Kelly and Ami

New Blog Site

2010-01-15T21:41:00.002-07:00

Visit our brand new family blog site:

http://thekronfamily.blogspot.com/

and baby makes 3!

2009-09-30T14:32:00.005-07:00

We have never been much for displaying pictures of ourselves on our walls inside our home, but with Chloe joining us--we are officially a "family" instead of just a "couple" so we figured there were some things we wanted to put up. We started with an empty wall and after 2 years of marriage-finally hung up our Ketubah.
We then surrounded it with pictures from our Wedding and of course Chloe's newborn and 3 month pictures.

We have a little adjusting to do on the spacing and one picture that is crooked, but I'm sure we will be changing out some of the pictures when Chloe get's her 6 month pictures-so we'll do it then.

And with this post--I'm officially marking the end of this blogging journey. I started this blog after our wedding about 2 years ago to keep in touch with everyone and have always been looking for a way to save the memories and blog entries. I finally have found a couple of services that take your blog and publish into a book. So that is what I will do. It seems fitting at this point to start a family blog--so stay tuned. Don't worry Chloe's blog isn't going anywhere so you can always stay up to date on her adventures.

Adios Amigos!

It's Football Time

2009-09-30T14:21:00.002-07:00

The fall is always so busy with football. We are in our 4th year (I'm almost starting to lose track--it may be 5 or 3 who knows) of our tailgating tradition and so far so good. We were lucky that we only had 2 home games in September-unlike previous years where we had 4 home games in a row right from the start of the season. Both were night games and the weather seemed to cooperate, but this week we have a 4:30pm game time and our seats are on the sunny side. We'll through on the sunscreen and bring the mister squeeze bottle. Luckily the forcast is only calling for a high of 90. What a difference our games are from all those people in the midwest watching college football with their hats and scarves. As far as the team goes--our expectations are not high this year, which almost makes it better as we aren't so stressed out about each game. When we go undefeated for 5 or 6 games--the pressure sometimes to keep winning is so stressful--and we are just watching the game. Conference play starts this week and the Pac-10 is wide open with USC and Cal both losing already. Go Devils!
Tailgating Ladies--Kat, Laura, Marissa, Jan, Me, Caryn, Beth, & Chrissy!

Hello Cupcake!

2009-09-27T08:23:00.007-07:00

I recently picked up this book. It is full of great cupcake ideas and supposedly they are easy. The book says no special equipment is needed and most of the recipes are from a box of cake mix and a can of store bought frosting. Now that I'm a mom--I figured baking cool cakes is something should be good at doing. You may recall my fabulous football cake from a few years ago. So this time using the techniques in the book--I attempted football cupcakes. I started with a regular french vanilla cake mix, but substituted 1 cup buttermilk in place of the water and 4 eggs instead of how many the box called for. It really did create a light and fluffy cupcake in which I then decorated like a football in honor of Ami's fantasy football draft. Not bad for my first try--but I do need to work on my piping skills.

Welcome to your 30's Marissa.

2009-09-14T21:59:00.003-07:00

Our dear friend Marissa finally turned 30 earlier this month and celebrated with a great party. The Birthday Girl surrounded by her girls.
We all got the black and white memo...didn't you?

Wine Time!

Yes we finished that whole bottle.

Wow! What a Cake.

Happy Birthday Marissa!

Grown up time!

2009-08-18T14:21:00.007-07:00

We survived our first weekend away from Chloe. It was hard to leave her, but she was in good hands with Nana and Grandpa Kron. The occasion was Ami's birthday and we did our annual summer trip to Vegas. The weather was surprisingly awesome--probably about 10 degrees cooler that Phoenix and a nice breaze.

The weekend started out at Joe's Stone Crab where we enjoyed Stone Crab Claws, amazing crab cakes and parmesan crusted halibut. Our sweet ride for the weekend--NOT!
We then went to the Foundation Room at the top of Mandalay Bay--what a great view of the strip.Met up with some friends. Beth and Ami met Cab Calloway
Went to the ice bar--pics of that to come...

And that was just Friday night.

On Saturday--we enjoyed Chicken and Waffles at Bouchon inside the Venetian. Then walked the strip to see Encore. Gambled a little bit and then it was time to eat again.

We enjoyed some drinks and listened to a fabulously bad dualing piano group.

And had an amazing dinner at CarneVino.

We ended the night at Rain with some horrible techno music and wierd creatures.
But now we have a great reason to come home--Chloe's beautiful smiling face!

Baby Crazy

2009-08-11T19:07:00.005-07:00

So everyone knows that we had a baby and luckily we aren't the only ones with the baby bug. Robyn and I used to work together and I have spent the last couple of weeks with her at the mall trying to walk her into labor--Here she is (about a week past her due date) trying anything to convince baby Noah to come out.

Speaking of baby Noahs...

Our great friends Jon and Nicole had a little Noah of their own not too long ago. I just love his orange going home outfit.

And even though it seems like everyone is having boys---My friend Teresa welcomed her second--Baby Emily.

It has been a summer of babies... and we have more friends with little buns in the ovens--Chloe will have alot of friends to play with.

Wii are getting Fit!

2009-08-03T20:12:00.005-07:00

After gaining 51 pounds being pregnant with Chloe, I'm happy to say I'm down 34 pounds and have 17 more to lose. My workout routine consists of trying to wake up at 5:30am to go running before Ami leaves for work and before it is too freaking hot out. At 6 in the morning, it is in the 80's which is actually quite nice. Its pretty funny because in a few months--85 degrees will be too hot to run in and I'll welcome the 65 degree running temps. I don't always make it as Chloe wakes up anywhere from 4:30-6:30 and wants to eat. I haven't been able to do any long runs and this morning I only had time for my quick 1.7 mile loop which takes me about 20 minutes -hopefully I'll be able to get some longer runs in as my goal is to run the Las Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon in December and I need to start my official training ASAP. I may opt for the half, but we'll see. I am also doing yoga again and am trying to get to my favorite studio, Inner Vision, at least once a week and I actually have been doing yoga at home to Fit TV's Namaste Yoga TV Show and my wonderful Shiva Rea CD.

We are also enjoying our Wii--and I do the Wii Fit pretty often. It is really fun and I've learned how to pair the exercises to actually give me a pretty good work out--We also got the Wii Sports Resort and recently had Bryar and Greg over for some dinner and game night fun. We enjoyed sword fighting, canoeing, archery, and wake boarding.

Greg, the Daddy-to-be, practicing his Daddy skills--notice Chloe's drool all over her onsie.

Time to wake board.

The Canoeing Challenge.

Mazel Tov to Ami!

2009-07-26T19:53:00.002-07:00

I am very proud of Ami as he has just been promoted to a new position at Insight as a Senior Sales Manger of the West Region for Emerging Business Sales. basically that means he went from running one sales team to running a division that has four sales teams. Ami has worked there for almost 10 years--not really long enough to earn the gold watch, but I'm hoping he just gets a new flat panel TV or at least brings home a few more turkey breasts.

My New Life

2009-07-26T19:49:00.002-07:00

Old Friend--New Blog

2009-07-21T16:54:00.004-07:00

So if facebook is good for anything at all--it has reunited me with some friends that I lost touch with somewhere along the way. One of those is my old friend Jess and she has recently started a new blog. http://www.thewifeofanartist.blogspot.com/
I love it and she has proven to be much more creative than I am. We were great friends in high school and now she is city girl in San Fran while I'm a mom in the suburbs--but it is amazing the similarities that we still managed to have even after all this time--we both ended up running marathons even though we never ran in high school, we both obviously like blogging and both want to be aspiring chefs (just wait--Kron's Kitchen will be a huge internet sensation one day)--I don't even hold it against her that she went to school at the U of A. (well maybe a little bit-but not enough to write something rude about it).

So I've been reading her blog and truely love the style of it and so I'm trying to think about what to do about mine...now that Chloe is here. These are my choices.

1. One family blog

2. Keep it the way it is with the Kelly and Ami blog and the Chloe blog

3. Have a family blog and some other creative sort of blog to write about my inner most feelings and random stuff.

I'm leaning toward having a family blog and then some sort of Kelly one- but I really like what I've done with Chloe's blog and hate for it to be lost--so I might start experimenting with different topics and perhaps I will become a famous blogger in the next 6 weeks so I don't have to go back to my real job.

Enjoy these pics of Jessica and I back in the day.

Prom 1995--I still have this dress and one day I will fit in it again.
Jess and I--she was my original Ski Bunny friend--here we are in Durango on an alpine ski trip circa 1993 or 1994. Believe it or not Ami and I were probably on this mountain at the same time and never knew it--perhaps we even bumped into each other or saw each other while in line for a bowl of chili and hot coco.

A random picture I found--I think perhaps a birthday party.

Who didn't love high school buddy pictures--I love our coordinating outfits--down to the scrunchie on our wrists.

Our Staycation.

2009-07-19T17:22:00.005-07:00

One of the advantages of living in AZ in the summer is the discounts at our awesome resorts. I mean who in their right mind would visit Phoenix in July. While these resorts are often $400 a night in the winter months-they are super cheap in the summer. For us, really cheap, as we stayed two nights at the Arizona Grand Resort curtesy of Insight. Ami had a work event there this weekend and so it was the perfect for Chloe's first night away from home and a nice get-a-way for us as well. The Arizona Grand Resort is the old Pointe South Mountain--which leads me to another thought--Why all the name changes--when you say "We went to the Arizona Grand" people say "Where is that" and then you say "Oh you know--the Pointe South Mountain--they just changed the name" Same with Squaw Peak--does anyone say "We hiked Piestawa Peak this past weekend--probably not" Anyways we had a great time of dinners and lounging by the pool.

Chloe did great on her first nights away from home--for those how can't get enough Chloe pics--check out her blog!!

If Ami was Kelly and vice versa....

2009-07-16T19:28:00.005-07:00

This is just plain out wierd... but one of Ami's co-workers was having some photoshop fun.The original picture

Fabulous 4th

2009-07-05T15:19:00.003-07:00

Thank you to our friends Mike and Marissa for hosting a 4th of July BBQ and for letting us take advantage of their pool on this hot hot day!We had a few fireworks of our own! Kelly and Marissa having fun with sparklers.
Deep thinking from the boys about what it means to be an american while enjoying a patriotic pie

So what did you do on your summer vacay?

2009-06-29T11:23:00.003-07:00

What do you do on your summer vacation (aka Maternity Leave) with an infant in 110 degree heat? While our friends are out and about traveling in Europe or at least to San Diego--we are catching up on some of our favorite shows.

Weeds: If you don't have Showtime, maybe you don't know about this show-but you should. We don't have Showtime either but heard that this is a show you have to watch and have been renting the seasons from our handy Blockbuster Online membership. For a 30 minute sitcom (if that even is what it is) it is great--Kevin Nealon might be one of the best parts of the show, but the rest of the cast deserves credit as well. For those of you who don't know--it is about a widowed mother of 2 boys who resorts to selling pot in her upper class suburban neighborhood to make ends meet--needless to say there are alot of conflicts that arise. Check it out--it is a must see show.

Big Love: This show is on HBO--which we do get, but have had the episodes from the last season DVR'd for several months. Who knew a show about Polygamy could be so interesting. Sometimes this show annoys Ami --as he put it--"sometimes its just a whole hour of women arguing" But it is really more than that and you really do start to like the characters. And an added bonus--the daughter on the show wants to go to ASU--just the kind of publicity ASU needs

First Father's Day!

2009-06-21T17:47:00.005-07:00

We celebrated Ami's first Father's Day today with a trip to his parents house. Some really suprising things happened.First Ami was awarded Father of the Year--even though he's only been a father for 3 1/2 weeks. He definately deserves this honor as on our way home from his parents house, the car started to make a funny noise--Yup-a flat tire on the freeway in 100 degree heat with a newborn in the car. We managed to pull into a gas station where I am very proud to say Ami changed the tire. I really wanted to take pictures for blogging sake but was afraid to make him mad--especially after I made a comment about finding a "real" man to help him. I felt really bad about it-but he showed me and before I knew it we were on the road again with the spare. He even took my car up to Wal-Mart to get a new tire--I guess it was father's day initation. I am so proud of him--he is definately my father of the year!

And finally--again because I have no patience-I keep checking the photographers website to see if she has posted any more of Chloe's pictures from her photo shoot and was so excited to see her blog about father's day and used this picture of Chloe and Ami. I don't know if you can tell but Chloe is screaming her head off and Ami is trying to calm her with his kisses.

4 Generations

2009-06-21T17:42:00.003-07:00

We visited with Ami's family for his grandma's birthday --here are 4 generations of the Fischer Family.
Kfir, Anna, Ami, Elizabeth, Baby Chloe, and Jacob.

Alex thinks he's the baby!

2009-06-21T17:29:00.003-07:00

Our cats Alex and Lexi have had a few weeks to adjust to their new "roomate" Chloe. Their first reaction is to completely ignore her, but lately Alex has been getting brave and been fighting for our attention.

He thinks all the gifts are for him.

He wants his share of cuddle time.He just loves the new vibrating chair he thinks we bought for him.

And he wants to go for walks in the stroller.

Can't get vampires out of my head!

2009-06-10T13:28:00.004-07:00

So as I felt with The DiVinci Code--Am I the last person to read this book or what! I'm reading it now while I feed Chloe and can't wait for her next feeding so I can read some more. I have a strange sensation to watch Interview with a Vampire Again as well--How is it that vampires can be so romantic?

Like Sands through the Hourglass....

2009-06-02T20:50:00.006-07:00

Excuse the corny Days of our Lives reference...but we are so happy to have achieved so many of life's milestones together.

First, graduating from college together. Then, our wedding.

And now the birth of our first child--a beautiful baby girl Chloe Sarai.

We are so thankful for a beautiful and healthy baby girl and look forward to all the adventures that parenting has to offer.

We've debated about having just one family blog, or keeping one for us and one for Chloe---I like having both as it helps me to keep my thoughts separate, so for now we are keeping the 2 blogs. I hope everyone enjoys them as much as we like updating them.

Memorial Movie Madness Weekend

2009-05-25T10:17:00.003-07:00

While waiting to become parents this weekend--we have been filling our time with movies... it doesn't make for the most exciting weekend--but at least it preoccupied our time and got our mind off waiting for the baby for a few hours.

We decided to see Star Trek and Terminator--both prequals to which I have not seen the rest of the movies --I mean everyone knows a little about Star Trek and Terminator--and I take that back as I have seen the Star Trek movie with the whales-- but regardless they were both entertaining and I would recommend them.

We also saw Angels and Demons--It was a fun movie, especially since we were just in Rome last year. I tried to re-read the book before the movie came out--but only got through half of it. The beginning of the movie and the beginning of the book---way different--but a very fun movie. I even think I liked it better than the DiVinci Code.

This summer may consist of alot of movies at home....that is if this little one ever decides to join us!!!

Makes us proud to be a Sun Devil!

2009-05-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Arizona State Snubs Obama

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Mothers Day Then & Now

2009-05-10T20:11:00.008-07:00

This year for Mother's Day--Ami and I took our Moms back to the Botanical Garden to see a concert with Esteban. We first saw him there in concert in 2005 and this year did not dissapoint. Here are some then and now photos-- Boy what a difference 4 years makes!

2005

2009

2005

2009

Esteban with his daughter.

Before the concert--we had brunch with Ami's Grandma and Brother at Top of the Rock at the Buttes in Tempe.

Yom HaShoah

2009-05-10T20:04:00.003-07:00

Yom HaShoah is the Jewish Holocaust Rememberance Day. Every year we attend a local ceremony held by the Phoenix Holocaust Survivors Association honoring the survivors here in Phoenix including Ami's Grandma.

Elizabeth and her two grandsons--Ami & Kfir.

Trip Down Memory Lane

2009-05-02T21:37:00.007-07:00

Not that I remember the time when most of these pictures were taken. My Aunt Linda must be doing some spring cleaning because she sent me two envelopes full of old pictures.

May 1980: My Grandma (Dad's Mom), My mom with her Dorothy Hamil Hairdo, Bryan about 1 year old , and me practicing my pole dancing.

Or Maybe it is the Bruce Jenner hairdo???

Little Bryan on Grandpa Brock's Boat---I think he is a little young to be driving--don't ya think.

December 1977: 4 Generations of Darlings--Great Grandma "Mom-Mom", Grandpa, my Dad, and Me

October 1981: Blowing out the candles on my cookie monster cake on my 5th Birthday.

Me with Grandpa Gilmore with Grandpa Brock in the background.

I don't know when or where this was taken--I guess this is proof that little girls start dreaming of their wedding day from very early on.

Grande Decaf Cappuccino Anyone!

2009-04-29T17:56:00.007-07:00

After traveling in Europe last summer, Ami and I have been wanting an espresso machine so that we could make it at home. Ami devised a great plan and a few weeks ago we actually purchased one. Ami had been hoarding Starbucks Gift Cards that he gets at work and after he had about 50 --$5 gift cards--we took them into the Starbucks (where the baristas instantly hated us) and purchased one. Above is my first attempt at a hot Cappuccino--with foam and everything. I have no idea why the picture is sideways--but I couldn't flip it for some reason. It is much harder than I thought to make one and so far it takes me about 15 minutes to make just one. But it is well worth the wait.

Mr. & Mrs. Maroon & Gold

2009-04-29T17:15:00.002-07:00

Ok--so not quite--but our picture did make it into last month's Maroon & Gold Illustrated. Ok so maybe the person who puts the pictures in there is my old flagline captain--but hey- we'll show off our Sun Devil Pride anytime!!! Go Devils.

Caryn & Rob's Wedding

2009-04-13T20:31:00.003-07:00

Wedding Bells were ringing for our fellow Sun Devil Loving and Lost Watching friends Caryn and Rob. Once again another love story that spans the years and ends in a wonderful ceremony at the Desert Botanical Garden on April 4th. We wish them a lifetime of happines.

The happy couple. The girls --Ami loves switching to Black and White.

The Guys And Us--I hope to never be pregnant again at a wedding--finding a dress is impossible.

Art We Love

2009-04-13T16:51:00.003-07:00

Every once and a while Ami and I stumble across an artist we really like. In San Francisco one year we stumbled across Peter Lik's Gallery and fell in love with his photography. While we could only afford to purchase 2 prints--Peter Lik was actually in the gallery and signed them for us. He doesn't have the gallery in San Fran anymore, but does have a few in Vegas that we have visited. I tried to find my favorite image of his online--I belive Steven Tyler from Areosmith owns it, but here is one of the signed prints we have in our living room.

A few weekends ago--we went to the Tempe Arts Festival and stumbled across another artist that we really liked--Smadar Livine. She is actually and Israeli born artist, living here in the US and had several awesome pieces. Here is one called the Tree of Life.

Play me a song piano man!

2009-04-07T17:54:00.003-07:00

On March 26th, Ami called me at work and said,"Do you want to go to the Elton John & Billy Joel concert?" To be honest I was indifferent, but Ami managed to get some tickets in a suite through his work and I'm so glad we went. The show started with pianos on the stage and they alternated between Elton John songs and Billy Joel songs--each singing a little bit, then Elton took the stage solo, followed by Billy, then they joined back up. It was an amazing concert!! We even saw Muhammed Ali--who was sitting in the suite next to us.

Ami's New Friend

2009-03-29T21:11:00.002-07:00

Ami and his new BFF Bilbo!

Spring Training

2009-03-29T21:00:00.003-07:00

There is so many things we take for granted by living in Phoenix--300+ days of sunshine a year, our beautiful northern Arizona forests, and Spring Training.

We usually go to one or two games a year--mostly thanks to our friend Eric who is a huge Angels fans and always makes the plans. But this year the Dodgers moved to Glendale for Spring Training, and we actually played hooky from work and went to the Dodgers-Cubs game on St. Patrick's Day (which is a big game day because the teams wore green hats). It is amazing how many people were there in the middle of the day on a Tuesday. The Dodgers share a facility with the White Sox and it is all the way across town--practically in California--but it was a great day. Ami's friend Mike and his girlfriend came down from Vegas and went to the game with us. I don't know if we'll make it to any more games this season, but it is definately something we need to do more of in the up coming years.

Well this is a first....

2009-03-28T16:41:00.003-07:00

So what do you do when you get a notice that a sex offender has moved into your neighborhood... Well we got that notice not too long ago. He lives about 2 streets away and was convicted of attemped kidnapping and after violating the terms of his probation, he was sentenced to seven years in jail and parole. His victim was a juvenile female acquaitance.........This is him..

I went the website--www.azsexoffender.com and there is a bunch of information. I guess I'll just have this information and hope he keeps to himself. Now that we are going to be parents I guess what is on my mind is how you would discuss this with your kids......

10 Week Restaurant Tour

2009-03-16T19:55:00.009-07:00

With 10 weeks before the baby is scheduled to arrive--we are trying to hit up all the restaurants we won't be able to go to with an infant. Last weekend we visited Latitude Eight Thai Grill in Downtown Chandler. Downtown Chandler has opened up some great little places and this is one of them. It is small and cozy inside with a nice modern twist on Thai Food. We had pineapple fried rice and and Red Curry--Yum.

This weekend we went with a co-worker of Ami's and his wife to Mastro's Ocean Club. Let's just say there was no recession in this place. We went because Ami and Fred received a gift certificate from work and after we almost ordered a $300 seafood tower--but we were quite happy with the smaller version pictured below.

Next up we are going with our friends Greg and Bryar to Cork.....Can't wait.

Dickheads!

2009-03-10T20:55:00.002-07:00

Hello - it's Ami.
It's not often I find something that makes me want to contribute a blog entry.
This, however, is worth sharing.
Anyone else find the design of this Target gift card odd ?

More Blogging Friends

2009-03-08T20:20:00.004-07:00

More and more friends are joining the blogging world--This time the Fine Family--Jeff, Audrey, and little Gavin. http://www.myfinefamily.blogspot.com/. Jeff has been a friend of ours since college and they live just around the corner from us. Audry also has a baby boutique online store called Inky Binky Baby and has some really cute stuff that she has designed--I've linked them both at the side bar--check it out.

R.I.P. U of A Basketball

2009-02-24T21:37:00.003-07:00

The times are a changing and ASU has just swept the U two years in a row!!! As Wildcats everywhere make excuses---4-0 in the past 2 years speaks for itself.

Ami purchased season tickets this year for ASU basketball and I go when I can. But last Sunday's game was not to be missed.

The students lined up hours before the game.

Laura and our token U of A friend--Al.
Derek Glasser sealing the deal.

Scoreboard!

Yay! Go Devils!--this one might make the 2009 Holiday Card.

Our Sedona Babymoon

2009-02-24T21:17:00.005-07:00

1 part Valentine's Day Gift, 1 part Anniversary Gift, 1 part last weekend away alone together just the two of us. We spend the weekend in beautiful Sedona. We stayed at the Sedona Hilton Spa and yes, we took advantage of the spa services. We also found time to enjoy the spiritual energy of the Red Rocks and Oak Creek.

On our way back home we stopped in Camp Verde and went to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park.
One of the neat things about this park is that we got to see them feed the animals. Here they are throwing large chunks of meat to the lions.

And yes, we got to feed the Noomba the Giraffe.

Our Second Anniversary

2009-02-24T20:25:00.004-07:00

Last week on the 17th, Ami and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary. I thought I'd go back and take a look at some of our engagement photos.

Here we are having a little bit of fun down at Tempe Town Lake. It is amazing that when Ami and I first met--Tempe Town Lake didn't even exhist.

On the campus of Arizona State-Our Alma Matter--reading the State Press--just like old times.

Having a little bit of fun in the backseat!

I think this one was our favorite of our engagement photos.

Showing off our engagement keepsakes--My engagement ring and Ami's watch.

Kron Family Pizza Night

2009-02-15T14:14:00.007-07:00

A few weeks ago we attended a cooking class at Sweet Basil--the topic was pizzas. We made some incredible pizzas that day including a butter nut squash pizza topped with maple chicken and a cranberry chutney. We then purchased a pizza stone and pizza peel and are making gourmet pizzas at home like pros--well almost.

Our first pizza-I like to call in our veggie co-op pizza, because we made it all from veggies we got in our veggie co-op. It was a tomato sauce with mozzerella cheese, spinach, roasted corn, zucchini, and mushrooms. It wasn't quite round and actually turned out heart shaped, but was delicious!

Our second pizza turned out a little rounder and was a pesto pizza topped with fresh mozzarella and gouda, with garlic confit, sun dried tomatoes, and salami.

We hope to have a dinner pizza party soon and make all sorts of yummy varieties!

Gavin turns 1!

2009-02-12T20:34:00.006-07:00

Little Gavin is the son of our friend's Jeff and Audrey. I'm sure he will have several playdates with our little girl (pulling the heads off her dolls and trying to get her to play rock band with him)once she arrives as they live in the neighborhood behind ours. He had a rockstar themed party--minus the drugs, sex, and rock n'roll.

What a Cake

How do I eat this thing?

Mike looks like he's ready for one of his own!

Proud Mama!

Super Bowl

2009-02-08T20:38:00.004-07:00

Well, we didn't quite have the ending we were hoping for. But there was no denying that this year's Super Bowl was a good game. While Ami and I aren't exactly the biggest cardinals fans. We were rooting for them and at the end when it looked as if they just might do it--everyone was going crazy.. then 2 minutes later--oh well--maybe in another 20 years or so..

Watching in suspense!

A packed house to watch the big game!

Kfir's Cardinal Cake!

Smile Books =)

2009-02-07T02:24:00.003-07:00

www.smilebooks.com

Ami and I wanted to do something special with all of our summer vacation photos and I found this great company called Smile Books. I had looked at various services that allow you to put your photos together in a book and Smile Books was the best. Basically you download their software for free--choose which type of book you want (size, shape, cover type) and then organize your photos. The software didn't come with great instructions, but once you played around with it--you get the hang of how it works. Then when you are ready--you transfer the file to them and pay of course. We received our book in the mail in about 10 days and it turned out awesome. Our book was a hard cover with photos on the front and back and about 42 pages long and cost about $65.00. Not really a bad price when you think about the cost of developing all those photos and then either buying a photo album or making a scrapbook. Check it out--it is a great way to create memories with your digital pics.

Random Thoughts and Pics

2009-02-07T02:05:00.006-07:00

We have 2 weddings this year--First up is Caryn's on April 4th. All the ladies thought it would be nice to throw her a pedicure party! Here we all are.

We finally have lemons on our tree. I went out to spray weeds in the yard and saw 6 lemons growing on the tree--I couldn't believe it--after 3 years of patiently waiting--the tree has finally produced some--lets hope there is more on the way.This year Ami bought a season ticket to Sun Devil basketabll games--I go when I can--they are so fun and our team has been doing pretty good this year. We beat U of A on their home turf and have been ranked --even though we are down to #24 this week. Here is our lovely spirit squad getting the crowd pumped up.

Ove the holidays, I did some baking. These Challah breads looked better than they tasted--I'm still looking for the perfect recipe--I've tried 3 so far and can't seem to get it right.

My friend January is hosting an annual Christmas Cookie Exchange and I thought I would go out on a limb and make Candy Cane Biscotti--I think they turned out pretty good.

Click here for the recipe.

Lexi does exhist--here she is with her evil eyes!

Why we have camera phones!

2009-02-07T01:55:00.002-07:00

So I was downloading pictures from my phone and saw some that I totally forgot about. The camera phone is really a fabulous invention--where else can you capture moments like this---Ami trying on a chicken costume in the middle of Target and my precious kitties acting like they actually like each other.

Trip Down Memory Lane

2009-01-26T21:51:00.003-07:00

So we finally got a scanner!!! It is not a fast project, but I hope to scan in and make digital all the
memories before digital cameras--here is a taste of some trips down memory lane yet to come.

Baby Kelly

Teenaged Bryan and Kelly (probably the last picture with my natural hair color).

Kelly with cousins Jackie & Jenny & Grandma in Minnesota.

Kelly and Ami--ASU Graduation--Dec. 1999

Yes 9 years ago we were still using cameras with film...oh my god...we graduated college almost 10 years ago--now I'm feeling old.

Ami with his parents (I think Henry still has that shirt), brother, and grandma at his ASU graduation--who new it would take us 7 more years to get married and 9 more years to have a baby.....

Weekend with Bryan!

2009-01-22T21:17:00.005-07:00

My brother Bryan and his girlfriend Casey came out for a visit this past weekend--It was a action packed weekend and left me exhausted. No late nights out at the clubs--but full days and in the sun--we were wiped out. First we had breakfast at the Morning Glory Cafe at the Farm at South Mountain. We have always wanted to go there and I'm so glad we did. The food was awesome and the atmosphere was amazing. Definately a great Phoenix treasure. I think these chickens just laid the eggs we ate. I know this is a rooster and that he didn't lay the eggs--but there were chickens too.

They put these crazy sweaters on the trees. I guess they get cold too.

Then it was a day of watching college basketball--I'm not sure when ASU became a basketball school--but we are this year and we watched ASU beat 7th ranked UCLA in overtime. Go Devils!! Then dinner at another outdoor Arizona eatery--House of Tricks in Tempe. Where else can you eat outside for breakfast and dinner in the middle of January--I love it here.

Sunday was full of marathon and cardinals action--see below blog entry--then Monday, Ami had to go back to work, but we enjoyed a nice brunch with our dad at Mimi's Cafe and then headed to the Desert Bontanical Garden to see the Chihuly glass exhibit--It was awesome--I want to go back at night to see everything lit up.

Political Thoughts

2009-01-19T21:24:00.002-07:00

So, we realize that this is a significant time in our nation's history and that it is happening the day after MLK Jr. Day leaves us with some thoughts that make you go hmmmm.

Here's hoping Obama gets our country on the right track and gives alot of money to everyone having babies this year. =)

Go Red Birds!

2009-01-19T20:52:00.008-07:00

So Ami and I won't pretend to be huge Cardinal's Fans--but it is very exciting when your "loser" home NFL team goes to the superbowl. We watched the game against the Eagles at Four Peaks Brewery and the crowd went nuts when the Cardinals won--It is going to be the talk of the town for the next 2 weeks, and I'm excited to make my superbowl cake with Cardinal team colors. So we'll become Cards fans--if only for a day. I've included some pictures of a recent game Ami attended where he got some on field passes back in December.

Some Seahawk Guys!

Some Cardinal Guys!

Men in tight pants stretching--I love football.

GO CARDINALS!

The Marathon--A Family Affair

2009-01-19T09:55:00.006-07:00

The PF Chang's Rock-n-Roll Marathon was ran without me this year, but we became super spectators--hopping from the full to the half marathon to try and see everyone run. My mom completed her first 1/2 marathon and celebrated quitting smoking.

All the runners loved our signs! Here is my brother Bryan, his girlfriend Kasey, and Me cheering for the runners.

Laura and Beth's Dad also completed his first 1/2 marathon. Here they are enjoying their Post-Race Beer!

Ken, Me (looking ever so pregnant), Ami, Mom, and Bryan at the Finish!

Marathon Pros-Laura and Beth--Just ran their 5th Marathon.

Congrats to Jody as well--I was so excited to see her, I couldn't get my camera ready in time.

Go Runner's!!!

Kelly's New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-08T21:20:00.002-07:00

1. To print our wedding photos before our 2nd anniversary.

2. To lose all this baby weight (yes I'm thinking of it all ready).

3. To run a marathon under 5 hours.

4. To plan meals at home.

5. Have more lunches with my friends.

6. To get new glasses.

7. To park 2 cars in the garage

8. Reduce clutter in my life.

Welcoming 2009!

2009-01-01T17:24:00.007-07:00

New Year's Eve began with an exciting trip on the new Phoenix Light Rail. It was free the first couple of days it was open and it was packed. We parked at a park and ride and then took the "metro" to Sun Devil Stadium for the Insight Bowl

The Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. the Kansas Jayhawks. It is always a fun game and we had tickets with some friends in one of the skybox suites.

We then headed to our friend Kathleen and Dan's house for a gourmet New Year's Eve Dinner and a fun evening with friends playing wii.

Here we are with enjoying the food with Chrissy and Keith.

Dan and Kathleen have a New Year's Tradition that they call the Polar Bear Plunge--basically jumping into their freezing cold pool at midnight. Luckily they also have a warm jacuzzi to recover in. I did not par-take, but opted to be the photog. But they all jumped in and out so fast I didn't get very good shots.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas in Havasu

2009-01-01T17:07:00.005-07:00

This year, we had a simple Christmas visiting my grandpa Ray and grandma Loraine in Lake Havasu. Before we left, Ami and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Tarbell's. A restuarant with a Chef that beat Iron Chef Kat Kora had to be amazing and it was.
One of the most interesting dishes we had was dessert. A rosemary caramel cheesecake. I never would have guessed that those flavors would go well together, but they did.

We traveled to Havasu on Christmas Day and arrived at about 12:30 where we enjoyed a wonderful traditional Christmas Dinner. Here is Loraine, Grandpa, and I guess they are my aunts--Patty and Holly.
The Christmas lights at the London Bridge.

Welcome Grayson!

2008-12-31T10:25:00.004-07:00

My friend Robyn and her husband Dave welcomed their second son into the world on December 17th. Grayson Davis weighed in at 7 pounds and was 20 1/4 inches.

You may remember Robyn as one of my bridesmaids.

But actually Robyn and I go way back and some how have managed to stay in touch with either without the power of facebook. If I had the scanner I've been asking for (hint hint--Ami--hint hint) I could post some great old pics. But I don't have one, so you don't get to see them.

Wishing you a Happy Holiday Season!

2008-12-19T09:19:00.017-07:00

The annual holiday card was tough to get out this year. But I'm happy to report that they are all in the mail. If you don't get one--don't get all offended--I either don't have your address, don't like you, or it just got lost in the mail. But you can enjoy it here on our wonderful blog. This year was tough to narrow down the pictures, so I've included some here that didn't make the cut.

Telluride: Our 2008 telluride trip was the largest ever, we almost had a full bus load of just our friends and friends of friends. We had a great time, as the snow was perfect. However that made for a horrible trip home--we had to take a detour due to the pass being closed. It took twice as long as normal (we didn't get home until about 6am) and one of the many buses that traveled in the caravan was involved in a fatal roll-over accident. Luckily no-one we knew personally, but still our fellow ski and snowboard lovers. Our hearts go out to their families during this holiday season. This year for the first time since Ami and I met--we are not going to Telluride --yes I am starting to cry. We just didn't have much vacation time, I can't ski this year, and we are donating our trip money to the baby fund.

Jerusalem: We really wanted to include this picture of us and the friendly camel that we found in Jerusalem. It was one of my goals to ride a camel in the middle east-but when we found it-I was wearing a skirt and their was a creepy man leading the camel, and yada, yada, yada we took this picture.

Halloween: This year for Halloween we decided to dress up as Las Vegas Smut Peddlers. You know those guys (and there is always at least one woman) passing out smut on the strip. We even collected some authentic smut cards while we were in Vegas in August and decided to go to Mill and hand them out to the Halloweeners. I think people thought we were the real thing--Hilarious--Just not appropriate for our holiday card.

Sun Devil Games: We also had a record year of attending ASU games--We traveled to LA, Berkely, and Seattle for games (and I threw up in each city--what a way to leave my mark). Our tailgates proved to be the best ever with several appearances from our "crew" featured on Sun Devil Rewind and enjoyed our new season ticket seats. The team proved less than stellar--losing to UNLV which started a 6 game losing streak--we lost to the University of Northern Mexico (AKA U of A) and failed to be bowl eligible--But we'll be back next year with a new sun devil fan in tow--

We wish all of you a very wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, and a fabulous 2009! We enjoy sharing our life with you and have enjoyed hearing about your on-goings throughout the year. Keep in Touch--stay cool--Don't change and we'll see you Next Year!

Hanukkah, Chunuka, or Hanukah?

2008-12-17T15:57:00.003-07:00

We have just finished picking up our 2008 holiday card, when Ami looks over at me and says--did you spell Hanukkah right? I could have died--All the fuss over our interfaith cards and we can't even spell it right. So after a couple of minutes of blaming each other and staring each other down--we ate some dinner and then did what most people do to settle a fight--a Google search. We learned that there are 16 ways to spell Chunukah in the english language and our card has the 3rd most popular spelling---Next year it is just going to say "Happy Whatever you Celebrate" Amen to that!

Sixteen ways to spell Hanukkah
For the record:

Hanukkah
Chanukah
Hanukah
Hannukah
Chanuka
Chanukkah
Hanuka
Channukah
Chanukka
Hanukka
Hannuka
Hannukkah
Channuka
Xanuka
Hannukka
Channukkah
Channukka
Chanuqa

Garage Sale Success!

2008-12-14T16:59:00.003-07:00

Cleaning out our spare bedroom, left us with one conclusion--we have a lot of stuff--so what a better way to get rid of it than a Garage Sale--so we teamed up with some friends and all brought our stuff over to Eric & Laura's House in Tempe for the Big Sale. Computer speakers, tie racks, tv's, storage bins, knick knacks, clothes and more--all went like hotcakes at our sale. We started before sunrise and there were people sifting through our stuff before we even had time to set it out. We were all garage sale novices, so we had no idea what to expect--but people came--alot of people and just about bought everything--We had started with a 4-runner full of stuff and came home with only one bag of clothes and one box of stuff. We only ended donating one bag of clothes to goodwill. Over all it was a success for all--so we are gonna do it again in January. It is amazing what people will buy....

Thanksgiving: The case of the lost turkey neck..

2008-12-14T16:45:00.003-07:00

We had Thanksgiving at our house--a small crowd--my Mom, and Stepdad Ken, and his Mom, Lola, and Ami's parents, brother, Kfir, and Uncle Jacob.
We were in charge of the turkey and woke up early on Thanksgiving morning to start preparing it--It was a frozen turkey, so it had been thawing in the fridge since the weekend before. I was in charging of reading the recipe instructions and Ami was preparing the turkey. We took off the wrapping and cleaned it inside and out. We removed the bag of giblets, but then the directions said to remove the neck. Sounds simple enough--but we just couldn't find where it was--we looked and felt in all the holes and there was no neck to be found. I was watching the Today Show and saw that they had a Turkey Hotline--I called it to inquire where the neck may be, but it was busy, so we called Ami's mom, and she said if we couldn't find it that it was possible that are Turkey's neck was not put back in--so we proceeded to stuff the turkey and seasoned it. We used a herb roasted turkey recipe and it turned out fabulous.

After dinner, we all played Wii bowling and had a great time--with Ami's Mom and Uncle being the Wii Bowling Champions.
As Ami started carving off the leftovers from the turkey and all of sudden something fell out-and Ami had finally found the missing Turkey neck-We don't know where it could have been hiding all that time, but were happy that the case was finally solved. It made for some good belly laughs at the end of the night.

Are you on Facebook?

2008-12-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally broken down and let popular culture get the best of me...I joined facebook--the thought of another thing to have to check on top of my work email personal email, school email, blogs, bank account, and more was just to much--but I gave in and am now on facebook. I really have no idea what I am doing on there--I "poked" a couple of people (I have no idea what that means), I loaded a picture of myself and I found alot of friends--some I talk to all the time and some that I haven't talked to in a very long time. I still feel I like the blog better as I can just write what I want with no pressure on responding to other people--you want to see what I'm up to--great ready my blog and I'll read yours--If not--no worries. But I'm willing to give facebook a chance--we'll see where it goes.

Let the fb journey begin.....

Raindrops are fallin' on my head.

2008-11-27T20:24:00.005-07:00

We are traveling to 4 away Sun Devil Football Games this year (all but one)--We haven't won a game since the beginning of September and this trip to the Pacific Northwest to see the Devils take on the Huskies of Washington happened the first weeked of November. We thought it was a great opportunity to take a long weekend and get to visit Bryan--who knew Bryan wouldn't be there and who knew I'd be pregnant.

The trip started with our drive to Anacortes to board the ferry to Victoria, British Columbia. We took our car on the ferry and yes it was non-stop rain the entire time--here was our view from the ferry as we cruised among the San Juan Islands. We had hoped to at least see some Killer Whales (The Shamu Ones), but all we saw was rain.

Once in Victoria, we stayed at an awesome hotel, the Empress, right on the water--I guess the great rate we got was due to the off season as it continued to rain. But we got some use out of our ski jackets and umbrellas and met this nice Canadian Bear.

Due to the rain, we went to the museum there, it was a British Columbia history museum. Very interesting! We ran into a wholly mammoth. And a funny sheep.I'm not sure of the historical significance of this dude> maybe he came for the gold rush?

And the Totem Poles were amazing.
We also took some time to dress up in the royal army's world war II helmets.

After the museum, it started to get dark - it was only like 4pm--and Victoria turned into a sleepy little town. But we took some time to walk around the Parliment Building, which was beautifully lit up at night.

We were only in Victoria for one night--but that is long enough to know that we want to go back (maybe during a less rainy time)--It was so funny as a newspaper was delivered to our door and it contained a tourism brochure to guess where? Yes, Sunny Arizona--Go figure, most people are trying to come here, and we go somewhere rainy for a change. We took the ferry back to Seattle and totally blanked that we may need our passports--It is no problem to leave the Country, but coming back is a little harder, but eventually they let us in.

We met up with some more friends--Owen and Nicole in Seattle, where we attended the Seattle Underground Tour--which was really awesome and I highly recommend it to any
one going to Seattle. The fall colors were awesome.

Game Time---We got to meet the Sun Devil Mustache Nation and we actually won a game. That makes it alot funny to then sit on the other schools mascot.

The day after the game, we took in the view of the Seattle Skyline, saw some funny goats that someone had in their yard, and took in some famous Seattle sights.

Baby on the Way

2008-11-23T16:53:00.002-07:00

So now you know another reason we are so behind on our blog----Yes we are expecting a little bundle of joy in May. The first three months have been quite challenging. First the "shock" of it all, then dealing with all the symptoms, emotional and physical. But now with the first trimester officially done---we are sharing the news with everyone. Check to the right side--we have set up a blog specifically for the the muchkin called kronbaby and you can read all about it www.kronbaby.blogspot.com.

Vegas Baby!

2008-11-10T19:18:00.004-07:00

If you are reading this blog looking for the latest happenings of Kelly and Ami---Sorry--we are really behind in our blogging. I just don't know where the fall has gone. So while we work on getting caught up in our blog posts--enjoy these pics from our August Vegas trip with Eric & Laura. Yes it is November and we are just now posting from August--I know, I know we'll get caught up one of these days.

We have taken this trip for about the past three years--most people go somewhere to get away from the heat--but there is nothing better than hanging out at the pool on a day when it is 110 degress with a nice cold beverage.

Super Jackpot Party!!!! Our favorite Monopoly Slot Machine...I won $300!
Night on the Town--Dinner, Dancing, & More!

Win(e) or Lose........

2008-10-26T15:22:00.003-07:00

I know you are wondering--where all the great Sun Devil Football Pictures are! Well there is a simple answer to this question--there have been no great Sun Devil Football moments this season. Basically, the season we picked to travel to 4 away games is a bust and we really don't know if we'll ever win a game again. But win or lose--we are true Devil's fans--so we continue to put out killer tailgates and enjoy our weekend jaunts and visit the other Pac-10 Teams. First up was the Cal away game. We traveled with our fellow fans and friends, Eric & Laura and Laura's sister, Mish. You can't go to Northern California without a trip to Napa.

End of September/Early October is a great time to visit as it is harvest season and you actually get to see the wineries at work. Below is from Sterling Vineyards---Let the crushing begin!

Laura, Mish, and I at Opus One drinking our $30 glass of wine (yes it was delicious).

Two Sun Devils, One Case of Coor's Light--

The only way to show up to an away team tailgate party.

Ok--Yes we lost the game--it was not pretty--so we'll skip ahead to San Fran. What a clear day in the City--See the Golden Gate Behind Us.

Our overnight parking at the hotel cost us $50 buck--so we may never take a car to the city again, but since we had one--we drove down the most crooked street in the world--

Lombard Street!

Pretty Flowers!

Happy B-Day Ami!

2008-09-21T11:38:00.002-07:00

Yes, Ami's birthday was a month ago, but with me starting school and 4 home Sun Devil Football Games in a row, blogging time has escaped me. For Ami's birthday this year, we all gathered in the Pope Room at Buca di Beppo. Super fun time was had by all. This is an awesome room for a group of 20 or so. Big round table, with the pope's head right in the middle of a giant lazy susan. The waiter just puts the food in the middle and spins it around and everyone eats family style. Ami and I have been enjoying cooking together recently, so for his birthday gift, I signed us up for a gourmet couples cooking class at the Sweet Basil Gourmet in Scottsdale. We were with 6 other couples and we prepared Hot Gingered-Shrimp Salad with Cherry Tomato & Olive Bruschetta, served with Gewurztraminer, Fillet of Beef stuffed with Arugula, Red Pepper & Sausage; Eggplant & Napa Goat Cheese Ravioli with Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce & Roasted Asparagus with Caper Dressing, served with Zinfandel and finally for dessert Profiteroles with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Strawberries & Chocolate Sauce. YUMMY! Ami and were on the Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce Team and it was perhaps the best thing we have ever cooked. It is a little bit of a drive to Sweet Basil, but it is an awesome set up and we highly recommend it for anyone who likes to cook or eat.

The Bunny's Turn 30!

2008-09-07T17:41:00.002-07:00

As more of our friends hit the big 3-0, the parties keep getting more and more interesting. This time, the Hamilton Twins celebrated their big day with a Playboy Themed Party. A super fun time was had by all--here is Ami and I, but unfortunately due to the nature of the party--I'm not sure any of our other pictures are "blog-appropriate." I went with the Pink Bunny theme as Ami was dapper as ever in his tuxedo. Happy B-Day to Laura & Beth!

Conservative, Liberal, Rebublican, Democrat?

2008-09-03T11:59:00.002-07:00

Since it is an election year--I feel it is a safe time to blog about politics-since political discussions are breaking out at just about every social event now-a-days. If any of you are talk radio junkies--then you certainly know who Glenn Beck is. He wrote an opinion article on cnn.com about the difference of being a conservative and a republican. I don't think being one makes you the other--but I completely agree with Glenn's comments below.

A conservative believes that our inalienable rights do not include housing, healthcare or Hummers.

A conservative believes that our inalienable rights DO include the pursuit of happiness. That means it is guaranteed to no one.

A conservative believes that those who pursue happiness and find it have a right to not be penalized for that success.

A conservative believes that there are no protections against the hardship and heartache of failure. We believe that the right to fail is just as important as the chance to succeed and that those who do fail learn essential lessons that will help them the next time around.

A conservative believes in personal responsibility and accepts the consequences for his or her words and actions.

A conservative believes that real compassion can't be found in any government program.

A conservative believes that each of us has a duty to take care of our neighbors. It was private individuals, companies and congregations that sent water, blankets and supplies to New Orleans far before the government ever set foot there.

A conservative believes that family is the cornerstone of our society and that people have a right to manage their family any way they see fit, so long as it's not criminal. We are far more attuned to our family's needs than some faceless, soulless government program.

A conservative believes that people have a right to worship the God of their understanding. We also believe that people do not have the right to jam their version of God (or no God) down anybody else's throat.

A conservative believes that people go to the movies to be entertained and to church to be preached to, not the other way around.

A conservative believes that debt creates unhealthy relationships. Everyone, from the government on down, should live within their means and strive for financial independence.

A conservative believes that a child's education is the responsibility of the parents, not the government.

A conservative believes that every human being has a right to life, from conception to death.

A conservative believes in the smallest government you can get without anarchy. We know our history: The larger a government gets, the harder it will fall.

Those are the things a conservative believes in, and they're the things that I believe in. Now, if only I could find a candidate to match.

Devils defeat the Lumberjokes

2008-09-02T18:23:00.005-07:00

Another Season of Sun Devil Football has begun and once again everyone turned out for a killer first tailgate. Complete with the the Chik-fil-a cow, pyramid building and more. Here is also a view from our new seats---it may be years before we make our way back to the front row . This year we are going to every game--home and away--except for one. It's going to be an exhasting fall---Go Devils!

I love Veggie Co-op!

2008-08-26T21:39:00.002-07:00

For a very long time I have been wanting to join a fruit and vegetable co-op. Being in the Wellness Industry as I am--many people talk about their veggie co-ops, but I never knew how to get involved or were to find one. Then magic, my friend Marissa joined one and had too many fruits and veggies to handle. So I am proud to announce that I am now a co-member of a veggie co-op and I love it. Every two weeks we will pick up our basket of fruits and veggies from local farms. It is only about $15 every two weeks and since we are splitting-it really is only about $15 a month and we get a good amount of food. The website is http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/home.html if anyone is interested. They have locations all over the valley--there is even one practically in my neighborhood--Who Knew! I understand they also do special orders of nuts and spices and bread and all sorts of goodies. The downfall--you have to pick it up at 7:45am on a Saturday Morning. But since I'm a co-partner--we each only have to pick it up once a month. Thank you Marissa--I love being your Veggie Co-op partner. The plums were delicious this week!!

2 things you never thought you'd see us do:

2008-08-17T15:32:00.008-07:00

If you thought we would stay home and relax and catch up on all the TV we missed while we were in Europe--you are mistaken. The past few weeks have been full of adventure including 2 things we never thought we'd do.

Camping & Skydiving.....Yes, I said skydiving (ok--it was indoor sky diving)

First the skydiving part. It has been our friend Kathleen's birthday wish for a few years now to go skydiving--Ami and I always said-"have fun, see ya when you get back" so this year when her husband Dan arranged a surprise indoor skydiving birthday-how could we refuse. So we traveled down to Eloy, AZ (yes we didn't know that was a town in AZ either) for a fun filled adventure.

This is the building that the indoor skydiving adventure took place in--Yes my
first fear was that we would shoot out of the top of it.

The group--John, Erin, Kathleen, Dan, Kelly, Ami, Laura & Eric.

Ami's "Jump"

Thank goodness for the instructors

Now to the camping. We joined seasoned campers Owen & Nicole, and new camp-addicts Laura & Eric at the Aspen Campground in the Tonto National Forest. Our main reason for the trip was to go to Camp Tontozona and see the Sun Devils play there last scrimmage at Camp T. Ami and I earned the putting up a tent badge, Laura earned the catch a fish badge, and Ami and Eric earned the hunting badge. It was quite an adventure, however we'll have to give camping another go, because the non-stop downpour that occured Saturday night kinda gave us a bad first impression. Besides being cold, wet, and miserable-IT WAS FUN=)!

Go Devils!

The Boys at Camp T.

Introducing Baby Brew!

2008-08-01T12:48:00.003-07:00

Abigal Joy was born on Sunday afternoon weighing 7 pounds 2 ounces. Congratulations to Mama Lauren and Papa Mike on their first daughter.

Our first lunch back in the States!

2008-08-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

Fatburger w/Egg & Fat Fries. Heaven!

Again a Sun Devil

2008-07-26T11:52:00.005-07:00

Upon our arrival home--I had some good news waiting for me in the mail: I have once again been accepted to Arizona State to pursue my graduate degree in Aging and Lifespan Development. It is a Master of Science degree and will allow me to put those nice MS letters after my name. Things have changed in the past 13 years since I first was admitted and I have no idea what to do--so I'll start with a meeting with my advisor and the welcome orientation in August. The college of Human Services is housed at the West Campus--which is the bad news--since I live right next to the East Campus-but most of the program is online or evenings-so I can go from work and it will not be so bad. I don't know what I've gotten myself into--but this was always one of my goals and at least I'm admitted and taking the first steps.

Home Sweet Home

2008-07-26T11:26:00.004-07:00

After about 22 hours of travel back to Phoenix--Last night we slept in our own bed. But like any memorable journey--it couldn't have been that simple. We did not bring any keys with us and had hoped that our friend Jeff had left the key in our garage that we left for him--But when we got home--No Key--Jeff and Audrey live around the block--but it was midnight and they have a little baby--but 22 hours of travel--we wanted to go home--so we rang their doorbell--they either didn't answer or maybe were out of town. We (and when I say we--I mean us and Eric & Laura as they were our taxi home) had to drive back to Chandler to pick up a spare key from Kfir--But then finally we were home. We actually managed to go to sleep, but then woke up wide awake at 7:30am. So today we are doing laundry, sorting through mail, and discovering just how bad the US Dollar is against the Euro--Thank You American Express for your detailed website!

In regards to our trip--We'll post all our pictures soon---Barcelona was awesome and a great way to end our Vacation. We can't even imagine going back to work now--but according the the AMEX bill--we have to.

View of Las Ramblas from our hotel room.

Our first day in Barcelona--we headed to the beach.

After the beach we headed to our first tapas bar--Cal Pep. We had a major language barrier at times, so I decided I would starve or eat what they served me--Here I am trying clams for the first time--If you dip anything in enough butter it tastes good.

Our last night eating Paella at the Port.

These works of art are priceless...

2008-07-24T07:26:00.004-07:00

Here is our creations from Florence and a picture of the artists with our inspirational sunset in the background.

Kelly

Ami
Andy--this is a side view--you have to tilt your head to the right
Amy
The Artists

We also climbed to the top of the duomo in Milan--I was quite amazed that they let you just walk all over the roof--This building took 400 years to complete--so detailed and extraordinary--it is beyond words.

Viva Italia!

2008-07-23T09:50:00.006-07:00

What stinks, covered in backpacks, and takes 10 years off your life? The Answer: Rome Termini. This is the main train station in Rome that we had to go through to get to Florence--needlesss to say--we had no idea what we were doing--we were both sick with Food Poisoning--I blame bad cheese and lets just say the toilets were less than desirable. We ended up paying some schmuck 10 Euro to help us get on the train-I thought we were going to kill each other and then possible throw ourselves in front of the train just to make sure the misery was over--this is way you'll see very, very few pictures of us on the train---and then to skip ahead a few cities when traveling on our overnight train from Milan to Barcelona--I managed to mess up our tickets and we had to pay 200 Euro or they were going to make us get off at midnight in France somewhere---Not the romantic train ride I imagined several months ago.

In the meantime we did manage to have some fun. Florence was the opposite of Rome and we actually had some amazing meals--Thank you Goldie for the recommendation for Aqua al 2--it was awesome. Amy and Andy traveled down from Bern, Switzerland to spend 2 days with us--one in Florence and one in Milan.

View from the Ponte Vecchio at night.

Ahhhh! Michaelangelo's David--We couldn't take pictures of the real one--but we
actually did see it

Here we are with Amy and Andy in The Piazza del Signoria in front of the palazzo
Vecchio in Florence.

We were so inspired by the art at the Uffizi Museum that we purchased a bottle
of wine and some art supplies and went down to Ponte Trinita to draw the
sunset--People actually thought we were artists--Nope--we are just crazy wine
lovers.

When in Rome.....

2008-07-17T11:06:00.003-07:00

Do as the Romans do.... So Ami couldn't resist getting behind the bar with Guisseppe to use the large pepper grinder at PonteSisto Restaurant in Rome. On our first full day in Rome--we toured the vatican museum's, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. The art was amazing, but the sistine chapel was very crowded and you could not take pictures. We enjoyed learning about it--but looking at it gave us a kink in the neck.
Our next tour was the ancient Rome tour. The Colleseum was awesome, but we learned alot more at Palentine Hill and the Forum---Lot's of History Here--we are ready to go home and watch Ben Hur.
This is the view from the restaurant at The Rome Hilton--It was a little outside of town--which meant we had to take a cab everywhere, but the view and the hotel were worth it.

The Holy Land

2008-07-14T00:05:00.005-07:00

Today we leave Tel Aviv and travel to Rome. We have had a wonderful and very busy week. First we traveled to the old city of Jerusalem. It was incredible to walk around streets that were thousands of years old. We took a tour of the tunnels of the western wall. The tunnels used to be streets open to the sky, but were covered as the city was built up. We also visited the Holocaust Museum--which was very well done and an incredibly moving day. Next we took some time for R & R and visited the beach and some of the local markets. On Friday, we visited the cemetaries where Ami's Grandparents were buried and visited with his family. Sunday we traveled north to tour Carmel Winery --Anna's first wine tasting--then back to Jerusalem for the orthodox wedding--which I will have to blog about at a later date.

Here we are at the western "wailing" wall in Jerusalem.
The view of Jerusalem from Mount of Olives
Relaxing on the beach at "La La Land" one of our favorite beach bars.
The sunset from a beach restaurant called "Gordo."

The umbrellas at Gordo under the Tel Aviv Beach Sunset
2 Liter Beer--yes we had to order it.
In Jerusalem dressed to impress at the Orothodox wedding--I later learned only Americans wear hats like this--Anna and I stood out like you would not believe.
The 3 of us were very close in the back seat of the car.

Across the World!

2008-07-06T22:24:00.005-07:00

Well we arrived in Tel Aviv after our 10 hour flight from Newark---That was the longest flight I have ever been on and it was better than I expected. I did wish we had packed toothbrushes in our carry-on bags, that and the food were the worst part. We enjoyed NYC, even though it rained and we didn't get to see fireworks but we participated in some other American Traditions such as bar hopping. Our favorite was a local Irish Pub called The Pig & Whistle. Today, is our first full day in Tel Aviv--I wanted to run on the beach and that was no problem-since I woke up wide awake at 5am--don't know if that is jet lag or my body used to waking up early on Mondays to teach aerobics. I finally got Ami up at about 6:30am and we headed down to the beach and did a 2.5mile run and then worked out at the "Tel Aviv Venice Beach" Basically some funny looking exercise equipment and a bunch of old guys in speedos working out--the highlight of the trip by far. Today we need to go to the Dept. of the Interior because both Kfir and Ami were highly questioned at the airport regarding the status of their Israeli Passports--both are expired and they didn't even bring them--Then Kfir was directed to speak with the Army--I guess he is AWOL. They both have dual citizenship and are not in compliance with the Israeli protocol. Here is some pics of the trip so far.

Ami and the Grand Dragon Master of Central Park.

Ami & Dave celebrating the 4th of July!

Our first meal in Tel Aviv--this is just our salad course!

Kfir--aka-Pita the Hut!

More Babies????

2008-06-30T21:42:00.001-07:00

Welcome Myah!! Congrats to Tim and Brittany and their new baby girl born just last week. Can't wait to meet you!

Wake me up before you go-go!

2008-06-30T21:36:00.001-07:00

This must be the year where all my 12 year old dreams come true--first The New Kids on the Block Concert--Yes Jan, Shelly and I got tickets---Now George Michael. Ami was nice enough to go with me to this concert and ge
tickets in one of the vendor suites from his work. Thank You Intel! But seriously, he was awesome--full of energy and sounded amazing. I could have done without the 20 minute intermission and the horrible cover of Roxanne--but overall a great night.

Fire in the Sky

2008-06-30T21:28:00.003-07:00

I guess every part of the world has its own natural disasters--here in the southwest it is fires. This one started west of Phoenix in the Mountains from a Lightning Stike--for several evenings it filled the sky with a giant plume of smoke.

Are we catching the Baby Bug?

2008-06-24T18:44:00.010-07:00

Not Yet, but here is the latest news on the Baby Front.

Max Zeper turned 1!

Max is the son of our friends Aaron & Cassie. He had the best b-day party ever-complete with a water slide in the back yard.

Jill had her 2nd Son--Baby Zackary Matthew

Here she is with Big Brother Charlie. -He looks so excited about it.

And Yes--More Baby's

Here is Baby Gavin snug as a bug in a rug (Our neighbors and friends Audrey and Jeff's son)

Andon & Avery Celebrated their 4th Birthday at Lego Land!

Mission: Garage Clean Up!

2008-06-23T21:33:00.009-07:00

And we're getting closer to our goal of fitting 2 cars in the garage!! A few weeks ago we got some garage cabinets and we are very proud of our progress--I think one more trip to Goodwill and we should be able to fit them both in.

BEFORE

AFTER

Here's a closer look at them. Yes we got a work bench--I'm so excited for Ami to start building things out of wood.

Part of the reason we had to get these garage cabinets is that we also have been working on our loft. We got some new bookshelves to hold more of our "stuff" in a neater fashion. But we really like the way the smaller bookshelf turned out as it is holding all of our ASU garb. Ami did have a moment when we put the ASU helmet in the cubby hole and he saw that there were 10 spaces and I knew exactly where his mind was going---YES he immediately got online to find out the price of all 10 Pac-Ten Football helmets--So if you are looking for a gift item for Ami (His B-day is coming Up)--just pic a team-preferably not USC or UofAnnoying....

BEFORE

AFTER

SHOWTIME!!!

2008-06-05T20:01:00.007-07:00

Ami cannot possibly watch tonights game and blog about the Lakers vs. the Celtics-so I will do it for him.

The score is 69-68 Lakers--3rd Quarter--Ami is sitting on coach--oopps I mean couch--I must be thinking of all the purses I'm going to buy in NYC --now score tied at 69 and Celtics fans chanting Defense.--OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH--That was Ami's scream followed by 3 claps.

Larry Bird sure did have a funny mustache back then I know it's hard to see--but I just saw it on tv and it was funny.

Celtics crowd is now chanting Beat LA--I feel like I'm at a UCLA Football Game.
Lakers are down by 2 and Ami is very figety and is now covering his face with his hands. I think my favorite Laker player is Mbenga -He has such a funny name

Commercial Time--GO Lakers!

New Blogging Friends!

2008-06-05T19:45:00.003-07:00

Yeah, our friends Jon & Nicole now have a blog so that we can keep up with their daily lives in Santa Monica--Click here to check it out! I've also listed them in the side bar. They have excellent cooking links on their web page that I never new about--so check it out.

European Vacation-Kron Style

2008-06-05T19:24:00.009-07:00

No-we didn't win the Pig in the Poke contest--but Ami and I are headed across the pond this summer. We are getting really excited and even though we have had the counter up for a while --with one month to go the countdown has really begun.
We are lucky that we booked our tickets so long ago-because we are grandfathered in as far as the recent luggage requirements go. However, we are still going to try to pack light as we will be traveling to several desinations and have to tote our luggage around. Here's our trip.

Our first stop is NYC, where we will spend 4th of July

From there we head to Israel where we will spend 8 days with Ami's Family. I think the highlights will be touring Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Beach.

Then Ami and I head out on our own to Rome, where our Italy tour begins--we will also be visiting Firenze and Milano--Yes I'm practicing my Italian.

From Milan, we are taking an overnight train to Barcelona-where we will spend 3 more days before we head back to Phoenix.

Oh my gosh--I'm exhausted already.

Ciao!

This Vacuum Really Sucks!

2008-05-23T14:35:00.002-07:00

There is nothing I enjoy more than spending $200.00 on a vacuum. But I was afraid that our old one would electicute me every time I used it, so off to sears we went. First of all--I haven't been to a sears in years and was quite impressed with the salesman's knowledge of the vacuum's-they must have workshops or something--because this guy knew way more about vacuum's than anyone should know. Anyways we decided on the Hoover Bagless, Wind Tunnel Cyclonic and boy this thing sucks up I don't even know what---how is all that stuff inside our carpet--and half our house is tile. Needless to say after vacuuming the whole house for the first time with the new Hoover--I feel extremely dirty--I just can't believe all the crap this thing sucked up. I can only imagine what some of the $500 vacuums do. Anyways--the Kron Consumer reports that the Hoover Cyclonic Windtunnel Bagless Vacuum is a good buy. (oh yeah--it even has a retractable cord--BONUS!!)

Like Father-Like Son: Like Mother-Like Daughter

2008-05-16T11:41:00.008-07:00

I guess this saying has some truth to it. We'll start with the like father-like son part.

NEED I SAY MORE?

Even wierder--the picture of me was taken at our Elegant Lady Society of Tempe Tea at the Phoenician and the picture of mom was take at her Annual Girlie Weekend.

Elegant Lady Tea

Girlie Weekend

Hi Donna! Mom--I'm not sure how to fit eyebrows and sock monkeys into this entry....=)

A Race Weekend

2008-04-25T16:25:00.004-07:00

It all began Saturday Morning with the 4th Annual Pat's Run. This event held in Tempe and around Sun Devil Stadium is a can't miss event for us. Even though our group was small this year--we put in some good running times on a great. Thanks to Eric who was the photog that day and even captured the spirit of Pat Tillman within Owen in the Tillman Tunnel.

The next big event was the Tri for the Cure--this was the main triathon event I have been training for. Overall Shelly and I did great-even though the event wasn't as organized as it should have been- however, the swim was definately the hardest part for both of us--So the swim lessons continue for us both. Check out our motivation blog for all my athletic acheivements.

The best figure skating routine EVER!

2008-04-24T22:32:00.001-07:00

Why didn't Ami have this routine--he surely would have been an Olympian if he had performed this!

Dodger Dog Anyone?

2008-04-14T20:45:00.005-07:00

If you haven't heard about the time I took Ami to LA for a Dodger game for his birthday, Let's just say--don't ever eat a Dodger Dog when you are newly dating someone and sharing a hotel room--Regardless, Ami is still a Dodger Fan so when he had the chance to sit in one of the new suites at Chase Field--that is connected to the dug-out, he jumped on the chance. All I know is that the D-Backs swept them in their first series at home, but Ami still had a good time. Here are some of the pictures he took and some Dodger players--one of whom is an ASU Alum and I'm sure some other famous guys who probably have done steriods at some point--I'm not sure. Anyways I was upset to hear that Tommy Lasorda was no longer the coach of the Dodgers, I guess he is to busy eating pastrami sandwiches in New York.

The Block is Back Baby

2008-04-08T21:00:00.005-07:00

Ami is probably going to kill me for posting this--But I'm very excited--so excited and only my mom knows probably how much and that is because I'm sure my box of New Kid on the Block stuff is taking up space in my old closet--now her office. Yes. Yes I said New Kids on the Block--yes--Donnie, Danny, Jordan, Jonathan, and Joey-NKOTB-One of the original boy bands from Boston. For at least 2 years my poor mom had to endure the squeeling of tween girls everytime they were on TV. This was pre-you tube days-you had to have a blank VCR tape available at all times and push record very quickly on the VCR to catch every moment of them. Ok I was like 12 years old and and yes my room was plastered with pictures--if my husband ever gets me that scanner I want I could show you the pictures. Mom--thanks for taking me to the concert many years ago---Want to go again...? I'll keep checking the website for concert updates: www.nkotb.com

One of the best places on Earth!!

2008-04-05T17:56:00.006-07:00

No--not Disneyworld. Crystal Pier in Pacifc Beach, San Diego. There you can literally sleep over the ocean. It was built in 1927 and is about 25 little cottages spread out over the pier with white and blue decor over-looking the beach. We fell asleep to the sounds of the waves crashing into the shore-we felt as if we were on a cruise ship that did not move. Everything is in within walking distance and we couldn't have asked for better weather. This is becoming a new annual trip for us as we have already booked again for next March. Our friends Eric & Laura and Caryn & Rob also went and we had a great time, eating, dancing, and enjoying the beach. You have to book several months in advance and getting a room during the summer seems impossible at this point, but we are happy to go there during spring break time-if only for a weekend. I give Crystal Pier 2 thumbs up, 5 stars, triple diamond, and three cheers.

The view from the end of the pier looking back at the beach.

Our champagne sunset party--do you see the green flash?

Our seaside cottage

Almost better than the beach--no sand

Courage and Strength

2008-03-27T21:45:00.003-07:00

Tonight Ami heard from an old friend and he told us the Amanda Star lost her battle to Cervical Cancer and passed away on Easter Sunday. While we did not know her on a personal level. She entertained us for several years as part of Zowie Bowie and Amanda Star at Club Rio. Our friends and I spent several a Saturday Night drinking $2 long island and long beaches while dancing the night away under the stars--sometimes dripping with sweat in the heat of summer while she sang her heart out. She was a beautiful woman, talented performer, and always had an energy about her that was contagious. I found this blog that outlines some of the details and has some wonderful pictures of her as well: http://thestarplace.blogspot.com/

My Swim Analysis

2008-03-27T21:06:00.003-07:00

For some reason I thought it would be a good learning tool to get myself underwater video taped while I was swimming and have Coach Johnny tell me everything I was doing wrong.--Pop yourself some popcorn and enjoy!

Blog Medly

2008-03-27T19:32:00.010-07:00

It has been a few weeks since I've posted so I've created this medly of our ongoings in the past few weeks.

Traveled to Copper Mountain with 5 crazy girls and great friends--skied moguls like a rock star and blew the locals away with our matching girl ski trip shirts.

My car got hit twice in one week in parking lot collisions.

Made my very own Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes and became an instant Domestic Diva!

Bryjo's 10th Anniversary of her 21st Birthday at Dave & Busters.

Went to 2 ASU Basketball Games NIT Tourney Games--Thanks Devils for the best season in years---Screw the U!!!

Realized once again Alex is the cutest cat on the planet.

Enjoyed Green Beer before a Pre-St. Pat's Day Angles Game!!

Kelly and Ami go International!!

2008-03-27T19:27:00.002-07:00

A bloggers dream come true!!!! Thanks to our friend & fellow ASU Alum, Amy (aka Helga). Who now lives abroad and has a hilarious blog. According to my where are you? map in the side bar--kellyandami.blogspot.com has been viewed not only in Europe but Canada and the far east--MY Goal:::: A hit from every Continent!!1
(I know we are major dorks--I know you are thinking it)

I love PHX in the Springtime!

2008-03-10T22:12:00.006-07:00

What a gorgeous weekend it was in Phx. High 70's, Sunny, Clear. I can't think of a better way to spend the day than at a Spring Training Game. Thanks Eric for turning us into Angles fans (even if it was only for a day).
Here we are on top of the Buttes in Tempe.
Mr. & Mrs. Flax & Mr. & Mrs. Flax
Go Angels!!!!
I love my Rally Monkey.

Kobe throws towel in lady's face

2008-03-03T22:12:00.001-07:00

Mission Accomplished!

2008-02-25T19:57:00.003-07:00

You know those projects you start and never finish---Well tonight I finished 2 of them. First I had started a scrapbook of all of our wedding cards/program/misc wedding things I saved. I started this almost immediately when we got back from a honeymoon last March and had about 87% of it finished--Finally almost 1 year later it is complete.

Secondly--you can all stop saving corks for me as my cork board is complete as well. This thing took forever and got harder and harder as it got closer to being complete as I had to cut corks and squeeze them into the misshaped openings that were left. I don't know what I'm doing with it now--but at least it is done.