Debbie's Birthday!

WOW! I had a great birthday and once again was spoiled by my family. But, I must share with you one of the most special gifts that I have ever seen or received. I received some marvelous things, ie: a beautiful plate that matches one Rob gave me last year and an awesome, way too expensive pair of shoes I showed my mom once and my parents gave me, along with many other nice things. But, I have never been so shocked and surprised by the gift my daughters gave me.

I knew that they had been saving their money, and doing extra jobs to earn money, but I figured they were saving for vacation or something special they had in mind. Well, they were both so excited about the gift they had gotten me for my birthday, and could hardly wait for us to get back from Palm Springs so that I could open it.

They did an awesome job of wrapping the gift to deceive me. First of all, there was a shoe box. I thought, "wow, they bought me a pair of my favorite flip flops", and then I opened the box and inside was a check box, and I was confused. Then I opened the check box and inside was a little jewelry box. I thought they had probably bought me a pair of earrings. So, I opened the box and inside was...

a beautiful silver ring, with little diamonds and my birthstone.

I could hardly believe my eyes! I was so shocked! It is beautiful! My girls are so proud of themselves because they surprised me and I had no idea what was going to be in that box. I have two of the best girls in the world.

Thanks Nicole and Amanda for making your mom's birthday so special! I love you both!

Rob's Surprise in Palm Springs!

First of all, you'll enjoy this photo...Rob and I "cropped" ourselves together, so we could actually have a photo of ourselves together on this trip! I had to share it with you, because it makes me laugh!
As a surprise for Rob, I rented a MUSTANG to drive on our trip. We had received a couple of free upgrades and it was going to be the same price as a compact. Boyee was he excited when this car pulled up. We had a great time riding in this convertible, even though, several times we had the heat on full blast!
This is the SHELBY GT-H MUSTANG he wishes I would have rented! He had to have his picture taken at least near this car!

Rob & Debbie WILL NOT Retire in Palm Springs!

If you know us well enough, you know we live to travel. Ever since the day we said "I DO", we have been planning or dreaming of our next trip, and saving for it. One of the places we have dreamed of going was Palm Springs. Wondering what was all the hype about.

We left for Palm Springs Saturday, Feb. 17th. We were both miserable, on anti-biotics, had bad colds, ear aches and a sinus infections! But...we had non-refundable tickets...so off we went. We got bumped off our flight here at PDX before we even left! But...we were still very optimistic about our trip...plus, we were upgraded to first class on another flight and given two free tickets for the inconvenience.

Then we got our car, and took on LA traffic and ventured east! We arrived to a SMOKE FILLED hotel...booked solid! Not to mention every other hotel in Palm Springs or 50 miles in any direction. It was President's 3 day weekend! So, we decided to make the best of it.

The next morning we got up, both of us worse than the day before, and decided it was time to eat. So, we got in our car and headed out for food.

We could only find a McDonalds and it was after 10:30 so they weren't serving breakfast so we came along Hadley Fruit Orchards. So, we stopped in, and I don't know what it is about CA people, but they have something against fresh fruit. This was a packed dried fruit and nut company! Not a fresh fruit to be seen or had!

Anyways, to make a long story short, this wasn't our best trip! We were sick, and only got worse till we spent one day on the phone with our physician back home trying to get new antibiotics, and then finding out where our insurance would let us get them filled. We finally got a non smoking room the last day, but by this time Rob's asthma was all out of wack. And the weather wasn't nearly as warm as we had hoped. We didn't even get to enjoy the lovely pool!

We did however come to the conclusion that Palm Springs is not the place for us. We don't see why so many people love it there. The scenery is dry rocky sage brush. Golfing and Casino's are plentiful. So, we will not be retiring there. However, we leave you with a few photos and sayings that we saw on signs! We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

We decided that they had to put up signs like this one because there is no LANDSCAPING!!!, so when they add a tree or something...they want everyone to notice!

They have buildings with funny names!!!

And then a church billboard read...

Avoid tooth decay...go to church?

Happy Valentine's Day

Here are a few shots of the girls last week...





And here are the girls 4 years ago on Valentine's Day!
Wow...time flys! Aren't they cute?
Happy Valentine's Day, Girls!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A FAMILY OUTING ON NICOLE!

And they lost in overtime! Yes, we went and saw the Trail Blazers play against the Suns last night, and we lost by 7. The game was pretty exciting in the last few minutes of regulation time. But in the end, the Trail Blazers managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Nicole received the free tickets as a reward for being student of the month. We are all recovering from "nose bleeds" due to how high our seats were, but we had a great time together!

MARINA IS COMING BACK!

YEAH!!! MARINA IS COMING BACK! Many of you met our Basque daughter, Marina, last summer. We heard from her by email this week, and the girls and grandma and grandpa talked to her on the phone today. Marina says she talked to Gerald Griffin, from Summer in America, and has her paperwork, and wants to come back to the Harding's again this summer! We are so excited to see her again. We can hardly wait! She should be here at the end of June and stay thru July. Thanks Marga and Domingo for sharing your daughter with us again this summer!