Cuba

At the foster family's home ~ he was so loved here and very well taken care of!

On the way HOME!! He was so good in the car, I had to stop and get McDonald's for lunch, the bags were right in front of him in the car and not ONCE did he put his nose down to sniff or steal the food! WOW!

At our house in the backyard!

Trying to give Cuba his bone...

Petting him...he is SOOO patient with both Norah and Maya!

Such a gentle dog!!

Norah & Cuba

Finally he can chew on his bone...

Naptime anyone?? This was after our morning walk. The say "A tired dog is a good dog..." that goes with kids, too?

Awwwee!! One of my favorites. He was not one bit bothered that Maya wanted to rest on him!!

They just LOVE him!!

Saturday morning, we made our way up to north Scottsdale - it was a trek...but well worth it!! We met Cuba, a 3 year old male, yellow (fox red colored) lab... And he WAS beautiful!! When we pulled up to the house of the foster family, the foster dad let Cuba out to meet us, he didn't even bark, we walked right up to Norah and started sniffing her. She put her hand under his chin to pet him, and it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!! Maya had been sleeping, but when she finally woke up, she was ALL smiles. Cuba was so friendly, but by no means overbearing. Just a happy dog that wanted to come home with us. I asked what his story was, and was told that he was surrendered after the family had to foreclose on their house. This guy was healthy, and very well trained; we KNEW he was going to fit right in with the family. Also - he liked to run in the mornings with his foster dad...Perfect, I texted Scott this and he was excited to learn he had a new running buddy. Here are some pics of Cuba and

Trick-or-Treating!!!

Halloween was so rushed this year, I had a hard time getting "before" pics...so this is the during...It was fun, though. We met up with some neighbors- Evelyn and her family, and also Lukas and his family- Lukas is in Norah's class, so she had fun...

Maya was a "uck" (duck, she just doesn't get it all out right...but she does "quack"
And Norah was Ariel...red hair and all!!

Trying on Flower Girl dresses

So you all know my Dad is getting married in May~ we are all so excited for him and Nancy, too! They asked if Maya & Norah could be the flower girls in their wedding..Of course! We are so honored that they will share in their special day. My Dad is down to visit for the weekend and we thought this would be a great time to go out and look at some dresses. Although the kids are both going to grow A LOT before the wedding, we thought we should at least look to get an idea, and maybe we'll order after the holidays. We went to David's Bridal up in Ahwatukee, and NORAH HAD A BLAST!! Just a little bit of background - SHE HATES TRYING ON CLOTHES. (Did I get my point across with the capital letters?) Really, it might be one or two outfits AT THE MOST, and then the challenge is on.
BUT - once she tried the first one on, we knew this was going to be different. She loved the "princess" dresses, and called all of them "Adorable."

Norah's eye appointment

Norah had a 3 month follow-up appointment with the Pediatric opthamologist. This was to measure her cataract to see if there was any progression and also to check her vision once again. Good news, there has been NO CHANGE with her cataract and her vision hasn't changed at all either. So, the doctor doesn't need to see her until April...We'll keep everyone posted, and keep our fingers crossed that nothing changes in the mean time!

Cuba

Scott got a call today from the foster family of Cuba - they said that their grandkids came down for the weekend and the dog was really good with them....We will probably go up to meet the dog and see how he is with our kids next Saturday (the 6th of November!) See Cuba pics....

Scott's mini-tri

Scott - and Dan and Jason - finished a mini-triathalon - it was a .25 mile swim, 4 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run!! Way to go, guys!!! Jason's wife, Tiffany, also competed, and has just about convinced Scott to continue racing, whether it just be another triathalon or a running race. Stay tuned....

Could there be a dog in our future??

We have been throwing around the idea for about a year, now- it was about this same weekend a year ago that we brought Casseus back to his foster family and decided we couldn't keep him...It just wasn't a good match...
But, it still seems that we are missing a furry companion in our family. We loved Bandit, and even when we ask Norah if she thinks she would like another dog, her reply is "We just still miss him, don't we Mom."
So - we applied with the Arizona Labrador and Giant Breed Rescue. The dogs we are looking at have all been around kids (our boxer hadn't ever...) and they aren't little puppies (at least 1 year old and most likely potty trained, also means they have outgrown that CHEW ON EVERYTHING stage...) Wish us luck in helping a lab find a forever home!!

Norah's Awards

We got the invite yesterday for the Award's Ceremony, thankfully Scott was off. Norah received the Scholar of Distinction award and Perfect Attendance award, neither of which we knew anything about. The Scholar of Distinction is the highest honor roll award they give, so we are both very proud of her hard work this first quarter of Kindergarten. The picture of her with the big group of kids are all the kindergartners that got the award. Scott and I were so proud of her -even with the big grape jelly stain on her shirt! I guess there was an "incident" at lunch. I guess the jelly won!

The FLU!!

OK - SO since I am the infection control nurse, it is my job to promote the flu shot, not just to inmates, but my co-workers, friends, etc. I really believe that they work and would not want ANYONE that I know to get sick with the flu. So - please get a flu shot, protect yourselves, friends, family, your KIDS, co-workers, etc...

TAKE THE FLU IQ QUIZ BELOW, SEE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW!!!

Flu IQ

Fish

Scroll down and check out the fish at the bottom of the page, I could play with this for hours. If you click on the fish bowl, the fish will swim towards the mouse...fun, huh?? Then check out the spider and the swinging pendulum!

Home, Sweet Home

We left San Antonio on Thursday morning for Las Cruces, NM. 580 miles on Interstate 10 - can be a boring drive! Norah & Maya did SO well in the car- very little crying or whining, just a lot of watching the DVD player. We didn't think Maya would watch a movie, because she really doesn't sit still at home. BUT, on this trip, she did great. Even though it WAS Barney! Oh well, we'll take that over screaming any day! We arrived in Las Cruces at about 7:30 PM, and left at about 9:30 AM (after a decent breakfast at the Cracker Barrel,) for home.

Thanks again, Joe, Cindi, Hannah, and Emma for a wonderful trip and letting us stay at your house! We had so much fun catching up with you and playing with the dogs, looking at the horses, turtle, cats, etc. Even watching Norah -and Maya- climb into the bird cage...
ha ha ha!!
Thanks, Grandpa Steve, too! It was so good to see you!

See you soon!

Our night in San Antonio

We left our Texas family at about 10 am on Wednesday and headed for San Antonio, arriving at about noon. We went to lunch and checked into our hotel, Scott and the girls took a nap and I did some laundry. When they woke up, we headed downtown for a nice evening. The Alamo, however, closed at 5, and we had gotten downtown at 5:45 so we just saw the outside. Then we walked down to the river and rode on the Riverboats. It was a beautiful evening outside, even though it was a little humid.



The Alamo

On the Riverboat in San Antonio

The River

Norah - AKA "Miss Freckles"

The Alamo @ night, not sure what Norah is so excited about :)

Cinderella's Stagecoach, these were all over. Needless to say, Norah was a little disappointed that we didn't get to ride in one!

Hannah's Biggest Fan!!!

Norah ADORES her cousins, Hannah and Emma. On Sunday afternoon, and Monday evening, Norah would sit next to them on the couch and say "Let's talk about our school. I'll tell you about mine and then you tell me about yours." She thought it was so neat to read to them, color with them, and when we found out Hannah had a volleyball game on Tuesday night, well, Norah was so excited, she found herself bumping the volleyball, practicing just like Hannah was. Here are some pics from the game, and after, too. Grandpa Steve came down from Port Lavaca, and watched the game, too.

Norah & Emma in the stands

Hannah just after she had served








Hannah with her #1 fan!!

The girls with Grandpa Steve