Well, Nevaeh and I have one day left to enjoy the beautiful weather in Minnesota. We have been having a blast over the past 10 or 11 days! We flew into MSP on Wednesday the 6th and after a rocky first night (Nevaeh was over-tired as she only slept 30 minutes on the flight), Nevaeh has been sleeping 11.5-13 hours every night. She did great on the plane ride, one of the easiest so far for me.

Nevaeh had her first eye appointment on Thursday the 7th - my eye doctor in Plymouth happens to be a pediatric eye doctor and when I was pregnant, he mentioned that babies should have their first checkup between 6 and 12 months. And besides, the eye appointments are free for babies under a year, so why not? He said everything looks perfect with Nevaeh's eyes -- if anything, she is not as farsighted as he would like, which could mean that she will end up nearsighted in the future. Nothing to worry about. With my vision as bad as it is, I would expect her to have some issues.

On Friday the 8th, I had a get-together at Southgate in Cloquet for my 10-year high school reunion. It was great to see some faces I hadn't seen in years, and also to catch up with those I haven't talked to in a few months. There was supposed to be a picnic on Saturday at Jay Cooke but pretty much no one showed up. Matt, Callie, their boys, Nevaeh and I were the only ones who brought food. In fact, we were 45 minutes late but the first to arrive at Oldenburg Point. The sign on the picnic shelter said it was reserved for the Class of 88's 20-year reunion from 11 am to 4 pm.... Hmmmm, either that was a typo that should've said Class of 98's 10-year reunion, or the class of '88 also had a crappy turn-out. So anywho, Matt's family and Nevaeh and I hung around for 3 hours and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was really disappointing not to have a better turnout - especially since the organizers of the event didn't show up either - because the weather could not have been more perfect, but I figure it's their loss. And it would've been nice to have a catered event because the last thing I wanted to do after flying in from Arizona was to hit up Wal-Mart and the grocery store for picnic food and supplies.

On Saturday night, our class had another event at Lost Isle. I think the $15 I paid for the reunion weekend was for two slices of chocolate cake because that's all I got out of it. Again, it was fun to hang out but...whatever. No further comments.

On Sunday, we celebrated Nevaeh's 1st birthday one day late with a big family birthday party at Gramma & Grampa's. We had a great turn-out and Nevaeh was showered with love and attention, not to mention some awesome clothes, toys, and books. Nevaeh's closet was starting to thin out, so I can't wait to get back to AZ and hang up all the goods!

I spent last week working in Golden Valley, while Nevaeh was acting queen of Gramma & Grampy's house. According to Gramma, she ate like a horse. Uh....how else do you expect a person to grow?

Renee drove up to Cloquet yesterday and we took Nevaeh to the Lakewalk and Canal Park area in Duluth. Again, the weather was beautiful. We watched a ship leave the harbor, walked around everywhere, had lunch at Grandma's, enjoyed ice cream at Portland Malt Shoppe (Nevaeh and I split a root beer float), then we came home and had supper from Gordy's. Mmmmmm. Nevaeh had a great day on just 1 hour of sleep in the stroller. It's no wonder she's sleeping 2 hours longer at night -- the girl hasn't been taking long naps!

Nevaeh has also made the transition from bottle to sippy cup for all beverages at all times of the day. It really wasn't bad at all. I think she was confused at first by the taste and consistency of whole milk (as opposed to formula), but she's not one to turn away food and beverage. Nevaeh's skin is also a couple shades darker with tan lines to prove it.

Well anyway, we were supposed to fly home tonight, but I switched our flight to late tomorrow night so that we could stay for my great-aunt Selma's funeral tomorrow morning. Nevaeh and I were able to see Selma last Thursday when we got to Minnesota, so I'm thankful for that and that her last days were peaceful.

For those of you in Phoenix, I'll see you soon.... for those of you in Minnesota who I was able to see over the past 11 days, it was GREAT to see you -- thanks to everyone for their hospitality and we'll hopefully see you at Christmas!