Welcome to our homepage live from beautiful Fort Mojave, Arizona, where it's beautiful in the winter but hotter than you know what in the summer!
October, 2008: Fort Mojave
Fall has actually arrived in our neck of Arizona, as indicated by the chilly mornings (high 50's/low 60's). You know you live in the desert when the temps drop into the 50's and you see nothing wrong with opening up all of the windows and then burning a fire in the fireplace!
We've all been keeping busy with our school and work activities, although we did enjoy our fall break. This year we decided to simply stay home and complete a few projects. The good news: We got quite a bit done. The bad news: We ran out of money real quick for those "extra" projects! We capped our week's "vacation" with a birthday BBQ for Whitney and Sydney. Both sets of (grand)parents were able to attend, as well as our neighbor's extended family (our adoptive family from across the street). In addition to the family event, Sydney had a sleepover with eight of her closest friends. They all seemed to enjoy themseleves, and the rest of the family survived being invaded by a pack of "tweens".
The biggest update has to be that Ellyse acquired her driving permit at the end of September. Fortunately, her busy schedule has kept her from being able to practice much, so both mom and dad still have all their hair and we've had no visits to the body shop. It's amazing to think that she's already that age...
Cristy's company continues to reinvent itself, which keeps Cristy hopping from one project to the next. The most recent development is that her general manager has assumed responsibility for both the Tropicana Express and their sister property across the street, River Palms. The new corporate management team seems to be fairly progressive, and Cristy continues to enjoy the challenges.
Whitney is keeping busy with his work. In addition, his dissertation is slowly grinding- not so much on his part; apparelty his committee hasn't been the quickest responding to reviewing his first three chapters. Even though they were mailed the first of August, he still has one professor who just responded a week ago asking for another copy, and a second who hasn't responded yet at all. Needless to say, now that Whitney's motivated to get things finished up, his professors aren't in the same mood, and that's driving him crazy!
All else is calm here on the western front of Arizona. Thanksgiving will find the family coming to our house, while Christmas plans seem to be forming in Scottsdale (mainly because Ellyse and Sydney want to attend the Reabe's annual Chirstmas Eve party). In the meantime, if you happen to be in our neck of the woods, the guest room is always open (and currently being redecorated). Stop in for a while and visit!
The girls on their first day of 10th and 6th grade, respectively.