Cookout!

Malu and I have been dying to barbecue.  Okay, maybe it's just me.  And it's not so much the barbecue I've been wanting, but rather just wanting to find some friends around here.  I have some great friends at work, but haven't quite found a group of "regulars" to hang out with like we've had at previous duty stations.  Today, we finally had the opportunity!  We met up with some new friends of ours.  Well, actually, the person that invited me is an old friend from high school.  Meet the Fargo's!

This is Adam and his wife, Nichole, who's such a sweetie.  I really love how small the Army is.  You just never know who you're going to run into and when.  By way of Facebook, Adam found out that I was heading to Stuttgart and that I'd be working in the building right across from his (he actually works in the EUCOM headquarters).  Not only that, we pretty much work hand-in-hand on a daily basis and I must say that it's been nice to have my go-to guy at the headquarters. I would never have imagined, almost 15 years ago (when I last saw him at our high school in Carthage, NY, right outside of Fort Drum, where my dad was stationed) that we'd link up--and in Europe of all places!  I must also add that the years have been great to Adam.  He's done well professionally and has a beautiful family.

The Fargos introduced us to their lovely group of friends and we had a great time, more food than we knew what to do with, drinks and tons of laughs.  Although Mother Nature couldn't quite decide how to feel today (sunny, rainy, sunny, cold & windy), we were happy with the company and it was a lovely afternoon.  Here are more pics from today...

Sina quickly made friends with Adam & Nichole

Having fun!

She was totally diggin' that hat!

Doing some walking around the gazebo

I definitely hope this get-together won't be our last!

Thanks to the Fargos for thinking of us!

I hope all of you are enjoying the weekend.

Don't forget...Monday is the last day to enter my giveaway!

29 Week Photo & BBQ Sunday

Before I go into this evening's fabulous BBQ, I thought I'd throw in a picture of my 29 week-old belly. It's been a while since I posted one anyway. People tell me that I'm getting bigger, but for some reason, I don't feel like there's been any change in the last few photos. But....in their defense....I can definitely FEEL a difference. But I feel great. I'll try to remember to sum up the last two or so weeks in another post sometime this week.

But gosh, 3 posts all in one Sunday! I'm on a roll! Well, the ladies lunch crew from work decided to go one step further and do themed dinners on one Sunday each month. So this Sunday, we kicked it off at Leah and Jay's house and went simple and easy with a BBQ. Oh, it was tons of fun. The food was great and what was even better was that I was allowed to bring Lucy along. There, she met Leah and Jay's Great Dane, Moose, who really is all that his name implies. The guy is huge! They also have what I believe is a chihuahua/dachsund mix, but Lucy pretty much steered clear of him, for whatever reason. They also have two cats, but they stayed in the master bedroom. But look at this guy, he's huge! And he's got Lucy's temperament--chilled/laid back and just plain ol' sweet. I love him!

Since I was giving this guy all kinds of attention, I had to share some with my baby girl too. She does get jealous from time to time. No matter....she still won't make eye contact with the camera!

And you know we couldn't end the event without taking a group photo. Besides, I've been throwing out all kinds of friends' names in emails and phone calls to Malu that he is thoroughly confused on who's who. The last time he came to El Paso, I had a different set of friends from another unit! I thought I'd catch him up to speed and send him this photo. This is pretty much the ladies lunch crew--and the nicest set of girls to boot.

[L to R: Katie, Laura (3 mos preg), Leah (8 mos preg), Graciela, Joy, Melissa and Me (7 mos preg)]

Now it's time to get serious and head back to work tomorrow. Really, who are we kidding? Serious? No way! Thanks for hosting the party, Leah and Jay. It was grrrrrreat!