Puppy Visit '09/Deck Construction

We are having so much fun with Heupel and Ellie! Garrett and Meghan did not get to stay long enough, but we are glad to keep the puppies for awhile! Garrett had to go back to Houston last week to prepare for camp and Meghan drove up to Kansas to stay with her sister and meet her baby niece! Heupel and Ellie have been at camp weiner-ville for about 10 days. The dogs get along great, but they sure do miss their mommy and daddy! Below is a picture of all six Hollingsworth Hounds :)

Ever since Phil and Christie moved into their house, they have known that the back deck needed to be replaced. Cameron had intentions of doing this last summer, but we ended up having hip surgery instead. This summer we finally tackled the project. We started by tearing down the existing deck which didn't take long considering most of it was rotted!

I was able to help some with the demolition, but once the construction started - it's been mostly the boys' project. Cameron is acting as foreman of this operation and is doing a great job! It's going to look great once it is totally done. I'll keep you posted :)

One Year Check Up in St Louis!

When we got back from Mexico we had two days at home to unpack, do laundry, and repack before heading back on the road to St. Louis! Cameron had his one year follow up appointment, and Christie had a 5 month check up. This visit was SO much easier and laid back then previous visits. No one was on crutches, wheelchairs, walkers... We got to visit all of our hot spots! We drove up on Monday - ate at Little Tokyo in Springfield (our favorite Japanese place!) We stopped at the biggest candy store ever to pick up some "Sassy Taffy"! Unloaded the car at the hotel and then drove down the street to Imo's (our favorite pizza in the world!) Somehow this trip always turns into a foodfest! Tuesday we slept in a little bit, then made our way to the hospital for the appts. I think the surgeon is a great person, but not very personable... is that just how surgeons are? Mostly introverted? Anyways, we were asking him about the screws in Cameron's hip. Last year he told us we should get them out after a year, now he's telling us they don't have to come out... We were confused so we asked for Madeline (she's another doctor that works with our surgeon) and she did a better job at guiding us to a decision. Cameron will probably go back in January when his mom goes for her one year check up, and have an out patient procedure to remove the screws. We hit up the mall that afternoon to our favorite food court (more japanese food!) then grabbed some White Castle on the way to see the Cardinals! It was the best weather ever to see a game. Cool with a little breeze and no rain! Plus the Cardinals beat the Tigers 11-2, so all around it was a stellar night (despite my White Castle burger being slimy by the time we got to the game...gross).

My Apologies...

So if you know me very well at all, you know that my last post really bothered me. The words were all spaced out weird, and not to mention how horrible the spacing on the pictures were! It did not look like that when I was drafting, but somehow in the publishing... ick. I did attempt to fix it, but then it started deleting pictures and I did not have the patience for it.
Anyways, I have a lot to catch up on with the blog. Here is a preview of what is to come:

• Check up in St. Louis
• Phil and Christie's deck
• Puppy Visit!
• 4th of July

Today I'm going with some friends to the dollar jewelry store. I'm excited!

Puerto Vallerta 2009

Summer is flying by! June was a busy month with lots of great highlights. We were able to travel to Puerto Vallerta with Mandy and Jeremy for a week! It was our first grown up vacation with friends and we had an awesome time.

We stayed at the Barcelo' resort which was about 20 minutes from downtown Puerta Vallerta. The beach was kinda rocky, so we mostly kicked it by the pool! As you can see, they had plenty to choose from! The pools also provided

lots of opportunities for people watching - my favorite part of all vacations. They had a kids pool, a large pool with a swim up bar, and another pool with bridge and waterfall. The views were amazing, and as with all vacations - you never

fully appreciate them until you are gone. The sunsets were incredible (I spared you by only posting one sunset pic...) We ate like kings and queens all week. I HIGHLY recommend going with the all-inclusive packages when staying at these resorts. If you order something you didn't like - no worries, just set it aside and order something else! American overinduldgence at its finest! Unfortunately, the vacation spoiled me a bit.

When we got home, I had to get used to things like paying for food and drink again. We hope to go back to Mexico again in a few years, so sign up now! The more the merrier!