Christmas 2008

Merry Christmas!  Ryan and I celebrated Christmas in one of the few places around the county without snow!  Thank God!!!  Christmas Eve was spent in Gold Canyon at Ryan's parent's house.  

Every year we search for the Christmas pickle and this year's proud winner was - ME!  

Christmas Day was spent with my family at our house.  There were 19 people squeezed into our little house since there was rain, but we had a lot of fun!  Here's my super cute niece operating her Super Duper Reindeer Pooper!  

We hope everyone enjoyed their holiday!  We're looking forward to 2009!

KK

:)

Puma Anyone?

I love the comments!  You guys are too funny!  As for the dog, we borrowed Jake - our brother-in-law's dog.  He's a good boy, but has a loud bark!  Gus is not too thrilled, so we think getting a permanent dog is out of the question.  So what's the next logical choice, according to Ryan?  A Puma!  Naturally.  Since Bengal Tigers and Cheetah's are only available through zoo permits, a Puma or Leopard seems like a perfectly reasonable option.  Ryan seems to think we have a Vegas circus/magic act going on at our house.  

Other than that, nothing new to report.  I still don't have a camera (can anyone recommend a good one?) but will send pictures of the Christmas Tree as soon as I get one! Bye for now!

KK

:)

They're Baaaaack!

Guess what!  Our alarm works!  We were able to test it out when someone tried to break in - AGAIN!  My theory (one officer agreed, the other had no opinion) was the thief's "methy" girlfriend came back to get our replacements.  

Our neighbor saw a rather scraggly woman knocking on our door and I saw her leaving when I pulled up to the house.  In my too-much-tv mind, I think she was the girlfriend coming back for more, and was scared off by the alarm.  The officer on duty back in September warned that it may happen again.  Apparently once you know what goods you have and where you stash them, it's much too tempting to leave it be.  So, once the insurance check clears and you replace - they strike again!  

This post is not to scare, but to warn.  In these tough times, people want what you got!  The officer from last night suggested we arm ourselves.  I tried to explain that Ryan and I are the last two people to be trusted with a gun.  We'll see how I feel after round 3...

:)

KK

Update

It's been too long - I know!  It's hard to blog with no camera!

The first big event was the wedding of my college roommate and long-time friend, Sally!  It was in the historic Union Station in Indianapolis.  It was a very fun week and a VERY fun wedding.  Here is the bride and bridesmaids:

Ryan and I made lots of new friends, mostly from Sally's high school:

The other big event was, of course, Thanksgiving.  We went to my Aunt Lynda and Uncle Tom's who hosted a fabulous day!  Here is Julia with her Aunt Kerrie and Uncle Vinnie:

It was a beautiful day, so we got to eat outside.  Here is one of the 4 tables:

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

K&R

Happy Halloween!

You gotta love the time of year when the weather turns cold, the leaves change, and hundreds of children dressed as Spiderman come begging for candy!  Well, here in Phoenix, it's still in the 90's, the cacti are still green, but we do have trick-or-treating!  The Kruse household actually set a record for most candy given out since we've lived there, which was great!  We team up with the neighbors across the street and have cocktails while we pass out candy at the end of our driveways.  Too fun!

The next night, we had a Halloween party.  Lot's of character's showed up! Here are some good ones: 

Hannah Montana, Adam Sandler's best friend in The Wedding Singer, and a Thief (get the irony?)

 

The Birthday Boys: Camile Toe, Hugh Heffner, Don Draper

Hey, hey, hey!  It's the whitest Fat Albert you've ever seen!  (Notice Easy E and the Ceiling Fan in the background!)

Vegas, baby, Vegas!

It was our (now) annual pilgrimage to sunny Las Vegas for a little R&R, ice cold beverages, and of course, Jimmy Buffett! Here is a picture of our whole group (minus 2):


Pretty good following! Kudos to the Boos family for starting a mighty fine tradition and allowing other Parrot Heads to join! Speaking of Parrot Heads, anyone ever guess they'd see Diep in this get-up?!

We LOVE it and think this is a look you should sport more often, Diep!

Another good get-up (there were far too many to showcase them all) was this little ditty. While the Kruse's are not publicly endorsing or denouncing any candidate, we found this funny either way...

That's all for now! As Jimmy would say, "Its a jungle out there kiddies, have a very fruitful day".

K&R

Pumpkin Patch

Fall is officially here!  My cousins from Vermont came into town this weekend with their 11 week old baby, Will.  We packed up the troops and headed over to Schnepf Farms to kick Autumn into high gear!

Here is my sister and niece:

Here's Will's first train ride:

Unfortunately, I had to leave early, so I missed the Beer Garden.  Oh well - there's always next year!

Still No Camera

I've been waiting to blog with pictures, but since my camera is gone and I can't seem to get the pics I took with my mom's camera downloaded, we'll have to sans the photos!

Ryan and I spent the weekend campaigning for the PV Schools Overrides.  My good husband stood outside a high school football game Friday Night holding a sign, exploiting himself.  Good Man!!!  I came to the conclusion after our Friday Night Lights experience that I am a big, huge, prude.  When did girls start wearing shorts that are the equivalent of bikini bottoms and high schoolers begin drinking their "Powerade" right in front of adults?  Ryan told me that it reminded him of his glory days, but I apparently missed out at my high school!

Hopefully my next entry will come with pictures! We finished our insurance claim so cross your fingers for a check!

Gus' first Cashmere

The Three Dog Bakery is going out of business and we got a steal on a sweater for Gus. You can't beat cashmere at 60% off, and since he is a Kruse, he needs an argyle sweater for golfing on brisk days. These pictures were taken with my crappy camera phone, but you can see how the blue really brings out his eyes...

The Big Break (In)

We were robbed! No - we didn't not place in America's Got Talent, we were actually robbed. Yesterday someone broke into our house and stole our watches, my jewelry (including my engagement ring), my camera, and other small items. So while I can't show pictures of our ransacked bedrooms, I will tell you - we are PISSED! Apparently the guy took Ryan's business credit card and bought gas, a necklace at a jewelry store (to go with the beautiful new ring he recently acquired), and stuff at Wal-Mart. Good thing he's not that bright because they have him on surveillance videos at the jewelry store and Wal-Mart. Apparently he's 5'6"ish, heavy-set, has long, dark, curly hair he wears in a ponytail, and drives a late 80's white Camero. Be warned Camero drivers with bad hair - the Kruse's are on the look-out! We'll keep you posted...

Side Note: After dealing with my car accident and this I must say that the Phoenix Police Department has really proven themselves to be top-notch! We are so grateful to have them on our side!

Better Late Than Never...

I know, I know!  It's been WAAAAY too long since I've updated this!  Surprisingly, not that much has happened.  The best thing has been our trip to Albuquerque to visit our friends, Jamie and Dave.  The weather was great - the sun shined, the rain poured, the wind blew, the temperatures were chilly at night, perfect during the day! What more could a Phoenician want at the end of an Arizona summer?!  We got to play cards, grill out, and golf!

Next post will be much quicker, I promise!!!

KK

:)

Opening Ceremony

Last Friday was the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics and we celebrated with an international potluck.  Here are Ryan and I as the host country, China!

There were lots of other countries represented - here are Italy, Belgium, and Poland:

Gus won the gold in cuteness!

Summer's Over

It's official! Summer has come to an end for one Kruse. I went back to school today! It's almost a welcomed relief to have a schedule once again, not have an excuse to do nothing but eat and drink once again, and start my annual countdown until school's out once again!

The other Kruse refuses to give up! Ryan has one more golf tournament scheduled in Fort Wayne next week. Though he didn't win any trophies on his last 2 visits, we're very optimistic for a win. (Not an actual trophy to store for reliving glory days when we're 80, but a win!)

I just can't seem to keep my nieces off this blog. First Ava's surgery and now Julia's first stitches.









I love this child dearly, but my first reaction was to bust out laughing. She ran into a door at day care. This probably wouldn't have been quite as funny if I hadn't seen her run down a hallway earlier in the week and simply forget to stop, throwing herself into the door at the end of the hall.

Other than that, nothing exciting to report. Ryan's been out of town for most of the summer. He went to play in golf tournaments back in Indiana. So in the mean time, I've just been hanging out, steering clear of public transportation. Hopefully more to report next week!
:)

Weekend Events

Well, there is really no easy way to describe my Saturday but to just come out and say it.  I t-boned a City of Phoenix bus yesterday afternoon.  Thank God no one was hurt and everyone involved was super nice about it.  Especially since it was my fault (which Ryan, along with everyone else told me to NEVER admit again, should I ever find myself in this predicament).

Other than that, we had a pretty tame weekend.  Friday morning was spent at Chuck E Cheese for me and work for Ryan.  Here's a picture of my cute nieces enjoying a ride: 

That night after Ryan put in a long, hard day, I welcomed him home with a nice dinner and a game of Monopoly.  I schooled him.  Hard.  Gus was the banker and did a very good job.

Then he was over it..

.

Saturday morning, I woke up early and met my sister, mom, and two nieces at the zoo.  They had snow trucked in for the kiddos.  So funny to think that these kids think that's what real snow is like!

In the afternoon, Ryan golfed and I provided sheer terror on the road.  Again - thank God no one was hurt.   Today my parents came up and lent me their third car.  Generous - yes.  Smart - we'll have to see.  Hopefully I won't slam it in to the light rail.  I think people might start thinking I have a thing against public transportation!

Ava

For those of you who have been praying for/thinking of Ava, our niece, she had her kidney surgery yesterday and all the positive energy was well received!  She did great and is already recovering nicely at home.  Here she is in her beautiful new gown!

 I felt a need to document her trauma.  I know we'll be talking about this to her when she's 16 and the poor girl won't even have a scar to show off!  Julia is being an excellent big sister and is helping tend to Ava's "owie".  What can we say - Ryan and I have the best nieces!  We're so proud of them!  Thanks for everyone's support for Ava's speedy recovery!

Phoebe lost the battle with her tumor today.  Though her body wasn't able to recover, her spirits never diminished.  She was a special kitty, friend, and sister who left to join her sister, Addy, whom we lost earlier in the year.  As you all know, our kitties are our family (yes, even Ryan agrees!) and these losses have been really hard this year.  Gus is doing his best to remind us that while we are hurting now, nothing could ever replace or lessen the immense love we felt from Phoebe and Addy over the last 13 years.  

Phoebe Guernsey May 19, 1995- June 17, 2008

Phoebe lost her battle with her tumor today.  Though her body 

Last night was the 2nd annual Mitch Comstein Night Golf Classic!  It was definitely as fun as last year and we already can't wait for the 3rd annual Tourney!  Our foursome was myself, Ryan, John, and Paul.  I must say, the boys had excellent cart-buddies and Paul and John had top notch caddies!

Lots had been going on around here.  First off, we got some sad news last week.  It turns out Phoebe has a tumor in her colon that can't be treated.  We are being very positive and keeping her comfortable.  She is actually in great spirits and has been her usual sweet self.  Just a little slower and more lethargic. Here is Gus giving his his sister a big hug!

Gus also learned about candles last week.  He now has curly wiskers from the flames...

Ryan and got back from Italy and finally got over our jet lag!  The trip was amazing.  We have over 350 pictures and figure you only want to see the highlights.  So here's a shortened diary of our time:

Friday: Ryan and I took off with no checked luggage.  Compared to the Mexico vacation, where we took half our house, this was some what challenging. I'm guessing it was more challenging for the people who had to sit next to me on the plane coming home! 

Saturday: We got into Milan, took a train down to Florence, and arrived in my favorite city from our trip.  Michael and Erica were nice enough to let us crash in their honeymoon pad, which had a kitchen, living room, dining room, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, etc, etc, etc.  Nothing could top the view, though.  It is located in the middle of Piazza Del Signoria, which is the Times Square of Florence.  The apartment is the 3 windows with the original 15th century bust in the middle.  The other picture is the view from our living room. 

Saturday-Sunday: Pictures from Florence!

Monday: The whole wedding crew met at the Florence Train Station and we rented 5 cars to drive down to the Chianti Region.  Ryan thinks Florence is super easy to navigate and highly recommends renting a car there.  (Or maybe not...)  After Ryan finished touring every city street, he picked up me, Dani's grandparents and brother and we headed down!  The place we stayed was a working vineyard that had rooms/apartments for the entire wedding crew.  It was beautiful and it looked like it was straight out of a movie.  

Tuesday:  Erica, Michael, Ryan, and I took the car around the Tuscany (a couple times) to taste wine and find yummy cheese!  The boys started out driving (hence the multiple trips around the region!).  It didn't last. Once the girls took over the wheel we found amazing wine with amazing food.  

Wednesday: We spent the morning in Siena and the afternoon in San Gimignano.  They were really cool cities.  Here are some pics of what we loved best...

Thursday: WEDDING DAY!!!!  Dani and Ryan made it official in a great ceremony that was held in the City Hall.  (Does the outside of the hall look familiar?) The ceremony was great and the reception was almost surreal.  That kind of setting can really stop you in your tracks. It was a great day!  (Also, it was Ryan's 31st birthday.  I'd say it was a memorable one!)

Friday and Saturday:  We went to Cinque Terre to hike off all the wine and cheese we had in Chianti.  This was a picturesque place comprised of 5 hillside towns along the Italian Riviera.  They are connected by a hiking trail that took us about 4 hours to complete. 

Sunday and Monday:  To quote Dani, "Don't you love being in love in Venice?".  Venice certainly has it's romantic qualities.  Sunsets over the Grand Canal, Gondola rides, music in St. Mark's Square.  It's all very romantic and was the perfect last stop on our trip. 

Tuesday: One last view from the plane. This trip was one of kind.  Great food, great views, and great friends!  

KK

:)