anoka arrives

today, i'm a new auntie, christopher an uncle, and the boys got a new cousin!
heidi and her husband greg welcomed anoka jay to the world.

she came as a surprise.... one whole month early,
and though she's a peanut {just 5 lbs 1 ounce},
she's as healthy as can be.

what an adventure for these first time parents. 
it's a happy happy day.

i can hardly wait to meet her.  i'm not sure if we'll be able
to get back to az anytime soon, so we'll just have to be patient
until october when we all fly to minnesota for a wedding.

~ heidi had a DREAM birth! after just 3 hours of labor
anoka arrived - a completely natural birth.  she credits all that
yoga she does for such an easy birth and delivery.

heidi's shower: mexican fiesta

the boys and I returned from a wonderful and very quick trip
to the desert. we left with lots of fun memories and not a hint of sunburn
{a tricky thing as temps were 103 degrees and the sun was shining brightly}.

we hit the road just after c's tennis match on saturday morning and arrived in
sunny phoenix about 5 hours later.  the boys love this hotel and wasted no time
getting to the pool so they could enjoy the water slide and lazy river. afterwards,
we met up with everyone at our favorite mexican eatery, aunt chiladas. 

it was fun seeing everyone and catching up.  I especially enjoyed learning the
meaning of the name heidi and her hubby greg chose for their baby girl.
her name will be Anoka.  this is not only the name of the small city in minnesota were
heidi was born, but it also means 'from both sides'.  greg described how two indian tribes,
the dakota and ojibwa, met at a river long ago to resolve conflicts. such a beautiful name....
with a beautiful meaning.

on sunday, barby offered to pick me up at the hotel so the boys could enjoy the pool without
having to shuttle me to the shower.  heidi's high school friend hosted and wow - it was fabulous!
it was not a traditional baby shower at all. it was mexican themed which was perfect for a gal
who lives in the southwest desert and loves mexican food!  the home was full of fun and bright
décorations, and the party food was amazing!  even the venue was perfect - the hosts home was a
small mexican casita in phoenix's historic willow district {so charming and so perfect}. 

everything about the day just made me happy and heidi was truly glowing as they say.
anoka should make her arrival sometime around september 1st.
the boys and i can hardly wait to meet her!

i didn't pull out my big monster of a camera the entire time so these phone photos
are the best i have.  {i'm kicking myself for it....next time}.

 
 
 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ heidi's girlfriends were all darling.  i met some yogis from her bikram studio,

and her boss, nicole, whom i've heard about for years.  and the party décor,
i SO loved it!  i told my sis i am going to steal ideas for a future fiesta. *wink*
 



arriving this summer

the boys and I arrived home from our road trip on
saturday evening relaxed and with a little more color
in our cheeks. most of all, we arrived home with memories
of the time we spent together and with loved ones.

the highlight was meeting up with gg, heidi and greg
for dinner at our favorite mexican restaurant  in phoenix
{which has become a tradition}. the timing was perfect as
greg and heidi just found out the sex of their
baby which will arrive this august. it's a GIRL!!

we talked about the excitement, the anticipation and the fears....
all those feelings that come with being first time parents. 
heidi talked about wanting to be consistent in her parenting,
and greg shared that more than anything, he is looking forward to
reading books out loud to his daughter. {my heart melted}. 

they share this cute collage with friends and family.

the unveiling: greg and Heidi

 

hope to post a tad more about the trip and share photos later.

it's official...the boys and i are hooked on roadtrips.

 

labor day getaway

the boys and i decided that we needed a little mini vacation.
c had been working alot over the last two months to get the
new middle school ready for opening day, and now that
school is in session, the timing was right.

we extended the 3-day labor day weekend to a 4-day weekend,

taking friday off work and pulling the kids out of school so we could
get on the road before the sun rose friday morning.

we chose to go back to the hilton squaw peak because it is set up so well

for families with kids.  it's an all-suite hotel so there's room to spread out,
it has multiple pools, golf, tennis, a lazy river, dive-in movies, and a water slide!  

scout is officially tall enough to go down it, so you can guess where
he and finn spent the majority of their time when we were at the pool. 

they must have gone down it 200x. {they even dragged me down it a few times}

we had a few nice dinners with family and even made it to the arizona science center
for a few hours on sunday with grammy gerber and her grandson mattias.  

phoenix's science center is fantastic! it was huge {4 levels}.

finn and mattias really enjoyed each other's company.

the two share a love of the game mindcraft and talked about it every chance they got. 

here are a few photos of the trip. 

we had such a nice visit.

the boys told us they wished they could have stayed one or two more days,

but we had to get back to the "real world". still, the trip served us well.
we arrived home refreshed and relaxed with wonderful memories.

i hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend too.

{c took a few videos. i'll try to post later in the week}

the one and only, heidi jo

my sister in law, heidi competed in the 2010 usa yoga national championships representing arizona a few weeks ago.  i wasn't able to see her compete, so was thrilled when she shared THIS VIDEO with me tonight. i had to post immediately. you must watch it full screen for the full effect.

she's absolutely AMAZING!!  i got chills watching her. her lines are so beautiful.

congratulations heidi jo. you truly inspire me.

desert getaway

since our big trip this year will be to florida for todd and heather's wedding in october,
c and i decided to stick closer to home this summer to save some money.
we chose phoenix, az as our destination for two reasons:
1) it's fairly close - just a 5 hour drive away but it's still a world away
and
2) c's younger sister, heidi lives in phoenix and will be celebrating her 26th birthday
and were long overdue!

we headed out last wednesday morning to the hilton pointe - a little oasis in the desert we stayed at a few years back. it is geared towards families - large casitas, several pools, slides, a lazy river, putt putt golf, a kids club and dive-in movies on saturday nights. everything was easy and that was exactly what we were wanting and needing.

i didn't get on my computer at all (got on c's 1x to check in with work) and this was a welcome break for me as much as my family. i worked on relaxing and finishing this month's book club selection, finn worked on his swimming skills and scout and christopher worked on their tans. well they didn't try to, but spf 50 doesn't seem to do a thing for them. they get more golden brown and finn and i, well we just get more pink.

we hooked up with heidi to celebrate her 26th birthday at a quaint mexican restaurant my m-i-l introduced us to the last time we were visiting. it's called aunt chiladas and has the best margaritas and salsa/chips i've ever had - and i've had my share! this is one of heidi's favorite restaurants too so we were all happy campers. we sat around the table catching up with heidi and her hubby greg. we were fortunate to have heidi's sister angie and her new hubby, michael join us. seeing everyone made me want to stay longer so we could spend more time together. we considered another day, but we had to get back to prepare for finn's first day of kindergarten.

despite the scorching 113 degree heat, we truly enjoyed ourselves. we just remembered to stay out of the heat during peak sun times. we had a routine down - would get down to the pool around 9am and come in at noon to eat, nap and/or read and then head back in the late afternoon. all of the arizona kids were back in school so we felt like we had the resort to ourselves. the only families we met were from southern ca or from outside the us. those are the highlights of our stay in the desert.

we look forward to seeing heidi and greg out here in san diego for next year's comic con! *wink*

miss you already.

  


birthday girl heidi, 26 yrs old!



  

yogi life

for months i've been wanting to try yoga at bird rock yoga, a studio just a few blocks away. my tennis buddy, maggie is a regular there and she couldn't say enough good things about it so I finally just went one night. i admit, i was hesitant about yoga/yogis. it doesn't quite fit my natural personality. im a high energy gal and thrive on hardcore workouts (hard runs, bootcamps like workouts, etc.), but i'm also one who will try almost everything once so gave it a go. the first class i attended was taught by a guy named ben and he was a good instructor. he didn't move too fast through the movements which allowed the newbies in the class (me) to keep up with him. i couldn't tell you the names of all the poses and movements we did, but overall it went well. i've since gone back with jen and tina. i should note that these classes were done in a 'warm' room, maybe 80-85 degrees, not a 'hot' room like bikram or hot yoga.

i tried bikram yoga once and only once. during the class, i literally thought i was going to pass out. it was so frickin' hot! room temperatures start at 105 degrees minimum. i always joke that i left the florida humidity and arizona desert because of the heat so why would i purposefully tortue myself *laugh*. still, i admire those who are passionate about it and can endure that heat. it shows great willpower. my lovely s-i-l heidi is an bikram yoga instructor at a studio in phoenix. she trained for several months in mexico and came back truly dedicated to the bikram way of life. during my next trip to phoenix, i vow to take one of her classes - in the heat and all. if you want to see some beautiful poses, visit her blog and see for yourself. i would love to be able to bend my body like that. anyway, i signed up for 10 more sessions at my local studio and have gone back twice since. it's certainly outside my norm but i am enjoying it. my hope is yoga will help me gain more flexibility, help with overall toning and last, just give me an hour of quiet time where i can relax after a long day at work. i mean how often do i focus on feeling every muscle in my body and breathing (outside of yoga - NEVER)!

here are a few poses that i've done to date. my form was not nearly as pretty, but it felt fabulous! i see why so many get addicted to the yogi way of life. i may be one of them. the jury is still out...

warrior pose

side angle pose

scorpian pose (maybe someday)

~ i will end with a comment my sis jen made after our very serious yoga class. she said "when the instructor told us to get our faces as close to our mats as possible for one of those poses, i was thinking there's no way. my yoga mat spelled like FOOT. it was so disgusting". i couldn't stop laughing. i love that girl.