Anniversary #2

Steve and I were able to go to Keystone Reosrt for the weekend to celebrate our 2nd Anniversary 9.22.09. It was an interesting trip involving a vacuuming neighbor at 4 am, a crappy murphy bed, and bad night's sleep. Even though the accomodations were poor, we did get to see some beautiful fall foliage in the area and spend lots of QT together.

Random Pics

Okay...so I KNOW it has been quite some time since my last blog. No excuses...just haven't blogged lately. So I thought I would put up some photos that were taken since my last blog.

Until next time...here are some snap shots.

Proud Papa

Well, as many of you know from the wedding reception at our house...we did not have air conditioning when we purchased our home two years ago. So, we decided after last July's extreme heat wave that we definitely had to install it this year.

Steve did his research and purchased and installed for us the most primo set-up ever. He got us the largest residential unit I have ever seen in my life...it looks like a commercial unit. Steve is super proud of his new 'baby'. :)

The AC unit stats:
Installed June 15th, 2009
Two stage
3 tons
18 seer
super energy efficient
All of this equals = AC bliss


The Proud Papa with his Babies

We have received two utility bills since installation. Even with our air conditioning our utility bill has been super low this summer...i.e. it has decreased since we installed the AC. I guess it is cheaper to run the AC rather than fans.

The Latest in Lower Colorado

Okay...for those of you following this blog...I obviously haven't blogged in awhile...SORRY!! I have no idea where the time goes...especially the summer - time just seems to fly by these days.

So the latest around these parts is as follows:

*Aly is SIX months old now...YIKES...I know I am beating a dead horse...but seriously folks...where does the time go?
*Aly got her first tooth in July and started sitting up and rolling over.

*Riana started high school yesterday...yes...she is officially a freshman. She is tryng her hand at golf this year and is on the JV team.
*Steve attended his 20th high school reunion on the Queen Mary in Long Beach California at the end of July...He also camped with his fam in Carp for a week while in Cali...sadly he brought back ZERO pictures to share. :(
*I just took up playing tennis with some girls in the CSprings area...which is weird since the last time I really played was 20 years ago...when I was a Freshman in High School! Well...I have 'played' Steve (my beloved husband who happens to be good at EVERYTHING!) but I don't think Steve would call it 'playing' since he basically slaughtered me everytime...he could have gone pro...I am not kidding. :)
*We fit in a family camping trip at Lathrop State Park in Colorado at the end of June...nice weather...and it was fun to see Steve jump in the lake after his fishing pole.

*The weather has been great! Afternoon thunderstorms are frequent and it is about a bazillion degrees cooler this year than last year.
*Alyson is looking more and more like her daddy everyday. :)


That about sums it up! Until next time.

Road Trip

I asked my family last November if they were interested in meeting us in South Dakota for a little mini family reunion this year...and they said yes! So we booked a family rental cabin in Lead, South Dakota for a week and all met up. My older brother and his family drove down from North Dakota, my parents and my younger brother and his family drove up from Missouri and we drove in from Colorado of course.

We were supposed to have the shortest trip and I think would have had I been a good navigator. Sorry Steve! :) I wasn't paying attention on the way up so we missed our turn off and ended up seeing a bit more of Wyoming than we had originally planned. We obviously didn't learn our lesson as we ALMOST made the same mistake on the way back to Colorado but luckily we stopped and checked the map.

This was Aly's first road trip so it was an interesting adventure driving 8 hours on the way to SoDak and 7.5 on the way back. She did fairly well but did get really sick of the driving and being in her car seat so much.

It was great to see my family, as Steve hadn't met everyone yet...and everyone else we hadn't seen since our wedding. We also celebrated Riana's 14th birthday while we were there...dinner at a Mexican Restaurant and ice cream cake! Yummy! Happy B-Day Ria Pia! :)

We had quite a whirlwind tour of the Black Hills and the surrounding area in just a matter of days. We saw Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Deadwood, Homestake Mine (most productive gold mine in the Western Hemisphere), and other cool places including Spearfish Canyon which was 'sick' according to Steve. Our cabin was great! The weather didn't cooperate the entire time, but we still had an awesome time! We made plans for another reunion in four years...however it was requested that we meet in a more sunny locale. Woo Hoo!

Aly's first BIG GIRL food

Aly has been really looking at Big Girl food for some time now and she always acts hungry...even though she nurses every 1.5 hours. SO...I decided to try her out with some real food to see how she did. We tried oat cereal to begin with. She actually didn't really like it very well. So we waited a week and half and tried again with the cereal mixed with breast milk...the second go around was a HUGE hit...she opens her mouth and tries to grab the spoon...very cute! She is already a healthy 12 and half pounds so I am thinking she is going to be a bit chubbier in the next few months rather than her sleek thin current self.

Riana's 8th Grade Graduation

High School is next??? What the heck?? Where has the time gone? Yes!!...Riana will be a freshman next year since she successfully graduated the 8th grade on May 28th. I really don't know how she grew up so fast but it happened. YIKES! :)

Riana had her commencement ceremony during lunch at the high school she will be attending - Coronado - she sang in the choir at the beginning of the ceremony. The ceremony was nice except for the overcrowded auditorium in which we could not find seats. After the ceremony, I took Riana and two of her friends to lunch and then they had a two day sleepover to celebrate graduation. A good time was had by all!!
Riana & Mikayla
Riana & Mr. Kriedel (Tech Teacher)


80's Flashback!!