Party Animals?????

Is this not the cutest picture??? I came home yesterday and glanced outside and did a double take when I saw this!! He seemed perfectly content, just sitting there looking around or scooping up a handful of bird seed and munching on it! Glenn arrived home a little bit later and set him back to freedom!!

I walked into the pantry to get my cookbook and caught movement out of the corner of my eye, coming from the bird seed sack - I peeked inside and sure enough, there was a little mouse trying to get out of the sack! So I drug the sack outside and later saw him crawling out of the bag - guess it's time to get a large plastic container to put my bird seed in now!

Then it was the bat hunt!! Glenn got a flashlight and started searching the rafters up in the bedroom and the bat was still hiding in one of them - he tried to dislodge him with a long pole but the bat wouldn't move so it was on to Plan B - I won't go into the details - let's just say the bat is no longer in the house and won't be bothering us again!! Does this mean I'll have to put up with 60,000 more insects now since that is what one bat eats per day???? ha ha........

I've had ENOUGH of these little pests now to last me quite a while!!

One More Project To Cross Off The List!!!

I LOVE the rock on the back of our house - a project that FINALLY could get crossed off the list!! Glenn tells me that grouting still needs to be done between the rocks but to me it looks fine just the way it is!! Sure gives the house a more "finished" look!!

In other news, sister Patty has been commenting on Facebook about the bat she had in her house, along with my niece Emily who also is dealing with bats - I've just been chuckling and reminiscing about the times we've had a bat in the house and thanking my lucky stars it's not ME!!! I spoke too soon - this morning both of us woke up to the sound of crunching gravel outside the window - it was about 5:00 so still quite dark but I got up and peeked out, assuming it was the bear, but didn't see a thing!! (When we went out to walk later, we saw deer tracks in the wet gravel so it wasn't the bear after all!!)

SO I snuggled back down under the covers, only to hear Glenn say a few minutes later - there's a bat flying around the bedroom - what is this??? The time of the year that bats just like to come in and annoy you??? It's bad enough to have a bat flying around your living room but to know there's one in your bedroom is a little creepy!!

Glenn found him later, hiding up in the rafters - with our open bedroom and tall, tall roofline, this could be VERY interesting trying to capture a bat........... I can hardly wait to try and sleep tonight...........

We're Going To The Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!!

IS there anything more fun than going to the zoo with your kids and grandkids??? This year, we were all there except for Robby which made for quite a bunch of us roaming around - we also had a couple of Jill's friends and their little boy so we were quite the crew!!

Jill and Aleah headed down to our place late Thursday night so they rode with us on Friday morning and we met the Smiths' and the Keppys' at the zoo!! We had 2 strollers for the 4 younger ones and it worked out perfect!!

The BEST thing about the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is their giraffe compound - it's awesome!! And one of the fun things to do is to buy the crackers and feed them - only this year the giraffes just didn't seem to be hungry at all so we had crackers to spare!! Maybe next year..........

It was tough getting all the kids together but the backdrop on this picture is one of my favorites!!

The "Backyard" is always a fun place for the kids - looking at the fish, getting sprayed by the mister, chasing the chickens, and sitting in the BIG chair for a picture!!

Gary, Brad and I walked back to the vehicles which were parked right at the entrance, and got the ice chests for our picnic lunch!! We had a nice cool spot right next to the carousel!

Some of the gang rode the Mountain Skyway and we waved them off as they headed up the mountain!

Another family picture!! Do we all look a little tired???

It was one fun day at the zoo!

July Happenings

Can one ever have TOO much time with grandkids??? Absolutely not!!

Jessi and the kids headed down on Monday - they were to visit one of Jessi's best friends from high school who was here from Ks. for a few days!! So they came a day early and spent the evening and night with us!

Kenzie was excited - she hadn't gotten to see Papa the weekend before - yes, everytime she saw me she would put up her hands in dismay and say "where's Papa???" So she was one happy kid when Papa got home from work!!
During the course of the evening, the chipmunk who hangs out on our deck finally figured out where the bird seed on the deck was coming from and climbed up to the feeder - he IS cute!!

As you can see by the thermometer, it had cooled down that afternoon with a shower and stayed cool all evening - Jessi loved it after the Denver heat!!

The kids found my stash of books and had fun reading them on the guest bed!

Jessi and I got in the hot tub at dusk and it felt great!!! Kenzie even slept through the night - and although Jessi CHOSE to have Evan sleep in the guest bed with her, I think she regretted it later!

I'm taking Friday off and ALL of us (minus Robby) are meeting at the Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo - I hope the animals are ready for this bunch!!

Grandkids - You Just GOTTA Love Em'

It was babysitting weekend up in Denver - Jaime was working all weekend and Brad was in Mexico fishing - Jessi had continuing education classes and Gary is on a night training shift - so it was Nana to the rescue!!

Denver was HOT - HOT - HOT!! Now I remember why I live in the mountains! And Denver also has mosquitos which I found out by accident when I got up early and went for a walk in SHORTS!! The backs of my legs started itching so I looked around and there were 2 of the tiniest mosquitos just eating away on my legs!! Scratch, walk, scratch, walk - enough of that - I headed back to the house!!

Both days actually went VERY well - I took Rayna and Kylan to see "Despicable Me" - a really cute movie that I highly recommend!! Kylan was excellent, even after getting seated in a packed theater and the manager coming in and telling us there was a mix-up so the movie wouldn't start for another 20 minutes!! (But the next movie is FREE - due to the inconvenience!!)

We played - we did crafts - we bowled on the WII - made Rice Krispie bars - watched a movie - played in the yard - went to Sprouts to shop (I forgot what it was like to have a 3 year old in a store who won't sit in the cart) - went to Caribou for a coffee to regain my sanity after being in Sprouts - and generally just had a good time!! I think I loved their naps the best - (just kidding!)

Kylan had gotten a talking teapot and him and Kenzie looked so cute sitting on the steps pretending to have tea - but it was tough not allowing him to put water in the teapot!!

Only one tragedy - the boys were outside playing, throwing things up in the air - I had already yelled at them a couple of times but of course they didn't quit - Jessi and I were sitting at the table and I could see outside - suddenly Kylan starts crying and actually sits down - we didn't think much about it till a minute later when Evan starts screaming and is totally freaked out - we race out there - Kylan is still sitting on the ground with blood dripping off the entire one side of his face!! I quickly grabbed him and rushed into the kitchen sink where we got a washcloth to at least wipe the blood off his face and to try and assess the damage - too much hair, too much blood - so we whisked him upstairs to the shower and after pouring water over and over on his head, saw that he had a pretty good scrape and lump - it's amazing how head wounds bleed - but the cut wasn't deep and after oozing for quite a while, it scabbed over and he seemed fine - I was exhausted................

Jessi and I DID run to Kohl's at 7:00am on Sat. morning as there was a huge sale (isn't there always????) and we had a 30% discount card - the only thing on my list were some new "Mexico" shirts for Glenn - I'm getting quite tired of seeing him in the same shirts, year after year after year!!! I found him 4 really nice shirts - and he loves them all so that makes me happy!!

So I made it through the weekend with flying colors and the girls might actually ask me to babysit again sometime!!

PS - I almost forgot two things - the funniest thing that happened: I wore shorts on Sunday and I rarely wear them because I have bad spider veins on my thighs - Rayna saw them and her eyes got big and she asked what they were so I told her - and her reply was "that's too bad Nana, but I LOVE the color" - gee thanks, I didn't know purple thighs were in fashion!! #2 thing - the sweetest thing - I had just put Kylan up on the stool to potty and he wrapped his arms around my neck and leaned into me and said "I love you Nana" Ah.............

Memories of A Great Birthday!

These are the wonderful memories I will remember from July 13th, 2010:



1) A beautiful day with a high of 86 in Woodland Park - WOW - that's warm!!

2) My boss taking me to lunch in Grn. Mtn. Falls at the Mucky Duck where they serve the BEST tomato bisque soup I have ever eaten!! The chicken salad sandwich was great too, and of course a birthday isn't complete without chocolate cake smothered in chocolate syrup and whip cream!

3) Calls from friends and family

4) Dinner with Glenn at Carrabba's where I had the filet florentine steak which is the BEST steak I have ever eaten!! I also had a pomegranate martini which was delicious!! And I have enough leftovers from the meal for 2 lunches - hooray!!

5) Shopping after dinner so Glenn could buy me a present and finding exactly what I wanted: a travel scrapbook and 2 pairs of capris!!

6) Also finding 4th of July clearance items at Kohl's - one can NEVER have too many decorations!

7) How about a 4th of July t-shirt at Michael's for $1.49!!! Now why didn't I buy a bunch of them???

8) Driving home and seeing the moon which was a huge white sliver in the sky - peeking in and out of the clouds!

9) Knowing that today I'm being taken out for lunch by one of my best friends!

What a great birthday !!

Who Said The 13th Was Unlucky???

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JILL WHO TURNS THE BIG 30 TODAY!!!! Yours truly is NOT giving out her age though !!! Plans for today: working - one of these years I actually plan to take my birthday OFF!!! Coffee - which is being drank as I write this. Dinner - heading to Colorado Springs to eat at Carrabba's!! It WILL be a great day!!

And We're STILL Celebrating!!

Sunday was a gorgeous day in all respects!! I wasn't feeling very perky though in the morning and Glenn's 4:15am wake up call for fishing didn't exactly excite me either!! So I slept in a little bit and Jessi pampered me with a heating pad and juice brought to my bed!!

But I knew I had to get to feeling better as Jessi had promised me one of her homemade cinnamon rolls - gosh they were good - she can come to my house ANYTIME and make them for me!!

Soon we were off to the reservoir for a few hours of food, sand, sun and water!! Aleah was all decked out in her cute birthday outfit!!
The kids had a ball in the sand and in the water!! I think in the picture below Evan and Kylan are contemplating the BEST way to fill the water hole!!

Jill had brought cupcakes for Aleah's birthday and she dug right in and ate as much as she could before Mom took it away, thinking she'd had enough!! Happy Birthday was sung to the 4 of us!!

And we actually got a family picture taken (plus one - Rayna's friend Kealy who kind of is part of the family!) which we haven't accomplished in a long, long time!! We may be all sweaty and sandy but we didn't care!!

All in all it was one great day and naps were in order about mid-afternoon before we headed home! We've already decided this was one great way to celebrate the July birthdays and we're hoping to do it again next year!

Birthday Fun!!

Off to the Macaroni Grill for dinner - it's always fun to take the adult kids out! We had a great waiter and a fun time, even though Jessi didn't like her drink and had to order another one - it was fine by me as I liked the 2nd drink type better anyway and we split it!! One really strange thing about the dessert menu was that the calories were listed!! Now who wants to go out for dinner and think about calories....... But Jessi's dessert was on the house anyway since it was her birthday and we could have cared less about calories!

Then it was back to the Smith's to open presents!! I'm not sure Aleah was too into opening her presents but she certainly loved her toys!! (as did the other kids!!) She was all decked out in pretty pink and had just opened her new pink sandles!! Hard to believe she's already one year old!

Jessi, Jill and I opened up our gifts - I was excited to get a new wind chime, a pair of capris, a new glass baking dish and DARK CHOCOLATE!! It was wild and crazy with all of us there and the kids running around - but we wouldn't have it any other way!!

I had gotten all 3 girls (and myself included) t-shirts with cute scrapbook sayings on them - we'll all wear them the next time we get together to scrapbook!!

And after that exhausting day, it was time to hit the sack as we had another busy day ahead of us!!

Pool Fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JESSI WHO TURNED 29 ON SATURDAY!!! (Pics of her in the next blog!!)

Glenn and I headed to Denver on Saturday morning and because we arrived at a decent time, we went with Gary and Jessi and the kids, along with Jaime and Kylan to the pool!! Kenzie is a little afraid of the water now after dunking herself a few times but she still enjoyed it!

Jessi had fixed sandwiches for us so we ate at the pool and watched the kids play in the water! Kylan has quite the throwing arm so was entertaining us with his "throwing" of beach balls and whatever else he could get his hands on!! And Evan's picture that WAS somehow on this blog when I left home is not there now so I'll have to get a pic of him at the next event!

Papa had his hands full as he carted the kids home (we walked to the pool) and they all took great naps after exhausting themselves at the pool!!

Then it was a night out - we were celebrating Gary and Jessi's anniversary (on Jessi's birthday - now how strange is that??) that was only 9 months late but it's really tough with Gary's work schedule to have a Sat. night off when Glenn and I are BOTH in Denver!! Jaime's and Jill's (who had arrived that afternoon) babysit the kids for our night out - details and pics to follow.......

Somewhere Over The Rainbow!

It's that time of the year in the mountains where we have rain most afternoons and usually some severe thunder and lightning!! But all that turbulent weather also brings the most gorgeous rainbows!! This rainbow was right outside the deck door and I could barely get it in the picture with the camera because it was so close!!

Woodland Park got hit with golf ball size hail the evening of July 4th - which made for a super busy week at work for me taking all those claims!! There will sure be a lot of people sporting new roofs in town!!

4th of July Weekend - #2

I slept MUCH better the second night - but we were both a little stiff and sore from bouncing on the ATV! I'm also sporting a nice bruise from hitting the rack with my thigh on a particular big bump! The perils of ATV riding.......

Our second day of riding took us up into the mountains by a different route - there were groves after groves of aspen trees and I can just imagine what they'll look like in the fall!

As you can see, they are growing so thick here that most of the green leaves are near the top!

There was one particular place where it was horribly rocky - I didn't think we would ever get to the top!! Going up is a little tougher on the passenger - me - mainly because you slide back some and unless I'm sitting right up behind Glenn, my short legs don't allow my feet to rest on the step and they dangle, hence my calves get bounced against the wheel well, over and over and over! At one point, I didn't think I was going to be able to stand it any longer but of course about that time, we reached the top and I could slide up closer to Glenn!

I chose to WALK down - the picture actually doesn't do justice to how rocky and bad the trail was! Luckily, we didn't have too many of these! (I have no idea what is in the sky - a UFO maybe?)

There were acres of these beautiful purple flowers and I loved the fact they were growing around this old stump! In the picture below, Glenn had to check out this tree stand to make sure it was still sturdy - better him than me I guess!

We got rained on some but it was no big deal - we parked under a tree for awhile until it let up and then were on our way! Glenn decided he was going to go fishing in the stream that afternoon so I spent the afternoon reading away and enjoying the quiet!

After another delicious meal that evening, our plans were to head out to the campfire but a storm rolled in - hardly any rain but lots and lots of wind! There was no way we could roast marshmallows in that wind so we had to settle for Hostess cupcakes while we played Upwords - again I beat Glenn but not too badly this time - after all, I DO want him to continue playing!

It was cold that night - darn cold - and we could see our breath the next morning!! Time to turn on the furnace and get the coffee perking!! Another great camping weekend had come to an end!

4th of July Weekend - #1

You just gotta love it when a holiday falls on the weekend so you get an extra "work" day for a 3 day weekend! But the downside of camping on 4th of July weekend was that we missed Aleah's 1st birthday party!! It's hard to believe our little firecracker turned "ONE" on Sunday, July 4th! We're actually celebrating it next weekend though, along with Jessi's, Jill's and my birthday so it should be one heck of a party!! So birthday pics of Aleah to come..........

Our office usually closes on noon of a holiday weekend and this time was no exception! By the time I got home and finished up packing and Glenn got home and got the camper loaded and the ATV loaded, we were out the door by 2:00 and headed west!

Glenn decided we would go to Sargeants as that is where he's hunting again this year and he wanted to scout a little bit too - it was fine by me - my usual requirements for camping are a view, pine trees (but I'll settle for aspens) and a stream! It's pretty rare when I get all 3 though as it's pretty tough to camp by a stream and have awesome views!! But we found a great spot in a grove of aspens and set up camp!


We roasted hot dogs for dinner that evening but before we hardly got into the camper to eat them it started raining - no toasted marshmallows that first night! Glenn was reduced to playing Scrabble with me where I totally whipped him! It was during that very quiet game of scrabble that I missed what I had forgotten - batteries for my boom box so I could play music! It was DEFINITELY different not having any music this trip!

The rain was nice I must say BUT it made for a dark and cloudy night with no stars or moon out - AND I had forgotten to take the solar light out of the closet at home and charge it up in the sunlight so I had a tough night for a while, trying to get settled without any light - eventually I did fall asleep.........

By 9:00 the next morning we were off to ride the ATV - the rain had settled all the dust so we didn't have to deal with that, in fact many places it was downright muddy!! Glenn had taken the ATV out for a quick ride while I did dishes and when he came back, he told me to dress warmly - and I did - and I was glad!! It was pretty cool most of the day and my long-sleeved top and 2 sweatshirts kept me toasty warm!

The day was beautiful - gorgeous in fact! And the wildflowers were out - the oranges, purples, yellows and blues - what a sight they were! I was one happy girl riding behind Glenn and enjoying the smell of the pines, after a rain!

Glenn showed me where him and his friend Bob usually camp and then we discovered an even better place! The views were magnificent!

We were up the mountain by this time and I just couldn't quit snapping pictures of the views! Some pretty rugged country up that way and I was glad I was on an ATV and not hiking it!

We had a great day riding and after coming down off the mountain, we ate our picnic lunch by a stream and then headed up another side of the mountain where the trail was pretty rocky! When it gets to be too bad or steep, I just hop off and walk!

The evening was nice with no rain so we grilled some chicken and foil potatoes and carrots and had a feast for dinner! It was definitely marshmallows night and we used these nifty new holders that Jaime had gotten us and they worked great!

This is the view from my chair by the campfire - we DID pick a good spot!! To be continued..

Ah, Sunsets!

It's that time of year where the sunsets are getting gorgeous! And I just had to share these 2 pictures that I took one night last week - one is off our front deck and the other one is out our back! There's just nothing like a great sunset!!