We really know how to do birthdays

The Robster turned thirty-something today.

I made dinner reservations at a Brazilian steakhouse, but he said he'd rather celebrate his birthday with his favorite, IHOP. He then decided homemade crepes would be even better. Yeah, I make awesome crepes.

So we ate crepes and watched Shameless.

It was a birthday for the history books, obviously.

Accepted

A pretty piece of mail arrived at our house this week, and it wasn't for me. It was for the Robster. And it was from this incredibly not so little school called Penn State.

Apparently Rob isn't content with the handful of degrees he has already and he needs to have another Masters degree. Penn State thinks it's a good idea too, as they have accepted him. Yay.

No, this doesn't mean we'll be moving {although I wouldn't have been 100% opposed to a move}, it's mainly an online program that will only require him to travel to the campus a few times a year.

So just to sum it up: Rob is awesome, super smart and I am proud of him.

Get your vote in!

Jackson has become a finalist for the Weiner Dog Races being held next weekend. Highest vote wins the last spot in the race and he needs your votes. So do him a solid, head on over here and cast your vote...for him, not any of the other cute dogs.

We're Jackson is counting on you! Don't let him down. We don't want to have to deal with his constant crying if he doesn't get picked. Seriously, he can be such a whiner. ☺

We're expecting

I'd like to interrupt the very important posting of vacation pictures to announce some incredibly exciting news. We've been suspecting this was the case for a little while, but have just received confirmation in the form of a positive test.

In just a short time we will be surrounded by the pitter patter of little feet.

The pitter patter of a lot of little feet actually...puppy feet to be exact.

Yes, Jackson is about to be a Papi. Apparently while he was staying at Rob's Mom's house for those two weeks while we were on vacation he just couldn't manage to keep it in his pants (kidding, of course...I may dress him in shirts and sweaters, but I would never put him in pants) and he's now left Maggie (Rob's Mom's female dachshund) in a family way.

Looks like in a little over a month and a half we'll be overflowing with puppies. This addition to our family is unexpected and we definitely aren't ready to turn our home into a doggie daycare, so...put in your orders now. Who wouldn't want a loverly little puppy to snuggle with all day?

Seriously, who wants a puppy?

Handsome

I know that this video is on the long side, but it's absolutely, positively, definitely worth watching. Promise.



You can thank me later.

Arizona, in a nutshell

AZ was lots and lots of fun! What a better way to share that than pictures! Not many pictures came out well though...I used our new camera down there (which has at least a million and seven different settings) and didn't take the time to read through the manual before using it. And, of course, I can't find the manual now. Awesome.

For Thanksgiving dinner we ended up heading to Claim Jumper. A great dinner with absolutely no clean up...plus they gave us some gift cards...that never happens to me when I cook at home! You?

I thought it would be funny to see Lyndon bite into a lemon (I know that sounds evil and rude, but I promise, it wasn't...or at least I wasn't trying to be!), but he ended up LOVING them!

Every time we went out to dinner he sucked on the lemons, made a sour face and then sucked on them again! Yeah, not so good from a dentist standpoint, but I doubt his responsible parents he will make a habit of it.

We skipped out on the early Friday morning shopping and opted for sleeping until noon (embarrassing, but completely true) The Cheesecake Factory for lunch and then
browsing through the mall.

Well, Lindsey and I browsed, Rob was chasing Lyndon around the mall. Even though we had his stroller Rob would hold Lyndon's hand and slowly totter around the mall with him...that is until Lyndon darted away and then Rob went a chasin'!

They spent a bit of time at the outside fountain...super cute to watch the two of them! Lyndon is so inquisitive and Rob (although he would deny it) loved doting on him.

Lyndon really took to Rob and I thought it was incredibly adorable. Nothing cuter...really!

Friday night we went to the Tempe Festival of Lights Parade. We got there a little on the later side, so it was really crowded. We still managed to score some prime street space to park our blanket though. It was really weird to have all of the Christmas festivities going on while it was so warm out!

On Saturday night we dined on Mill Ave again, then headed off to the Phoenix Zoo to check out Zoolights. All of the light displays were really impressive!

Sadly, we didn't see too many animals out, but the lights were the main attraction anyways. We were excited to see Lydon's reaction to all of the lights, but he slept through the entire thing...waking up at the very end as we were walking out.

The trip was really fun for us and we were so glad to finally get down there to visit. Rob was bummed that we didn't make it out to the Challenger Space Museum, so he says we'll have to go down again. As long as it's between November and March, that's fine with me! ☺

My new specialty

My stitches are supposed to dissolve, but instead came loose/untied and they had been bothering me all weekend!

While I was at Target yesterday I picked up some manicure scissors and alcohol wipes with full intention of taking them out myself.

As soon as I got into my car I busted the goods out, along with my tweezers set I keep in my make up case. I proceeded to pull down my visor mirror, clean off my 'tools' and take out what stitches I could see.

I guess this was weird enough, because the man who pulled in next to me gave me the weirdest look. I think that I am ready to be a surgical intern...or at least on the cast of Grey's Anatomy, don't ya think? ☺

Not to worry, I didn't take them ALL out...just the loose ones that were bothering me. I am not completely stupid...I'd seen my Dad take out stitches before. That ought to count for some clinical hours, right? ☺

I have a post op appointment tomorrow to have things checked out and I am a little hesitant to reveal my parking lot 'procedure' to the Doc when he inquires about my missing stitches.

Hmm...how can I put a spin on that??

Good 'ol famliy camping

Last week we traipsed up Logan Canyon for a few days of camping. It was loads of fun, but it would have been funner if Jason and Tyler's families were there as well...missed you guys!

One of the many Rob/Erika photo ops on the way to our fishin' spot. Ryan maneuvering around in Jord's pontoon boat.

Rob fishing, me chillin' in the shade, Rob still fishing. This was basically how the whole fishing thing panned out.

More relaxing...

Cute girls, huh!

Goofy boys!

Jordan and the Dora chair. Rob working on his secret chili recipe. He's quite proud of it.

Again, aren't they the cutest?!?

Marshmallow roasting time!

On Sunday we were able to grab breakfast with some friends at Jeremiah's and then we went to WSU to watch the fireworks that evening.

Good times!

Mr. MBA

Yesterday was Rob's MBA graduation.

He is such a hard worker and I am so proud of him!

After graduation I told him that I would take him ANYWHERE for his celebratory dinner, and can you guess where he chose? Yep IHOP. What is wrong with this guy!?!

Gotta love him though!

Relaxing Sunday

This afternoon we thought it would be nice to head to Bellevue Square for a movie and try out Red Mango (a Pinkberry rival). We got to our movie early and decided that we would rather have our yogurt first and possibly miss the previews. This just proves how much I like these yogurts because the previews are my favorite part of going to the movies. I NEVER miss the previews! I have to tell Rob that the movie starts earlier than it actually does because he runs behind so often. He uses the previews as a buffer...not okay with me. :) Red Mango was great...I think that I have got Rob hooked on them too. Thanks for the suggestion Jen!

We ended up seeing Traitor...good movie! I like Don Cheadle. He has been in so many different types of roles and he always does so well in them all...Hotel Rwanda, Oceans 11, 12 & 13, Talk to Me (funny!), and now this. I never really realized how great he is.

After the movie we wandered over to Alki Beach in West Seattle for a nice long walk. The weather was fantastic! I doubt that we will have many more beach walk weekends this year...fall is coming! I didn't have my camera, but I did have my handy camera phone. I tried to capture the great view, but this picture doesn't do it justice.

Here is my handsome hunk of a man half-grinning for the camera. It was a wonderful afternoon; too bad it didn't last long enough. We had to head home early in the evening so that Rob could spend some time working on his statistics homework...bummer for Rob!

Next stop, the PGA

For some time Rob has been saying that he would like to take up golfing, so for his birthday I got him a month's worth of golf lessons. His last lesson is tomorrow and then he is ready to take on Tyler!

On top of his weekly lesson he tries to visit the driving range a couple of times a week. Luckily we have a few nearby. Tonight he talked me into coming with him...something about spending quality time together. I think he just wanted an audience so he could show off his newly acquired talent!

I am trying to get him to wear some of the typical plaid golfing attire, but he isn't having any of it! Those would be some great pictures!

Although he goofs off a bit for the camera I can tell that he is taking this seriously. He stops to watch other golfers and combines what he sees with what he learns in his lessons. He is quite a power hitter too! I told him that next time I would hit a couple as well. I need a few days to psych myself up! :)