Ramirez and Anderson Family: July 2011

Summer is in full swing and it has been hot and fun! The family has been busy, as usual, and loving every minute of my favorite season. Now that we have the pool I am spending most of my time outside between the pool, yard work, Jimmy Choo, and the pups.

Anna went back to Austria at the end of June. It was so hard to say goodbye but she promises she will be back to visit and maybe even go to college over here. We told her she always has a family in the States now. She misses all the friends she made but was happy to see her friends and family back home. Before she left, Anna's mom came here for Anna's graduation and that was a fun visit. She made us Austrian food and it was wonderful!!!

Miss Cheri went to England for 6 weeks to study abroad. I missed her something awful but she had fun and earned 8 credits studying over there. She stayed at Oxford for 4 weeks and York for 2 weeks. She saw the queen and princess in London. She said they waved to her and her group. I am happy to have her home safe and sound. I missed my girl! Thank God for facebook because I talked to her everyday on the computer.

Clint and Amanda are back home now and got a Goldendoodle puppy, Nala, and she is as sweet as you can get. It is their practice for a future baby. She is a good pup and gets along with my two dogs really well. It cracks me up when they go on and on about how much work a puppy is. I tell them just wait until the kids get here and then they can complain about work. They ain't seen nothing yet! Both of them are working for Paul and looking for permanent jobs.

Charlie is on vacation this week and is happy to be off. He has been working 50-60 hours a week and that is tough in a steel mill in this heat. He seems to love his job. Kortnie is still working at Tim Hortons trying to figure out where she wants to go next.

Paul is done reffing for the summer and has been working on our yard. We almost have the front yard done and it is beautiful now from the house to the barn. He is working on the back yard and we ordered the fence so the dogs will have a safe place to play. I take them for walks on our trails but it would be nice to throw them outside for a while while I clean or just to get them out from under my feet now and then. We are also looking at new fencing for the horse pastures and maybe adding a new pasture. When it gets hot like this they don't have much grass to graze on.

I have been so busy. As soon as school got out I cleaned out the barn and had a barn sale. That was a chore!!! I had a 2 day yearbook conference with 12 of my students at the end of June. Over the 4th of July I had a 3 day horse seminar with Jimmy. He was so good. It was about 5 houses down from my in-laws so I popped in to see them. Minnie had surgery so I wanted to check on her. Jimmy is very well trained and I am finding out more and more that I just need to find out where all his button controls are.

Janette and Paul Richard (my 6 year old great-nephew) came into town and we took my in-laws to a Mud Hens game in a limo for their 65th anniversary. We had so much fun. We got a suite and Dad got to throw out the first pitch! Paul Richard got in the crazy hair contest (he has a mohawk) and he ran the bases after the game. The Hens won too!!!

Last weekend I went to a 4 day Zumba conference. There were 6000 instructors there and it was crazy fun. I went with Christy. She was my student and is now an instructor too. It was dancing all day long and a party every night. We collapsed into bed every night, exhausted. The first party was an opening celebration that showed examples of all the different Zumba dances. The second party was a Pitbull concert. I had no idea who he was until this conference, I am a country girl. The third party was a neon party with black lights and a band. There were some CRAZY outfits there. I saw drag queens, angels, bunnies, bathrobes, and even a pregnant woman that painted a Zumba sign on her belly with neon paint. Like I said, crazy. The shopping was so much fun too. They had tons of deals for us and bought tons of outfits. It was like a huge fashion show and we loved every minute of it. Beto is the creator of Zumba and he popped into classes, walked around greeting people, and ran all the shows. He is an amazing dancer. He is like a Zumba Justin Bieber. Christy and I also got certified in Zumba Toning. This is my 3rd certification and her second. I have Basics 1 and Basics 2 and now Toning. I think I will do Gold next (that is for the older crowd). They also have Aqua Zumba and Zumbatonics for kids. A new big thing is Zumba in the Circuit at Curves. I am qualified to teach that if I want to. Nice to keep my options open. I will be teaching at a charter school this fall and a dance studio said I can have their place on Tuesdays. I am also thinking of turning my basement into a studio too. Options.

This past week we had Sam and Maya (Paul's nephew from Denver and his 11 year old daughter) and Jim (Paul's brother from Maryland) staying with us for a few days. They were here for their class reunions so I got lots of time with my Miss Maya. I took her to the Wyandotte Street Fair, swimming in the pool, shopping with Paul's sisters, and riding Jimmy Choo. Her and Paul played lacrosse (her favorite sport) and we took the pups for a walk on the trails. Her and I even did a night swim. She left us this sweet thank you letter. She is one amazing kid.

Today Cheri and I did a Zumbathon at Christy's studio for a family that lost their 6 year old son in June. He was on a field trip at the zoo and died from heart complications that no one knew about. He was from Bedford and it was so very sad. It was 90+ degrees today and we danced for 2 hours. It was a good thing I brought a cooler of water because Cheri and I needed it. Christy had gifts to raffle and 50/50 tickets too so I think she will be able to donate a nice check to the family.

I hope this finds all of you doing well. Cheri and I are planning a trip out east to see my friends and family out there. I haven't been to New England since I was 19! It will be a fun girl trip. I will keep you posted.

Love ya!
Cindy