AngBob

Go Blue!

2010-11-07T20:11:00.001-07:00

DSCF7272
Originally uploaded by angbob

Kyra practicing her letters...my little Wolverine!

My boots are made for walkin'....

2010-08-05T08:41:00.004-07:00

2010-08-05T08:38:00.001-07:00

Technology

2010-08-03T15:10:00.003-07:00

Since I actually have a smartphone, I should probably use it more often to post to this blog so that you can see the kids growing up...stay posted for video & photo updates...

Kyra is a really big girl - 40 inches! - and has become quite the little swimmer. She took private swim lessons this summer from Miss Aubrie, a college student around the corner, and graduated from Level 2 to Level 3! She can pretty much get across the pool on her own and is working on the various strokes. Her favorite restaurant is Buffalo Wild Wings and we go there at least once a week.

Derek has 4 more teeth now for a total of 12 and is a good eater. He is also quite the little climber and likes to climb up the play kitchen. He doesn't say many actual words but he talks a lot when he's happy and he loves to dance. He is also starting to grow more hair.

Trouble

2010-04-14T22:14:00.002-07:00

Derek is now just learning to walk. See how well he is doing:

Derek is getting bigger every day. He loves to eat food with his 8 teeth. He loves music and dancing. He is "talking" more every day.

Kyra is her usual silly, cute self. She is so smart and picking up new words every day. Today she called the dried up playdoh "crappy"! Daddy needs to start watching his language... :P She had lots of fun in Michigan last week and even got to go to a hockey game!

Jan Videos

2010-01-24T15:55:00.003-07:00

Here are some videos of the kiddos:

Kyra learned to ride a big girl bike. Kyra's 3rd Birthday party at the park complete with bouncy house. Derek started crawling and coffee table walking. He currently has 4 teeth and is cutting another 2.

"I Got You, Daddy!"

2009-10-12T21:30:00.002-07:00

Here's the pic from Kyra's 1st Roller Coaster rides @ Legoland! She had lots of fun - put her arms up on the way up and clung to daddy as soon as the coaster dipped. We went on it twice!

Teeth

2009-09-27T21:37:00.001-07:00

Derek cut his 2nd tooth today!! It was a grumpy day...poor boy!

Here he is yesterday (still happy) with his first tooth

Here's Kyra showing her pearly whites after seeing the butterflies at the Botanical Gardens.

Derek @ 4 months

2009-09-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

Go Cubs Go!

2009-07-11T16:15:00.004-07:00

Derek is a log at 12 lbs! :D

Here is Kyra singing...

Look Ma!

2009-07-07T19:15:00.003-07:00

Kyra's so big, she can now pedal on her tricycle! Look!

Video Update

2009-06-28T14:50:00.012-07:00

Introducing Derek to Kyra on his 1st day.

Kyra "swimming" with her noodle.

Daddy is REALLY impressed - this is Kyra's first swing in the house with the foam bat given to her this morning (june 28, 2009) - not bad at all for 2 years and not even 6 months... this chick has better hand-eye than soriano... and a lefty stick to boot...

Derek at 5 weeks old - still not doing a whole lot other than eating & sleeping & pooping!

Kyra Update

2009-05-05T14:23:00.003-07:00

So much for my resolution to post more often... Kyra is getting bigger and smarter everyday. She now squeals at the sight of bugs. She is also singing now - here is her rendition of the Alphabet Song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star... I apologize in advance for her lack of table manners... :P

Her little brother is coming any day now. Kyra knows she is going to be a big sister, but I don't know that she understands what that means.

More Kyra Pics on Flickr

2008-11-04T21:36:00.002-07:00

Kyra Cookie Monster
Originally uploaded by angbob

Check out our pics on Flickr to see more Kyra pics! If you don't have access, send me an email and I'll add you!

Baby #2

2008-11-04T20:57:00.003-07:00

Well, in case you haven't heard, we're expecting baby #2 in end of May. Here's the 11 week ultrasound video.

Potty Talk!

2008-08-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Kyra went pee-pee in her potty for the 1st time this morning at home!!! Yeah!!!

They started working with her at day care this week and yesterday she started asking to sit on the potty!!

Pics & Flicks

2008-08-13T20:46:00.008-07:00

I've been really bad about updating the blog and posting pics...here are some recent pics and video.
Kyra is getting bigger everyday and is starting to talk/babble a lot more. She got ear tubes in July so swimming has been on hold a few weeks, but she likes to play in the water.

Over July 4th we went to see our friends (Muszynskis) and family (brother and cousins) in Portland, OR and had lots of fun hanging out, enjoying the cool weather, and eating yummy food.

Here's a pic of my cousin's new baby girl, Zoe, who has beautiful dark blue eyes!

Kyra on the swing with her Uncle Eric!

Kyra driving with her shades on ready for the pool!

Kyra loves Mommy's Elmo Michigan t-shirt! Got no arm!

Kyra at an Olympic party dressed as St. Lucia. Isn't she getting big!?!

Kyra wanted to wear Mommy's gym socks...a little soccer anyone?

Kyra also likes to wear Mommy's shoes! These are her current favorites to pick out for Mommy to wear in the morning.

Kyra & Bob on the carousel. Kyra doesn't like going up & down so they are on the sled.
WARNING: DON'T WATCH IF YOU GET MOTION SICK! Cinemetography is like Blair Witch Project! Sorry!

Kyra loves ice cream and maybe she'll share!

Mother's Day Videos

2008-05-12T12:22:00.004-07:00

Yes, we are late with the Q1 update, but I got a Flip video camera for Mother's Day, so here's some footage of Kyra on YouTube...

2007Q4 Update!

2007-12-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe my New Year's resolution should be to post more often. ;P Kyra is a lot bigger than the last post. In fact, she's walking (can do at least 10 steps before falling)! Quick update:

Kyra was a fairy princess for Halloween.

November was travel month...

Week 1: Maui, HI for Jen & Stephen's wedding

Week 2: San Jose, CA to meet Vivek Smith
Week 3, a drive up to Cottonwood, AZ for Thanksgiving with family. Unfortunately, Kyra was sick with a stomach flu and didn't get to try any turkey.

December was jam packed with events.
Grandma & Grandpa Yeh came down for the winter, so Kyra is out of daycare for a few months. Yeah!! We celebrated Bob's birthday by going to several parties, a post-wedding party and Julian's 2nd birthday.

Kyra was pretty good with the tree (i.e. didn't try to pull it down and only tried grabbing a few of the ornaments) and enjoyed playing with the wrapped presents.
We had fun going to Christmas parties...
Kyra had a lot of fun opening all her loot on Christmas morning. She is definitely more spoiled than her mom, who got only 1 present a year! :P

Kyra's favorite food is blueberries, which are very messy and yummy:

We went stopped at the new PGA superstore and look what Daddy bought me....my first putter!!

We also took passport pictures, so that Kyra can possibly travel internationally next year. On the left is the 1st passport picture, where Daddy didn't come and the person taking the picture wasn't much help. Yes, Kyra looks like she's been arrested. :P On the right is the picture where Daddy was able to make Kyra laugh. Is it really the same baby? Hard to say... :D

September - Kyra's excellent adventures

2007-10-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

This month was filled with lots of new experiences for Kyra. Such as: going swimming in the "big person" pool: Seeing horses during a visit to Aunt Jaime's house for cousin Gina's 5th b-day party: And in a very exciting (oh yeah, and did we say scary?!?) "step", Kyra started to stand by pulling herself on furniture. She looks like she is going to be an early walker: The big trip of the month was flying to Portland to visit friends and family. We stayed at Chad and Raquel's house (Thanks!) where, among other things, Kyra tried to eat Nathan's train (one of her many nicknames is "Kyra-zilla" - this picture illustrates): The weather was great in Portland, and that meant fun outdoor stuff, like Kyra's first trip to a zoo: It also meant getting to visit family, first Uncle Eric and Aunt Trish came up from Eugene: The last full day included a nice breakfast with a lots of Ang's family - Great Aunt and Great Uncle, Uncle Eddie, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Mike - here are a few pix: At the very end of month, cooler temperatures in Phoenix meant Kyra getting to play in our backyard for the first time - notice the golf ball in her hand - can you say "Tiger Kyra" ??

August - Kyra's first baseball game

2007-10-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

Kyra really continued to amaze us with her progress in August - she began crawling for the first time. Exciting and scary at the same time as we began to realize how much child proofing had to be done. August was also Kyra's first full month in daycare as Ang's Mom headed back to Michigan in late July (we are so grateful for her help with Kyra all this time). She did unfortunately get her first ear infection and had a pretty bad fever, but recovered pretty well - and seemed to adapt reasonably well to all the changes daycare brings. In late August, Bob's Mom came out for a visit, that included a trip to Kyra's first regular season baseball game, when the Cubs played the D-backs. Unlike a lot of babies, Kyra likes to wear hats pretty well instead of pulling them off, sporting her Cubs spirit at home:But then it was off the game - and Kyra was sporting a cute Cubs outfit:

July - Kyra's first flight

2007-10-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since we have posted, so we are going to catch up some. In July, we flew to San Jose for a multi-purpose trip - and it was Kyra's first flight! She did really well on the plane (mostly slept). On this trip, Bob had Entrepix work to do supporting their booth at Semicon West trade show in San Francisco, so it meant Kyra got to see various parts of the Bay area. We started at Bern's house in San Jose (and also got to see Bob's work friend Ori and his family for a nice dinner at this house) and then headed up to Frisco where we would stay until Thurday afternoon. Kyra really like the cool temperatures, checking out Chinatown, the aquarium and Fishmerman's Wharf among other things.After the tradeshow, Bern got us back to San Jose, where Ang and Kyra enjoyed the big personal event of the week - Shantha's baby shower! It was a great day and a super week in California, enjoying the company of friends and family. Back at home, Kyra decided that she wanted to play keyboards like her daddy.

The Mother Load

2007-06-21T22:38:00.001-07:00

Did you know that it's entirely normal for some babies not to poop for many days??? Kyra had her personal record today at 6 days between poops!!! Another day and we were going to call the pediatrician. You know you're truly a parent when you get excited about baby poop. :D Enough about bowel movements... ;P

1st Father's Day was good. Bob got lots of pictures of Kyra in presents. She is getting bigger...17+ lbs at last weighing. Daddy makes her laugh a lot!

Look, I can almost sit up by myself!!! :D

May 1sts

2007-05-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, 2 entries in one month! We've had a lot of "firsts" in the last couple of weeks...

At Kyra's doctor visit, she weighed in at 15 lb, 7 oz (those diapers must weigh alot since we usually weigh her at 16 lbs) and 25.75 in (though the nurse who measured her was not that precise, she was actually 25.25 in) which put her in the 90th & 95th percentiles... :D Anyway, the doctor said we should graduate Kyra to a convertible carseat and that she could sit in real strollers...

So here is her first ride in her umbrella stroller that Grandma Tucker bought her:

Here she is in her 1st ride in her new carseat! Thankfully sleeping...somehow we got a baby who doesn't like car rides when she is awake. Something about being restrained...

We drove up to Sedona for her 1st long car ride (2.5 hrs!) and her 1st visit to her Aunt Jaime's house in Cornville. Here she is trying on her cousin's (Gina) sunglasses.

We went to the Dussault's Memorial Weekend party and here is Kyra's 1st time in a big swimming pool. She seemed to like it. She was just chillin' and hanging out in her cute swim suit/diaper with mermaids on it. :D

She also found her feet this past week. She likes to grab at them. She hasn't really tried to suck on them yet, but I'm sure she will soon discover this delicacy. :P

Something in the Milk

2007-05-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

Just getting around to my monthly posting... ;P Kyra's 3 month pics turned out really cute. Here's the winner:

Her Uncle Eric came to visit from Portland that weekend, and Aunt Jaime and cousins, Cassie & Gina came down as well. Here's a picture of Uncle Eric & Kyra after treasure hunting for a $3000 certificate in Papago Park. Alas, we did not find the treasure that weekend.

A milestone for Kyra...a couple of weeks ago, she learned to roll from her back to her tummy. Unfortunately, she does not like being on her tummy for very long and cannot quite figure out how to roll to her back. However, if you roll her back, she will promptly roll to her tummy again. :P

Our first Mother's Day was very nice. Daddy & Kyra bought Mommy a locket with Kyra's birthstone and then took her and Grandma out to breakfast. Here's a picture out in the backyard from that day. Kyra also turned 4 months old on Mother's Day. We weighed her in at 16 lbs and measured her at 25 inches!! This puts her at 75th percentile for length and 90th percentile for weight. Only 2 months ago she was charting 50th percentile...must be something in the milk! :D

Bad Habits...

2007-04-12T23:25:00.000-07:00

This has been a month where we haven't remembered to get the camera out as much, but we are going for her 3 month pictures this weekend...However, while Mommy was sleeping one morning, Daddy was taking some pictures of Kyra and teaching her some bad habits... ;P

She last weighed in at 13 lbs, 10 oz!

Go Cubbies!!

2007-03-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

Kyra has a Cubs mobile over her changing table which plays "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". She absolutely loves it and it makes her smile and laugh and coo.

Anyway, this past Wednesday we took Kyra to her very first Cubs Spring Training game. She had a couple of outfits to choose from, but one was too big. The temperature was perfect and she did amazingly well even though it was a 3.5 hour game. Everyone thought she was very cute and we got a picture with Ronnie "Woo Woo" (I didn't know who he was, but if you're a Cubs fan who goes to games, you know who he is). The game ended in the 9th inning with a grand slam homerun. Yeah!!

The next day, Bob found an article where Kyra was mentioned as the newborn who posed for a photo with Ronnie "Woo Woo".

Here is the link to March photos on Snapfish

Over-ambitious

2007-03-12T16:24:00.000-07:00

Well, apparently being on maternity leave does not leave me enough time for daily blogging... :P Last Friday, I decided to hike Peralta with Brig and a few other Mountain Mamas, sans Kyra, as she is too small to handle a 5 mile hike in 85 degree weather. As it was, I was the slowest of the bunch and I was the only one not carrying a 20+ lb baby! It turned out to be a bit much for me 8 weeks from giving birth, but I managed the entire hike and the scenery was beautiful!!

Here are some pics of the family hanging out on our back patio.

Also, tried out a food co-op and got all these fruits and veggies for $18.50! Now, I have to start cooking! ;P

Feb Update

2007-02-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

Well, we're into our 6th week of parenthood and enjoying it but still adjusting. The first week was a bit rough with feeding issues (my milk didn't come in for a week and we had to supplement with formula since her birthweight had dropped by 15%) and jaundice (she had to get bili-blanket therapy for 2 days). Kyra's now doing well and was 10 lb, 4 oz last time we weighed her.

We haven't quite got her on a schedule yet, but we're going to work on it so we can get some longer bits of sleep at night! :D I'm off for another 4 weeks and then I'll work from home part-time for 4 weeks, before returning full time.

Here is Kyra on her Bumbo seat...she is doing really well at holding her head up for a minute or so!
Here is a link to more pictures from February on Snapfish.

New Arrival

2007-01-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome Kyra MeiLee Tucker, born Jan 13, 2007, 10:01 pm, weighing 8 lb 1 oz and measuring 20 inches... Will update with details later but here are some pics from the last week... :)

Showers, X-mas, & Nesting

2007-01-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well, December was a busy month and I was not able to blog more often. On the weekend of Dec 8th, many friends flew in and we had a busy weekend of group dinners, our baby shower, and a Christmas party.

The baby shower was a lot of fun, and thanks to all of you who helped organize and run the shower as well as those who attended. For pictures, you will have to check out Chris Wasserman's blog or Logan's blog, as I did not have time to take a single picture with my camera.

That night, we enjoyed dinner and yummy desserts at EuroCafe with our friends who flew in from out of town, Jeanne, Carole, the Smiths, & the Muszynskis. Afterwards, everyone who was staying with us watched Never Been Thawed and hung out in the hot tub. It was a fun night!

The next day after seeing off a few of our guests to the airport, I helped Raquel cook dinner for our party (which they used to host annually). It was a fun night and Nathan had a great time opening gifts.

By the way, this is what happens when you light the gas fireplace and forget to move the candles away from the heat...

On Monday the last of our guests, the Muszynskis, were dropped off at the airport to go home, along with Bob, who was flying to St. Louis for the night to see the Rams-Bears game in the owner's suite with his sister. He had a great time and would love to tell you all about it! :)

The rest of the weekends in December were filled with getting ready for the baby as well as a few more holiday events, including the Entrepix Christmas party. Mom & Dad painted the nursery and I helped Mom put the border up.

My brother, Bernard, drove in from Sunnyvale Christmas weekend and we had a nice duck and beef brisket dinner on Christmas Eve. On Christmas night, Bob's band came over and we had a fun jam session.

The rest of the holiday week was spent nesting...Much laundering & cleaning & assembling of new baby things was accomplished as well as a trip or two to Ikea for a dresser for the nursery. I also did Part 1 of an art project & gift for my friend's 1-yr-old babies ( Julian Gil & Daniel Johnson )...where we had fun getting the babies' foot & hand prints on canvas. I'll post the final version after Part 2 is done...

Outie

2006-12-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, my innie finally became an outie and last night I took my belly ring out... :P Kyra continues to grow and move around. :D

Happy Birthday!!!

2006-12-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

It was Bob's birthday yesterday...and we celebrated by going to happy hour with work friends followed by attending the party of a 1-year old friend, Julian Gil, who shares his birthday. Here's a picture of us...you can't really see my expanding belly (it's better from the side view) but Kyra continues to grow...only 8 more weeks left!!!

Here's Julian enjoying his cake and presents.

Maverick Night

2006-11-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

29 Weeks now, and Kyra is moving around a lot! She's starting to seriously affect my sleep patterns... ;P We've started the hospital birth classes and are learning to breath...hee,hee,whoooo! :D

We once again had a successful Maverick Night this past weekend... No pictures this time, as I was too busy hostessing and playing cards to remember to get out the camera (and the lack of evidence was probably good for the post-poker hot tub fun!)

I managed to get to the final 12 (out of 30), but was soon knocked out when I had a bad run of cards. The poker lasted until about midnight. The big winner this year was Steve Salatino, who went head-to-head with a former champion, Kevin Hineman. A new tradition was started by Andy Williams, last year's champion, where the defending champion has to bring a bottle of champagne for the new champion. :P

27 Weeks

2006-10-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's another pregnancy picture...I'm at 27 weeks. I no longer fit into any of my old clothes, but I'm still too small for most of my friends' larger maternity clothes. I've had some fun shopping for bargain maternity clothes at Old Navy, Gap, & Kohls (though I'm pictured below in some of the loaners that did actually fit!) :D

So we've discarded all the names we were considering before for various reasons (too common, rhyming issues, didn't like the nickname)...and the latest official name is:

Kyra MeiLee Tucker

Sorry that your vote didn't mean anything...thanks for voting anyway... :D We think this is the final name, unless the ultrasound tech was wrong and she turns out to be a he! :P

Austin Trip

2006-09-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

At the end of September, Bob had a Friday business trip to Austin planned, so I tagged along too, and we made a weekend of it. We stayed at our old next-door neighbor's house. They weren't there most of the time because they'd had a camping trip already planned, but we fed the cats in exchange for lodging.

We mostly went to restaurants we missed and checked out old and new haunts. Below is me on a rock in the Walnut Creek park (about 23 weeks pregnant) where we went hiking behind our old house.

Saturday we went out on Lake Austin where one of Bob's old friends has a house on the lake with a boat. It was a very fun day.

Saturday night we tried to find a bar playing UM football, but all the bars would only show UT. :(

Sunday, we checked out downtown where the Old Pecan Street festival was going on. I had fun shopping and we saw some fun thinks like this baby buffalo!

Gina's B-Day & Golf

2006-09-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

The weekend after Labor Day was Gina's b-day (our niece)...she had a party in Cornville at the gymnastics studio. It was fun to watch.
Cassie blew out Gina's candles...

Gina had lots of fun opening her presents and there was a pinata filled with candy...the kids were like vultures! :P

The day after, we golfed at the Sedona Golf Resort. It was a beautiful day and the golf was fun but challenging. The course was supposed to be cart-path only, but we got a special handicapped flag because I was pregnant! :D No pictures because our digital camera battery died and we haven't developed the disposable camera we bought.

Michigan Trip

2006-09-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day Weekend, we went back to Michigan for a visit...the main purpose was a mini-reunion with Chad & Raquel to check out the campus and see the Michigan-Vandy game at the Big House.

After an overnight stay with my parents, we borrowed the mini-van and drove up to Ann Arbor for the weekend. Friday afternoon, we checked out North Campus. Here's a picture of the new CS building... We also broke into the Tau Beta Pi office since as a former president, I was allowed to keep a key. They hadn't changed the t-shirt design in over 10 years--except for the color!! That night we at at the Zingermann Roadhouse...yum!!!!

Saturday, we had breakfast at Angelo's (mmm...cinnamon-raisin French toast!!!) before heading off to the game. Chad scored us 6th row seats on the 50 yd line!!! It was awesome, we got to see all the players and band come out!

After the game, Raquel & I went shopping around Ann Arbor (had to get new Michigan paraphenalia) while the guys went to Scorekeepers to watch more football. We also made stops at Dominic's (Bob got to try the sangria) and ate at a pizza place I'd never been before...it was quite yummy, I can't believe I never tried it while in college!

The next day we drove across the state to Battle Creek where Chad & Raquel's parents live. We then drove to Lake Michigan and took a short cruise - though little Nathan wasn't really digging it after face-planting in the driveway earlier. :( So the guys went back out fishing and Raquel, Nathan, & I drove up the west coast of Michigan and shopped some more. :) We got some cool pottery before Nathan got too cranky and we drove back to Battle Creek without the guys. We spent the night at Raquel's parent's posh party house, before driving back to the east side of Michigan. We stopped at my friend Dana's house in Milford for an afternoon bbq with her family before heading back to my parents house. That night, we also got to visit my friend Jeanne & her husband, Dave. It was a packed visit with lots of fun and catching up with old friends. :)

Chop, chop!

2006-08-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get my haircut to get some length off, so I could wear it down more. I was going to cut about 4-5 inches off and when my stylist, Ashley, looked at it, she wanted to cut off a little more to donate to Locks of Love. I said that would be cool, and this is how it turned out. A little shorter than planned, but still very cute. Besides, it will always grow back. :D It's very light which is good for summer! :P

For reference for those of you who haven't seen me in a while...my hair reached past the light blue band in the back of my shirt...

Baby Stuff

2006-08-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

So we narrowed our choices of names down to 3 (Alana, Caitlin, & Jacquelyn). You can vote for your favorite on the link below and it may or may not impact our decision. :P
Vote now!

Also, I joined a parenting website... www.minti.com. It seems pretty cool. There's lots of advice from other parents around the world and you can post pictures and your own stuff. Our site on this is angbob.minti.com.

Pregnancy Progress

2006-08-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

As a note: I am truly going to make an effort to blog on a more regular basis since I'm feeling a little better. I've posted updates for May, June, & July if you keep reading down. :D

So here I am at 17 weeks (yes, I don't fit into my regular pants anymore)...

and here is our baby...

So according to the ultrasound tech, she was pretty positive it's a girl, but we have another appointment next month where we'll find out for sure. :D

We've started looking at girls' names and have narrowed down the list of first names to:
Alana, Caitlin, Jacquelyn, Jenna, Melodie, or Merissa.

Her middle name will be Meilee after my mom's name (Yang-mei) and Bob's mom's middle name (Lee).

July Update

2006-07-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

July was another busy month. We spend 4th of July weekend with our friends Raquel & Chad. The weather was nice and cool (at least for us Phoenicians) and we had a great time. We also met up with some of my relatives for dinner while we were there. See our travel blog for more details.

Portland

We made a quick trip to Illinois for Bob's grandpa's funeral. It was a sad event, but it was good to see his family again. Here's a picture of our newest niece:

Sofie

We decided to escape the heat again with a road trip to San Diego. We stayed with my friend from college, Wilson, and played Torrey Pines North Course with him on Saturday. Saturday night, we had a yummy dinner in La Jolla overlooking the bay and then by chance dropped in on a cool rock concert in an art gallery devoted to rock photography. It was very cool! Sunday, we went to the beach at Coronado Island before heading home.

Torrey Pines

Coronado Island, San Diego

June Update

2006-07-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

June was pretty un-eventful as my first trimester of pregnancy was not fun. I was nauseous all month, so we didn't get a whole lot done. Bob still went on his annual Laughlin trip with the guys. We did celebrate his friends' birthdays at a fun house party, but alas, no margaritas for me! ;P

May Update

2006-05-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

May was a pretty busy and eventful month...Our friends, Bridget & Russ, had their first baby, Logan Benedict, on May 8th. As you can see, he's quite a cutie!

Logan at 2 wks

Bob's band played their first gig at a friend's party. They were a big hit and fun was had by all...

Bob at Cinco de Salatino

That same weekend, we took Bob's sister, Jaime, and her two little girls, Cassie & Gina out for Mother's Day brunch.

Mother's Day

The last week of the month, I was not feeling so good and decided to take a pregnancy test (we'd been trying since December). I saw the + sign!!

Pregnant!

Later that week, for Memorial Day weekend, Bob & I went on a weekend golf trip down to Tubac in southern AZ. It was lots of fun and Bob & I even won some money!!

Bob with the cows on the golf course

Visit to the Land of Lincoln

2006-05-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been blogging, but I've been a bit lazy about getting on the computer after spending all day at work on the computer.

At the end of April, Bob & I made a quick trip back to Illinois to visit his family. On our first day, we drove down to Mahomet to visit with his sister, Lisa, and meet the new niece, Sophie. See how cute she is!

The second day we were there, we went to visit Bob's grandpa, who has cancer. This was the primary purpose of our visit. It was good to see Grandpa and Bob's aunt and uncle, though it was a bit sad as well.

We checked out some of the parks while we were there, to experience the green-ness of the Midwest...something that's rare in Phoenix. :D Here's a picture at the Lake of the Woods.

On Saturday, we took the train into Chicago. Ang shopped while Bob took his parents to the famous Billy Goat Tavern from the Saturday Night Live skit, "Cheezburga, cheezburga, cheezburga". We then watched the Cubs get brutalized by the Brewers at Wrigley Field. You can see the birds even knew it was over, when they alighted on the field in the middle of the 9th inning.

At the airport on Sunday, we saw Bono randomly. He was signing autographs and taking pictures at the gate across from ours, so Ang hopped over to take a picture with him.

Home Organization

2006-03-11T16:12:00.000-07:00

Ahh, the slow road to organization... :D With my parents in town, I have them helping me with various projects. We have a new ceiling fan in the front room (badly needed as it is the warmest room in the house with a southern exposure) & new shoe racks and shelf in the utility room. Go my dad doing the wiring in the attic!

Here are the pictures:

Bob says the new shoe rack is like going shoe shopping! :D

Update

2006-02-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since we've posted. I wish I could say that I've been in a mad clean sweep frenzy and have purged my house of all junk, but no. Most of the junk is still around, though I did manage to purge a bunch of files to the shredder. :D

After New Year's which was spent un-eventfully, because I (Ang) was sick, we went on a ski vacation to South Lake Tahoe. The weather was mostly nice, though the base was a little low for great skiing. We did have 2 good days of skiing. Then, on the fateful 3rd day, Bob caught an edge, fell, and tore his AC ligaments in his left shoulder. :( So Bob's been in a sling for a while and doesn't have much range of movement while he heals... We'll know more in a couple of days when Bob sees the orthopedic doctor again.

In the meantime, we did celebrate my birthday on Superbowl Sunday with a party. We had a pretty good turnout, but still had way too much food. It's been a chocolate birthday...we had yummy chocolate cake at the party, where I also got 2 boxes of Godiva (mmmm!), on my birthday I got a free chocolate pecan dessert at Z-Tejas, and then a few days later I got Zingerman's brownies in the mail!! Mmmm, lots of chocolate-y goodness! Not good for the waistline though! ;P

For my birthday, Bob got me a Roomba...it's fun to watch and doesn't do a bad job of vacuuming. Though it does tend to get caught up in the area rugs.

Holiday activities...

2005-12-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

Finished up the oil painting class and here is my second masterpiece...

My friend, Stacy, got married on Dec 10th...

On Dec 11th, the Secrests carried on the annual Muszynski Christmas party. The food and company were great! :D

This past weekend, Bob & I bought our Christmas present to ourselves - the iJoy massage chair. It feels very good on a sore back...

The next Monet

2005-12-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

This fall I'm taking an oil painting class. It's taught by a older woman named Dora McWilliams. She tells funny stories and teaches by example...Here's my first effort.

Currently we're working on another larger landscape which I'll post when we're done. It's fun, and I get paint all over myself! :D

Anniversary #2 and counting!

2005-12-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

The night of our anniversary (Nov 15th), we went to Shabu Fondue for a yummy dinner. To celebrate our second anniversary, we went down to Tucson for the following weekend. We stayed at a great B&B, Jeremiah Inn, where the owners provided lots of information, great breakfasts, yummy home-made cookies, and a hot tub with a beautiful view of the Catalina Mountains.

Saturday, we played golf at Arizona National just a mile down from our B&B. It was an amazing golf course with beautiful scenery.
It was also the weekend of the Tour de Tucson, a bike race around the perimeter of Tucson, so we had to take a roundabout way to the course.

Sunday morning after breakfast, we hiked into Bear Canyon to the Seven Falls. The desert scenery was beautiful, although the falls didn't have much water. We'll have to go back after the rains...

After the hike, we went back into Tucson, for yummy Mexican food at El Charro and then wandered downtown at the Holiday Craft Fair in the Tucson Art Museum (well, actually I shopped and Bob found a local bar). :P

All in all, it was a great trip and we got to explore Tucson a little bit.

Showered!

2005-12-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the clutter is driving me crazy but the purging is being delayed by life's many activities...I'm going to save it for the holiday break. On Saturday, November 12th, I attended a couple of showers for a couple of Stacys. :D I drove Brig, because she was jet-lagged from returning from her trip to Italy.

The first was a bridal shower held for one of my belly dance friends, Stacy Jenkins. It was a lot of fun, and thankfully, there weren't a lot of games. :D Here's a picture of Stacy showing off her new lingerie

The second shower was a baby shower held for my first cubemate and fellow rotational engineer at Motorola, Stacy Johnson. It was quite posh decorated in a French bistro style with a gazebo, chocolate fondue fountain, and lots of yummy food! Here's a picture of Stacy with an amazing diaper cake she received:

Project Purge

2005-11-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

It has gotten to the point where the clutter has become too much, especially in the den! So I've read "It's Here...Somewhere" by Alice Fulton & Pauline Hatch and "File...Don't Pile!" by Pat Dorff to figure out a system to purge and file. It will start with the den and move to the rest of the house... Let me know if you need anything!! If I have it, I may just give it to you!! :D

PS It may be a while before the next blog!

Halloween

2005-10-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

Halloween weekend, we mostly vegged out and relaxed from the week. Saturday afternoon we did attend the Ernst Annual Pumpkin Carving party and carved Demon Diva who you see above. Bob picked her out, and Ang did all the work. :P Halloween night, Ang got to pass out candy in cat ears, while Bob went to band practice.

Catching Up

2005-10-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

We've been neglecting the blog lately, so here to catch you up on all the news...

On Oct 9th, I (Ang) ran my first race in the Race for the Cure and finished in 35 minutes only stopping to drink water. Woo hoo! We luckily signed up for the "competitive" race and did not have to race with the mob of 25,000+ people. It was a lot of fun and we nabbed lots of free Pria bars. :D

On Oct 20th, I attended the Texas Conference for Women in which Freescale Semiconductor (her employer) was a sponsor. It was a very cool event with keynote speakers of Melinda Gates, Maria Hinojosa, Fergie (Duchess of York), and Maya Angelou. They were all great speakers and very inspiring. I attended two of the leadership seminars, though there were seminars on health, arts, and other interesting topics.

On Oct 22nd, I decided to see how the other half lives and got a spiral perm. Yes, I now have curly hair! :D Look!

I have this week off (as I have to burn vacation that Bob doesn't have), and am going to golf school in Gold Canyon. My swing is being totally re-learned but it's fun and it's not work! :D

Rock On!

2005-09-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

We went to the Foofighter/Weezer a.k.a Foo-zer concert on Wednesday night! We were joined by our friends, Brig, Russ & Nikki. The music was great...they were both great bands to watch and the opener, Kaiser Chiefs, wasn't too bad either. It went until midnight and we were very tired the next morning and still are. :D Gettin' old! But it was fun to go to a concert as we hadn't been to one in over a couple of years! Who knew that the replacement for lighters is opening your cell phone and waving it around in the dark! :D Depeche Mode is coming to town next month.... :D

Party all the time...

2005-09-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a weekend full of parties...Friday night we went to a going away happy hour and got to see some work friends we hadn't seen in a while. Saturday, Ang went to a baby shower for her friends, Arlene & David, while Bob got ready for our party. Saturday night was the annual Maverick Night party.

It was a packed house full of people and food and beer. After a couple hours of socializing, we started the tournament. Everyone got a new name for the night...Ang was Tham Pawn & Bob was Clint Torres...say them fast and you get the idea. :D As people dropped out, a losers' table was started. Ang found some Euchre players and discovered that the upstate New Yorkers were much more advanced & cut-throat at Euchre than us laid-back Midwesterners. Six hours later a winner was showered with money. Andy Williams was our champion this year and the only repeat champion in the history of Maverick night. Others who placed in the money were Adrian Balderas, Stephen Kuenzli, Mark Jatcko, & Rich Johnson.

On Saturday, Ang went over to Bridget's for a crafting party and finished a couple more pages of the Scotland scrapbook. At this rate, it will take 6 months to finish the scrapbook...hopefully, Ang will learn some speed scrapbooking techniques soon!

Are you ready for some football?

2005-09-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend was all about football. After picking up Bob's mom on Saturday, we went to the ASU-Northwestern football game. Ang's co-workers had given her their tickets, which were front row of the 2nd tier. In the first 5 minutes of the game, it looked like Northwestern might give ASU a workout, but for the rest of the quarter, ASU proceeded to stomp all over the Wildcats. We left at halftime.

On Sunday, we went into downtown Tempe again. We ate at Z Tejas for lunch and proceeded to head over to the stadium for the Cardinals-Rams game. Bob's sister had gotten us free tickets from the Rams owner, Georgia Frontiere. There were crazy lines outside the stadium due to the security measures, but we went over to will call and were able to sneak into the front of the line. We looked at the tickets and they were Suite tickets!!! We were in the visiting owners' suite! It was very cool with air conditioning, free food & beverage. We had a lot of fun & stayed for the entire game. Unfortunately, there are no pics because we didn't think we'd need a camera.

My first knitting project!

2005-09-15T22:01:00.000-07:00

So here is my first knitting project. It took me many evenings of football and other TV shows and even a Diamondbacks game! I tried knitting in the car to & from Cornville, but I got carsick after one row. :( It's the one-skein wonder shrug, though I do have yarn left over! There are lots of mistakes because I can't count, but it's fuzzy yarn, so not as noticable! :D Anyway, after this first project, I've decided that I'm not going to join the dark side and will only knit when I want to make a scarf for myself. It hurts my wrists...RSI bad! >:( I will be devoting my crafting time to scrapbooking, sewing, beading, and other fun stuff... ;D

Weekend

2005-09-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

Friday, I went scrapbooking with Stacy and put together the first 3 pages of our Scotland scrapbook...it took 2 hours for the title page...only 25+ more pages to go... :D

Saturday, we drove up to Cornville for Gina's (our niece) birthday party. She turned 3! It was fun hanging out at the compound and the cake was really yummy! The girls were pretty funny...

Princess cake!

Uncle Bob helping Gina dig into her b-day bag!

uggghhh...too much cake....

Labor Day Weekend

2005-09-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

Bob's mom came to town on Thursday. Friday, I took the afternoon off to go shopping with her. I took her to IKEA and ended up buying silk pillowcases for our throw pillows and a comforter cover. :D Friday night we went to the Diamondbacks game - they lost. I knitted thru a lot of the game as it wasn't very interesting.

Saturday we watched the 1st half of the UM game at the Half Moon Bar & Grill in Phoenix - formerly known as Dan Ryan's and home of the Greater Phoenix UM Alumni Club. Got to sing the fight song - Go Blue! :D After lunch, we went to the Heard Museum as Bob & Mom Tucker had never been before. It was fun. For dinner, we ate a great Mexican place in downtown Chandler, El Zocalo. It's owned by the same people as El Sol Bakery in Chandler and Mango's in Mesa. Very yummy food! Best Pollo en Mole I've ever had! :D Saturday night, Jaime (Bob's sister) came in with her girls.

Sunday, we all went to the Hamilton Water Park in Chandler. Lots of fun and very cheap! :D Spent the rest of the day chilling out. Monday, Jaime left with Mom and the girls. Bob & I just hung out for the rest of the day.

IKEA Virgin to Veteran

2005-08-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

So on Friday night, while Bob & Mark were at their fantasy football draft, Amy & I went to IKEA. This was my first time at IKEA. I had previously gotten various comments from friends & co-workers about IKEA, mostly about what a zoo it is, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. I figured Friday night was safe. I went there on a mission: shelving & a table for the hobby room, as well as a curtain rod for the memory quilt. Amy guided me around the aisles, and it was a very interesting store. I ordered my table upstairs and got the shelving & curtain rod downstairs. Amy picked up some small goodies as well. After the trip, Amy went home (long day) and I hung out with Bob & the folks at the draft until it was over.

Saturday morning, I got up to start putting up the shelves. I then discovered that the wall studs are a standard 48 inches apart. The shelves were only 47 inches, and the brackets I had gotten (BJARNUM) wouldn't work, as the shelves had to slide into the brackets. Ugh, I didn't want to go on a Saturday. So I went back to the store, returned the Bjarnum brackets and got these cool Slinga brackets on which the shelves would rest. I discovered to my surprise that it wasn't that busy, and learned from the IKEA sales guy that it doesn't usually get crazy until noon on Saturdays & Sundays. The secret on weekends is going early! While I was there I picked up some clamp lights on my way out. I had gotten screws at IKEA as well, which is something one should never do. They are poorly made and it is cheaper to get good quality screws at the hardware store. I managed to get the brackets & shelves up with Bob's help by evening. I then started working on putting together the desk, when I discovered that the Galant A-legs with castors weren't height adjustable. Agh!

Sunday morning, it was another trip to IKEA. This time Bob came along for the ride. I returned the screws and A-legs and found I would have to re-order the legs in the style I wanted. By this time, I knew the shortcuts around the store...upstairs to the office area to quickly order the legs...downstairs through shelving to pick up a magnetic board...and out through the registers in 15 minutes. Here is the finished room and the mounted curtain rod with quilt...

Care Package for Ang

2005-08-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Check out what I got in the mail! My mom made a memory quilt from pictures of our wedding and quilt squares which we had our guests sign at the wedding! It's very cool. Also, came with 2 pillows. My mom is an awesome quilter!!

She also sent me her old knitting needles, an instructional knitting book, and a knitting magazine from the 70s... I know my friend, Amy of Amyville.com, will be dying to check out the magazine once she sees this!!

Home Project #1 - The Workout/Hobby Room

2005-08-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend I (Ang) painted our Workout/Hobby room in Mystic River from Behr, which is like a light cornflower blue. I'm being inspired by all the home improvement shows I'm watching on HGTV and TLC! The treadmill got moved in front of the mounted TV so we can look straight ahead, instead of left, while running. :D The plan for the rest of the room is to go to IKEA next weekend to get shelving and a craft table, so that we can actually start using the room for hobbies, instead of just using the treadmill! Bob did some home improvement as well, and replaced our garbage disposal! All in all, a very productive weekend!

Ang doing Memes

2005-08-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.

In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored.

You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Your Birthdate: February 6

A birthday on the 6th of the month adds a tone of responsibility, helpfulness, and understanding to your natural inclinations.

Those born on the sixth are more apt to be open and honest with everyone, and more caring about family and friends, too.

This is a number associated with responsibility and caring - this birthday lends a degree of concern for others.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

We are alive!

2005-08-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

We have fully recovered from our Scotland jetlag and have finally posted all our pics and written up our Scotland Travel Blog. Click on the link and start reading from the bottom.

Not much new on the home front since we've been back. Ang is still taking a break from dancing. Chris gave Ang a knitting lesson last weekend...we'll see if she joins the dark side... :P

Bon Voyage

2005-07-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

We went to a Diamondbacks game last night. They were winning at the 7th inning when we left to go eat at Cooperstown...and had apparently lost to the Reds by the time we finished dinner. :P Anyway, this weekend we are packing & getting ready to go on our trip to Scotland, so if we don't catch an internet cafe while we're there, we'll be blogless until we get back. :D The weather looks to be very rainy, but hopefully we'll catch some sunny days while we're there! :D

4th o' July

2005-07-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

This 4th was pretty low key. Bob only worked a few hours. Ang got out early and started learning to blog. :D We opened our bottle of Rabbit Ridge from Sonoma and had dinner, watched the fireworks on tv. After, we went out to our hot tub to soak our sore muscles. The Gilbert 4th of July festival was just a 1/2 mile down the road and we were able to watch the fireworks from our backyard! It was pretty cool.

Weekend in Flag

2005-07-04T23:57:00.000-07:00

We drove up on Friday to Cornville to spend the night at Bob's sister's place...wanting to avoid any traffic delays due to the Cave Creek fire. Traffic was really bad due to a small brush fire which had started next to the highway just south of Carefree Hwy off I-17. After Anthem traffic wasn't that bad. We could see the fires in the distance as we drove north... :( It was a fun evening and morning enjoying the antics of our nieces, Cassie & Gina.

Saturday morning, it was up to Flagstaff for a day of golf. We played a fun round of golf at the Continental Country Club with a couple of guys who were also up from the Valley. The greens were fast and hard to read. Ang shot an amazing birdie on the 10th hole from 100 yards with a damaged 6 iron - which was chipped on the 2nd hole when Ang caught a rock in the desert. We couldn't believe it went in the hole! :D Too bad we forgot the camera in the car! :D

After golf, we checked into our motel and walked to downtown Flagstaff. After eating yummy Mexican food at San Felipes Cantina on Leroux, we walked around town. We briefly sat in an Irish pub and watched an Irish dance & music group who were pretty fun to watch. We ended up sitting at the Flagstaff Brewing Company for a few hours waiting for the live band. They started an hour later than we thought, so we stayed for only a few songs...70's funk band.

We slept in on Sunday until the sound of revving motorcycles woke us around 8am. Ang had a smoked trout (from Oak Creek) omelette for breakfast which was very tasty. After breakfast, we headed up to the Mt. Humphrey's trailhead.

The mountain kicked our a$$! It was a beautiful hike through the pine trees and we encountered many snow patches along the way which made the path slippery at times. We reached the saddle and ate lunch. After a brief respite, we attempted the climb to the top, but the false peaks and gusting wind were our downfall. After the second one, we were too tired to go any further and made the trek back down. We stopped at the Beaver St Brewery for dinner - yum! On the way home, we did not see any fires, only smoke in the distance. It was a beautiful sunset.

View from saddle of Mt. Humphrey's trail

The highest peak is the goal...

Arrgh! Damn false peaks!! This is as far as we got...in the distance you can see the top of Mt. Humphreys. So close...

View to the south...in the distance you can see the smoke from the fire...

Here is a link to all of our pics from the Mt. Humphreys hike...snapfish album

Blogging

2005-07-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

In reading several of my friends' blogs, I felt a need for Bob & I to start our own in order to keep friends & family up-to-date with our activities...