Hoover Dam

Tony had a job to do out by the Hoover Dam, fixing some equipment.

There is a large project in the area to have the highway bypass the dam. It involves rerouting a portion of the highway and building a bridge to cross the river in front of the dam.

The guys were staying just over the dam into Nevada at a fairly cheesy {yet very inexpensive} hotel/casino. Tony had a lot of fun there one evening, texting me pictures of "Liza Minnelli", "Neil Diamond", "Elvis", and more. He thought it would be fun for me to come join him for his last night, so I did! We enjoyed an $8.95 prime rib dinner, and played some slots.

The next day, on the way home, we toured the dam. It is really cool to learn about that project, what was involved in the engineering and construction of it, and how many people got work during the depression building it.

This is the main arch that will support the new bridge:

As you can see, I really enjoyed the tour {here we are underground in the generator room}:

I have no idea why, but the Hoover Dam gift shop sells these gems, alien sun glasses:

And here we are on the top of the dam, the Nevada side:

It was a pretty fun mini-vacation. In fact, I may just have to go back next time he has a job there!

First Day of School

I Just love the first day of school!

Fresh boxes of crayons,

New shoes and backpacks,

blank notebooks just waiting to be filled,

oh, and no kids at home all day!

The kids were really excited to head back to school. Sophie is in Ms. Wygle's first grade class.

Celeste is now officially in middle school, 6th grade. She changes classes every period, so grown up!

The girls were both very excited to start school again.

Alexa is now a Sophomore and still at TPA. For some reason she did not want me to follow her out of the car to take a picture of her on her first day. Huh? Michael starts at MCC on Aug 24th. Think he will pose for a picture for me for his first day? Not a chance!

Florida with Sandra and Oliver

My sister and I flew out to Florida for her to attend a week long conference and me to watch her baby, Oliver.

My adventure started with an emergency landing in El Paso, followed by being shuffled onto different flights, ending up in Orlando {rather than Tampa}, renting a car and driving to Clearwater Beach, sans luggage! I made it in at 2:30 am and my sister was able to get to her conference on time that morning. Oliver let me sleep in {thank you Ollie!}, and later that night I was able to return the rental car and get my luggage, which ended up in Tampa that day.

Ollie and I had a great time during the days, while Sandra was attending her sessions. He is just starting solids, so we were experimenting with cereal here. I think some made it into his tummy.

This is where we stayed, the Sheridan Sand Key. It was really nice, and right on the beach. Our room had an amazing view of the parking lot!

We were able to have dinner together every night. On our last night we took the Trolley to the pier, ate dinner, and bought some souvenirs.

This is me and Ollie on the pier.

After taking the Trolley back to the hotel, we walked down to the beach to watch {and photograph!} the sunset. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!

Sandra and Ollie in silhouette

The week flew by, but I am so glad I got to spend that time with my sister and nephew!

Scrap Challenge #2

The "Few Favorite Things" challenge #2 is favorite flower.

This was hard for me!

I am not much of a gardener. I do not have any luck keeping plants alive, and I really do not know much about flowers!

I do know, however, that I love tropical flowers, and love the look and colors of most orchids, so that is what I chose.

This was not my favorite challenge, I found it hard, and the result is not my favorite page, but here it is:

I can't wait for the next challenge!

Srap Challenge

Thanks to my supper crafty friend, Toni, I am participating in an online challenge blog. It is called "Favorite Things" and every two weeks there will be a new challenge {if you want to play along the blog is on my sidebar}. She had the great idea to do all the challenges into a book about herself, so I am being a total copycat and doing the same! The first challenge, favorite color. Here is my entry:


It is in a 6x12 album, so this double page spread is 6x24 inches. Kind of a challenge in itself to work with the odd size. The title page reads:

"My Favorite Color

Purple
Where are you?"

The journalling says:

"For as long as I can remember, purple has been my absolute favorite color. I just love it, all shades from lavender to the darkest hues. The problem? It is nearly absent in my life! Purple clothes? Hardly any! In my home decor? Not one bit! Purple car? Never! Even my scrap supplies were lacking. What's up? Someone told me that it was the most offensive color. Can't be! Maybe it is like a fine wine or a delicacy, enjoyed only in moderation....Yah, that's it!"

A Big Day

July 12,1991, Michael Anthony Muniz, Jr. was born, and I became a mother.

18 years ago.

18years?

I am now the mother of an adult!

Crazy! Seems like yesterday that he was my little "bug":

{Michael- 1 month old}

And now he is an adult. Unbelievable!

We made him our favorite cake {white cake with strawberries and whipped cream} and went to Lucille's BBQ with all 6 of us plus 2 of Michael's friends.

He still hates his picture taken, so with much effort on my part I got this picture of him:

So here he is on his 18th birthday.

Time has really flown by:

July 12, 1991- 8 pounds 4 ounces, 21 inches long

July 12, 2009- 270+ pounds, just shy of 6 feet tall!

18 years ago I entered a new chapter of life, becoming a mother. Yesterday I entered a new chapter, becoming a mother of an adult. Amazing!

just a little bit OBSESSED!

So I have been a little obsessed with reading this summer.

Mostly "chick lit" like the Sookie Stackhouse series of vampire books that the HBO series "True Blood" is based on {thanks Kimberly}:

And (of all things) Middle School fiction, such as "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins {thanks Emily}. Can't wait for the sequel:

The girls and I have been spending A LOT of time at the library!

Library holds and inter-library loans have been good to us.