Macie Family Visits Pt 2

Day 4 was spent with the guys outside getting all the pipes in place for the sprinklers and the gals inside relaxing and catching up on house stuff. We didn't go anywhere. We didn't do anything major (well the boys and the sprinklers but you know what I mean). I made dinner at home and we all watched a movie after.

Since they had the trenches all dug, they were able to start fitting the pipes and all that entails.

Before long they were cruising along and we had the beginnings of a sprinkler system.

They tried to explain to me how the pipes all worked and what did what but really, all I needed to know was that when the timer was set, the water came on, hit the appropriate areas and then turned off, and that my grass stays green.

Now there is a proud man and his yard!

Inside the house we were all just relaxing and taking it easy.

Nothing too exciting but Thierry seemed to have a good time.

Day 5 started with all of us getting up and taking our time getting ready. We had breakfast and coffee. Since we hadn't gone to Tahoe as earlier planned we thought this would be a good day to do that. Diana had never been to Tahoe so it was a great opportunity.

We all got ready and drove up to the shops at Heavenly to walk around and browse.

It was pretty busy up there. It was Labor Day weekend so everyone was trying to get that last summer trip in. The weather was nice. Slightly breezy but not hot or cold.

There is a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company there. Dwayne and I love the caramel and chocolate apples they sell. The above picture is us picking out which apple we wanted to have and me on the phone taking orders to bring back home. The apple was so yummy!

We were gonna see about taking a ride with all of us on the Gondola, something Dwayne has wanted to do for a long time but, it was just too much to pay for so many people for something so simple. Maybe someday.

Here's a pic of the gondolas taking the people to the top.

Like I said, it was really nice up there. Beautiful day!

We took the scenic way back down. We decided to head into Reno and head over to the new shopping center Legends and look around there. To get back we came down the Mt. Rose Highway and had a really nice drive. Great scenery, good music playing, and the sunroof open the whole way down. Perfect.

After all the walking we went to one of Dwayne's favorite places to eat: Outback Steakhouse.

We were able to get seated right away and the food was great! Thierry really wanted some of the dessert.

The family does this game with the coasters where they progressively add coasters to a stack and try to flip them a few times in the air and catch them in the same stack before they all go flying.

Dwayne was able to do it but I think he may have lost a coaster on this try. It's kinda fun to watch and a way to pass time while we wait for food. After dinner it was time to drive back home. It was pretty late by this time and we were all getting tired.

Macie Family Visits Pt 1

With September almost over I think it is time I caught our page up. Like I mentioned in the previous blog, it gets tough to keep up once everything gets going. School has started and is in full swing, I will post more about that later. At the beginning of September Dwayne's family came and visited. They hadn't seen our new house since we bought it almost a year ago. His mom, his Dad, his sister and the baby all flew into Reno and then drove down to Fallon. They were here for a week and we stayed busy the whole time! I will post about their visit in three separate blogs. I've broken up the week into three parts.


Day one was spent getting settled in. Halo had the hardest time settling in I think. He's not used to having someone else take all the attention and as you can see in the picture above he was competing with the baby for lap space and attention.


Day 2 I was out of town for class. Dwayne and his Dad spent the morning digging trenches in our backyard to install a sprinkler system.


When we moved into the house the front yard had sprinklers and the backyard didn't. So, after we decided to put grass in the backyard we realized we needed a sprinkler system to go back there too. Dwayne's dad is really good at things like that so the father and son went to work digging up the yard.

Once they had all the trenches dug, they went to Lowe's and bought all the materials they would need to lay the piping later. Later that night Dwayne and his dad headed down to the bowling alley for Dwayne's league. We ladies and little man stayed back at the house watching TV and playing with the baby.

Day 3 was reserved for family picture day. I had reserved the photographer we had at our wedding to do some family shots since we were all together. We got ready at home and then drove out to the Dayton valley golf course and country club for our photo session.

The above picture is Thierry and me waiting for the session to start.

The golf course was really accommodating to us. We were able to go anywhere we wanted. They gave us our golf carts and turned us loose!

The cart in the back has our photographer Allison and Dad in it. The cart in the front had Mom, Diana and Thierry in it.

We led the way in our cart. The carts had some get up and go to them. We were flying! I was pretty sure there were a few times that Dwayne was gonna' roll us.

The original plan was to continue on to Tahoe and walk around up there but by the time we were done with our pictures we were all starving! So we drove into Carson and grabbed some food at Chili's. So yummy.

After we ate we drove over to Reno and walked around all the stores at the Summit window shopping and looking for anything that caught our eye.

Thierry really liked the flowers and wanted to touch every single one we passed. After walking around the stores we decided it was time for some ice cream. We went over to marble slab and had delicious ice cream before heading back home for the night.

Celebration of Marriage

Dwayne and I were married at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Fallon. It is the church we still attend together today. The priest and a group of church members got together to get a celebration of marriage under way. All the married couples of the church were invited to come to a mass in their honor followed by a sit down dinner at the convention center afterwards.

So it started yesterday, Saturday, August 29, with 5 o'clock mass. We attended mass together. We had been asked to read the prayers of the faithful so of course we did! We were a little nervous about it but it went well and afterwards several people came up to us expressing how well they thought we did. The mass was nice and had a special blessing for all the married couples. The messages delivered were about how marriage may not always be what we dreamed it would be but that it is a journey full of different turns and how with God in the marriage the journey is doable and well worth it. Concepts we really believe.


After mass it was off to the convention center for dinner. When we first walked in the doors, we checked in at the table that had our last name. We were given name tags to wear that had both our names, the amount of years we had been married and what table we were seated at on them. In the lobby of the convention center tables were set up with all sorts of different appetizers. There was a drink fountain with water flowing for us all to drink from and we mingled for about 45 minutes or so while everyone arrived and the final touches on the dining room were set in place. Before long it was time to eat and the doors to main room of the convention center were opened!


We found our table, table 15. We were seated with two other couples and one widow. We hadn't ever met any of the people at our table so it was nice to hear their stories. When we all first sat down we were served salad. It was a very nice salad. They had the high school NJROTC students there as our servers that night. They were very good and made sure our places were cleared and our drinks were full. They also served us our main course of tri-trip steak and red potatoes with cantaloupe and rolls. The food was wonderful and all the planning and work that went into the event was amazing!


While we were eating and visiting with each other, we were all supposed to write down some advice about marriage on a card that each couple had. The advice we wrote down will be compiled into a book that will be given to all the couples who get married at St. Patrick's within the coming years. After the dinner dishes had been cleared away, one person from each table stood and read aloud what the table had decided was "good" wisdom. There were some very profound sayings, some very sentimental sayings and of course some very funny comments.


It was nice to hear all the different words of wisdom from all the years of marriage. They announced that in the room, between all the couples, there was something around 2,078 years of marriage (I can't remember the exact number they announced).

One of the couples got up with a guitar and microphone and lead the room in the song "Only You." They sang it all the way through once and then the second time around, they instructed all the husbands to get down on their knees and take their wives hands and serenade them with the song. The above picture is my husband down on his knee preparing to serenade me. It was pretty funny to watch a room full men down on their knees singing away. It was really neat.

The shortest married couple in the church was 3 months. They were not in attendance though so they named off the next shortest married couple. It was one other couple and us with 3 years. The longest married couple in attendance was a couple who had been married for 60 years.

On the stage they had a wedding cake. They asked the longest married couple and us, the shortest married couple to come up on stage and cut the cake. Each couple had a knife, and we took our position on each side of the cake and on the count of three we cut the wedding cake.

After the cake was cut it was cut up and served for all to enjoy. It was delicious!

With our 4 year anniversary approaching, this was a nice night to have together. We were married in the church that held the special mass that evening and we had our wedding reception at the same convention center with many of the same guests as the couples that were there that night. It was like a complete circle for us.

We had a wonderful time and look forward to the next one as they are saying they want to make this a yearly event!

As part of the decor in the room, they had hung up a quilt that the women of the church had made about 9 years ago. The quilt was made to honor Mary on her feast days. All the women of the church were invited to create a square of the quilt that represented them. As I was looking at the quilt I was able to find the squares that my mom, my sister and I had made all those years ago. The above picture is the square my mom made. It has my mom, me, my sister and my brother on it. The bottom is a verse out of the bible and it reads: "...As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

This was my sister's square. Funny, not much has changed since she made this square. Her passion for art has not gone away and she still enjoys playing outside and doing such things as basketball.

And here is the square I made. I still am strong in my faith, I still love music and theater (although I don't actively participate in either these days) and I still look for the sun to come through in tough times. It was neat to see this old quilt.

After we had gotten home from the celebration, some friends called us up and let us know they were in town and out at a local spot. So, we went and met up with them for some drinks.

We didn't stay out for long but it was nice to see Erin and Dan, Diane and Dalton and Candace and Waylon.

Overall, it was another really nice night to have together before the fall semester of school goes into full go mode. And on that note: If the blog seems to fall behind I apologize in advance. When school gets going it gets hard to keep up sometimes. Throw in everything else and it can get downright crazy. I will try and keep up though.

Love and blessings to everyone!

The Braces are Gone!

Since February of 2007 I have had braces on. Just 5 months shy of three years it was time to get them off!

This picture is a little scary but that's kind of how I was feeling on the inside the day we left the house to drive to Reno so I could get my braces put on.


I had several unseen reasons for needing braces. I never thought I would be getting braces but I did.


So, I went to Dr. Andrews in Reno and had my braces put on.


I wasn't all that thrilled to have them put on though.

When it was all over, I had a mouth full of metal!

Today was the day I got to drive to Reno to get them off!

I ate my breakfast in the car on the way so I needed to make a pit stop at the sink to brush my teeth.

This would be the last time I brush with all the metal and brackets and hooks in my mouth.

It was time for the big moment, the braces were taken off!

Then she had to scrape off the cement that was used to hold all that stuff in my mouth.

Here is a look at some of the tools they use to do my adjustments and to take off my braces.

And there they are, the braces that were on my teeth.

Two hours later, it was all finished! My braces were off and they gave me a water bottle filled with treats that I wasn't able to eat while they were on. It had laffy taffy, bazooka bubble gum, starbursts and hard little candies.

And here is my smile today. No braces, just me! It feels so good to have them off. I keep getting asked how it feels to have them gone. Some people have heard that teeth feel slimy when they come off but I feel differently. I tell people that it feels like I have fake teeth. I think it may take some getting used to with them gone but I don't have any complaints about that! It is nice to have them gone!