Mr. Adams Wild Ride

So while the cat was away, (Aubree and Addy on the cruise) Dennis Adams a great friend of mine is a pilot who flew into Phoenix one evening. We had a "gay" old time, I even stayed in his hotel room because it was closer to the hospital where I was working. Dennis wanted to get one queen bed, but alas, we had two.
It was fun to see him, we went to this restaurant that had a mechanical bull. Dennis has some moves as you can see (Anita must have trained him well). He flew into LA the next morning, and didn't fly out until the following day, so I almost joined him so that we could go to Disneyland. Unfortunately that didn't quite work out; next time perhaps.

Caribbean Cruise

CRUISE

I can't believe it was such a tough decision to go on the cruise. We had an absolute blast! Of course we missed Craig and he would have only made our trip better, but it was really the BEST! It was the perfect combination of relaxing, entertaining, fun, adventurous and beautiful. We took a ton of pictures. Here's our highlights from the trip...

Nate and Addy on the pool deck


Papa, Addy, Nana, Max, and Liisa in the hot tub




I tried escargot! (I was about to spell it, S Cargo...had to look it up...)

Jazz Suns Game

So I had about one of the best days ever...
I got off early (5:30 pm) today, and went to pick up Addy from Susan. Aubree was working until about 9:30. On the way home from the hospital, I passed US Airways arena knowing the Jazz were in town. I looked at the clock and figured I could pick up Addy, and be back to the arena almost in time for tip-off. The problem was tickets. I didn't have any.
I had been looking for tickets, but they were expensive. The regular tickets are all sold out, and second-hand tickets were $70-100 for the nose bleeds, way up in the upper bowl; $1800 for premium seats.
A split decision on the freeway and I decided to stop on the way to see if there were any scalpers out. I figured I could maybe get a couple tickets for $100. To make a long story short, I picked up Addy, called Aubree to get the go ahead, and headed back to the arena. When I got back, the four guys right in front of me took the last of the tickets. James the seller, said he had only one ticket, but that I would have to sit by him. Perfect, I said I'd take it and put Addy on my lap. He said it would cost me $150. I wasn't sure, but he said "they are in the lower bowl." I figured an extra fifty may be worth the lower bowl, especially because the game had started and I was out of options. The second ticket was for his son (about 40 years old); he sent his son up to the nose bleeds. His son said "you're gonna like those seats." We walked into the arena, and walked down... and down... and down...all the way to one row behind the JAZZ BENCH! Here is a picture of Addy from our seats:



I was in shock. We were right behind the Jazz bench! I couldn't have hand picked a better seat. I couldn't believe it. James was gone for the whole first half, so Addy had her own seat. When he came back after halftime, he brought Addy a brownie. We were in heaven. After a few moments into the game, she said to me, "I wish we were up high." She liked watching the JumboTron. The game was sweet. I think Addy's favorite part was the Stunt Gorilla who did his dunks on the basket right in front of us. Every time he came out, she got more excited.
I pointed out Shaq, and his huge shoes. Shaq was her favorite player. "I'm cheering for that big guy (Shaq). Who is gonna win Dad?" The game got intense. Down to the end, there was so much energy. She loved it when Amare did a sweet dunk in the fourth quarter and the crowd erupted. She loved the energy. We had the sweetest time.

We were so close to the Jazz bench, during the timeouts, I could have been a spy for the Suns. I could hear the players words. I could see their facial expressions. It was the perfect game to go to. I love Steve Nash and Shaq. Outwardly I was cheering for Nash and Shaq, inwardly I was cheering for the Jazz. It was a win-win for me. As if the night couldn't get any better: the Jazz WON! It was a great nail-bitter of a game, but the Jazz came out on top. Deron Williams, Matt Harpring, and Paul Millsap were doing interviews. I said "nice job Matt" who looked up and smiled at me. I gave Paul Millsap and Deron Williams five as they exited the arena.
So...Ya. You could say it was fun night. I wish Aubree could have been there. But Hey, someone's got to bring home the bacon right?


Priceless

Cruise Anxiety

After having contractions last month I put our cruise plans on hold, but I went to my OB appointment today and he gave me the go ahead to go on the cruise!! I've never had so much anxiety over such a decision (you're probably wondering 'how hard is it to decide whether to go on a cruise?') But I've had crazy dreams and weird pregnancy anxiety (every odd symptom is pregnancy related, right?)
So, after much deliberation and the final go ahead from McKernan, Addy and I will join my family and friends (Cass and Annaca--I'm so excited to hang with you!!!) on Navigator of the Seas to Balize, Cozumel, Ft. Lauderdale..a real Caribbean cruise!!
I really wish Craig was coming, we'll miss him terribly. But he is working 15 hour days with a cardiologist this month and having a blast learning. He really does love it and I'm so proud of him for all his hard work.

Resortn' it up

We had a sweet weekend. I have had long days at the Chandler and Gilbert Hospitals doing Cardiology. I get done about 9 at night, and then I have an hour drive to get home. So it was nice when Aubree had this growth hormone conference at the Sheraton Wild Horse Resort in Chandler about 5 minutes from my hospitals. Lisa, Lauren, and Liisa Frei all came and we had a great weekend. The resort was sweet. They had a waterslide, and activities all day for Addy at the pool. She won the Watermelon eating contest, the rubber duck race (down the waterslide), and the water balloon toss. Addy loved the Indian who told stories by the fire. All in all it was one of the nicest weekends we've had in a while.

A day at the races

We spent an afternoon at the race track with Grandpa Gib, Grandma Barb, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Romona. Wayne lives right by the track and we went to watch a race of one of his previous horses, "So Red" (Pictured #3). He lost it in a claims race, but we went to watch him anyway. He was not the favorite, if fact the odds were against him at 10:1. We were going to put $10 on him just for kicks, but we couldn't find any cash (crazy they wouldn't let us put our bet on a credit card). It started out way behind, so we had a few chuckles, then wouldn't you know it if around the final corner he made his move and in the final stretch he came out the winner! We would have made $100! It was so much fun. You should have seen us cheering for "So Red!!"
It was fun to see Gib Barb, Wayne and Ramona. We love them so much, and Addy really enjoyed having them here.

Wayne, Gib and Addy. Go Red is #3 in background.

Addy, Barb, and I