El Paso Trip: Day Eight

So this day we had to get up at the crack of dawn because we still had a 5 hour drive ahead of us and we had to return the van by 12 noon or pay for 2 more days. (side note, my whole adult life, I swore that I would NEVER by a van driver, but I will admit that after driving one for a week I now see the benefits of driving such a lame vehicle and there is probably a van sometime in my future.)

So we were on the road by 6am. And the most remarkable part of this trip is my husbands fascination with the wind mills along the way. He is absolutely enamored with them. He went so far as to say that they were "majestic". And when we chuckled about it he went on a 20 minute rant about how "it's like the past connecting with the future"(past - windmills have been around forever, future windmills could potentially provide us with our primary source of power) and how he would like to have a wind farm someday. Wow, I mean, I'm all about cleaner sources of power, but I'm not going to marry a windmill. Ha ha - Just kidding babe, you can't marry a windmill anyway - you're married to me!

So now back to what's really important. Eating. Once we got home, we rested awhile and then went out to eat with our good friend Gale and. . . .

Melissa came too!

Here is a very sleepy Juliana.

And here we are.

And after dinner it was off to Freddies for frozen custard.

Don't worry, we only ate this way because we were on vacation. We are now officially on a diet. Wish us luck!

El Paso Trip: Day Seven

Ok, this post is mostly about good food. It was our last day in El Paso, so you know we had to get one last meal in at Monteleone's. I know you will be shocked by this, but Roger ordered . . . . drum roll please. . . . he ordered A HAMBURGER! Yup, Mr. Brooks got a hamburger at an Italian restaurant. But in his defense this is no ordinary burger. It is made with a home made bun, hand made patti and fresh cheese. Fries are also home made and also delicious.

David, Marisa and I ordered the Monteleone Medley (for the second time) which consists of fried zucchini, fried cheese and fried pizza. The fried pizza are those deliciously fried pillows of goodness. I will miss you Monteleone Medley!!!!!!!!!!

So after lunch it was back on the road to Midland. Juliana listened to her Mickey Mouse music for about 1 hour, watched about 2 hours of Mickey Mouse and then napped for about an hour, dreaming of her Mickey Mouse.

Risa & Livi snacked on some Mickey Mouse cookies we had made while we were there.

And here are their tongues after said Mickey Mouse cookies.After a 5 hour ride, we arrived in Midland, TX. We checked into our hotel and made our way to the Cracker Barrel. Here is my little genius solving the Cracker Barrel puzzle.

Roger & Marisa decided to go for breakfast and both ordered the French Toast.

David had a 1/2 lb Burger

And I had an amazing Campfire Beef. I loved it!!!!

From there it was back to the hotel for an early night and up with the chickens to head back to Dallas.

El Paso Trip: Day Six

Well, day six for us was a bit of a re cooperation day for us. We got up late and took our time getting ready. And just as we were all ready, Roger passed out on the couch.

And like father, like daughter, Juliana passed out as well.

So after everyone woke up from their little morning snooze, we were off. First to lunch and then to visit Juliana's new good friend Virginia. Virginia has been a patron of Monteleone's for years and after seeing Juliana's picture in a flier there, she joined the Juliana Dream Team. She worked so hard this year for our fundraiser selling tickets and getting donations. Thank you so much to Virginia and GraybaR. We will definitely keep in touch!

These girls were fast friends! Juliana made herself comfortable on Virginia's shoulder. Thanks Virginia for being a great friend.

So after we visited awhile with Virginia we went to the movies to see Toy Story in 3D. It was awesome and yes I belong to the millions of dorks that cried at this movie. Juliana owes me about $9 since she decided to sleep through 80% of the movie.

And here is Livi, Risa & David

And after the movies we went for a delicious dinner at Monteleon's. Here are David & Livi making the same exact funny face.

This is our friend Aracely. She also volunteered and worked her booty off for the fundraiser. Thanks Aracely.

And of course, here is Juliana with her BESTEST friend. They talked and giggled and eventually she fell asleep on her Nina Laura.

After the restaurant we went to say our good byes to my brother Eddie's family. Olivia wanted to take Layla home with her. Sorry Livi, but Casey wouldn't like that.

El Paso Trip: Day Five - THE BIG DAY

Wow! This was an amazing day. To say it was a success is an understatement. We opened today from 11am-9pm. By 10:45am the kitchen had already put out over 200 to go orders. Starting at 11am we had a VERY steady flow of people and to go orders all the way up until 9pm. The volunteers that worked the event are amazing. We can't thank you enough for all of your hard work. We couldn't have done this without you. Here are just a few pictures from the day. Stay tuned for the video later!

Juliana with Uncle Eddie

"For the love - when is lunch time!"

Here you go Livi - One spaghetti coming right up!

Here are the girls watching the ipod. But what is even cuter is the dog that is holding up the ipod. A very sweet couple that had seen the article in the El Paso Times came to have lunch and brought this really cute dog for Juliana. She loved it!

Here we are with my Great Aunt Susana and Great Uncle Jimmy.

Our wonderful volunteers: Helen, Andrew & Liz

Risa with the girls taking a break

Omi & Evelyn

Celso

David hard at work. Sell those cookies!!!!

Roger behind the register of course.

Tensie, Johnny & friends

This is Virginia. She works at Graybar and was a huge help to the team this year, selling tickets, getting raffle items and working the day of! Thank you so much for your help!

This is the band that volunteered to play for our event. They are called Bless the Morning and were awesome.

This is my Godmother Margie, Jaime and their daughter Yvette. Thanks to them as well for all their help!

And this was a very special treat. We met a new friend Melinda, another special Rett Angel that lives here in El Paso and her mom. We had a great time chatting and I hope to keep in touch.

And here is the gang finally taking a break after a really LONG day.

Here is another great shot of our volunteers. This is the group that ended the night. Some worked all day! A million thank you's from the bottom of our hearts!

Here is a corner that Livi found to watch her movies.

And here is Juju at the end of a very long day, chillin with her cousin Johnny.

Not only did we raise a lot of money for research, but it was a GREAT day for awareness too. We must have touched over 1,000 people (dine in + take out) and so many people commented about how they had never heard of Rett Syndrome and how they were going to share with their friends and family. We also handed out a lot of fliers for the Chase Community of Giving so I hope we will see some votes coming in! Anyway, that's all for now. Stay tuned for the video coming up with the complete set of pictures.