We were so excited to have both sets of parents down to visit for the holiday weekend. Jim and Robin arrived the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, leaving Friday and Bob and Ellen arrived on Friday, leaving this past Tuesday. The flight schedules worked out well because Bob and Ellen arrived around noon and Jim and Robin didn't depart until the evening. We were all able to meet up for lunch!
When Jim and Robin arrived on Tuesday morning the first stop they made was to check out our new house. After giving Brinkley some attention they went to Frank Lloyd Wright's home, Taliesin West. They gave the tour rave reviews when we all met downtown for lunch (I had to work that day). That evening we took them to one of our favorite restaurants, Durant's, which I've mentioned in this blog before.
On Wednesday Sean and Jim tackled Troon North Golf Club while Robin kept Brinkley company and I tied up some loose ends at work. At noon, I took Robin to one of my favorite wine bars, Postino, where we snacked on bruschetta, sandwiches and soup. Since we were in the same parking lot, we stopped by La Grande Orange where we bought some cranberry sauce and delicious Tammie Coe cupcakes. After a filling lunch we walked some of the calories off by shopping around Fashion Square, then met the guys back at home before leaving for dinner at Old Town Tortilla Factory. It was a little chilly (for Arizona, at least), but the patio lit up with white lights made the atmosphere worth the lower temperatures. Plus, there's something so great about eating dinner al fresco in November. :-)
Thursday was the big day for Sean and me as we cooked our very first Thanksgiving dinner. The menu: turkey with sage butter and bacon-wrapped skin, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, mixed greens with pancetta and dijon vinigarette, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy and pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream (see photos below). Joel even stopped by to say hello and check on our cooking. The day was absolutely beautiful...sunny and about 80 degrees...so we couldn't resist eating outside. Again, what could be better than eating Thanksgiving dinner outside with your sunglasses on? After Robin and Jim were kind enough to clean up, we had just enough time to digest our meal and continue the day at Sun Devil Stadium to tailgate before the ASU-USC game. We enjoyed our pumpkin pie with our usual tailgate-mates, Lon and Dina, but were also joined by their son and Sean's friend, Brian (photo of Sean and Brian below). Even though the game ended in an ASU loss, we were still able to enjoy the holiday with family! We even had our own celebrity halftime entertainment: Little Richard (see photo below)!
On Friday my parents arrived, and after a quick tour of the house we all had lunch together at Four Peaks Brewery. It's appearing to become our go-to lunch location for when a member of the Cox family is in town! The six of us (photo below) enjoyed a filling lunch while enjoying some great beer and keeping our eyes on the other college football games going on. We then took a quick trip over to the ASU main campus to re-tread Sean's old stomping grounds before Jim and Robin left to catch their flight back to Kansas. Friday evening we popped Caddyshack into the DVD player while I cooked dinner: salmon with sauteed spinach and herb cheese spread, all wrapped in phyllo, with a repeat appearance of the mixed greens and dijon vinegarette from the day before and tortellini with alfredo sauce.
Saturday was another full day. We started at the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix, one of the largest museums in the country that's dedicated to Native American arts and culture. We spent over two hours there and we still didn't make it to every exhibit. One particular exhibit that I found interesting was the boarding school exhibit. They had information on a campus I was familiar with: Haskell Indian Nations University, located in Lawrence, Kansas. Once a boarding school, it is now a college that only admits students with Native American heritage. Our next stop was Old Town Scottsdale where we ate lunch at one of our usual haunts, Cafe Carumba, and took a short walk around the area to search for an area rug for my parents' front entry. No trip to the Old West would be complete without a drink at a cowboy bar, and our choice was the Rusty Spur, which has also been the choice of celebrities like Sean Connery and Vince Vaughn! Saturday night was the big KU-Missouri football game, so we joined what seemed like all the other Jayhawks in the valley at Upper Deck, a KU-favorite bar in Old Town Scottsdale. It appears the football gods were not smiling on Sean and me, as KU lost.
Sunday was a great day because I got to celebrate my birthday with my parents, which I don't think has happened in quite a few years! My mom must have been doing me a favor because it was my birthday, because she went to the mall with me to meet a friend and shop around a little bit! If any of you know my mom well, you know that she is NOT a shopper...but she was this day! Sean and my dad hopped over to one of Sean's favorite bars, Giligin's, to watch the Vikings game while my mom and I were at the mall. In the afternoon we were invited to one of my dad's colleague's homes for a drink and a viewing of his prize-winning Arabian horses! The home was absolutely beautiful (breathtaking, really), and the horses were amazing. I haven't seen a horse up close in a while, and to be able to see such gorgeous horses was just so cool! We viewed five horses, and the last one was Magnum Chall, who is a US, Canadian and Brazilian national champion stallion, and who also loves carrots, I might add! :-) Afterwards we celebrated my birthday with dinner at Tarbell's, which is now becoming one of my favorite special-occasion dining options. We managed to restrain ourselves to only sorbet for dessert, but a take-home order of their famous bread pudding.
Monday started the work week again for Sean and me, so while we slaved away at the office, my parents enjoyed a fun lunch with Dave and Evelyn and an extended visit walking around Old Town Scottsdale. When Sean and I returned home from work we all got a drink at the Coach House, the oldest bar in Scottsdale, then enjoyed dinner at the Pink Pony Steakhouse, a Jim and Robin favorite, and now a Bob and Ellen favorite!
Tuesday morning was an early one for my parents, as they had a 7:30 a.m. flight back to Minnesota.
All in all we had a great visit with everyone over the week!
We are now looking forward to the busy holiday season to continue...work slowing a bit (My two-day conference with over 300 attendees went great!), holiday parties, a trip to Minnesota, and hopefully trip(s) to see our team(s) play in a bowl!
Happy happy holidays!
