Thanksgiving and Christmas

Before the Thanksgiving festivities with our friends Damian and Launi and their family, we participated in the Turkey Trot.  Our attempt to rid our bodies of the extra food before it even gets there...

I had a spot of competition from this little one.  She asked for Diego to sit next to her and then she said, "I'm 5. How old are you?" When he said he was 40 she said, "Aww!"

 Isn't that the fun-est thing you have ever seen?!  Rainbow jell-o!  So impressed!

We had Christmas Eve dinner with our friends Candee and Facundo and some of their relatives.  I'm still trying to get a bigger version of this picture...Great evening though!

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Our Newest Citizen

Our newest naturalized citizen!

 Inside the courthouse with all the swearing in and the patriotic videos and the singing.  Singing?  Yes, they make everybody stand and sing "Proud to be an American".  Not even "The Star Spangled Banner"...  Weird.

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Diego's 40th Birthday

Does it make me a bad wife or a bad photographer that I didn't take a single picture at Diego's big birthday party?Doesn't matter.  I LOVE YOU BABYCAKES!!!  Happy Cumpleaños!

This candles? We smuggled those in from Argentina...

Thanks, everyone, for making the night so great!!!

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Snowflake

We've been wanting to go up to the Snowflake temple for a long time now so we went over Halloween weekend.  We drove up early in the morning and went straight to the temple. As you can see, it was WAY windy outside.

We stayed at a cute little bread and breakfast (Heritage Inn, I  highly recommend it) but as far as sightseeing goes the below picture is the only place we got to see.  It's a tiny little town is SOOO small and everything closes SOOO early. 

It was a very relaxing and low key trip. That night we went to a haunted corn maze. It was short but kinda cool. They only let 10 people in at a time and they pretty much guide you through it. But, at one point, they pile you in this covered truck and it's totally dark and they drive you to the next location sloshing you around as you go.  It was fun.

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Las Vegas

My parents made a rather spontaneous trip to Las Vegas (from Louisiana, I might add) to see Jimmy Buffet in concert and we drove up to see them. They saw the water ballet at the Bellagio before we got there.  That's BY FAR my most favorite thing in Vegas (that and the gelato place next door). We went the the Ethel M chocolate factory.  We had dinner at an Argentine place there and introduced them to empanadas.  The whole trip was short, but sweet.  Thanks, parentals,  for visiting so close!

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KISS, Gavin Degraw... oh, and a surgery

So we went to see KISS in concert. I've heard it's supposed to be the best contert ever but I wasn't impressed. They are too old to be putting on a show like they used to. And the main guy was definitely loosing his voice.  We took pictures but none of them turned out very good. On the flip side. I got to meet Gavin Degraw. He was playing at a charity concert with Train (who, by the way, is a tiny, scrawny little thing) and I was behind the scenes in the green room with the photographer. Super cool dude. So I took a picture with him!

Oh, I also had some laproscopic surgery to remove a uterine fibroid tumor.  Fun fun.  Laid up in bed for a week.  Boo.  Let's see if I can get pregnant again now...

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Before & After

People have been asking me if I've got any new pictures to show since I lost all that weight on hCG.  Well, I had Diego take some while we were camping this past weekend.  I wore the same clothes to try for the best comparison possible.  Of course, lighting is different but, here ya go.  Pretty amazing, huh?! Now, let's see if I can keep it off...

30 pounds in 7 weeks.

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Memorial Day Camping

Remind us never to go camping over a holiday weekend.  We wanted to go to Bear Canyon Lake but it was full by the time we got there on Friday night.  We didn't even stop.  We went straight up to the top of the mountain to Knoll Lake.

Our actual campsite was large and clean - plenty of room for the 3 couples that went.  I got a smokin' deal on that camping table.  It was in a spot marked $19.99 and it was supposed to be $74.99!!!

We're gonna go again in October.  Hopefully we can get some other "mixed" couples to come with us.  Just about everyone we know is an Argentine married to an American - as is with the 3 couples here.  You'd never know it - white boys that they are.

We're so stinkin' cute!!  Yes, I know the videos are in Spanish.  Doesn't matter.  It's the scenery that matters.

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Montezuma's Castle

We went up to Flagstaff solely to meet up with my friend Linn for picnic with her siblings as she was driving through from Vegas to New Mexico.  I got no pictures of that (*bad friend*).  Well, we decided to make more use to that trip and we stopped off at Montezuma's Castle on the way home.

No, Montezuma didn't really live here but they thought he did.  Really it was a people called the Sinagua.  They built this in the cave with multiple stories and additions. They used a system of ladders to get from the ground and between levels.  Sounds like a lot of work to me but I guess back they it was pretty cool stuff.  Either way, the structure and the innovation is pretty amazing.

It's one of those things you always SAY you're gonna do and then never do. Well, it's about time...!

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Stacy Came To Visit

My sister and her family came to visit for a week over the 4th of July.  This is her with her 2 boys: Bryce (8) and Cole (6).

This is her with her boyfriend Michael.  We took them to the Grand Canyon and then to Vegas.

I love this picture.  I know it's their backs but it's very artistic and I like it.  Plus their standing on the edge of a cliff staring at the Grand Canyon. Maybe I should push them... Just kidding!

Now, the obligatory in-front-of-the-Las Vegas-sign picture.  We did TONS of stuff in Vegas but I'll just give you the list.  We saw the Flamingos at the Flamingo, the Lions at MGM, the volcano at the Mirage, the water ballet at the Bellagio (my ALL TIME favorite thing in Vegas), M&M World and some other stuff.  There's more but I can't remember.  Even though we were doing all these cool things in Vegas, the youngens just wanted to play at Gameworks. Go figure.

I'm so glad they came to visit! Besides the fact that Stacy had never met Diego, I miss my sister and hope we can eventually move closer together. And, yes, I do know that we look SOOO much alike.  When we were growing up people thought we were twins.  Come on people, we're 5 and half YEARS apart!!

Love you Stace!

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Anniversary in San Diego

It's been a GREAT three years for us and we went to San Diego to celebrate. We went geocaching in Balboa Park.

I found this awesome patch of flowers.

Diego had fun playing fighter pilot on the USS Midway.

Yep, that's me with Principle Figgins from Glee. He was just having some lunch with his family on the pier.

Diego looking all powerful at Seaport Village.

The beach at La Jolla.

Sun set at Pacific Beach.

Mind you, this was all in a day and a half.  It was a very good time!

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A Year in Picture...

Okay, well half a year.  We have been doing stuff.  I've just been remiss in either taking pictures or posting them.  So here's a recap of the first half of our year.

To start off with we have Pollo Disco night in January.  Pollo Disco is yummy chicken and sauce cooked outside in a round pan.  Really, just a reason for everyone to get together again.

Next we have a charity walk in February for the American Heart Association with our friends Stacy and Walter who, incidentally, live in England at the moment.

Later on for Easter all the Argentines (okay, not ALL, just some of the ones here in Arizona) got together for a picnic at a park and Walter cooked a pig for us.  That's right, an entire pig!  Look close enough and you can see teeth and tongue next to Diego's elbow.

That brings us to May where my boss at the pharmacy threw a Gringo de Mayo party.  Her husband's from Mexico and wouldn't let her call it a Cinco de Mayo party cause they don't really celebrate it - just us.

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2009 Wrap Up

If you feel the picture is a little bit skee-wampus (or small, for that matter), just click on it to enlarge and read all about our goings on for 2009. 'Tis the season, Happy New Year and all!

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Best New Years EVER

If New Years in any reflection on how awesome the coming year is gonna be then I'm in for a hum dinger.  Seriously people.   (make sure you read to the bottom, that's the best part)  New Years Eve was spent with friends.  The boys barbecued a goat *literally*.  It wasn't my favorite but I got to play Speed Scrabble with a good friend of mine.  I never get to play anymore.  Diego would totally be willing but I'm not so sure he'd be any good at it.  Anyway.  No pictures of the charred goat.  The next morning, we went shooting with Uncle Richard and the Lazona Ward. This is me with my cousin Brittany doing our Charlie's Angels pose.

Here's Diego with a shotgun and a death stare.

This is a Colt Junior.  Pops says it's the assassins gun of choice.   It only shoots 22s but if you put it in behind the ear, the bullet will bounce around inside the head cause it can't penetrate the skull.

 

Then there was this guy named Chris.  He was way nice but a little shady with his information.  He said he works for a consulting company.  Upon further pressing, he gave up that he works for the government, he's a chief weapons instructor and that they consult on all things foreign and domestic.  Doesn't matter.  I got to shoot a Mac-11 9mm semi-automatic machine gun.  How cool is that?!  Here's the video.  You can totally hear me saying, "I'm gonna obliterate those rocks!"

And if all this wasn't cool enough, later that evening we checked into a 4-star Scottsdale resort and we didn't take any pictures of that either...

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