February-In February we had our first Brewing Hope event in Austin. It was awesome. We had so much fun and it was such a success. A bunch of our friends came to town for it and we had a really great time.
We spent Valentines Day in Vegas this year with Paul and Dawn, Bailey and Carli and Joe and Shannon. Jason took me to see LOVE and to Boa.....mmm.
March-In March we took a big Trip to the East Coast. We headed to Boston, NYC, Binghamton and Philly. It was very cold for Jason but we had fun anyways. In Boston we met some very nice people and loved the downtown area. We met a few Brew Masters and checked out places for an event.
In NYC we hung out with Matt and Jac and had some great wine and cheese at this very cool place by their house. Of course we had to grab some pizza as well. This is when Matt introduced Jason to Johnny Walker and its been all down hill since..hehe.
We drove over to Dad's where they had plenty of snow for us to play in. We headed to the Dinasaur BBQ with Dad and Barb and then spent some time at Turning Stone gambling it all away.
After that we drove down to Philly for my birthday dinner. We had an awesome time in Philly...hanging out at wine bars and going to the Franklin Museum. We both really loved this city.
For Jason's birthday we headed out to Denver. We had an awesome trip. We stayed with Jonathan and hung out with him and his girlfriend. We spent a day snowboarding at ElDora followed by lunch in some quaint little town in the mountains.
We also headed up to Boulder which we absolutely loved. We just hung out and walked around.
Turns out Russ was passing through so he met up with us and we ended up driving to Estes Park to see the famous Stanley Hotel. We spend the day in Estes Park shopping and having a few beers.
Our last day Jason and I drove back to Denver and hung out at Breakenridge Brewery. It was a really great trip.
April-Jason and I celebrated our 1 yr anniversary on April 4th. We had a nice night in and Jason set up wine and cheese and champagne on our balcony and we sat outside and talked and watched our wedding video. It was very nice. That month we also had a crazy month for Brewing Hope. We had events in both Raleigh and Denver on back to back weekends. It was a little crazy but we had fun. In Raleigh we got to hang out with Todd and Jason Kelly, Kathy and dinner with Val and her boyfriend. I also got a chance to have lunch with Connie. Both events went well with maybe a little hiccup in Denver.
In April we also decided that we were moving to Phoenix. Right after the Denver event we hopped on a plane to go check out houses. We found a great little place in Surprise and signed a lease before we left town.
May-May started out with me going to Korea for 10 days. I went without Jason to visit a pregnant Gwen and Grace and Kayleigh. It was a long trip and I missed Jason but it was a great experience. We went to the street markets and did lots of shopping, also took a trip down to Seoul for the night.
Gwen and I took the kids to Everland which is like a Korean Disneyland. The kids are like rock stars there. It was funny to see all the Korean girls flock to Kayliegh and Grace everywhere we went. It was great just getting time to hang out with them and see how they had been living in Korea.
In May we also had to say goodbye to Austin. We had a going away party with over 40 people in our apt. Lots of people came into town and it was a great last party. We got rid of the bumpy jeep and got a brand new Pepe for the long drive to Arizona. Then we spent the last week or two trying to see everyone one last time and visit all our favorite places and restaraunts....and then sadly we had to pack it all up. Goodbye awesome downtown apartment. :( Hello Phoenix!
June-We made the 20 hour drive from Austin to Phoenix with our little trailer and moved into our new place only 15 mins from Gwen and Mom. It was fun getting all set up in a new place. Those first few weeks we spent a lot of time in the pool hanging out with the kids.
Jason's parents also made the trip to Phoenix in June. They came to spend a few days with us and then we all drove out to Vegas for Rob's 60th birthday. They hadn't been in a long time so it was really fun to go with them. The drive back we got to see the Hoover Dam and the Joshua Tree Park. Both were pretty cool.
Last weekend in June we had our Ft Worth Brewing Hope event. This was my favorite event so far. So many people turned up and a lot of family and friends as well. We had a great time during and after the event. Team USA was playing in the World Cup that day which made it even more fun.
July-July was a busy month. Andy was coming back to the states and Gwen and the girls were very excited about picking him up at the airport. The next day Jason and I left for San Diego. It's a 5 hours drive from our place and you get to see cool sand dunes and mountains. We absolutely love SD. We stayed right on the water and spent all night just walking around downtown and down by the docks.
After San Diego we made our way up to LA where we spent 4th of July with Mikey and Meghan. Mike drove us all around and we raced go carts and just checked out the area. The night of the 4th we went to Manhatten Beach for dinner and then walked down the boardwalk checking out all the crazy people and beautiful houses. We had a few drinks and then watched fireworks from the beach.
Dad came for a visit in July. We BBQ'ed and swam a lot while he was here. We all went to watch Jason play soccer one night. Jason Dad and I made a day trip up to Flagstaff and Sedona. We stopped for lunch and then visited Slide Rock Park. We stopped in Sedona for a glass of wine and window shopping. Its a very beautiful area.
July was also the month we experienced our first Monsoon storm in Arizona. It was crazy. It rained so hard before we knew it our whole porch was under water and the pool was about to overflow. Of course I loved it and sat out on the back porch the whole time. The sunset afterwards was really beautiful as well.
August-Not a lot happened in August. We just hung around and tried to stay cool. Jason and I bought beach cruisers when we got here so we would go for a lot of bike rides in the evenings. We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese (Charlie Cheddars). That was fun.
September-In September Aunt Deed, Aunt Joan and Grandma L all came to town. We got to spend a bunch of time with them and even threw Gwen a little baby shower as well. Jason and I went on a little bus trip to the Casino one day with all of them.
One night in September we got a call from Russ saying he was passing through. We told him to stop by and he ended up visiting for a few days. It was good for Jason to get a little guy time after hanging out with me and Gwen and Mom and Aunts and Grandmas for so long. We headed down to Scottsdale and to eat and check it out. Later in the month Bailey came to visit for a week. We hung out by the pool and Jason and Bailey even got to check out an ASU football game.
October-My family came to town in October. Dad and Barb, Mike and Megs and Matt and Jac. It was great all the kids stayed here and we stayed up late by the pool drinking and catching up. The next day everyone came over here and Andy made some of his awesome ribs and we hung out in the pool and ate all day. At night we played games and hung out by the pool and fire pit. Sunday we had a little impromptu baby shower for Gwen. It was a great family weekend.
We also celebrated both Kayleigh and Gwen and Mom's birthday this month. It was a special one for Mom turning 60. We thought when Gwen had to go to the hospital later that night that we might have another family member on Oct 20 but it was a no go.
Halloween was really fun this year. The girls dressed up at Jessie and Bullseye from Toy Story. Gwen made a pretty cool Jessie outfit. Jason and I even dressed up a little and headed over to help hand out candy.
November-November 1st....Ava Nicole is here!!!! I gained another little neice in November. Ava is perfect and cute as a button. The first few days it was great to see Kayleigh and Grace looking and holding the baby. They are going to be great big sisters.
Jason and I took another trip to Vegas in November. We hadn't been in a few months and Jason was itching to get back. It was nice and cool there and a perfect time to go. All the casinos were starting to get decorated for the holidays. We stayed at Monte Carlo for the first time. The bridge over the Hoover Dam was finally finished and cut almost an hour out of our trip.
Jason and I headed to Ft Worth for Thanksgiving. It was really great to see everyone. First stop once in Texas was 7 Salsas which I had missed so much. I got some more Mexican the next night at dinner with Mel and Kandi. We spent Thanksgiving Day at Aunt Pats and had a great meal followed by game night at Aunt Gina's. We got to see all the cousins and of course the guys had their annual football game. The next night we had a poker party at Paul and Dawn's beautiful new house and enjoyed the Jacuzzi later that night.
Saturday we got up and drove down to Austin with Paul and Dawn. We met up with Derek and Amira and Mike Tucker for dinner and drinks. Being in downtown Austin again was awesome. We really missed it there. We also got to meet Stella, Joe and Shannon's baby girl. We had breakfast at Juan's and that night met everyone at Max's for our last dinner before leaving.
December-December in Phoenix is quite different that what we are used to. Most of the month was very warm...still wearing shorts weather. Our orange tree produced a zillion oranges that were soooo good. Gwen and the girls came over to pick some quite a few times.
Andy's parents came to town and we had everyone over for a S'mores party. Kayleigh had one too many and started acting like a wild child. She was definitely the entertainment for the night. It was a nice little get together and a perfect night for a fire.
Gwen and the girls and I made Christmas cookies. It was basically an all day process. We only made about 5 dozen cookies but frosting them took forever between mine and Gwen's need to frost perfect cookies and the girls way of frosting a cookie, licking it off and then frosting it again it was a slow process. In the end they came out pretty good.
Jason broke down and let me get a real tree this year. It was so fun decorating the house and putting up lights. Jason and I had an ICC company Christmas party, just the tow of us. We had a nice dinner and wine and then went on a holiday bike ride around the neighborhood to look at all the lights.
Christmas Eve we had dinner at Moms and then went back to Gwen's to help her and Andy put out the presents. The girls were so excited and it was so fun watching them open all their gifts. Kayleigh took forever since she wanted to play with pretty much everything she opened. Grace on the other had ripped through hers. Jason surprised me this year with jewelry and Gwen and I got NKOTB tickets. It was a great day where we all ate too much.
A few days after Christmas I went to my first college bowl game in Tempe (Go Tempe) with Jas and Gwen. It was perfect football weather and we had a blast.
We spent New Years with Gwen, Andy and the girls and fodue fondue fondue. We played games and watched football till midnight and then hit the hay.
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