Back from Brazil!

I returned on Tuesday afternoon from Rio after flying for 18 hours! The trip was unbelievable. We stayed with my friend Milton at his house. The house is like a resort spa. Tropical flowers everywhere, a pool, even a cook and a maid. We ate amazing foods, fresh squeezed juices everyday, walked the beaches, shopped, and went sight seeing. We went to the top of Sugarloaf mountain, Corcovado where the Christ statue is located, the Botanical Gardens, and attended a Brazilian wedding that lasted until 4am. The highlight of my trip was our side trip to Foz do Iguacu to see the Iguacu falls. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Over 2 miles and 200+ individual falls, pictures and words just do not do it justice. We even took a boat ride in the Iguacu river that actually took us underneath the falls! We were soaking wet but the weather was so warm and humid it didn't matter. We also went to a Brazilian BBQ for dinner that served amazing meats such as prime rib, filet mignon, and 10+ other cuts of meat plus a few interesting kinds (chicken hearts & turkey testicles which I passed on)! When we stepped off the plane on Tuesday the temp was 5 degrees, a full 70 degree difference from when we stepped on the plane in Rio. By Wednesday morning it started snowing and didn't stop until Thursday evening. We had over 2 feet of snow by the time it stopped. My parents saved the day by coming with their snow blower to get the snow out of my driveway. It would have literally taking me all day to get all the snow off the driveway. I think I'll return to Brazil until spring!

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving this year was at Greg's parents house. It was a relaxing day filled with lots of fun and good food. We had bowling and tennis tournaments on the Wii, watched the Seahawks lose horrible (nothing new there), ate a lot and just hung out and visited. Greg and Elijah both got into the spirit by sporting their Seahawk jerseys. We even had the first snowfall of the year. Hope everyone elses Thanksgiving was just as nice.

Hiking

Despite being the end of September, the weather is still wonderful here in Spokane. Yesterday was one of those days. I decided to go hiking on the mountain up behind Liberty Lake. It was quite the climb but the view from the top made it all worth it. Even saw some wildlife; a snake, lots of chipmunks, and some even some horses. Today I am very sore but feel good that I got out and got some exercise.

End of Summer

The summer is finally coming to a close. The weather has been getting cool and it has been raining a lot here in Spokane. We have been enjoying all the yummy foods from our garden and trying to get in those last activities that we have been saying all summer we need to do. Last week Greg's dad and I rode our bikes on the Centennial Trail from the valley all the way to downtown Spokane. Once down there we rewarded ourselves with yummy food from Domini's. Our total round trip adventure was 37 miles. It was hard work but felt good. On Saturday my good friend Toni came over from Seattle and we headed up to Silverwood. I have never been to Silverwood on a busier day. There was a car show going on up there plus the fact that is was Labor Day weekend. We had a great time and spent most of the day at Boulder Beach. This week I bought my ticket to Rio for December. Now it is official! All I need now is to apply for my visa. Greg is back from his training trips up to Anchorage. Now he is ready to sell phones again. Yesterday he also applied for his business license for his new company he is starting up. The name of the company is "Free Time Enterprises". We'll put a link to his store once it is up and running.

Update

Just had to update everyone on the goings on in our life. Greg starts his new job at AT&T on Sunday when he flys off to Anchorage for training. He'll be gone 1 week. He then leaves for Anchorage again 1 week after coming back for another week of training. He is very excited to be getting back into cell phones. Him and his friend Jon are also in the process of starting up their own online business selling sporting equipment. Hope all goes well and their business takes off as they hope it will. Please pray for him that everything works out okay. As for me, I have just been working hard although I did take a few days and go to Seattle with my mom. We had a great time shopping, eating, more shopping and just taking in the Seattle sites. We even made it to a Mariners game, had excellent seats and the Mariners won. The game was crazy with a major offensive expolsion when the Mariners scored a total of 10 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning including a grand slam!

Priest Lake 2008

This past week I went to Priest Lake with my family & the Moates. Unfortunately Greg had to work. My aunt Cat also came as well as my 4 year old nephew Joey. The weather was great and we all spent the time swimming, boating, playing games and just reading and sleeping down on the beach. Joey ended up catching a couple of fish and Pepper even went swimming when he jumped out of the boat while in motion! On the last day there we took a 3 mile long hike over to Hills resort. We found out that Hills has a Starbucks coffee stand so we set off on the lake trail to get our coffee fix.

Fun in the Sun!

On Tuesday Greg and I took Pepper for a hike on Tubbs hill and went swimming in the lake. We brought Greg's mom along with us. The weather was hot so it felt good splashing in the water. Pepper even went swimming. Afterwards we went to dinner at Red Lobster. Pepper was so exausted he slept the entire way home.

4th of July Celebration!

For the 4th Greg & I headed over to Coeur d'Alene to a BBQ on Fernan lake. We brought the jet skis and had some fun scooting around the lake, swimming, and eating yummy summer foods. The weather was great and everyone had a great time.

Palmer Family Reunion

This weekend we drove down to the Tri-Cities for my aunt missy's pinning ceremony/graduation celebration. My cousin Seth graduated from college as well. The theme of the party was Mardi Gras. We had a catered dinner of New Orleans cuisine and even had a live jazz band playing. My entire family was there down to cousins I haven't seen for years. The weather was great and everyone had a great time. The first picture is a reenactment of my aunts picture that showed up on the front page of the Tri-City Herald the day after graduation.











The entire Palmer clan
My aunt Missy & I


All the boy cousins

Spring Wedding & more yard work

In May Greg & I ventured over to the other side of the state for a wedding. My good friend Toni from nursing school was the lucky bride. The day was very long as we left at around 9 in the morning & didn't get home until 1am the next morning. The wedding was very small and beautiful. It overlooked the ocean. The reception was at salty's restaurant & the food was excellent. The entire wedding was beach themed down to the cake with white chocolate seashells on it.

A couple of weekends ago Greg planted four maple trees in the front yard. His parents were also there to help out. He removed the two dead trees not surviving the winter & added two more. It looks so nice. He also installed path lights leading up to the house running all the wire under the dirt & replaced the old ugly porch lights with new ones. The good thing for me was that it was my weekend to work so I slept all day while he was working outside. The temp was also in the 90s. I think he did an excellent job. The next weekend when I was off I worked in the backyard planted some flowers & started our first vegetable garden. Come August we will be dining on cucumbers, green beans, corn, carrots, & cantaloupe. I also planted sunflowers & pumpkins for fall. We are very excited to see how it turns out.

Back Yard BBQ & yard work

Last Sunday, after working all night, I came home, headed right back downtown for Bloomsday & then came home & planned a BBQ for Greg's Birthday. We couldn't have asked for better weather & we were all able to hang out in the backyard & even played some badmitton. Here are some pictures from the party. We also spent a couple of days this week working out in the back yard. We removed all the old bark, added edging and planted grass seed to give us more grass & less area to weed. Take a look at the before & after pictures.


Greg's golfing birthday cake

Greg enjoying the sun

A friendly game of badmitton
Before the yard work

After the yard work

Award & Seattle

A few weeks ago my mom was awarded with the Horace Mann award for teaching exellence. She was one of only 50 people in the country to get this award. She gets to go to Illinois this summer to study Abraham Lincoln. We were all present when she was presented with the award. Congratulations Mom!


Over the weekend I headed to Seattle to visit my good friend Toni & her fiance. It was a nice relaxing weekend spent shopping ( I was a good girl) sightseeing, & eating good food. I even helped her make her wedding invitations. On Sunday we went to our first Mariners game of the year. The weather was good this weekend & the rain even held off until the 5th inning of the game (thank goodness for the retractable roof)! I get to head back to Seattle in 2 weeks to watch Toni get married. We are so happy for both of them! We love you guys!

Birthdays!!

Within 4 days time, both our nephew Elijah & I had birthdays. Elijah turned 1, I turned 29!! I'm starting to feel so old. For my birthday, Greg & I went to Players & Spectators did some bowling. I'm not very good but it's still fun. For dinner we went to Outback Steakhose with my family. The food was yummy. Then we all came back here to our house for cake, an ice cream one (my favorite). It took Greg awhile to light all those candles on the cake (ignore the logo on his shirt). From my parents I got a cool gardening book & some some roses for my garden. From my grandparents I got money (always a good gift). Greg got me the car seat covers for my car that I had been wanting which unfortunately didn't fit so have to go back. All in all, it was a good relaxing day.