch, then went to target and jc penney. we found a few good deals but not a lot. friday, mom, dad and sarah came down. kelvin took the day off of work so we could all be together an extra day. elissa had a slight (haha- slight!) luggage issue that wasn't sorted out very well- her luggage was supposed to come into phoenix-mesa on thursday night (this is on account of elissa accidentally booking a ticket to vegas, getting off the flight just in time, but not being able to get her luggage). mom and dad were going to pick it up and bring it with them, but the people there said they didn't have it. this resulted in more tears and frustration (poor sasa...!) and as it turns out, her luggage was there the entire time! so, dad and kelvin headed back up to mesa to get the prodigal bag while mom, cole, the girls and i hung out at the pool. sarah was bound and determined to go back to wisconsin TAN... no if's, and's or but's about it. which brings us to saturday- we figured we should all go and see something cool, original to arizona. nobody was really interested in driving for more than an hour or so, so we kind of settled on this ironwood national forest near tuscon. wouldn't you know, we couldn't find the place. or rather, we couldn't find anyone who could tell us where to go. oh, we got directions but they led us to nowhere... so finally we stopped at a gas station. the lady there seemed to know exactly what we were looking for (i have to mention, there were none of those little handy brown signs you usually see indicating you are nearing a state or national park, forest, whatever). THOSE directions didn't really help us much either, so we once again turned around and headed back the way we came, again stopping at the gas station. this time, the lady told us that there really wasn't much to see, that ironwood was just a 'forest' with no trails or info or anything. well. had we known THAT... at least the day wasn't a total waste- we saw some beautiful countryside! so the day was definitely not a waste... we ended up laying out by the pool again while dad and kelvin went off-roading for a few hours. they really had a blast, judging from the looks on their faces when they told us what it was like! on sunday, we headed up to picacho peak in the afternoon (meeting in the morning, of course) and then we stopped at the picacho peak dairy queen for supper. the hiking was great- we took a trail that was a bit more difficult and made it about a third of the way before heading back down. good thing too- it was getting a bit steep, i was wearing sandals, elissa is pregnant and cole was riding on kelvin's back- really, the circumstances were not at all conducive to hard-core hiking. but it was great to get out, get some exercise, panic over how high up we were and how are we going to get down!! sunday night, kelvin and dad went to pick up andy from the airport (he flew back home for the weekend) and mom and us girls had a little 'therapy'- thanks again, mom! really- it was good! monday brought another day of work for kelvin while once again, we girls laid by the pool! first we made fruity little drinks in margarita glasses (courtesy of elissa- thanks, hun!)- they were yummy! mom and dad watched cole for a few hours so i got a chance to actually LAY out by the pool- great for all of us, since they got a little quality time with the grandbaby and i got a little quality time to myself. kind of- i should say that i got a chance to hang loose and chat with my sisters, no other obligations or interruptions! thanks again, mom and dad! monday night, we all had supper here before they headed back to phoenix. actually, i thought we'd end up with a cold casserole because sarah was entertaining cole on the kitchen floor and his giggles had us all watching him instead of eating! it was funny though, definitely better than a piping hot meal (actually, supper was still nicely warm by the time we sat down to eat)- i'm very happy to say that i got the end of it all on the camcorder! when i replayed it the other day, i could hear elissa laughing really hard in the background! so, that was our family weekend. it was SO wonderful to see everyone again, and made it seem like we're not quite so far away. and, now we are looking forward to having kelvin's parents here again toward the end of may. good thing everyone likes to travel!!

(auntie elissa gave her wallet to cole to play with about 10 seconds before the picture was taken- quick work! later, he got a good old-fashioned ride in a box- it was from our new inflatable bed)

(friday at the pool, splashing in the water with auntie elissa; chilling the the shade- check out the bottle in his hand- what a dude!)

(with auntie sarah in the kitchen saturday a.m.- are they two peas in a pod or what!! love, love, love cole's goofy grin!)

(with grandma)


(gotta love this one- grandpa's hat almost fits, lol!)






(mom, elissa, sarah and i with our fruity concoctions. i should probably add, they are definitely non-alcoholic! just in case anyone was wondering, i though i should maybe clarify that.)


(gotta touch the baby belly! call it early bonding with our new nephew-to-be...)


(great photo of mom and dad with cole- proud grandparents!!)

and on one last but very exciting note, about an hour ago, i got a text on my phone from our neighbors back home- little maggie lee was born on friday, she's 7 pounds and 19 3/4 inches. congratulations to barb, steve, rem, gabby and henry on the new addition! can't wait to meet her! miss you guys too...