Memorial Day Weekend

We have been so fortunate to live in the United States and reap the benefits that our military has fought so hard for.  We spent Memorial Day Sunday at church and then with Grandma Becky, Grandpa Vinny, Aunt Abby, Uncle Jared, Aunt Andrea, Madalyn, and Colt. 

On Memorial Day Anthony found awesome tickets to the Rockies Game - in the shade (mostly).  We really enjoyed our time together as a family, and the weather was stunning!

Memorial Day Sunday

Celebrating with Cousins

Daddy's Girls

Game On!

The View from our Seats

A true Daddy's girl

And a Mama's girl

Waiting for the game to start

Not a fan of the fireworks...She spent most of the game this way

The game interfered with nap time...She spent the game snuggled on my lap

But getting out of the sun for a snack helped everyone feel better - thanks Gramma Nellie!

The perfect way to spend Memorial Day!

Father's Day

Fifth Father's Day - 2012

We celebrated Anthony's 5th Father's Day yesterday!  I have been blessed with a wonderful husband, but our girls have been abundantly blessed with an amazing father!  Thank you, Anthony, for being such an incredible man and leader of our family.  We love you so much, and can't wait to see what the next 5 (or 50 years) bring!

Isabella - September 2007

First Father's Day - 2008

Second Father's Day - 2009

Catherine - November 2009

Third Father's Day - 2010

Fourth Father's Day - 2011

Sowing Seeds

It's another beautiful day here, so I was able to get out and make some Mel's Mix, fill up the planters, and plant some seeds.

Here's a look at the Mel's Mix on a tarp on the patio. One part peat moss, one part compost, and one part vermiculite (which is expensive by the way).



Then I filled up the planters with the concoction.



With the help of my very own Extension Office (our great friend Emily!), I decided to plant Peas, Broccoli, Onions, and Lettuce this weekend.





Then I watered the beds and here's what it looks like now.



We'll plant more as the weeks go on - potatoes, tomatoes, chives, basil, squash, cucumbers, beans, and more!

In the Garden

We're planning to grow vegetables and herbs in our backyard this spring and summer. Because we have a terrible rabbit problem, raised beds were the only way to go. I heard about, and subsequently read Square Foot Gardening. I had built the beds a while back, but hadn't made legs and put them outside. We had yet another beautiful day today, so I ran to Home Depot, got some lumber and went to work.






The legs didn't turn out at straight as I would have hoped, but the rocks and slope made it a bit tricky. Assuming the weather holds, I'll fill them up with Mel's Mix next weekend and get to work growing some healthful food soon.

Round 1

Call it poor-man's picture-in-picture. Call it being a huge nerd.

I call it a little slice of heaven.



All three of my girls are on their way to Iowa for a couple of weeks so I have the house to myself. I started formulating this idea earlier today and I like how it turned out. I've got my main game going on in HD and another game to the right in standard def. Then I've got the computer to check whatever else I need/want (stats, rosters, etc.).

This will all be put away by the time they get home, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this year's tournament as much as I can.

Tourney Time

It's Selection Sunday, so you know what that means....time to fill out your bracket. I am usually pretty lousy at filling mine out. My m.o. is to fill it out quickly, picking the first team that comes to mind. This year I deviated a little bit. On the picks I could have gone both ways with, I had a guest picker help me out - Isabella the Sage.

I had her pick all of the play-in games (the NCAA calls this the First Round, but we all know these are just play-in games). We picked Western Kentucky, Iona, Lamar, and California. I'm not too sure about the Cal pick. They were pretty inconsistent this year. We'll see.

The next step was the main bracket. My first tough call was Iowa St. vs. UConn. Grandpa Mike will be happy to know that his granddaughter picked the Cyclones. (Truth be told, I was tending toward them as well).

We ended up with Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio State, and Kansas (Isabella picked the Jayhawks over the Tar Heels) in the Final Four. Kentucky and Ohio State (Sorry Aunt Abby and Grandma Becky) in the championship game. I then chose Kentucky to win it, while the Sage picked Ohio State.

This is arguably the best time of the year for a sports fan, and possibly the most frustrating because by the time Friday evening rolls around, my bracket is shot. At least this year I can blame someone else for my poor picks.




And by the way: Go Buffs! Go Rams! Colorado is representing in the Big Dance!

Wii Love Game Night

On Friday night we decided to have our first Family Game Night!  We've done movie nights before, and thought we would be hunkering down for a quiet night with Curious George, but Isabella had other ideas!  She had her eye on the Wii, and we ended up having a lot of fun!

We had turned the Wii on a few days ago and she practiced her baseball and bowling skills, but Anthony and I decided to try a different game this time, and she LOVED it!

The dueling game was her very favorite, and she is very proud that she knocked Anthony off a few times.  Catherine entertained herself by dancing around and clapping and cheering her big sister on!  And, I'm not sure where her pants are...we're kind of potty training...(I'm going to use that excuse).

Attempting to Canoe...tricky...

Taking a thumb-suck break

CHEESE!  We had a chocolate snack.  And yes, that is chocolate in her teeth.

Daddy's girl

Mama and her girlies

Isabella "fighting" Daddy

By far her favorite game!

Daddy won!

Stand By My Man!

So often by the end of the year I have forgotten all of the amazing things that Anthony and I were able to do together over the past year.  He works really hard, and deserves a little (or big) shout out!  Due to my super poor blogging skills as of late, I will update you all on the fun year we had!  And, Anthony, here's to an even better 2012 (if that's possible...)  I love you so much!

MARCH:
Anthony had the opportunity to go to a conference in Orlando, Florida, and I was able to tag along.  We spent a few days in Orlando, mostly at the hotel, but then rented a car and went down to Delray Beach to spend some good quality time with my Uncle Rolf, Auntie Fran, and cousins Keelin & Anna.  The girls were on Spring Break, so we had a great time seeing the sights, watching a lot of soccer, and enjoying the family!  Plus, as it was March, the TV was always on!

In Florida with the Atlantic Ocean and the A1A (Beachfront Avenue) right behind us!

At dinner in Florida right on one of the canals

Florida Sunsets are amazing!

Our final Florida activity was to take in a Training Camp game!  So fun!

At Coors Field - Catherine's first game and Isabella's second

 

                 JULY: In July we were fortunate to take the girls to a Rockies game on the HOTTEST day of the year!  Anthony found awesome seats, but there was absolutely no shade, and not a cloud in the sky!  After talking to Guest Relations while I stood in line to buy a lemon squishy, the 2 red-heads, the white girl, and the baldy ended up on the Mezzanine level, under the overhang, and a much happier crew.  Of course, we missed all of the good plays and the Rockies ended up losing...

At Cousin Kelly's Wedding

At the Iowa State Fair

 We also got to celebrate my cousin Kelly's wedding at the end of July.  The little girls were the Flower Girls, and did a great job!  We just enjoyed getting dressed up and looking nice for the evening!

AUGUST: August brought lots of fun!  We went to Iowa and took our annual Alvinos in the Corn picture.  We also enjoyed a few hours at the State Fair where we rubbed elbows (and shook hands) with a few presidential hopefuls!  Anthony also dined on his very first Fried Butter on a Stick!  I opted out of that delicacy, and had a Funnel Cake instead!  Yummy!

Early on in August, unbeknownst to me, Anthony booked a secret birthday trip for us.  He purchased two tickets on Frontier for $9.99 each way.  I, however, knew nothing.  We woke up early on my birthday, got dressed, and off we went, me still in the dark.  I figured we were heading to the mountains for a day of fun, but when we turned on Pena Blvd, I immediately knew we were heading to the airport, and now knew why Anthony freaked out that I chose to renew my driver's license and only had a temporary piece of paper proving my identity!  I didn't know our destination until we went through security.  We hopped on the tiny plane for our super short flight to Albuquerque, NM, and then relied on the public transit system once we were there.  We only went to Old Town, which was amazing!  The church we went to is 300 years old!  We bought some Turquoise and listened to the street mariachi bands.  We also ran across two marimba players, and fell in love with the sound!  It was really HOT (shocking) so we had to stop and get some ice cream, and before we knew it, we had to get back on the bus to catch our flight home.  Best $40 spent ever!

Waiting at the airport to go to Albuquerque

Ready to enjoy some REAL Mexican Food in Albuquerque

Posing in front of Albuquerque's oldest Catholic Parish, San Felipe de Neri Parish

At the CU Game!

SEPTEMBER: Anthony got us tickets to a CU Game in Boulder, and it was an awesome game!  The Buffs won in overtime, and we enjoyed another super hot (the only thing the venders were selling was water) game!

Carving Pumpkins

OCTOBER: We enjoyed some good family time, and were lucky enough to have both my mom and my dad come for short visits, flanking my visit with the girls out to Iowa for Isabella's Fall Break.


DECEMBER: This past month we have enjoyed more family time.  Anthony saved up lots of days so that he could take off one or two days each week of December.  We had a wonderful season and a great Christmas!  On December 11th, we had the opportunity to head to a Bronco Game where the team showed up in the last 2 minutes, and then won in overtime!  It was awesome!

Our Christmas Picture

Enjoying some Tebow Time!

Thank you again for such a great year!  You have gone out of your way to make this a memorable year.  I love you, and am excited for the events you have already planned for us in the coming months!