Pat Did It!

Today Pat took and passed all his examinations and officially became a Nuclear Mechanic Instructor here at the Malta Nuclear Power Plant. The examination consisted of 73 page written examination then a 2 hour oral examination; and he did it!!! I'm so proud of him. He is working one crazy schedule of at least 60 hours/week rotating shift-work. We hardly get to spend much time together but we're managing and spending every change together that we possibly can.

Our Belated Christmas in Denver

Pat was not allowed to take off for Christmas this year, so we waited until his four-day weekend, last weekend, and went to Denver and celebrated a "belated Christmas" with all of the Gotberg's together. Pat was also not allowed to take off last Christmas so this was the first time he saw my parents and Rae in over a year & a half; as you can imagine there was alot of catching up to do! We all had a great time while we were there. The whole weekend was jam-packed. Here is a re-cap of our trip:

Shopping at the Outlet Malls where my Mom & Rae work They were cutting down the tree while we were there; I guess that means Christmas is officially over:(

The whole family and Nick, Rae's boyfriend, all went to the University of Denver vs. Alaska Hockey Game Saturday night. Alaska was undefeated so this was a very exciting game. But in the last 38 seconds Denver scored and won the game! This was Sophie and my very first hockey game and I loved it! Pat and I are now talking about going up to Canada and going to a hockey game there, or maybe to Boston; apparently New York is huge fans of hockey so we have plenty of options; however, I will have to say, all the fighting is very tacky...

After the game back at my parent's house during charades

Sunday night we had our big Christmas dinner and did the presents. After dinner Nick and my parent's good friends and neighbors, Paul and Barbara, came over for dessert and coffee. Paul and Barb are actually from Buffalo so they gave us many pointers on New York!

Everyone helping cook (well except Rae)

Pat really wanted to see the Air Force Academy so my dad, Pat and I all went to Fort Collins all day Sunday. The Academy is absolutely beautiful. We toured the campus and watched a short movie about the school and what all it has to offer. We also found out that there is a Nuclear Weapons Reactor near Denver Pat can work at once he gets out of the Navy.

Outside the beautiful Chapel

Inside the Chapel




Garden of the God's


My Dad and I in their backyard- they have an AMAZING view

Papa, Soph, Pat and I leaving Monday morning for the airport:(

Christmas 2009

This Christmas Pat could not take off so we had to stay here in Saratoga. Sophie came and stayed with us for a few nights. This Christmas was such a beautiful, white Christmas. In fact, we were snowed in most of the time Soph was here (I'm still not completely comfortable driving in the snow yet- I'm getting there!). However, we did make it out of the house to see Avatar; Pat and Sophie were dying to see it (not my kind of movie- at all, in fact I fell asleep for a little bit of it...) and they loved the movie- I had to hear them talk about it for the following two hours after the movie was finally over (James Cameron and his 2.5hour movies- however, Titanic was AMAZING!). We had a great time though, I always have fun with my Koo!

Sophie left to go back to NYC last night and I already miss her. She's staying in NYC for the rest of the holidays and her, Pat and I are all flying to Denver for a belated Christmas the beginning of January. Sophie's lease is now up in NYC so she's trying to figure out her next plan.

We couldn't get their attention for the picture- they're watching Pat cut the turkey

That's all I could get- she wasn't wearing any makeup!
20 minutes after dinner...

I love my Koo!!!

Our First NY Snowfall

This morning was our very first infamous New York snowfall. Last night it snowed nearly 6 inches, and it's STILL snowing! Pat and Cooper played out in the snow for awhile; once he was finally brave enough to get out in the snow (and Pat threw him in it) Coop loved it. It's suppose to snow another couple of inches tonight. My dear, sweet husband is outside shoveling all the snow off my car now (apparently it is illegal to drive around with any snow on your car in NY).

New York City

Last weekend was Pat's four-day so Pat, Belle, Cooper and I went to NYC to visit Sophie and do some Christmas shopping. Her lease is up the end of December so it was our last chance to get to see her place (in Chelsea) and visit her while she's in New York. We had a great time with her. She showed us all around and we ate at all her favorite restaurants (Pat and I tried Thai food for the very first time). NYC is like no other city. I fell absolutely in love with the city. If we ever get the chance to live there I will gladly take it. I'd love to live near Central Park, it's the better family area. There's always so much to do; and almost all the restaurants deliver at all hours. It's amazing!