Stand By My Man!

So often by the end of the year I have forgotten all of the amazing things that Anthony and I were able to do together over the past year.  He works really hard, and deserves a little (or big) shout out!  Due to my super poor blogging skills as of late, I will update you all on the fun year we had!  And, Anthony, here's to an even better 2012 (if that's possible...)  I love you so much!

MARCH:
Anthony had the opportunity to go to a conference in Orlando, Florida, and I was able to tag along.  We spent a few days in Orlando, mostly at the hotel, but then rented a car and went down to Delray Beach to spend some good quality time with my Uncle Rolf, Auntie Fran, and cousins Keelin & Anna.  The girls were on Spring Break, so we had a great time seeing the sights, watching a lot of soccer, and enjoying the family!  Plus, as it was March, the TV was always on!

In Florida with the Atlantic Ocean and the A1A (Beachfront Avenue) right behind us!

At dinner in Florida right on one of the canals

Florida Sunsets are amazing!

Our final Florida activity was to take in a Training Camp game!  So fun!

At Coors Field - Catherine's first game and Isabella's second

 

                 JULY: In July we were fortunate to take the girls to a Rockies game on the HOTTEST day of the year!  Anthony found awesome seats, but there was absolutely no shade, and not a cloud in the sky!  After talking to Guest Relations while I stood in line to buy a lemon squishy, the 2 red-heads, the white girl, and the baldy ended up on the Mezzanine level, under the overhang, and a much happier crew.  Of course, we missed all of the good plays and the Rockies ended up losing...

At Cousin Kelly's Wedding

At the Iowa State Fair

 We also got to celebrate my cousin Kelly's wedding at the end of July.  The little girls were the Flower Girls, and did a great job!  We just enjoyed getting dressed up and looking nice for the evening!

AUGUST: August brought lots of fun!  We went to Iowa and took our annual Alvinos in the Corn picture.  We also enjoyed a few hours at the State Fair where we rubbed elbows (and shook hands) with a few presidential hopefuls!  Anthony also dined on his very first Fried Butter on a Stick!  I opted out of that delicacy, and had a Funnel Cake instead!  Yummy!

Early on in August, unbeknownst to me, Anthony booked a secret birthday trip for us.  He purchased two tickets on Frontier for $9.99 each way.  I, however, knew nothing.  We woke up early on my birthday, got dressed, and off we went, me still in the dark.  I figured we were heading to the mountains for a day of fun, but when we turned on Pena Blvd, I immediately knew we were heading to the airport, and now knew why Anthony freaked out that I chose to renew my driver's license and only had a temporary piece of paper proving my identity!  I didn't know our destination until we went through security.  We hopped on the tiny plane for our super short flight to Albuquerque, NM, and then relied on the public transit system once we were there.  We only went to Old Town, which was amazing!  The church we went to is 300 years old!  We bought some Turquoise and listened to the street mariachi bands.  We also ran across two marimba players, and fell in love with the sound!  It was really HOT (shocking) so we had to stop and get some ice cream, and before we knew it, we had to get back on the bus to catch our flight home.  Best $40 spent ever!

Waiting at the airport to go to Albuquerque

Ready to enjoy some REAL Mexican Food in Albuquerque

Posing in front of Albuquerque's oldest Catholic Parish, San Felipe de Neri Parish

At the CU Game!

SEPTEMBER: Anthony got us tickets to a CU Game in Boulder, and it was an awesome game!  The Buffs won in overtime, and we enjoyed another super hot (the only thing the venders were selling was water) game!

Carving Pumpkins

OCTOBER: We enjoyed some good family time, and were lucky enough to have both my mom and my dad come for short visits, flanking my visit with the girls out to Iowa for Isabella's Fall Break.


DECEMBER: This past month we have enjoyed more family time.  Anthony saved up lots of days so that he could take off one or two days each week of December.  We had a wonderful season and a great Christmas!  On December 11th, we had the opportunity to head to a Bronco Game where the team showed up in the last 2 minutes, and then won in overtime!  It was awesome!

Our Christmas Picture

Enjoying some Tebow Time!

Thank you again for such a great year!  You have gone out of your way to make this a memorable year.  I love you, and am excited for the events you have already planned for us in the coming months!

Halloween Part Two

Needless to say, Anthony and I had a lot of fun getting into our characters this year! We went to the annual Halloween Costume Party as Marty and Bobbi Mohan-Culp from Saturday Night Live. And, as you know, they head up the music department at Alta Dena Middle School. We had a great time, but Anthony was relieved to shave his head and beard after two weeks of growing it out.

A special thanks to Grandpa Vinny and Grandma Becky for watching the girls while we went out. We love you!

Trick-or-Treat!

Last Halloween, Isabella did not quite get into the mood. She didn't understand that there really was something in it for her. It didn't make sense that wearing a silly costume could help her out. This year was not like that at all!

The fact that she never minded putting her ladybug costume on should have clued us in that this Halloween would be a novel experience for us... Although she remained slightly shy, Isabella was excited about the candy at our church's Harvest Festival last weekend. She loved going from game to game, but just for the treat that would inevitably make its way into her bucket (and shortly thereafter, into her mouth).

On Friday afternoon, Isabella and I braved the once snow-packed roads and made our way to visit Grandma Becky and Daddy at work. We made the rounds at Grandma's office and even let Grandma put her antennas on her head. She tried to be shy, but couldn't resist the candy that everyone was waving her way, and by the end, she was entering the cubes, showing everyone her ladybug necklace in hopes that they might offer her a little something sweet!

At Anthony's office they had an actual event. Many of the employee's children were able to come up, dressed in their Halloween best, ready to trick-or-treat! Isabella really wanted nothing to do with Anthony's co-workers, just their bowls of candy. She is especially fond of Skittles, M&Ms, and 3 Musketeers! It was nice to reconnect with Anthony's friends at work and spend some time with Dad.

On the actual night, we ran over to Grandpa and Grandma's house for some tasty soup. There was a special Tinker Bell bag full of goodies from Grandma and Grandpa, and she knew it right away! By the time we left, it had cooled off, and since neither Anthony nor I are huge trick-or-treaters, we hit up the cul-de-sac and called it a night! We came home, turned our lights on, handed out candy to about 7 doorbell rings, ate our pumpkin pie, and watched a myriad of sporting events (Isabella and I wanted to watch Charlie Brown, but got outvoted somehow...).

But, I think that both of us can agree that the highlight of this Halloween was the costume party we went to on Friday night. Being 36+ weeks pregnant, we knew we were going to have to incorporate this into our costume. Mary and Joseph was our first choice, but we ended up going as a "Shotgun Wedding Couple!" The scariest part about our costumes is that the only thing we purchased was our wigs... I borrowed the hat and my shoes, but Anthony owned it all! He even grew a fu-man-chu just for the occasion!

Happy Halloween!

PHILLY

As you can see, Anthony and I had a wonderful time in Philadelphia! We were able to take in most of the historical sights during our Phamily & Phriends Phriday Philly Phun Day that Ryan and Sarah graciously hosted for about 40 of us! The highlight for us was definitely touring Independence Hall. Knowing that we were in the same building where the Declaration of Independence, The Article of Confederation, and the Constitution were all debated and signed!!! We stood in the same place that George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Hancock, etc.... all spent countless hours! It was amazing!

When in Philly, you do as the locals do...so...we grabbed a Cheesesteak at Pat's. Two Wiz Wit!

We rode the subway like pros and also took the commuter train into the city from King of Prussia where we stayed.

On Saturday, Anthony and I were able to drive the 5 minutes from our hotel to Valley Forge. Although no battles were ever fought here, many Patriots died from the cold and disease. Again, the history of this place was incredible!

Saturday evening we spent at Sarah's parent's house which is north of the city in the "woods"! It not only beautiful, but the peace and quiet was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Philly!

Sunday was the wedding, and it was great! Both of us had such a wonderful time, and although we missed Isabella, it felt so good to get out of town.

Thanks again, Sarah and Ryan, for a wonderful time!

Viva Las Vegas

As promised, here are some pictures from our trip to Las Vegas! Again, as you can see, the Bellagio was by far our favorite spot!

Vegas Baby!

Anthony and I had the opportunity to head to Vegas for the weekend to help one of his co-workers celebrate her wedding!

Although I was hesitant to go, once we got there, both Anthony and I had a wonderful time! We agreed that this was definitely the best vacation we've had so far.

We enjoyed everything we did (except all of the walking that has practically paralyzed both of us), but the fountains at the Bellagio were by far the best! We could have stood there all night long.

Here's a little snippet of what we were able to enjoy. I'll post more pictures later!