Missy and Me

Our last few laughs together before Missy took off for Canada.

I arrived in Denver around 9 pm August 17, 2007, and we went to IHOP for breakfast. I drilled my cousin all night about her man, Michael. She is to marry this man in the very near future. Afterwards, we went to aunt Carol's house and checked out the area where Missy was to move to on the computer. It's a town in Ontario, Canada. I can't remember what the name of it is, but it starts with a "G." I thought it was one of her fantasy names for a place, but it's for real. It's close to Michigan. Missy also showed me her Facebook account. I was able to see more of how Missy and her man communicated. I hope she's making the right decision. I worry about her. She ended up driving to the border of Canada in a little over 24 hours. She had trouble crossing the border, so she had to leave her car and most of her belongings in the United States. We're waiting to hear back from her to see what is to happen next. We do know she is in Canada now, thanks to her fiance's dad.

Missy and Carol

Here are some great pictures taken of Missy and Carol on Carol's camera. These were our last few moments having Missy with us before she left for her long roadtrip to Canada. It was around 3 am on Saturday, August 18, 2007 when she left.

Our last house in Colorado

9226 S. Mountain Brush Court

Highlands Ranch, Colorado

Our old house was put on the market this last weekend for the first time since we sold it. I knocked on the door to see if I could take a peek, and the lady welcomed me in. She remembered my mom! The landscape had matured so much since I've been there. Most of the rooms were painted colorfully. There were new countertops, tile in the bathrooms, and extra cabinets and a sink in the laundry room. The basement was finished, too. The old oil stain from prom's limo was gone! They have it listed for $429,000. There are more pictures of the house at this link: www.iggyshouse.com #179329

10 Year High School Reunion Family Picnic

On Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007, there was a family picnic in Highlands Ranch. It was at a park off Santa Fe. It was a lot of fun for the kids. Not too many of us HRHS reunionites were present, though. I was able to hang out with Amber and Mindy and snatch a few pictures of their families. Mindy's kids are Corbin and Cody. Amber's little boy, Jack, was born on January 18, 2007. Megan Petty was there too. They have twins... a little girl and boy. Jessica was there for a short visit. It was good to see her again. She was saying that a lot of people went to the club after the reunion, and that is why not too many people made it to the picnic. It was a little upsetting to not see too many people, especially those that actually still live in the area. But, at least I was able to see the one's I did! FYI: Amber and Jack have the same smile! So cute! Mindy sure has one handsome family!!

10 Year High School Reunion

I graduated from Highlands Ranch High School, in Highlands Ranch, Colorado in 1997. I flew up to Denver from Phoenix to make it for my reunion on August 18, 2007. It was held at the Magnolia Ballroom in downtown Denver. They provided a nice meal and a D.J. I enjoyed seeing many familiar faces. I have to admit, though, it wasn't the most comfortable night for me. The night was full of superficial small talk, and it later became a night club scene. Many people were drinking a little too much! I left after a couple hours because I felt like I didn't need to be there while most people were getting drunk.

I was excited to see these familiar faces! I will list names from left to right, top to bottom. Russ (Mindy's husband), Mindy, Amber, (Amber's husband), Erin O'Grady, Randy Brighton, Carolyn Bennett (married), Jen Leary, Rachel Domokos (New, she married Brian New), and Jessica Mistele (married to Jamie). Mindy is in Utah. Amber just moved into a house in Aurora. Erin is a teacher for Cherry Creek. Jen is a Mortgage Broker in Colorado. She is still good friends with Kim Davenport. (They were tennis partners.) Rachel is a P.A. working in Omaha, Nebraska. Her husband is a Reporter. Jessica is a Dietitian in Georgia. Jessica and I were tennis partners our senior year of high school. She hasn't kept up with it, surprisingly. But, her husband and herself have just receive black belts in karate!

Aunt Carol

It was also nice to visit aunt Carol this last weekend (Aug. 17-20). I was in Denver for my 10 Year High School reunion. I stayed with Carol and her cats Chloe and Scully. We went to P.F. Chang's for her Birthday dinner (Aug. 11 is her birthday). We enjoyed catching up with each other and having fun in her new Toyota Prius. Her car was using gas so well that one trip calcuated the rate to be 100 mpg! She's such an awesome aunt for taking me everywhere this past weekend. She got my computer all updated, too! I'm going to have to tease her though for calling me Chloe all weekend!

Missy

I was able to see my cousin, Missy, August 17 for the first time in forever!! She stuck around a few hours to visit with me, and then she was off to drive to Canada to see her man. You are not seeing things, she really is that dark! I wish I would have taken a picture of her feet because her feet were so dark, she could pull off being black! It was so good catching up with her, even though it was for a short time. She even had to attach me by tickling my feet at the end there! How mean!

My Work

This is my work space. It looks really chaotic, and it is! The first couple of pics are of my cubicle, and the other two pictures are of Dianne and Patrick. They are my work buddies. They really didn't want me to take their pictures, but I did it anyway! We're in the "garden level" (basement) of Phoenix Children's Hospital Outpatient Building.

BYU Alumni/LDS Day at Chase Field

I invited Grant to come to the Arizona Diamondbacks game at Chase Field on August 11, 2007. They played against the Washington Nationals. We won!! We sat in the picnic table area and enjoyed our O Primium water. (This is the water Grant delivers. It's the purest in AZ.) We all got free Diamondback baseball caps, and I was having fun pointing out all the people who didn't take out the cardboard inserts. Actually, I felt bad for them not realizing they had cardboard in their hats. This was the first time I had ever been to an indoor baseball game. It wasn't even necessary to wear a baseball cap. Crazy, huh?

Grant's Dad's 53rd Birthday!

We went to Texas Roadhouse for Grant's dad's birthday. As part of the restaurant's tradition, he had to sit on the saddle. The balloon maker came by our table and made this elaborate birthday hat. Pretty cool! He looked like he was having fun with all the attention centered on him! The last photo was an attempt to show him attacking Grant. I guess that is something his dad does to him to make Grant so uncomfortable! Unfortunately, I had just come from Red Lobster for Logan's graduation dinner, so I was not hungry. I watched everyone eat yummy steaks for dinner. Here, I met most of Grant's family; his grandma, dad, sister, and brother. I had met his mom once before for dinner with Grant. They seem to be a really fun family.

The New Grad

Logan graduated from Physician's Assistant school August 4, 2007. The graduation was at the Symphony Hall in downtown Phoenix, AZ. Paul flew down for the occasion. Logan and his family also were living in Utah at the time. They drove down for the graduation. We are all so proud of him. We got him a Swiss watch as a gift. After the graduation, we went to Red Lobster to celebrate. Logan's kids had fun touching the live lobsters at the front of the restaurant!

Bass Pro Shops

Arizona finally got a Bass Pro Shops in town. I used to go to this store all the time as a kid. I loved looking at all the stuffed animals and fish. Grant made himself comfortable on this real Zebra skin ottoman. He found it in his favorite room--the gun gallery.

Which Shirt?

Grant's roommate was having trouble deciding which shirt looked best on him for his engagement photos. Which shirt appears better in black and white? I whipped out the ol' digital camera, and made it much easier for them to decide. It looks like the light shirt won!

Green Pool Table

While I was becoming a photographer in Grant's parents' backyard, I decided to take some artistic photos of their green table by the pool.

Grant's Backyard

Grant was placed in charge of maintaining the pool in his parents' backyard. They were trying to sell the house at this point, so he needed to make sure the pool looked good. Here are some pictures to prove that he actually did work on the pool...at least once! By the way, they sold their house! I played around with my camera and took some scenic pictures of trees in their backyard.

Famous Daves

Grant and I went to Famous Daves for dinner July 28, 2007. He had never been there before. We went for the 2-3 person combo plate. Check it out...your eyes aren't fooling you...we ate more on this lid than the server has ever seen! The lady that took our picture couldn't believe 2 small people like us could eat so much! That's right, we're amazing! When the food is good, there's no stopping us!

Lunch

Blanca-Flor used to work at PCH as a Clinical Research Coordinator for Hemophilia. Her cubicle was right next to mine. She was so fun to be around. I definitely miss her outgoing personality in the "garden level." On July 20, 2007, Dianne and I went out to lunch with her. It was lots of fun catching up with her and having our share of laughs. Disclaimer: We all look cuter than what this picture demostrates!

Grant Poses

Since I'm such a fan of my camera, and this guy here, I had to introduce them to each other. Grant had to first show off his manly side and then break into character (Zoolander style). Finally, I told him to do something serious...with a nice smile. Ahh, now that's sweet! It looks like they will get along just fine!