Whew!

What a trip! School started today, we got back last night and our apartment looks like a couple of tornadoes were fighting over the last cow!

We were supposed to wash our carpets and install a new heating system while we were gone, so we moved all of our furniture out of the way and got everything up off the floor. . . we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble. They only cleaned the walking areas and anywhere where furniture had been was left untouched. Also there was no new heating unit :(

Our trip went rather well though considering. We were five minutes too late for our connecting flight out of Salt Lake. We should have arrived home at 1:30 at the latest and instead got home at 6:30. Ah, how I love to travel. Not only that but because they took 40 minutes to get the luggage out our friend parked illegally and got us a $50 ticket. (I am still trying to figure out how a 3 terminal airport can take 40 minutes to get a small plane emptied and over to the baggage claim. Then again I shouldn't wonder too much since they had us wait for 20 minutes so they could de-ice the plane sitting at our gate . . . instead of just moving it 10 feet so we could get off the plane. . .

But we're home, and safe and we had a great time. That's all that really matters.

The following are a few highlights:

Enjoying time in Tucson. We spent most nights with my mom, and our evenings and days everywhere. This was the combined dinner so everyone could see everyone.

Alisabeth learned about fans for the first time. Being in Idaho she'd never seen a ceiling fan before so they fascinated her the entire trip.

This was Christmas at the Liddeke home. Alisabeth was enamored with the little dogs and spent the afternoon chasing them around just trying to pet them . . . just a little!

All Sonja's grand kids. Alisabeth was less than happy to be included here because there wasn't a parent nearby, but a gentle hand from Sonja kept her in line :)

We had a hard time keeping her out of her presents though. She was spoiled rotten, from letter blocks to bath toys to really cute outfits, she got it all here.

Then it was off to Florida for some good old fashioned fun. Again a new experience for her. She had never played in the leaves before so I raked up a few for her. (notice the clear spot behind us :p)

We also got a great chance to reacquaint ourselves with out cousins. . . second cousins. . . once removed? They were a lot of fun.

Then I got a new camera. It shoots normal pictures, but it also has really cool features like black and white or sepia.

Or you can focus on a specific color and it will highlight this in the pictures, you can even set how sensitive you want it to be. Less means it picks up the color you want within any variation.

Christmas was a blast with tons of people and presents flying everywhere!

Then I learned a new feature on my camera. Changing only one color to match any other color you choose. Suddenly my cousin went from doing okay to winning drastically :)

Alisabeth stole her cousin's new baby for much of the time there and spent a great deal of time giving it the bottle and then taking a sip herself then giving it back again :)

Once we returned to Tucson she learned how to drive . . .

And was even kind enough to offer a ride to her cousin who's older by 2 months but still hasn't mastered this feat.

Jason bought a new B-B Gun and spent a great deal of time perfecting his aim on pigeon butts with his brother Kevin.

For some reason this picture refuses to be the right direction, but it represents our early celebration on Jason's 24th birthday. The old dog. His sister got him an awesome gift! It was a remote control fly. It's pretty darn cool and he's been enjoying it, I got him his present when we got home of new pants.

We got to visit our old landlord in their new house. It was a nice place and Alisabeth loved it immediately. They're really great people.

And let us play Carcassonne with them. It's an addicting board game that I'm hooked on. It's strategy mixed with a healthy dose of luck and skill. I haven't come close to winning yet . . .but one day I'll get it and master it. . . then Guy and Naomi will have to watch out. . . just kidding you guys.

My mom also gave us a Walmart gift card to use for our birthday presents this year, Jason immediately blew his on computer gear. Here is pictured his new router and heat pad for his laptop. Oh what a happy boy he is.

My choices were much more elegant (yeah right). I've been wanting a shower caddy for a long time to get the soaps and junk away from Alisabeth, so I finally got that, and then I got another long-time want, a soap dispenser. It holds up to three types (shampoo/conditioner/body wash) and dispenses with the push of a button :) I was so excited that I got them at 4:00 and they were installed by 5.

Alisabeth also got a bit of a change. She is similar to me and doesn't like to be confined so we decided to try an open bed for her. It's a bit early age-wise I think, but if she can handle it I'm all for it. Last night was her first night and she did great. Today she took two short naps and got up with very little fuss because she could get up without us having to come in and let her out. I think she likes it and I enjoy her being able to do it. We'll have to see if it lasts.

That was our three week vacation in a nutshell. We got to do a lot and enjoyed it all.