Ok, so I have to share the new news of Martin and I going to Vegas. Remember me telling you that we were hoping to have Martin's sister, Liz, her boyfriend Julio and his Mom meeting us in Vegas?! Well, I spoke with Liz today and they booked their flights!!! Because of such a huge difference in price, they are flying out on Monday and then going back to Lubbock on Wed. So we'll be there a whole day ahead of them. They are staying at the Fitzgerald, but I don't think they will be too far away from us. It will be SO much fun to have them there with us - and to not have the boys there will be different too. It will be fun and we're really looking forward to having some time just to ourselves!

Anyways - just had to tell you all about it - its gonna be a great trip! The boys will be jealous of us seeing them too because they've been asking if we were gonna go to Lubbock this year or not. Martin told them that we'll have to see what happens in Vegas - who knows?! maybe he'll win it big?! wouldn't that be nice!

Have a great Monday!
love,
Michelle

Hello!

Well, this last week sure has been a different one. With all the rain that we got, Martin has been home the entire week - working maybe only 2 days at Bargen. The rest of the time he's been working here at home on finishing the inside of the house (which is a never ending battle). His latest venture was re-painting the dining room. I always liked the oregano color we had in there, but he decided to paint it a little darker than the living room - so I call it "hot chocolate". Looks really nice, just hard to get used too. It blends in better with the living room and actually makes the dining/living room area look so much bigger. He even finished painting the staircase wall instead of having it be 1/2 sheetrocked, taped and mudded and the other 1/2 is painted. So the house looks much better now. Now we just need to change the curtains in the dining room to match the brown better.

We're getting more excited about going to Vegas next month. We are waiting to hear if my Mother in law, Josie, and sister in law, Liz and her boyfriend Julio can go with us. They would be down there from Mon - Wed. We also found out that my cousin, Cindi, her husband, Jeff and some friends of theirs will also be there at the same time as us. How ironic is that? They booked their trip a couple weeks before we did - they arrive on Sunday a little later than we do and fly in to Mpls, on Wed. as well just on a later flight. How crazy! So we have made plans to get together while we're there. They are staying at Planet Hollywood. It'll be so much fun to meet up with them there too and like Cindi said - how strange it would have been to see each other down there when we only live about 2 1/2 hours from each other here in MN! The trip will be great and much needed. And even if Martin's family can't make it there, we'll still have fun!

Otherwise there isn't much happening around here. I need to get my behind in gear and make the chocolate chip pumpkin cookies I've been wanting to make for a couple weeks already. The recipe is a great one and I've made them the last couple years. They are great being frozen and when the holidays come, and we're watching the Santa clause movies, we get the cookies out and eat them with hot chocolate just like in the movie. Its a tradition that I really love to do. The cookies are wonderful, watching those movies are some of my favorite holiday movies and the boys enjoy it as much as I do!

Must get going. Hope the fall is going well for everyone! I can't wait for cooler temperatures and dressing in sweaters and jeans is always fun! The boys are doing well and growing up so terribly fast that its unbelievable. Isaac is up to my shoulders already and Josiah is up to Isaac's shoulders.

Have a great night - again, hope all is going well for you!
love,
Michelle

Las Vegas here we come!!!

Hello everyone! Well, the latest news is that Martin and I made plans today to spend some time in the great city of Las Vegas! We can hardly wait! If you know Martin at all, he has wanted to go there since the year we were married and in fact, he wanted to elope there but I told him we couldn't. So he's been patient (?) with me all these years (its been 9 1/2 years since then) and we are finally getting to go together. So we leave Nov. 25 and come back on Wed. night, Nov. 28. We are hoping that one or more of Martin's family can meet us there too, but we'll see if they can fit it in their schedules. We have never done anything this spontaneous before, and I must say, that's its really exciting!
We are staying at the Luxor (the one that looks like a pyramid) and we are now going through information on the better sites to see and such. It should be a FANTASTIC trip! :) We are SO excited!
Must get going. Its late and I, of course, need my beauty rest! Have a great week and I hope you are all enjoying the change in season! Its only in the 50's and 60's this week for highs, and man am I in heaven?!

Love you all ! ~
Michelle