Happy Birthday to my favorite guy in all the world!

Terry's birthday was yesterday!  It's not that I forgot his birthday, it's just that I forgot to create a post in advance about it and we've been so busy that I didn't have time in the last few days.

That doesn't make him any less special or less loved. I'm so blessed that God gave him to me over 30 years ago.  I wouldn't want to share this life and it's adventures with anyone else.

Here are just a few highlights of the fun we've had this past year... what a great year it's been and now we're heading for Bosnia in the next few days!  Can't wait.

 Steamboat Springs, Colorado in August

 Disneyland in September

 Randy Thompson Christmas Concert in December 

Dave Argentati Concert in December

Terry & Bob played several places around town this year

 Flagstaff Snow Day in January

Suns Game in April 

Our Semi-official Christmas Letter - 2009

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Greetings to you, our dear friends and family!

If you have a few minutes, settle into your favorite chair and catch up on our latest news.

As always, God has been good and our year has been full!  Most of you know that we have been empty-nesters now for a few years.  The photo of the whole family was taken at Disneyland for our one weekend all together so far this year.  We’re excited that we’ll be together again for the weekend after Christmas.  Now let’s see what the family has been doing…

Kevin recently spent about 6 months in Afghanistan conducting some top secret missions with the Air Force.  He’s not allowed to tell us what he was doing for at least 50 years.  (Safe bet that we won’t even be around by then, right?)  He was honorably discharged from the Air Force in August and is now working for a strategy and technology consulting firm.   His job is located in Meridian, Mississippi, a somewhat smallish town a few hours from the gulf. Quite different from anywhere he’s lived before.  All we know is that he’s doing curriculum development and training for the military, relating to the equipment that he worked on in Afghanistan.  He’s been there since early October and is still getting acclimated to the job and the terrain.

Amy and her husband, Andrew are living back in Southern California, just a half hour or so from where they grew up (in Santa Clarita).  She was able to transfer with her job from a similar position in Scottsdale.  She’s an editor for press releases, so gets in on the breaking news before any of us hear it, but isn’t allowed to say anything.  She’s also pursuing her dream of being a wedding and portrait photographer and had the privilege of shooting a wedding in Italy, as well as several others this year.  Her hope is to eventually do photography full time, so if you know of anyone who’s looking, please pass her name along.  She’s willing to travel.  Visit www.TeeganPhotography.com to see her work.  

Andrew has pretty much landed his dream job!  A few years ago he attended The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences here in Arizona, and then was offered an internship at a recording studio in So Cal.  Since then he has moved to a new studio and has the privilege of working with and learning from a well-known mixing engineer.  He’s worked on albums by Green Day, Dave Matthews band, Hanna Montana and many others.  He also has a chance to do his own free-lance engineering work in his spare time.  He LOVES what he’s doing and is learning so much!

Terry is thankful to have survived a round of layoffs at American Funds and has been enjoying some special assignments in his job that keep him from getting bored.  He also loves the 10 minute commute!  During his free time he has been playing music a lot!  Just this month, in addition to the time he plays at church on Sundays, he played in a band for a Christmas concert for 2 nights, then with a different band at a CD release party at a coffeehouse the next weekend, and this weekend he played with a friend at the local Borders Bookstore.  He already has a few gigs scheduled in January as well. I'm so glad that he has the time and opportunities to express his gifts and talents in this way.  It's what he loves to do more than most anything.

As for me, I’m working 4 days a week for Uhlmann Family Offices http://www.familyoffices.org/ .  I enjoy a lot of variety in my position.  Parts of my days are spent assisting the non-profit organizations that share office space with us.  I have the chance to do a little bit of everything…event coordination, basic graphic design, photography, help with mailings, blog posts, website updates, and even a bit of bookkeeping.   I really love my job and my schedule!  My Fridays are precious to me because I have a chance to spend time with my mom and take her shopping, to doctor appts, lunch, the movies or whatever we decide to do together.  My sisters come along sometimes as well.  It gives me the chance to make up for some of the time that we lived in So Cal.  I love having that extra day to get things done either with family, friends or at home.   Speaking of extra time, I now have the time and energy to pursue hobbies like photography, blogging, crafting and hopefully sewing soon (when I get my machine).

Terry and I also were blessed with some fun travel this year.  We went to Steamboat Springs, CO for a week in the summer.  Kevin and two of our dear friends were able to join us too.  We had gorgeous weather and spent a lot of time outdoors.  In September we spent a long weekend enjoying Antelope Canyon and the north rim of the Grand Canyon with a couple of other great friends. The next weekend we drove to L.A. to go to Disneyland with Amy, Andrew and Kevin.  We had a blast!

In early November we spent a week with Terry’s dad and wife, Ginny in North Carolina.  We were treated to some amazing Fall colors and other gorgeous scenery there.  It was wonderful to have the chance to spend some extended time with them.

So what’s on the horizon for 2010?  You’ll have to ask the kids about their plans, but I’m hoping to travel to Fort Myers, Florida with my mom and sisters in February.  At 86, my mom still loves to travel, as long as one of us comes along with her.  We’re looking forward to visiting her half sister, Alice there.

In May, Terry and I are hoping to travel to Bosnia with a few people from our church.  Open Door Fellowship has had ongoing relationships assisting several churches there since their war and unrest in the 90’s.  Terry and two other guys are planning to go and play music at several churches and coffeehouses.  The men who lead worship at these churches are often the pastors who end up doing everything on Sundays.  The guys will be able to give these pastors some rest from that portion of the morning and will give the congregation a treat by having some different music and musicians.  They’ll also play at local coffeehouses to begin to make connections between the churches and the community they serve.  I will be going along to help with whatever I can and document as much as possible with photos.  They haven’t had anyone go with them to Bosnia for the purpose of capturing the images of the people and places and I hope to be able to bring home visuals that will help them spread the word about the work they do there and the needs that are evident.  We will be raising money for the trip in the coming months, which will be a first for us.

We'd love to keep in touch thru-out the year and hear updates from you anytime. We’re all on Facebook  (except Terry), so look us up there. 

We trust that you have a blessed new year, filled with the love of family and friends.  We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in the coming year!

I'll leave you with a photo that we took of the family just this week.  Amy made the beards and mustaches as stocking stuffers for all of us.  Fun stuff, huh?

Love from all,

Nancy (and Terry)

Back to Day 6 - Weds - Fish Creek Falls
O.k., I realize that I've been sidetracked a bit from vacation for the last few posts, so now I'll try to get focused and cover Days 6, 7 and 8 over the next few days, hopefully.

On Weds of our vacation week we went to Fish Creek Falls. It's a short drive just outside of Steamboat Springs, so we decided to check it out. After the quick jaunt in the car, we had a short easy walk to the bridge at the base of the falls and decided it was a great spot for a photo op. Of course, Kevin hammed it up as usual.

You can see the beautiful falls in the background. Interestingly, when I was looking online for info about the falls, I came across a photo that was probably taken in the spring when the water flow is at it's peak. Take a look at the difference between what we saw and what it would look like with full flow.

Soon after we arrived Kevin and Randy decided to do some rock climbing up to the base of the falls. They wouldn't have been able to do it if the falls were full, but in late summer it was very manageable. Since Kevin just had flip flops on, he ended up going barefoot for his excursion. To give some perspective on the height of the falls, if you enlarge the 5th photo from the top you can see Randy and Kevin in the lower left corner of the picture. In the next photo you see Kev jumping from one rock to another (one of his favorite things to do).

Then back at the bridge I noticed this set of miniature clothes laying out on the rocks. Oops! Someone must have wandered a little too far into the creek...and here is the guilty party. Isn't he cute and not phased a bit.

After our hike, I asked Kevin to hold the camera. Guess which pictures he took? Linda and I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Then just before we left Randy, Linda, Kevin and Terry started playing a game that Linda called "Water Bottle Smack Down". She explains the game on her blog post here. You have to enlarge the pic to see the water bottles flying thru the air.

Sadly this was our last full day with Randy & Linda. They left early Thursday morning to do the 14 hour drive all the way to Phoenix in one day. We had a great time with them! What a blessing to have friends that we've known for over 30 years and have so much in common with. We hope to do it again soon.

You can visit Linda's blog to see more about their trip too.

Our Last Day in Steamboat Springs - Day 9 (Part 1)

Just a warning...these posts may not end up to be in chronological order, but it doesn't really matter. You'll get the idea anyway. Our last day in SS was Saturday, the 22nd. There were just 4 things on my list of to-do's before we left town.

1. Pack the car and don't forget anything
   
2. Have breakfast at Winona's
3. Say goodbye to Kevin
   
4. Go to the Saturday Farmer's Market in downtown Steamboat Springs

We dropped off our keys right about 10 am and headed downtown to Winona's. The only reason I wanted to go there was the tiny little ad that I saw in the local tourist paper touting their famous cinnamon rolls. The ad said that their cinn rolls had been mentioned in Gourmet, Sunset and a few other national magazines. My thinking was that if they were that good, they were worth investigating.

Winona's was a tiny cafe with a few extra tables outside. Even though it was starting to get warm (80's) we opted to sit outside, so we didn't have to wait too long to eat. They had umbrellas over the tables, so the temps were fine. The pic here is our view of the mountain from our table.

After perusing the menu I decided on a single order of Crab Eggs Benedict with a cinnamon roll instead of toast. There was no way I would pass up the roll and miss the opportunity for a special treat.

The waitress brought our drinks, then while we were waiting for the rest of our food she set down the cinnamon roll in front of me. I couldn't help but say, "Oh my gosh!!!" when I saw it and the lady at the next table laughed at me. Take a look at this thing compared to the size of the coffee cup! It was HUGE! Not only huge, but delicious too. The roll was warm from the oven and the frosting must have been ladled from a warmer because it was fresh, sweet, warm with a little touch of lemon flavor. Perfect topping for the sweet roll! Terry, Kevin and I all got to share it and we still had about half of it left to take on the road with us.
A little later our meals came. The guy's food looked good, but mine was the best, I'm sure. The Crab Eggs Benedict was awesome with big chunks of crab throughout and the fried potatoes were seasoned just right. Of course, I couldn't finish everything, but what I had was delicious and filling to prepare us for our road trip home.

After breakfast we said our goodbyes to Kevin. He had a 10 hour drive back to Omaha and wanted to get there that night. This is his new car, if you haven't seen it yet. Pretty spiffy huh?

After he drove away, Terry and I walked across the street to the Farmer's Market to pick up a few treats to take home.

First off, we wanted to get some more Palisades peaches to bring home. We had picked a few up on our way into town and they were the best I've had in years! It turns out that we're not the only fans of these peaches. The presidential family made a stop in Palisades to tour the orchard the week before as well. We bought a bag of them at the first booth, then later saw these flats of huge perfect peaches and had to buy another flat as well. They were just that good and we knew we wouldn't have any trouble sharing them!

We also picked up a couple of other treats while we were there: rhubarb preserves, homemade soap and Olathe corn. Next time we'll try to get to the market when we arrive so we can buy food for the week. Everything looked great, but we weren't sure how it would keep during our 2-day drive home so didn't want to take the chance.

I immediately thought of Linda and her love of all things aqua when I saw this little aqua trailer in the middle of the market. Isn't it sweet?

Day 4 - Enjoying our little vacation town
So Sunday night we all enjoyed a good night's sleep, then decided to explore the little town of Steamboat Springs (population around 10,000). We headed down to the path that follows the Yampa River as well as the main highway that runs thru town.

Except for the fact that we enjoyed a nice walk in the refreshing mountain air, it was relatively uneventful. Afterward we came back, had lunch then took a drive downtown to check out the shops.

As soon as we got there, the guys thought Linda and I were taking too long in the first store so they ditched us to go find a music store. Kevin needed buy some guitar strings for later when the guys are gonna play together. We didn't see them again for a long time.

Linda and I had a great time exploring all around town. We found some very unique and beautiful jewelry, but didn't buy anything yet. We also went into a kitchen store and I found this awesome 3 tiered metal stand. It can be used for almost anything! Cupcakes, cookies, fruit, craft supplies, breads, etc. I can also thread ribbon thru the wire or add colored paper or doilies or whatever. I'm very excited about it!
When we were about halfway thru town the guys called us and were ready to meet up again. They had walked the length of town about 3 times and were getting tired. This is them coming down the street. Aren't my boys silly.

We decided to get an ice cream treat in a nearby candy store too! Sweet - literally. Fun coincidence that Terry was wearing an ice cream T-shirt from Tillamook, Oregon.

Linda and I had found an old fashioned black & white photo booth in the local drug store and went back with the guys to do a couple of photo shoots. Randy & Linda did one together, then Terry, Kevin and I did one. The strips of pics came out pretty dark, but I'm hoping I can scan them and lighten them when we get home. I'll post them if we can get them to look good. The expressions are priceless!

Check out this awesome retro gas station sign. Love it!

After we got back home, Linda was inspired to take some photos of these gorgeous peaches that we bought in Meeker. They are delicious! And the wine bottle that they brought coordinated so well in the color scheme that she just couldn't resist the combination. Lovin' this still life.

Later in the evening we spent time catching up online, loading and editing photos, etc.

We also gathered around the laptop to watch Miranda and Phoebe's latest video release, which was so much fun! Thanks girls for sharing all the joy of your trip with the rest of the world. We wish we could have been there with you!

Day 2 & 3 - Steamboat Springs (Saturday/Sunday)

I know it's hard to believe, but I only took a few pictures on Day 2. That was the day that we drove from Grand Junction to Steamboat Springs. The scenery was nice, but relatively uneventful.

When we arrived in town, we picked up our keys to the timeshare, had some very tasty early dinner at Rex's American Bar & Grill (recommended by the desk clerk when we checked in), then went grocery shopping so we were stocked up for the week. We got back to the unit, unpacked and settled in.

That's one thing really nice about being in a condo with a full kitchen. You don't have to eat out every night and you can save a lot of money. We have owned our timeshare since 1984 and it has been a lifesaver in more than one lean year when we barely had enough extra money to get to and from the location. We could find lots of free things to do and still enjoy a fun and relaxing week without a big expense.

When we stay somewhere for a full week, we usually buy enough for 3-4 dinners, all of our breakfasts and some extra snacks & lunch foods to get us thru the week. We always have plenty of food and usually end up going out a few times so it works out well.

When the kids were younger and came with us we used to let each of them pick out a meal and do the cooking too. That way Mom had a little vacation from the kitchen. The kids also got to pick out their favorite "sugar" cereal since they weren't allowed to have it when we were at home. Part of the fun of vacation is having great food and special treats!

Here are a few pics of the condo. It's a two bedroom with a loft that sleeps at least 8 people. It's been recently remodeled and is quite comfortable.

I love this western tapestry design on the back of the chairs. Click to enlarge to see the horses.

Here are the views from our balcony and the view from our bedroom window. Nice, huh? It's been fun to watch the storms roll in in the afternoon hours. We're very comfortable here and close to everything in town.

Check out this sweet horseshoe coat rack that hangs in the hallway. I'm sure it comes in very handy, especially in the winter when there's ski gear and coats all over the place.

So on Saturday night we just settled in and relaxed, got a good night's sleep and prepared for our visitors. Actually Terry took a nice long walk in the morning. He was gone almost 2 hours! I was just about to call him and see if he was lost when he walked in the door. When I asked if he had gotten lost he said, "Well, I wasn't lost but it took me a while to figure out how to get back here." (Should we run thru the definition of lost?) He's so cute.

I stayed in my pajamas working on my photos and blogging until 3 in the afternoon. NICE! Then I finally got dressed because our dear friends, Randy & Linda were closing in on their arrival. It was so awesome to have them join us. We haven't had a chance to vacation together in a long time and we love their friendship and their company. We love to laugh and cry and just share life together. What a blessing to have friends like that who we've known for over 30 years. Thanks God.

Once they were here, we heard about their trip and let them get settled in. Then a few hours later, our son Kevin arrived (around 10:30 pm). He had driven over 10 hours from Omaha and we were very excited to see him for the first time since last summer. He was stationed in Afghanistan with the Air Force for a while since we last saw him, so it was great to get a chance to give him a big hug and to catch up a little on his life. He is now officially finished with active military duty and is in pursuit of his next adventure. He's waiting for a job interview which sounds very promising. We were thrilled that he was able to come over to join us this week because we expect that he may be living somewhere besides Phoenix and our visits with our kids are always so precious to us.