Winter Wonderland

Yesterday -we woke up to This ~

Yes it is a bit early for snow--I think only once did it start snowing this early in Boston. But it wasn't at all depressing. The first snow fall of the year is Magical!

As wierd as it sounds, I actually went for a jog while it was still snowing. Funny how I thought it was too cold to run when it was 50 degrees, but somehow 30 degrees and snowing sounded like fun. It reminded me of running in the rain with Nicole in High school-or my friend Christine who would always go for a walk after it would snow in Boston.

I was not the only one who was happy...Sam came home from work at lunch Psyched -ecstatic! (imagine a little kid on Christmas morning) because he had found a ski resort that is opening this weekend. He could hardly contain himself. The only problem, Saturday is Halloween--so his wheels are turning on how to convince Rachel that it would be fun to go skiing.

Then-today we woke up to this~

more snow!

Rachel is actually just as excited to go skiing, though her wheels are turning trying to figure out a compromise--a way to ski AND get to go trick-or-treating--so we will see what happens.

Today I took Rachel to the store to get a pumpkin just in case we stay here--looks like we got there just in time. Rachel of course said-"I don't want THAT pumpkin!"

uh...sorry kid--this is the only pumpkin left in the entire town...if you want a pumpkin-then we are buying this one--unless of course you want to walk around the neighborhood and steal someone else's pumpkin--which apparently is also an option :-)

Pretty quiet saturday

Holy cow! These are some HUGE pumpkins...I am happy to take a picture with them since I happened to have my camera...but I am not sure if anyone in this town will actually fork over $49.99 to take one home.

I taught the young women how to crochet last wednesday and so I had to brush up on my skills. Rachel wanted to learn and that made me happy since I was about her age when my grandma taught me. She actually got the hang of it--well, single crocheting one super long strand (which is all I could do at that age also). So she talked me into making a blanket for her quilt. I have to say I am impressed with how straight it turned out on the ends --sadly--this is probably the best thing I have ever crocheted--and that combined with the fact that yarn is one thing I can actually purchase here in town--maybe I will make it my new hobby.

Trying out the 4WD

Rachel was at a birthday party this afternoon so I decided to take Sam on a date...driving in the dirt. (we have to get creative out here) And yes--it was my idea...not his :-)

And for the record, not only is our Xterra cute--it is AMAZING off-roading in 4WD!!

(no way would I have dared drive out here in our little honda accord)

A nice view looking down on Chinle

Pretty fall leaves (on the few trees we found)

Cool Rocks--not the infamous "window rock" but similar, and only 5 miles from our house

A good hair day for the girls--a must to document

Fall Break

Rachel and I escaped to Phoenix for a week while she was out of school. We stayed a couple of nights with my sister and Rachel had a blast playing with her cousins. We made these festive (and super easy) suckers, played at the park, and hit up the craft stores to buy fall decorations--and we got a good laugh at this very interesting fabric--all I can say is WOW!

Then we stayed a few days at my parent's house and actually got to hang out with my brothers a little bit as well.

Patrick's cookie dough was a huge hit...too bad we burnt most of the cookies because we started playing cards and forgot to set the timer.

We met my dad for lunch one day, went to see the movie Fame with my mom and then went shopping and out to lunch (I guess we didn't take any pictures though). We ate at a place called Market Bistro in scottsdale near Kierland Commons--and it was SOOO YUMMY! It kind of reminds me of Panera Bread, since it has sandwhiches, soups, and salads--but they also have gormet pizzas -with toppings like mashed potatoes and artichokes--that I have only seen on the east coast. I would highly recommend this place!

And the final highlight of the trip--buying a car--WAHOO! That's right everyone--after 6 years of having just 1 car we are back to being a 2 car household :-) It's an Xterra--and I love it! I used to dream of getting a 4Runner, but that is before I fell in love with the Xterras. They are sporty and meant for off-roading--and I have already had to drive down some dirt roads in it--and it was so much fun! :-)

Getting to this point was a long....dragged out process that reminded me

why we avoid car dealerships like the plague :-)

• Negotiating to a reasonable lower price took about 4 days (for the record--if car salesmen wonder why we don't believe them when they say 'this is my best price'--it is because a day later they will offer $1000 less, and 3 days later they will offer $1500 less than that.
• After I bought the car I went back the next day to pick up a few things and have a tail light checked, I only intended on being there for about 15 minutes...but it turned into almost 3 hours. Then I found out there were many little things noted on the inspection report that weren't completed (it needed new tires, winshield wipers, air filter, etc) so I had to go back and had to leave it there for the weekend to have the work done.
• Then after they put on new tires, I drove straight back to Chinle. Thankfully I made it home safely despite the fact that I chose to ignore the low tire pressure warning light that came on near Flagstaff--but woke up the next morning to a completely flat tire--and was forced to pump it up with a bike pump just so I could drive it down to the auto place to have it looked at. Turns out--they didn't tighten the valve when they changed the tire causing a large leak--just another reason to dread the dealership.
  
  
  Rachel was such a trooper being stuck at the dealership for so long that I told her we could do anything she wanted that night --and she chose to go to Peter Piper Pizza. After getting to one at 6pm only to find that it had went out of buisness, I tried convincing her that we could go another day, but ended up driving around looking for next closest one, and then when I got there I saw this in the back seat.

I decided to fight the urge to just go home and woke her up and we ended up having a great time.

And lastly I will say that after a week away it is a good feeling to feel happy to be at home...when that home happens to be in the middle of nowhere. :-)