Birthday and Trains

     Tim turned 28 earlier this month! Hooray! He spent most of his birthday at work which helped me secretly take his present out of its hiding place and wrapped it. We also made a trip to our lender before going to dinner or present time. Thankfully he was able to handle that ;) Chris, Amy, and their boys arrived from Utah that afternoon too which Tim was thrilled about. When we got home from the lender for Tim to shower, I told him that he also could open his present. He almost wanted to wait some more to open it since not everyone was there but I told him that his siblings had given him permission. Daniel, James, and I worked together to get him this:

A 3DS and Zelda game for it. He bought the pictured cover later with birthday money. He was sooooo excited!!! A couple months earlier there was a deal to trade in your DS and buy the 3DS for really cheap and he really, really wanted to. I told him no because we still didn't have that money but he wouldn't accept that... His brothers presented the idea of working together to get it for his birthday and I loved the idea (I knew he wasn't going to let this one go easily). James gave up his old DS while Daniel and I pitched in money. We kept it a secret which was super hard to do. Tim was so sad when he missed that sale. His brothers wanted to give it to him early so that he'd stop bugging them about it. I probably would've felt super bad if he never got one at all. The secret did work though because he was super surprised when he opened his present! That night, Tim and I went to dinner at Nello's which had pretty good pizza. We also strolled around Tempe Marketplace and then picked up his free ice cream from Baskin Robbins. Alex and Sean, our nephews, then expected  us to share with them when we brought it home to eat.

      Tim had Columbus Day off of work so he went to the house inspection and brought his brother, Chris, along. Inspections always seem overwhelming to read but you have to keep in mind that the point is to find EVERYthing that is wrong with the place. Reading statements about only what is wrong can seem scary. Fortunately we've gone through one before and the current owner is willing to do some repairs. We sent in the request with the major things and some others that would be nice if he could do. We're not sure what he will do but we just got word that he won't be able to do everything that we asked for. Right now the major thing is seeing what comes out of the VA appraisal. Tim was certainly right when he first told me that anything doing with military/government takes a long time. A request was sent in for that right after the offer papers were signed by both parties and here we are, a week and a half away from close and they still haven't gone to see the property! This is getting nerve wracking haha. We've also been going through TONS of paperwork that I don't even understand everything that's being said. Just have to take a deep breath and stay calm, right?

      I found out Thursday morning that my grandpa's in town for his train run just for the weekend. Thanks for the notice, Mommy Blake ;) Everyone was willing to go out there to ride on his train instead of paying $15 a person to go to Rawhide. Alex and Sean loved it! I loved going even more since it goes to show how well my grandpa has been recovering lately :) It's been over a year since he's done this trip since he started feeling sick and was later diagnosed with cancer. He was looking and acting more like himself than I've seen in awhile. I didn't get many pictures... None of my grandpa and none of me (therefore none of baby's first ride on Great-Grandpa's train).

Alex & Sean happily sat in the gondola cars the entire time!

Alex is more obsessed with trains. He threw the biggest fit when we left between rides so that everyone could eat dinner. On the second ride, we stopped to watch go-karts and when we started up again I heard him say, "Train. Ride train. Oh thank you!"

Chris got to be the conductor. He learned pretty quickly.

On the first ride, we saw a group of cannibal monkeys. These are the remains of those who were eaten.

Tim & Sean

Tim met us there after work so he missed the first train ride. Here he is super excited to go! Yes, it was dark at this point and night rides are my favorite :) Don't worry, the trains have headlights.

P.S. Only two more days! We're anxiously waiting, very very anxiously.