Since Emily has gotten here, I just have not had the time like I did before for blogging, and I don't imagine it will get any better any time soon. So I have a feeling my blogging will be fewer and farther between until we get the Internet at our house.
Christmas
Christmas was fantastic, we celebrated a couple of days early with Matt's family and then celebrated Christmas with my family. It was really nice because everyone was there and we all have spouses now. Matt Kaleb and I ended up spending a couple of nights at my parents house just so we wouldn't miss out on all the fun. Of course we had the traditional Greek Leg of Lamb for Christmas eve dinner and all the things that go with it, Once again it was delicious. We opened one gift witch were matching camo Pj's nice and light for the Vegas summers :) Then on Christmas we opened presents ate breakfast and just hung out all day, It was great!
Reno
A few days after Christmas, actually new years, we flew up to Reno to visit my sister and her husband. She has lived in Reno for about three years and I have never been there to see what it was like, so I finally decided to do it. She showed me all of the houses she has lived in, took us on a walking tour of campus, and thanks to AJ we watched a movie at the student union movie theater just us five. Kaleb loved the freedom to run up and down the isles and explore. And of course we watched some movies at her house too. They live in a one bedroom apartment on campus, so it was a little squishy with five of us, but thankfully we are all flexible and enjoyed our time together. Thanks Stacy for the great weekend!
Five Years Together
So we returned from Reno on Monday, went back to work for four days, then turned around and left town again Friday night. This time Kaleb stayed with Yaya and Papous, and had a fabulous time. Meanwhile Matt and I took of to go to California where our Cruise left for Mexico. That is right to celebrate being married for five years we decided it was time to take a cruise and go on a real vacation just the two of us. IT WAS FABULOUS! It was seven days so we had a day and a half to relax and get in the groove of vacationing on the ship. Then on Monday we docked in Cabo where we had no idea what were doing, so we walking around, went to a museum, and walked through town a little. On Tues we were in Mazatlan where we paid a taxi to give us a tour. We also added on an aquarium (where i saw a sea horse in real life for the first time and a toucan, it was very cool). On wed we were in Puerta Viarta where we did an excursion that took us snorkeling, to a fishing town only assessable by boat, a water fall, a beach and fed us lunch. The town was amazing, it looked like it was hanging off the side of the mountain. It looked ancient and run down but the people were friendly. Then we had two more days to do absolutely nothing! It was nice to sit down and read a 600 page book (The Host by Stephanie Mayer), that is my kind of vacation. The only thing that could have made it better was the food was not great, it was a step better then airplane food. When we wanted to stretch our legs there was plenty of things for us to do. We played ping pong, shuffle board, a 6 ft chess game, a game room for cards, and we also attended a couple of shows and classes. Overall it was very relaxing and refreshing.
Grandpa Mandeles
Before we left on our cruise, my grandpa suddenly passed away. He was in fairly good health, so it took us all off guard. He was hiking when he felt a little light headed, then he fell and never took another breath again. Some of the group he was hiking with were retired nurses, they tried to revive him until the paramedics get there. It makes me so grateful that we decided to visit them before Christmas. We usually don't go because of the busy schedules around the holidays, but because of some encouragement from my sister, we visited them, which is a great last memory of my grandpa. We had the traditional Greek leg of lamb, opened a few small gifts and sang Christmas carols together. And of course left with a hug and an "I Love You." So I think we are all feeling grateful for the life he lived and the time we spent together and we are happy that he is in a better place. Now we are all praying for my grandmother who is now adjusting the the life of a widow, and will have some mourning to get through, loosing her best friend and eternal mate.
Matt and school
Matt has officially got all three applications in to Denver CO, Phoenix AZ, and Salt Lake City UT. He has gotten confirmation that they received the applications (which was a process in and of itself, but we made it) and all the pieces that goes with it, Now it is the waiting game, and to all those who ask me every time I see you, it probably wont be until April or May that we will hear back from the schools. Thankfully Matt is still working (they have laid off about 7 people, in his office that used to have 40 people, so Matt really is grateful to have his job).
My Work
It was hard going from taking care of just me to taking care of two children again. Erica is still on maternity leave until the beginning of March, so she mostly takes care of Emily while i take care of Anna and Kaleb. Unfortunately they have been passing around a virus at their house so everyone but me has gotten it. So we have been doing alot of hanging around the house to keep from spreading it. I have been taking vitamin C and praying that I dont get it, what do you think the chances are? So to add to my plate Kaleb is truly sick for the first time (an ear infection caused by the runny nose from teething doesn't count right?) i think he sounds like a dog barking, Matt says he sounds like the bad guy from transformers, either way he sounds horrible but seems to still have energy to play, so it can't be too bad. Emily has it though and is not doing so well, so she has been to the doctor many times so Erica sure thinks it is very helpful to have the extra pair of hands, and it is nice to be needed, even if I don't get breaks anymore. So yes, I am still loving my job, and couldn't ask for a better one.
Well I think that is all for now...i feel like I am forgetting something, sorry there is no pictures, I will try and take the time to download them some time. That is what has been going on in our lives, and yes it has been crazy, but fun. ( I'm sure you can only imagine the laundry) Thanks, I am excited to get updated on all of your blogs.
