HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICH!!!!

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday Dear RICH. Happy Birthday to YOU!!!!!

Today is Rich's 40th Birthday. Last night I surprised him by taking him to Vernon's, it is Albuquerque's best steakhouse. Vernon's is an underground speakeasy restaurant, you even need a secret password to get in. I had invited some of Rich's friends to join us and 'surprise' him by being there when we arrived. It took a little planning but it was a great evening with good wine, tasty food, fun and friends. Thanks Bill, Tiffany, and Tim for helping make this a memorable birthday for Rich!

Being the loving, and much younger, wife that I am I made sure that Rich had all of the "over the hill" gag-gifts I could find. He is wrapped with caution tape that says "WARNING Party in Progress, It's My 40th B-day" He has a big lolly-pop that says "40 Sucks" and a kit of "spare parts" that he can put in water and let them grow and replace as needed. There was a whole bag of goodies, including a blinking pin I made him wear and a beaded necklace that said "Behold the ageless wonder". ;) I'm sure when its my turn this will all come back to haunt me!

Shortly after we sang Happy Birthday to Rich and he blew out his candle, a lady sitting two tables over commented that we were the worst she had ever heard sing Happy Birthday. We didn't know we were trying out for American Idol while singing!!!!

My Boys

The love of my life, my wonderful hubby Rich and our boys in their favorite spot (I'm sure football was on). Rich's Birthday is this Sunday, he will officially be "over the hill". Happy Birthday My Love!!!!

My special, special boys. Ajax and Comet love their Daddy's lap. Comet waits all of 20 seconds after Rich sits down before he is in his lap and curled up for nap time. Rich will let them sit in his lap for hours, unlike me, and spoils them rotten. Silly Kitties!!!

Albu-Quirky

Albuquerque is a very unique and interesting place to live. The mountains are beautiful, I love when the sun is setting and how the sun makes them 'glow' and look rosy pink in color. It never gets old to look at and is always breathtakingly beautiful.




Most Saturday and Sunday mornings in the spring/summer you will see the sky sprinkled with hot air balloons. One Saturday morning a few weeks ago we had BEAUTIFUL weather and Rich and I were up and out early enough to be able to see this hot air balloon about to land in a field near our house. It was LITERALLY crossing over the highway. I'm not sure (if I had been riding in the balloon) how comfortable I would have been with this, but it made for a great photo opportunity! :)



Yesterday as I was leaving an assignment I was greeted by a real live road runner. S/he even 'barked' for me. Despite popular belief they do not "meep meep" like in the cartoons! ;)

S/he was so close that I could have bent down and touched him. The rational part of my brain kicked in and said that wasn't such a great idea so I just kept snapping pictures instead.

Just can't wait to get on the road again...

After working with Missie it was time to say "see you soon" :( and head back to NM. I had one day to wash clothes and repack so that Rich and I could head to Ohio for Christmas with his side of the family.
Despite what you may think, its very hard to dry clothes when your cat climbs in the warm dryer and explores/sits down inside for a while. Silly Comet! I sent this to my mom and she said "fluff cycle", umm..NO! After He decided to get out I was able to finish our laundry and packing.

We headed out to Ohio for Christmas. It was snowing when we got there and it was snowing when we left, as well as all the days in between (despite Pop's [Rich's dad] best efforts). It was a fun week with the family and friends in Ohio and we are blessed to have been able to make the trip this year, I always enjoy having time with Rich's friends and family!

Ma and Pop's house as it was starting to snow one morning.

Pop's and I had an on-going tease, every time it would start to snow I would proudly tell him "look, it's snowing" to which he would respond with an evil growl. Ever time it stopped snowing he would point it out with "look it stopped snowing" and I would return the growl and tell him that "Santa is bringing you coal for wishing away my white Christmas". Well, I guess I had been a better good girl than he a good boy because I was blessed with my very first, true, white Christmas complete with fresh snow when we woke and again before we went to bed. It was beautiful and magical all at the same time!

On the road, again...

After Thanksgiving I was fortunate enough to be able to head to VA and spend some time with Missie and get to work a fun filled 10 days with her, the details of which I can not discuss but take my word for it, it was fun and I was glad to be able to see Missie!!!

Getting to VA had its ups and downs, mainly the fact that I sat in the ABQ airport for 6.5 hours while my plane was delayed and that my luggage didn't make it on my connecting flight in Chicago and then all planes were grounded. It looked like I wasn't getting my bags so a trip to Walmart was made to buy essentials, 98% of which was able to be returned when my bags were delivered the next afternoon.

Since I had nothing better to do, I got my free photo with Santa at ABQ. Why not!?







When I arrived in VA it was cold, as was the first few days we were working. COLD, as in freezing temperatures, who would have thunk it in December!?




Put then the weather became bipolar and began to warm up, YES PLEASE!






Dinner with Missie one night. Some GOOD eats, at least where the sweets are concerned (but please don't count how many desserts are in front of us!! We worked hard and deserved every one of those!) :D


Our waiters with their baked Alaska deserts, YUMMY!

Christmas photo

MAN am I glad to have a talented uncle who I can ask "Can you take a picture of Rich and I in front of the Christmas tree!?" and have him not only say yes, but give me such a great picture in return! Thanks Ashley!!

SURPRISE!

Thanksgiving day was my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Milton's birthdays. We typically celebrate their birthdays on Thanksgiving when we are all together, even on years it doesn't fall on Thanksgiving day. This year we all "forgot" or down played their birthdays. No cake, no gifts really, just a hug and a casual "happy birthday". Well, What they didn't know is that Milton's daughters, Keri and Shanna, had it all planned.

Milton and Kathy thought they were going to dinner with some friends, but first those friends needed to drop off some food and drinks at the "Senior Citizens Party". What they didn't know is that they were walking into their own surprise party. A room full of their friends and family welcomed them with "SURPRISE". After jaws were picked up off the floor and tears of shock were swatted away we all ate some YUMMY fajitas with all the trimmings and some OH SO GOOD margaritas (Thanks Keri and Shanna!).

It truly was a fun evening and I am so glad that Rich and I were in Texas for Thanksgiving this year and could be there to see this once in a lifetime, literally, surprise pulled off!

David and Blythe took turns riding in Grandma's car with Aunt Chelle, Uncle Rich and Grandma (although, I believe it was the GPS and getting to hold that and navigate the "purple road" that held the greater appeal!). On the way down to Lake Jackson David rode with us. He "called" everyone he could think of, including China, and asked what their weather was like. He was so busy doing that he forgot to tell me that we had passed the "checkered flag" and thus missed our hotel. :) Blythe rode home with us the next day and navigated the whole way home. They are so fun and I really enjoyed them getting to have that special time with us!

David and I at the surprise party.

Lots to be Thankful For!

Rich and I were blessed to get to spend this Thanksgiving in Texas with my side of the family. It was a much needed visit to see all my loved ones, I hadn't seen anyone since the wedding in April and was in desperate need of some family love.

One thing that we did was go to the BlueBell factory. In all my 26 years living in Texas I had never taken the hour and a half drive to Brenham to go to BlueBell. The Gumpl Gang, Rupanovics and SheRa decided there was no time like the present! We loaded the kids up one morning and off we went.

You cant take the tour without the proper attire!

Mitch's close up is what I would call "special"! :)

Michael was beyond ready for his scoop!

All I can say is YES PLEASE!

Enjoying our scoop after the tour. MMMmmmMMMmmm GOOOD! Man I love me some BlueBell Peppermint Ice Cream!

Dad and Beth met Rich and I at Home Slice Pizza in Austin (If you haven't been, GO..it was MMMmmm GOOD!). Since Mitch needed peace and quiet in the house for his study group and the kids wanted to see Grandma Beth and Grandpa George, they came along too.

David was being silly and was convinced that there was a camera in the spinning hamburger across the street so Natalie snapped this picture as we were saying "CHEESE" at the Hamburger.

La Margarita Goodness!

DJ and SheRa are beloved members of our family. The kids love spending time with each of them, as do Rich, Mom, Nat and I. It was a fun and yummy dinner at La Margarita and I am glad that DJ and SheRa were able to join us for this, what is now a family tradition, before Rich and I headed back to NM!

Mom and Rich after enjoying a great meal with family at La Margarita. It was sad that Mitch was in class and couldn't join us!

My sweet sweet Sister in Love. I cant imagine my life without this special person in it. She has blessed me in so many ways and I love every moment we get to spend together!


Heading back home :(

These two boys are BFF's! Michael, and Rich, enjoyed their time together during our visit. It didn't matter where Michael was, if he saw me he would say (sometimes even yell) "Rich". This was taken on the way to the airport. Michael was making sure Rich's eyes were well protected from the sun, he let him borrow his Transformers sun glasses for the trip.

It was truly a blessed time home with the family. My brother cooked a fantastic 28 lb turkey for all of us on Thanksgiving and between my mom and Aunts and Natalie there was enough food and pie to feed an army. We were equally blessed to have Ms. Bonnie spend Thanksgiving with us as well.

Black Friday was not so bad, Natalie and I started our shopping day at about 11am, first stop: Starbucks, and I was able to complete most of the shopping that we needed and have it wrapped and under moms tree that night. Minimizing shipping costs was our goal this year! :)

We had a great time home with good food, great friends and many loved ones. Hopefully I wont have to wait so long to see you all again!