Ahhh...Fall

I may seem a little weird putting food on our blog but one of the things I love most about this time of year is harvesting fruits & vegies. I feel my Kansas roots through and through when I pick tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries. In Utah, we had a grapevine and made jams, wine and juice out of the sweet grapes we harvested off of our patio. Last year we planted two grape vines and I have given those plants so much TLC. HOw I loved watching the fruit grow and finally ripen. Today I enjoyed making concord grape pie and tomato salsa. There is just something about picking fruit & vegies off of plants after a summer of watering/caring for those plants, then making a treat out of them...yummmy!

Vacation continues

Dad and mom stayed until Friday and we didn't let a moment go to waste. Wednesday we rented 4wheelers for the day and had a blast on the trails around Vail/Shrine Mountain Pass. We took a crazy trail over unbelievable terrain and were amazed at what these little machines could do. Then we rode to Red Cliff (a small mountain town near Leadville) and ate lunch at the cutest restaurant. It threatened to rain all day, but only sprinkled a little, which honestly was a miracle. I think it rained everywhere else but where we were riding. Anyways, Wednesday was a memory that will last for a lifetime... it was so fun.

We also hiked and took a few scenic routes around the area which were fun. We even ended up at Como, CO which I think gets a prize for the most back country place there is in this state. But we enjoyed pie and icecream at the Como depot.

Mom and dad went on to Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp for a weekend with my dad's bro's and sis's. We stayed up in Keystone with our friends from church. We had a great bike ride and dinner and yes...an awesome time watching Broncos win!

Labor Day Weekend

This summer has officially ended with a bang! We went up to Keystone and Mom &Dad and Mike &Tina (my bro and sis-in-law) and kiddos came up for a couple of days. It was great enjoying the outdoors and nice weather and hanging out. Saturday we went to a festival and the boys were the hit of the show. They have rhythm and people we were watching them more than the show! Sunday, Jeremy, Kim & Aran and Julia &Bryan joined us and we talked the afternoon away while all the kiddos played hide and seek. Mom and dad were quite the babysitters as well. Wow, what a great weekend to end summer with!

Waterski Adventure

One thing we miss about living in the midwest is waterskiing. We haven't been out to Texas yet this year to visit my big bro Brian (thank you for always taking us waterskiing) nor have we been to Minnesota to stay at Paul's parents lake cabin... needless to say we were itching to go waterskiing. We got to do just that Friday evening! We had a blast and still are very sore. Holly joined us and we had a great time in Morrison afterwards.

Thanks for visiting Gayle and Steve/Happy Birthday Pete!

I feel like I just blog our weekends. Actually these summer weekends have been so fun...I think this has been one of my favorite summers. This weekend Gayle and Steve Miller came to Denver because Steve wanted to run in the Muddy Buddy in Boulder...a race that consists of running/biking with a friend in costume 10K then finishing with a mud obstacle course. Tammy got to hang out with Ramona and Gayle and hike at Golden State Park and enjoy Denver/Boulder. It was so fun connecting with them again...they are always so hilarious.

We also got to celebrate Pete's birthday on Saturday! We "rapped" a Happy Birthday song for him in the morning with scones then went out eating in Boulder and went to a Charlie Hill concert. We loved spending the day with Pete on his birthday!!!

August Vacation

Oh man, we just got back from the best vacation! It truly was a vacation. Our goals of the vacation were 1) spend time with Jesus 2) relax! relax! relax! 3) exercise, and of course 4) just be together. We started out the week at Estes Park and stayed in the cutest cozy cabin at the YMCA. 5 years ago we got engaged at Longs Peak outside of Estes Park and we wanted to celebrate that. We even made a Houge tile that will be put up at the YMCA and we can reflect on it when we come to visit.

Our vacation consisted of reading, napping, napping some more then we would head out for a hike or run then read some more. One of our thoughts was to read through the New Testament, but we kept journaling about Matthew and haven't made it out of there yet. We wanted to pray about our passions and what we are going to do in 2 and half years when Paul may retire from the Air Force. Overseas missions is both of our hearts, but we have other thoughts as well. Anyways, we got back from Estes on Wednesday evening and hung out with some friends, then left to go camping on Thursday. Ramona and Pete joined us for a day as well. We feel so refreshed and so relaxed.

Ramona Rocks!

This weekend started out with Ramona coming up to Keystone with me and we painted the master bedroom at the condo. Then she helped me pick out the perfect comforter for the room and then gave me a "dead sea salt manicure". Thank You girl!...our guys showed up later Friday night. Saturday morning came and we had a great idea to bike a little around some of the trails...welll a little got to be hours of climbing up hills and climbing up more hills and by this time we decided to bike all the way to Breckenridge! Oh my! Over the mountain and through the woods to Breckenridge we went. During this 12mile jaunt Ramona did not complain despite the fact she did not have padded biker shorts nor has she biked all season. You did soooo awesome Ramona!! During our little adventure we got to witness a bridal party make its way by horse drawn covered wagons to a mountain wedding....like what one would see in a magazine. When we got home, I think we all enjoyed the hot tub more than we ever had before (especially the guys...they rode their bikes back to Keystone while Ramona and I took the free bus back). What a wonderful weekend with wonderful friends!