Christmas Time with the Huesgens

Family is what it's all about, and we spent some time with the Huesgens this year. After the girls opened gifts, the girls helped to put the lunch together, peeling eggs, making the filling, and finally squeezing the middles into the deviled eggs for our Christmas feast. We dined on Honey-Baked Ham, potato salad, fruit salad, pineapple spears, deviled eggs, and rolls from Golden Corral. To top it off, we brought out the Walters family champagne flutes and toasted with Martinelli's (our own version of champagne!). Smiles graced everyone's faces and our bellies were pretty happy, too. Jessie and the girls made some cookies for dessert that topped things off perfectly. Giggles, hugs, smiles, laughter, jokes, stories, and the food coma that goes along with every good holiday -- a real winner!

Creativity Abounds!

Our Secret Santas outdid themselves this year. Both sides of the family had some remarkable presentations and everyone seems to have had a good time. Matt found Gator pool float and stuffed the inner airway with shredded paper, hiding a gift card inside since the things on Erick's list wouldn't fit inside. Erynn's stuffed duck on a turkey tray, covered in bacon, with the chick at the rear end was a priceless visual for using the Bone Suckin' Seasoning! Erick had so much fun and I was thoroughly entertained.

Here are a couple of photos from Christmas; I'll try to put together a Picasa album but it's been a long time...we'll see! Hope you all had as blessed a day as we did.

The Best Christmas Eve Ever!

Christmas Eve was an incredible day for us. We hopped on the Spyder bright and early in upper 40-degree temps and headed off to the southwest. Our first stop was Tombstone. Things were pretty quiet down there but the town had placed Christmas trees at every intersection on the main drag and closed the street for an gunfight scheduled later in the day. Erick gets the credit for the awesome photos of the various businesses in the Old West town.

Our next stop was the old mining town of Bisbee. We didn't spend a great deal of time there other than a delicious lunch at the Screaming Banshee, a former gas station turned pizzeria with a fascinating interior and two real personalities working there! Both guys were talkative and congenial, and we watched them create our gourmet appetizer (No Besos Para Ti -- a roasted clove of garlic with bruschetta) presented in true gourmet style and our thin-crusted Italian sausage, mushrooms, grilled onion and white cheese pizza that cooked in the wood-burning, open-faced oven. A real find as far as we were concerned and a fun place to spend our warm-up period over lunch!

After lunch, we were back on the bike and off to Sonoita via Sierra Vista. The scenery was breathtaking: open golden-colored, rolling hills with cattle farms sprinkled here and there. We hit our usual stopping place in Sonoita and after having a warm drink to keep the heat in our bodies we headed back to Tucson. This part of the trip is fun on the bike with lots of curves and hills and twists and turns. Made it safely back to Tucson and beat the 5 o'clock traffic to boot.

A full day on the Spyder with my Sweetie. Life can't get any better than this! So much better than the separation of last year. Thanks be to God that he's home safe and sound this year.

A Hiking We Will Go, A Hiking We Will Go!

Check out our awesome nieces who hiked 5.7 miles with Aunt Char today on the Sweetwater Trailhead! Uncle Erick came along and took some incredible photos (as you can see), and we discovered several unique cacti along the way. The girls spent the day at our house playing games, watching The Santa Claus, and having lunch and dinner with us. What a blast! Just what we needed to boost the Christmas spirit around here!

How blessed are we?

Here we are, closing out November and Thanksgiving, and God is painting our skies with brilliant streaks of color! While others are seeing white all around them and freezing temperatures, Erick and I have gotten in long rides on the Spyder every day this week, and it has been glorious! The miracles in the desert are truly breathtaking, and it's good to have time with my Sweetie to revel in the wonder of all that He has given us. A time of real celebration is near, so stop shopping and celebrate the One that saved us all.

Our family will continue to grow in 2011 with two new nieces or nephews, whatever He has designed. Julie and Terri are expecting in early January, and we just found out that the Seidel family will have a new addition mid-year!

Our other holiday miracle is the return of Aunt Martha to her living facility. She was released from rehab just in time to spend the holiday with family. Please keep her in your prayers as she continues to work on regaining strength.

Our Bahamas family is holding on and staying strong in their faith. The children are doing well in school and looking forward to the Christmas season. Sarah was baptized two weeks ago, so everyone in the family is now living for Christ. Times are tough down there; the economic downturn in the States has really affected the tourism there, and with no tourists, Miss Betty has little income. We will do what we can again this year to help make their holiday a little brighter. Their church has been terrific about accepting packages for them so that they actually make it to the family instead of disappearing at the post office.

More to come as the season nears...

Bilang Family Reunion, August 2010

Mom and Dad Bilang were at the Seidels to help with the post-surgery needs, and Char was in town while Erick went to Hill for training. Char flew to Salt Lake City to meet up with Erick and drive to Denver for the surprise arrival. Erynn and Karsten saw us out the window and rushed downstairs. When Erick walked in, his folks were so excited as were the boys, Erynn, and Chad. Eliz about wet her pants an hour later when she arrived and Erick walked up from behind her, put his arm around her shoulder, and said "Hi!" She thought it was Dad!

Erynn and Chad scrambled with calls to United to use points and bring out Nini and Olivia for 5 days, and voila -- instant family reunion! We picked them up at midnight on Monday night and Tuesday the fun began. We had a blast! All family time and lots and lots of memories, good food shared by all, fishing and walking at Waneka Lake, playing chess at Flatirons after dinner at Red Robin, and laughter and family stories and family photos...the list goes on and on. Here are a few pics that show our celebration at D-Bar that included pics with "genius" Chef Keegan Gerhard (it's his and his wife's restaurant), shopping at Flatirons, and playing with the boys at their house. This one will go down in the memory banks of everyone involved. Praise God for giving us so many blessings and working out the details!

Two Guys and a Gal!

India and I are back in Colorado and got to see Mr. K and Noah, Erynn and Eliz today. Also got a chance to see Heather, Lake, and Camden, and we met Courtney, Aiden and Quinn while they were all at the Seidels for a play date. Later, we met at Waneka Lake for a walk around and some time on the playground. What sprouts those boys are.

Went to Costco to fill up the Mini and captured India on digital calling in for messages while I was pumping gas. Reminded her that cellphones can cause gas pumps to explode. She was embarrassed at her error and relieved that it all turned out okay (no explosions, not even a little one!).

We managed to get in over 17,000 steps today, so we more than hit our goal. So far, so good. Hoping to make our challenge of an average of 10,000 per day while we're here.

Nice cool, cloudy day. We are just plain loving this little vacation!

Tai Moves to Middle School

Fifth grade promotion ceremonies were held Wednesday morning, and Tai is a part of the class moving on to middle school next year. She looked absolutely beautiful as she accepted her promotion certificate. We couldn't be more proud of her accomplishment. As you can see, Jessie was beaming, too!

The Bilby and the Ocelot

Part of the second grade curriculum is researching and presenting habitats. Ryn's class worked on the Amazon Rain Forest; Jora's class studied "The Land Down Under." Each of the kids learns about their chosen animal, creates one out of paper mache, and makes a verbal presentation to the rest of the class and parents/families who decide to attend. Jora's choice was the bilby, and Ryn chose the ocelot. Both girls did an excellent job on their individual presentations, and the classes as a whole were very informative and cute. Their last day of class was on Wednesday, so school is out for summer! Yeah! I'm sure the teachers are at least as thrilled about it as the kids are! Anyway, just wanted to share.

Blessings Abound

Erick's working nights now and that's an adjustment for both of us. Still trying to find a schedule that works and doesn't leave him too tired. Had a fun ride up to Mount Lemmon on the Sypder with people from the base. Looking forward to the long weekend with time together.

Julie was offered one of the few positions within her district for P.E. at the high school next year. All of P.E. staff had been notified that their section was being eliminated; the School Board had a different idea. But there were deep cuts. Luckily Julie made the final list for rehires (contract should come in June), so she will have a job next year after all. She is only 3 years from retirement, so it's been a rough time.

Terri had her 8-week ultrasound and all is well. Baby is 19mm long now and has a good heartrate. Terri finishes up school on June 7th; Julie leaves Friday to help her pack up and move back from London. They'll be back on the 15th.

John had a set of interviews with a major orthopedic company last week and is awaiting news on a possible offer. Hoping to hear today, so please keep him in your prayers. He's been out of work since before Thanksgiving. This job would take them back to the midwest.

Vickie's knee surgery couldn't have gone any better. She is almost back to 100% and it looks like her summer Up North will work out after all (unless there's a move in the making!).

Jessie loves the new job and is doing well at it. The girls will all get out of school on Wednesday and are very excited for summer to start! Tai will promote from elementary to middle school next year, so she's really fired up!

Sarah completed 7 miles for her team in the Cancer Walk for Life. She raised the most money of anyone on her team in remembrance of Mom and Papa and in support of Roger as a cancer survivor. Next year we hope to form "Team Walters" and do a walk (possibly in Chicago) as a family. Congrats, Sarah!

Kirk's newspaper sent him off to the finals for American Idol. He has been interviewing and writing about the Toledo contestant and has quite a following from it. He's excited for the hometown gal and hoping she'll be the one! Quite a feather in his cap to get to go to the event, interview the contestant if/when she wins, and have the paper pay for it all! He's on top of the world!

Looking forward to the beginning of June so we can see our Colorado family and friends.

Update

Julie and Terri just found out that they're going to be parents! Terri's due date is January 3 and the excitement is already building! Terri is heading back to London to finish her year of study there and then will be back in Tucson for a bit before heading to Greece to oversee the dig site there.

John and Vickie came to Tucson for a wedding of a friend's daughter. We all got together for a taste of BBQ at India's (part of Erick's Hawg Roast) and lots of family time. Even Em and John were there, so it was a big family bash.

Ryn, Jora, and Tai have a new baby brother! His name is Raefe and I was lucky enough to grab some photos while visiting Jeff and Robin's new house last week. Raefe is already a month old and boy, is he cute! The whole family is excited about the new baby and the new house and all that comes with it!

Whew! Busy, Busy, Busy!

As you saw in the Picassa albums, we had a fast and furious time with O and Nini! Got to the Desert Museum and Karchner Caverns, the Saguaro National Monument for "Moonrise over the Mountains", San Xavier Mission where the cacti were blooming, and up to A Mountain for a workout climbing the A (for the girls -- we watched). Erick took time to show us his work area and we watched some launches and landings; the plane wash wasn't open by the time we finished that. He took both Coverts on rides on the Spyder; O couldn't get enough! And I have to tell you, there is some serious musical talent in this family! We couldn't decide between calling the band "The Biverts" or "The Colangs" but regardless what you call them, they were a hit! Only got kicked off the stage once or twice, which is really saying something. I think they have retirement skills there!

Nini and O tasted some local flavor at Mi Nidito and El Sur in Tucson and at the Horseshoe Cafe in Benson where the two geologists who discovered Karchner Caverns used to go after exploring the cavern. Made Tres Leches cake for the first time ever, and boy was it yummy! O is a great help in the kitchen. Dined on fish tacos and steaks and BBQ and pork steaks and chicken seasoned with Pearl Street Plan Seasoning!

Wow, what a trip! We hope they'll come back soon. Better start resting up now!

Moonrise and Sunset -- Unforgettable

On Nini and O's first day, we had the most amazing sunset and moonrise going on at the same time. Erick went out to get drinks from the patio fridge to go along with our fish tacos and called out to us. Expecting javalina or coyotes, the sheer beauty of the full moon rising took our breath away. And then, when we turned to go in for cameras, we saw the rainbow of colors creating an awesome sunset right behind us. We are so delighted in God's blessings for us all. Take time to stop and look at them.

Evils Knievel!

The Coverts couldn't wait to take a ride (or in O's case, rideS) on the Spyder, so Erick obliged and drove them around the immediate neighborhood. They were all smiles afterward, commenting on how fast they went and what they saw and where they went! As Erick said, he could take O on a 300-mile trip and she'd probably still say, "One more ride?"! It's really quite safe and stable. O says, "It's awesome. Can I drive?" Erick loves showing off his toy. He's made a few modifications and will continue to drive it to and from work, doing his part to stay green!

Yep, It's Still Breathtaking!

I'm telling you, those Bahamanians really know how to keep this place up! The beaches are better than ever, the water is more Caribbean blue than ever, and the condo is looking top notch! We've had some high seas and winds with cooler temps, but after the rain today, we're supposed to head into the 80s and sunshine until Saturday. We have over 40 golf balls so far after only 3 snorkeling outings, so we're on track! Our day with Marty and Eric at Harbour Island (the pink sand island) was delightful and fun (even though our golf cart with snorkeling gear and floats got stolen). Erick is on his second day of golf today (despite the rain) and has another scheduled later in the week. Won a little at the casino, had a bike ride on the beach cruiser (got a flat), splurged on Jamba Juice (they don't take gift cards!), and had the annual birthday bash with Betty and the kids all during the first week. That's going to be hard to beat, but we'll try! All in all, we give it an A+++++ so far. We'll keep you posted.

He's BAAAAAACK

Praise to God, Erick is home safe and sound from Afghanistan! He'll need some time to decompress and get back to a normal routine; I'm sure he'll be in touch with all of his loved ones and friends once he does so. Thanks to everyone for your support while he was gone, both of Erick and me. Let's hope there's not another deployment anytime too soon!

We're getting close!

The good Lord has provided that we'll be together again soon. Erick is out of Afghanistan and making his way home. It's been a long deployment, but my hero is safely out of the war zone after a job well done. I am so proud of him!