Home Improvement Projects

Lately we have been spending the rainy days doing some home improvement stuff. First we added a new utility sink in our laundry room. We put it into the existing cabinet. It is so nice to have & we have already used it several times. The other thing we did is add laminate flooring in our kitchen & dining room. It was a lot of work but is a huge improvement from the ugly laminate that was there.

Gonzaga basketball banquet

This week I was given 2 free tickets to the Gonzaga mens basketball banquet. Greg wasn't able to attend so I took my dad with me. It was a fun night full of wine, good food and visiting with the players. They even wandered around the floor & took pictures and signed autographs. While I was there I got my picture taken with a player that is 7ft 4. Here are some pics from the night. Today the Zags were selected for 4th seed. They play on Thursday in Portland. Hopefully they make it all the way to the Final Four. Go Zags!!!

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!