Happy Birthday Drake!

Drake is 17! And boy does he feel old. He says that "17 is so much older than 16" and he feels much more mature.

He had quite the haul of loot from his family and was quite excited about the presents.

Drake has been asking for a Corvette Stingray since last year. He was really hoping for one for Christmas, and when that didn't happen he shifted gears and was asking for one for his birthday. He was so excited when he finally got his hearts desire -- his very own Corvette (key chain). Well, maybe next time he will be a little more specific.




As for the rest of his presents......... A Pirates mug for his morning grog (hot chocolate) to get him going every morning -- fresh from the West Indies


Ok, so maybe he wasn't exactly excited about new dress shoes! He did say his old ones were getting a little old.


But the highlight (other than the Corvette) was having some of his friends over for a party. In all, about a dozen of his friends came over and they made lots of noise and ate lots of food. We were a little afraid the police might show up from all the noise, but what can you expect from a bunch of 17 year olds with access to a big stereo and a drum set?!

We hope Drake had a fantastic Birthday and we always enjoy having him and his friends over to visit.

Just another day at work

Well, just another day at the office for Mike this week. He found himself in Wash. D.C. on the day of the inauguration -- crazy amounts of people there for the big event, but mostly just very cold! It was in the teens with a cold and overcast sky. Brrrr. So the next day things got much better. It was off to the West Indies, St. Martin to be exact. As you can see our Hotel is right on the beach and the island was warm and sunny. A nice change from the cold weather.
St. Martin has the airport right on the beach -- or at least very close. As you can tell from the 737 landing. People line up right at the end of the runway and take pics of the airplanes as they take off and land.
As you can see from the people here in the center of the picture, sometimes it gets a little "windy" as planes take off or land and people get "blown away" or maybe just sandblasted!
You know its really a difficult day of work when this is the view from your window. I went for a run down by the beach and when I got too hot went for a swim in the warm Caribbean waters. I didn't get much sympathy from the family when I showed up back home with a sunburn? Not to sure why.......
And so as I bid the West Indies goodbye, and am looking forward to coming home to the crisp mountain air of Liberty and celebrating Drakes upcoming birthday.

A few visitors....

 The kids are home! This weekend was a holiday break for the college kids and we had a few visitors. Kirsten brought her old roommates (she recently switched apartments) and they did a little outdoor riding on the 4 wheelers.

Drake just couldn't let some of that good snowmobile weather go to waste. He has just as much fun in the air as on the ground! He has a few buddies who like to ride and has gotten to be pretty good on the “sleds”.



He even talked Kirsten into going for a ride. There was no shortage of machines making fuel into noise and fun this weekend. As you can see, she still has her keen sense of fashion.

It was just a little chilly, but overall the snow is melting fast and the temps are warming up. Hard to believe that just a few weeks ago it was -22F at night.

Happy New Year

Yes, As KIRSTEN posted, we went to Paris for the Holidays. In spite of the cold weather, we had a great time. We rented an apartment in the Montmartre area. Picasso used to live in our building. We were within 2 minutes of 3 different bakeries.

Mike and I went to Reno the weekend of January 9th. All Mikes siblings were there and it was great to see everyone since we haven't seen Chris in a very long time (too long). Krysta also came over with her new baby Charley Rae. She is going to be another beautiful red head like her mother.

Desiree and her friend Lori left for Paris today. They have also rented an apartment, and will have a great time.

Tomorrow We Go Raping!!!

...Or so we thought!
In Reality, It was a surprise trip to Paris! So instead of letters spelling out the phrase, "Tomorrow we go raping", it was "Tomorrow we are going to Paris". Which is better, I'm pretty sure. We fought, we got surprised by the Eiffel Tower glimmering during out photo op. Kirsten was threatened to be spanked in the courtyard of the Louvre*, which automatically means its going to be an AMAZING family vacation. Scotland in front of Tesco, need I say more?
We also went out for Zack's Birthday dinner to a Hungarian Restaurant and everything worked out so well. Kirsten knocked back the "free drink", which happened to be Vodka and OJ and also was the only one to order an alcoholic dessert, Rum Raisin, and boy was it!
We had a great time and I for one can't wait to go back!