Mike's New Toy

Saturday Stella, Mike, and I headed up to Fort Collins to pick up his new toy. Before we went and got it, we met up with his lifelong buddy John and had lunch. We then headed over to a friends so he could get his brand new toy...a snowmobile.
He has promised to be very careful and I trust him driving more than some of his buddies...so I am ok with it I guess. It is a little different out here in CO when you are snowmobiling, you aren't worried about snow drifts, barbed wire, and the ditches...your worried about causing an avalanche. I also have rationalized this purchase with the fact that in the case of something happening when the guys are on their back country ski adventures...a snowmobile will get them help a lot sooner than hiking or skiing down. So hopefully I don't regret him purchasing this toy!

Stella is 4 Months

Stella is now four months old and a small 45 pounds. She continues to grow and we enjoy her growing personality.
Here are some of her updated pictures. Notice her ears...they really continue to grow and her head just doesn't seem to be able to catch up!
She also continues to be our money pit and seems to be a big klutz. We have become a familiar face at the vet :-) Our latest accident was a small cute on her toe.

Simple Entertainment

Every time Stella plays with herself in the mirror I find myself hysterically laughing (except this time-I had to record it). Mike is in Chicago this week so I am putting this up here for him to see as well. Enjoy

Aspen Hockey Tournament 2008

Mike and I headed up to Basalt/Aspen on Thursday for his hockey tournament. We went up a day early to spend time with Anna and Dale. We again ended up at a little bar in Basalt called Stubbies, which leads to fun, beer, and video golfing! Friday morning Mike and Dale got up and headed out to fly fish on the Roaring Fork River. Mike caught a bunch of fish and even recorded his biggest brown trout. It was also a great experience to learn new things, as Dale is an expert fly fisher and guide, who will be leaving in a couple months to guide in Argentina. Anna and I stayed back and did "girl stuff" which consisted of relaxing, going to a nice lunch, and then going to the salon. We then met up again with the guys to head to dinner before Mike's first game.
All in all the boys hockey team did well, going 2 and 2. The hiccup was that their goalie had to back out because he and his wife had their first baby, so they played with Aspen's high school goalie. If the full team was present, it might have been a different story. But it was still fun for the guys to play and the girls to sit and chat and watch some of the game.
On Saturday night after the game we went with Dan and Boshe to Jimmy's for dinner. We ate pretty late and we got free entertainment while we ate. At Jimmy's they have salsa and tango dancing at 11. So sure enough, it started with 2 people dancing and shortly after the dance floor was packed. Boshe and Dan were adventurous and danced to a song, Mike and I decided to wait until our honeymoon.
Sunday we got up and headed back to Denver. Mike and Stella spent the afternoon chillin on the couch together watching football and resting. I worked hard in the kitchen baking apple crisp and apple pies from my parents apple tree. I was craving and homesick for a homemade apple pie, the only hard part is that I had to make it.
This was also our first weekend away with Stella. She did really well and even got to be a big girl and spend Saturday night out of her kennel. We forgot it in Basalt and decided to stay in Aspen. I think Stella likes being in the mountains just as much as Mike and I do!

It's already OCTOBER?

September came and went really quickly, I still can't believe how fast it went. Mike had to travel quite a bit, Stella keeps growning, and Itzy and Tucker have finally come to accept the new addition.

We have had many things going on and we just keep plugging away. We had a wedding on Friday night, this weekend we checked more off our own wedding planning list, and have been hanging out with friends enjoying fall.

Sunday we took out our summer flowers and planted some fall ones. We also decorated for fall and put up our Halloween decorations and fall decor. The squirrels are loving the colorful corn we put out. Pictures to come

Light the Night Walk

Thursday night Mike and I along with some friends walked in honor of my cousin Josie and all the people and families affected by Leukemia and Lymphoma. There were so many people on the walk that it was truly a heart healing experience for me, and warming experience for the others.
After the walk we came back and grilled and the girls watched Grey's Anatomy and the boys watched baseball downstairs.
Thank you to all of those who participated or donated to our walk.
They have walks all over the country so if you ever want to organize your own team go to www.lightthenight.com and you can do so there.

Mmmmm Peanut Butter

Disregard her lack of interest in "sitting!" But this was our Sunday night entertainment :-)

Fall is in the air

With the weather getting cooler this weekend had us thinking about fall. Friday Mike flew home from a golf tournament in Santa Fe, to find that I had cooked him a tasty fall themed dinner. I made apple stuffed pork chops and roasted butternut squash. It was a hit, then we went to the movie Burn after Reading, it was such a weird movie!

Saturday Mike, Stella, and I headed up to Estes Park to look at the leaves in Rocky Mountain National Park. The leaves had started to change and were really fun to look at. Stella also was a "big puppy" and got to ride in the back of the car. Mike can't wait until she sticks her head out the back window...but is enjoying that she sticks her head out the side ones right now. We weren't able to do any hiking as the National Park has the dog rule "always on a leash...never on a trail." We then stopped for lunch in Boulder at a favorite pizza place Proto's.

Saturday night Mike and I joined a group of my girlfriends to help Piper celebrate her 29th birthday. We went to dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery, and then headed to Maloney's.

Sunday was another day of getting ready for fall. We also got in Sunday football. Mike and I both cooked on Sunday night. He made chili and I used our tomatoes and made salsa...both were very yummy.

The bottom picture is of the "girls." Poor Mike is out numbered (maybe that is why he works out of town so much) but finally after a month the cats have decided that Stella isn't that bad. They still don't cuddle, but they can be in the same room. For the first 3 weeks, Tucker didn't come upstairs! Incase you can't see Stella, she is in the bottom right laying down.

Who knew????

That tulips continue to grow once they are cut! I had a "mock up" done of my bouquet and as the days have gone by it has looked funnier and funnier...I am only going to show the top so that it is a surprise in May :-)

The blue flowers were once even with the top of the tulips...they were arranged on Monday and today they are towering above the other flowers.

Overdue Update..

On Thursday, Mike and I had his brother Pat and girlfriend Kim in town for a visit. Kim and I had arranged to "surprise" the brothers, but one thing lead to another and both of them eventually ruined it and found out. They got in late Thursday night so we just hung out for a bit and then headed to bed.

Friday we went up to Boulder so that Kim could look into CUs graduate program. After lunch we headed back to Denver to meet a couple guys at The Hornet for lunch. We then came home and got ready for a little BBQ at our place. We had a few friends over to see Pat and to enjoy some burgers, brats, and beer.

Saturday we were moving a bit slow but made it to lunch at Elways. Then Pat and Kim headed up to the mountains for a hike and Mike and I came home to nap with Stella :-) Saturday night Chico and Babe (Chris and Candy) joined us for dinner at the Barolo Grill. We had a great time enjoying the food, wine, and friends. *have you noticed a theme to the weekend???

Pat and Kim headed out early on Sunday morning and Mike and I had just enough time to "turn around our house" for Anna to come into town. Anna needed to do some shopping for her latest commercial and wanted to come hang out with us for a couple days too. When she got into town we promptly got ready to go to the Broncos game. It was a lot of fun and my favorite part of the day was almost witnessing adults start fighting. Anna's best quotable saying was "how do you become a super fan?" After the game Mike cooked Anna and I an amazing shrimp pasta. Monday we all worked and then met up at SushiHai for dinner.

Now it is Tuesday night...I am exhausted and trying to catch up...Mike flew to Dallas for meetings tomorrow....he will be home tomorrow night...Stella is 12 weeks (and 28lbs), and has shots tomorrow...Tucker and Itzy are FINALLY accepting (but not happy/or friendly with) the "new thing" that has invaded their house and somehow we all need to make it to Friday :-)