Stamp Up Club Cards

My good friend, Marsha, has a monthly stampin up cardmaking event, and here are three cards we made.

Holiday Cardmaking Post #2

Okay, I figured out how to do more than one, so here's two more.  The first is using a Unity cup stamp in red and green, and the second uses a mask technique and a Flourishes tree stamp image.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I've started my holiday cardmaking.  For some reason I can only upload one card at a time, so there will be several posts one after the other until I have them all on here.  This is one of my favorite holiday stamps and I used black stazon ink on top of an acrylic card and then backed it with holiday green dotted paper. I also used a rub-on on the silver star.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving holiday.  Hope your day is relaxing and filled with all things yummy!  We're celebrating over at my sister, Gloria's, home. There will be 25 of us!  I made two pecan pies yesterday and this morning I have an apple crisp to make. Sterling smoked a turkey yesterday and will be making a pan of stuffing to take as well.  So everyone enjoy your day and know that I am thankful to have all of YOU in my life!  And a special holiday wish to my son, Mark, and his wife, Chrysty, who are at home in Denver enjoying a mile high thanksgiving.  LOVE YOU and wish you were here, but we'll see you at Christmas!!

Illuminations

I think I'm one of the original "grobanites".  I remember discovering Josh on an episode of Ally McBeal over 10 years ago, and my musicial exposure was immediately enhanced by this young man's beautiful, flawless lyrical baritone. Josh co-wrote the majority of the songs on his new album. Here's a commentary I saw on Amazon that really sums the new album up perfectly:  This album is a bit different for Josh, as he parted ways with producer David Foster (Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand) and hooked up with legendary rock producer Rick Rubin (Metallica, Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers). This album is different than his previous outings, but that's not a bad thing. The songs don't have that "over-produced" sound, with lots of vocal reverb and bounding orchestrations and vocals in the background. Many of these songs are just Josh, a piano, and the occasional subtle violin or guitar in the background. No backing vocals, no blazing productions, just Josh, and his amazing voice. You can even hear the slight imperfections in his voice, and even though subtle, provide for a very real experience by a very talented individual. Josh wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on this album, thus why most are in english. But the non-english songs are fantastic! Very flowy, musical, and very, very good. There actually isn't a single bad song on this album, but highlights include "Hidden Away", "Au Jardin Des Sans-Pourquoi", "Bells of New York City", and the phenomenal "Higher Window", which was so good it may make you cry. So go now ... right now ... and buy this album!
You can hear the album here:  http://music.msn.com/music/listeningbooth/?GT1=28102

Turn up the volume, close your eyes and get ready to be transported into a musical utopia!

There's a Fog on my Blog!

Sometimes Mother Nature has such a sense of humor and beauty. Here's a photo taken this morning from the 29th floor of the building I work in by my sister (who also works in this same tall downtown building). Had I thought quickly, I would have had her come up to the 37th floor where I work to witness the spendor of this fog cover, as it was a complete cover from up here, but I do like how the industrial images fade into a sea of fog and the bluffs in the background look like little islands in the distance.

Behold the Power of Phlegm

Which came first? The cold or the chicken soup?

It's not (say that real fast and you'll know what I'm dealing with) been a very productive weekend as both Sterling and I have been suffering with head colds. I used up my "extra" hour of sleep already this morning, and even after my first cup of joe (with a touch of Baileys Irish Cream) my head is still in a fog. And I haven't had any cardmaking mojo this week either, which is really the test for how I'm feeling.

We did slip away for a bit yesterday morning to see my grandson at his swimming lessons. They started him three weeks ago. First lesson he pretty much wanted nothing to do with this foreign concept of a large bathtub and getting water in his face. Second time was a little better as he realized everyone else in his class had to take a large bath too. And this time he actually willingly got right into the water and allowed his head to be taken under, although he complained of the water in his eyes. He wouldn't let them put the goggles on him, but that's another hurdle for the next time. He did, however, LOVE going down the slide, as long as he had a toy on the journey with him. His favorite was a big yellow school bus that the instructor used to tempt him into the water and she would toss it to where he had to swim with her in order to retrieve it (smart teacher!) And through all three lessons that is his security water toy and he doesn't let go of it willingly. All in all, he's doing swimmingly!

And it's November! Yeah, I know, I'm a few days behind - that's what a fog I've been in. That means only seven more weeks until CHRISTMAS! But I'm NOT ready ... are you? Last year I swore that this year would be different. That I would have all of my holiday cards done by July, and that I would MAKE all of my gifts this year starting in February, and that I would save dollars throughout the year so that shopping would be a breeze! (buzzer) Wrong. I didn't even accomplish one out of three. Does anyone have a name for the phenomenom? Can anyone tell me if I even spelled phenomenom correctly? Does anybody really know what time it is (queue song by Chicago).

About now about phlegm - what was God thinking when he created this? The amount I've produced this weekend could hold several bricks together. But that's probably more information that you want to hear. Phlegm is actually good for you. Well, not the thing itself, but what it represents. Phlegm is mucous that becomes congealed and visible. It's almost always a sign of your body fighting off whatever infection is wreaking havoc on your respiratory system - which is actually a good thing. Phlegm is primarily composed of mucous, dead bacteria and virus, dead white blood cells, and various tissues and cells. So now if you're ever asked what phlegm is, you have your answer. I never knew my blog would be a place for answers to health questions, but there you have it.

It's supposed to be a beautiful fall day today with a high of possibly 70 degrees! And the Huskers won in Ames, Iowa yesterday so everyone is in good spirits. But for me, my adventure today will be to complete a load of laundry and sneeze through a box of kleenex. Hope everyone else has a fabulous day!

I Want A Hug

So last night my daughter and grandson came over for their weekly "dinner at mom's", which gives my son-in-law, Jeremy, time at home to do his homework and other chores. I do so love Tuesday nights as it gives me a chance to not only bond with my daughter, but quality one on one time with my grandson, Jonas. So the door opens and Jonas runs in to the living room and smiling he stops and announces "I'm here!". That just had grandpa and I in a fit of giggles right from the start. How does he know that our world revolves around him already? He then proceeds to tell us about his day. He told us that he went to church and that he "voted" and got a sticker. It was only a few short months ago that he was just beginning to stringing words together and now he's not only talking in full sentences, but understanding concepts as well. Laura said that at the dinner table the other night, she and Jeremy were chatting and the weather channel was playing on the t.v. in the background. All of a sudden Jonas spoke up and smiling he said "He's talking about sunshine" referring to the weatherman on t.v. Laura and Jeremy just shook their heads in wonder trying to figure out how he picked up on something like that.

So we sit down to dinner and Jonas looks over at grandpa, who is wearing a baseball cap and says "Grandpa, hat off." Laura and Jeremy are teaching Jonas all about manners and he makes sure that everyone follows the rules. After dinner I went over and sat on the couch and Jonas gets up and says he wants to sit next to grandma, which of course is what every grandma wants to hear. And then, out of the blue, he looks straight at me and says ... "I need a hug" ... well melt my heart and call me done. This is love in its purest form coming from a 2-1/2 year old. How could I know that this one simple statement could be so powerful. Forget that I have bills that I can't pay, clothes than need washing, dust bunnies building armies under my bed ... I have a grandson who loves me unconditionally. I am still riding on this emotional "high" and had to share it with all of you. So my wish for all of you today is that you be lucky enough to receive a hug from someone you love - or better yet, go and give someone you love a hug and see the love shine back at you in their eyes.

A Haunting They Did Go!

What a delightful weekend it was. The weather was perfect. Sunshine and mild temps and the rain they were forecasting never happened so the little treaters last night had a beautiful evening to go door to door. Here's a pic from our annual family potluck party on Saturday night. Left to right is Matthew (my nephew) with his little gal, Hailey - just prior to this photo she had slipped and banged her head AND she was so tired, so the combination of the two had her in tears. But Matthew said that she was fast asleep before they even got out of the neighborhood and slept until 8:30 the next morning. Next up is my daughter, Laura, and JONAS! He had SUCH a great time this year and really got into the whole "spirit" of the holiday. He loved scaring everyone with spiders and would laugh with glee whenever someone jumped and scream - that's my boy! (grin) And then we have my niece, Trisha, and her new little one, Avlyn, who is just the most darling little one - she had nothing but smiles for everyone all evening. And on the right we have my sister Shari and my niece Danelle. My sister took several photos and in all of them Danelle had this "I'm not very happy" look on her face. Not sure what that was all about as she is normally a ham for the camera.

And I must say that my daughter is really getting into the whole "mom" thing now as she made THREE different spooky treats for the potluck table. Eyeballs made out of little white hostess donuts, some red gel frosting and M&M's. Then she had make some spiders out of pretzels (legs) and crackers put together with peanut butter and then faces made out of candies. And for her third creation, she added frosting to those nutter butter cookies and chocolate chips for the eyes. She said Jonas helped by dipping the pretzels into the frosting and eating them. :0)

And a HUGE thank you to Jeremy's folks for hosting this annual family event - they had us singing to a rendition of the 13 days of Halloween (sung to the tune of 12 days of christmas). We were all giggling by the end of the song. Then they had treat bags for every family to take home. Sterling and I got this ADORABLE halloween cat - which is perfect for our house of 3 felines!

We had about 150 trick or treaters last night, including Danelle and Jonas, who were more excited about the kids in costume and handing out candy than actually going out to get more candy in their buckets. Jonas got into the house and immediately took off his costume and wanted to play with his cars and trucks that we have set up for him. He didn't understand that this was just a "drive by" grandma visit and wanted to stay and play. But eventually they got him packed up and off to the next house to visit.

I did make just a couple of cards over the weekend, but didn't have a chance to take any pics to upload onto my blog.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Halloween, and hold onto your hats because the rest of the year is coming at us at HIGH SPEED!

Happy Haunting!

Has it been just a year ago that my favorite little guy was only 1-1/2 years old and enjoying Halloween? Where does the time go? We had dinner with Jonas (and his parents) last night and he just LOVES to engage in conversation now! The waitress came over and asked who wanted to give her their order first, and Jonas jumped right in and said "I do" and proceeded to tell her that he wanted mac 'n cheese and lemonade. I nearly fell off my chair in a fit of giggles! I can't wait to see what his folks will dress him as this weekend! We're having the annual family Halloween event at Jeremy's parents' home. Everyone brings a "spooky" side dish to share and it's always such a fun event. I do remember one year that Marilyn made sloppy joes that actually "glowed". Tomorrow Sterling is making The Pioneer Woman's cheesy olive loaf (like pizza bread) and using the green olives as "eyes" ... here's lookin at you kid!

Falling For You

Here's a pic my sister Gloria took of her granddaughter, Avlyn, over the weekend. Isn't she just the cutest?!! She looks SO MUCH like her mother, Trisha, and then again at times she's the spittin image of her dad, Craig. But whomever she takes after, she's a cutie patootie!

As you can tell by the photo, our weather is definitely starting to show signs of cooler fall weather and the leaves are really starting to drop. It won't be long before old man winter starts shaking his fist at us.

I had a delightful weekend. I spent most of Saturday with my scrapbooking pals at Archiver's and while I didn't accomplish much, it's always such a good time chatting with those gals. Sunday morning I took my brother to a "birthday" breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The folks decided to tag along as well, so it was a nice morning spent with my family. The rest of the afternoon Sterling and I just vegged and relaxed as neither of us had much energy for some reason. And every weekend I swear I'm going to get so many things accomplished, but my "to do" list hasn't seemed to shrink one bit. Going to have to start tackling my "honey do" projects a little each evening in order to get things accomplished, I guess. Although that in itself will be a challenge as the evenings are getting darker quicker, and once I lose the light it's REALLY hard to get motivated. Does anyone else have that problem? It seems my hibernation instinct kicks into gear once the sun goes down and all I want to do is grab a blanket and lounge on the couch with a good book or my crochet projects.

Happy Birthday Bro!

I couldn't find a more recent pic of my younger brother in the limited computer cache of family photos (another project for another time), so you won't be able to see his balding gray head ROFL ... but take a look at his hairdo from back in the 70's! Seriously, though, he's a peach of a brother and would give you the shirt off his back if you asked ... although most people would DROWN in it as he is around 6'7" tall (give or take a few inches)!! Happy birthday, Marty! I'll take you to dinner on Sunday ... or make your favorite - chicken and dumplings, if you prefer.

Happy Birthday to my Daughter

TURN AROUND

Written by: Harry Belafonte

Where are you going
My little one, little one
Where are you going
My baby, my own

Turn around and you’re two
Turn around and you’re four
Turn around and you’re a young girl
Going out of the door

Where are you going
My little one, little one
Little pigtails and petticoats
Where have they gone

Turn around and you’re tiny
Turn around and you’re grown
Turn around and you’re a young wife
With babes of your own!

I've had this tune rolling around in my head since last night. Before falling asleep last night I was remembering when you were just a little girl ... even then so self assured and fearless, so loving and compassionate. You make me so proud to be your mother, and I marvel at the wonderful mother you've become to Jonas. Have a wonderful day today, my dear, and always know that I love you.

Thank You, Mimi

Look at this fabulous prize package I won over at Mimi's blog: http://mycharmingblog-scrappermimi.blogspot.com/. Go check out Mimi's blog and tell her I sent you!

Uptown Girl

I can't believe how FAST my week of vacation flew by. But I ended it with a BANG. My 2 sisters and I drove down to Kansas City for the CKC Scrapbook Convention vendor fair on Saturday, which we've gone to for the past four years in a row. LOVE seeing all the new products and demos. My niece, Trisha, was so sweet and used some of her personal points to get us a FREE room at the hotel company she works for. THANKS so much Trisha! We started out EARLY on Saturday leaving at 6:00 a.m. My sister, Gloria, did ALL the driving (thanks, sis!). We stopped in St. Joseph at Cracker Barrel for breakfast - YUM! Then we drove directly to the Expo Center in North KC and spent FIVE hours shopping and doing make and takes. After checking into the hotel we continued our shopping spree - stopping at Kirklands and two other craft stores in Shawnee Mission. Let me say that we all agree The Scrapbook Page is the bomb! LOVED that place, and the gals were EXTREMELY nice and helpful. We can't wait to go back for one of their manias sometime soon. During our drive, my younger sis, Shari, had Gloria and I in STITCHES. In our family, we have this oddity of at any given moment finding something hilarious, that one of us will get into a giggling fit ... which then has the rest of us laughing so hard that we can hardly breathe. Thanks, Shari, for that moment! After shopping, we continued on to Legends and had a nice dinner at Bob Evans. We then met up with my good friends, Marcia and Bunny, at their hotel for an evening of chatting and working on projects. Marcia had us ALL laughing with her story about "Uptown Girl" and did her best to entertain us by lip sinking to several songs playing in the background. We finally CRASHED back at the hotel around 10:00 p.m. We drove back home Sunday morning, and I pretty much napped and relaxed the rest of the day. I got a pad of 7 gypsies paper that I used to make this card. I used a Tim Holtz bird stamp on the tag, and am having a blast with the hug snug seam binding, which I inked to match the color of the rust colored egg on the tag. I also added a hand crocheted flower that I made over the weekend. An EASY pattern that I found the the latest issue of my Papercrafts Magazine subscription.

Holiday Card and New Technique

I had a bit of time this morning before meeting my daughter for sushi, so I created a holiday card. This is not an original, as I saw this design on one of the blogs I frequent. I loved the look and wanted to create something similar. I used removable 1 inch masking tape to mask off a large square. I then used Tim Holtz distress ink in Peeled Paint and shaded in the square, with a bit more color on the edges. Using the same peeled paint, I took a SU tree stamp and inked off once and then stamped light images in the background. Then I removed all the tape leaving the colored box. I inked up the tree stamp again and stamped the single tree image. I just received a supply of hug snug seam binding, so I used the peeled paint color to ink the seam binding and then spritzed it with water and scrunched it. After drying for about 10 minutes I then just tied a double bow and attached to card, along with the holiday sentiment.

Somebody Stop Me!

I couldn't help but post this last burst of creativity for today. I found this folded butterfly pattern and had to try it out - using a Unity sentiment, I think it turned out super cute. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the "trail" of the butterfly carries through onto the burgandy cardstock. What do you think?

Unity Challenges are DONE! Doing the happy dance!

I can't believe I got all 23 challenges done for the Unity World Cardmaking Day event. If I hadn't been home on vacation this week, I doubt I would have had the time. Sure would LOVE to win this awesome prize. A full year of Unity's kit of the month, and let me tell you that they have some fabulous stamps. Go check 'em out! And keep your fingers crossed for me! Here's some of last of my cards from today.

Day 3 of Vacation

I'm so enjoying my days off. The weather COULDN'T be nicer. Sunshine and mild temps! Loving it. I'm also enjoying my favorite pasttime - making cards. Here are some more of the cards I've been making for the Unity World Cardmaking Challenges.

Day Two of Vacation

I had a nice, although very quick, visit with my good friend, Joyce, this morning. She stopped by and brought me some homemade pumpkin muffins, and loaned me some fabulous craft books to enjoy while I'm on vacation this week. Still working on the WCMD Unity challenges. Here's one I did for the "ribbon" challenge.

I'm also getting ready to go to Kansas City this weekend for the CKC Scrapbook Convention that my sisters and I go to every year. It's a weekend filled with giggling, crafting, and SHOPPING! We always make a stop at Kirklands (my sister, Gloria's FAVORITE store), and will also hit one or two new scrapbook stores. We'll meet up with my friends, Joyce and Bunny, for dinner and an evening of sharing our purchases, chatting and scrapping. It's an event I always look forward to and am counting the days!

More cards for Unity challenges

I've got 12 out of 22 challenges complete ... 10 more to go!

Unity Challenges

Day one of my vacation and I'm in my craft room creating cards for the world card making day challenges at splitcoaststampers.com - Unity. Go take a look at all the wonderful creativity going on during this event. Here's just a couple of my creations so far.

WCMD

Here's my "fall card" creation. After stamping the image on cardstock, I applied a coat of Versamark and then added several coats of UTEE on the flower stamped image. I then let it cool and "crackled" the image. I then added some distress ink to give it yet another element of vintage. So hard to see the detail in this photo, but it really turned out nicely.

WCMD Challenge #7

This challenge was to make a birthday card that didn't say "happy birthday" ... Here's my creation.

WCMD Challenge #5

I couldn't get a good pic of this holiday tag, but it is embossed with gold and very shimmery

WCMD - Challenge #4

This card challenge was to incorporate orange, purple and green into a card. Although my camera made the lime green scallop circle look more yellow.

WCMD - Card Challenge

Today is world card making day. There are TONS of challenges going on. Here's my FIRST entry for Creations with Christina. Check out her blog at: http://www.creationswithchristina.com/

T.G.I.F.

It's Friday! Thought it would NEVER get here. I'll be home next week for some quality R&R time. I always love taking a week's vacation during fall just to relax at home, get some projects done, do some fall baking, and pretty much just recharge my batteries. This photo was taken of my grandson LAST year during fall - he LOVED running through the leaves.

I hoping to get some SERIOUS cardmaking done ... and POSTED. I have some GREAT new stamps that I've won from Unity Stamps - what a GREAT company. If you haven't been to their website, you really need to check them out. http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/ And on Thursdays they have a fabulous forum on Splitcoaststampers and they give away their fabulous stamps to several lucky participants throughout the course of the day. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/. Let them know I sent you their way.

Thank God I'm a Country Girl !!

Life on the farm is kinda laid back, ain't nothing that a county girl like me can't hack!

I just couldn't resist channeling John Denver. We had SUCH a great time on the farm up in Minnesota. I'll have more later on my niece, Misty's, marriage that took place on this living farm, but here's a couple of shots taken of those from the Omaha family group that arrived early on Friday. My husband, Sterling, and I didn't arrive until noon on Saturday so we missed some of the pre-wedding festivities, but from the sounds of things, a good time was had by all. The weather was cool and overcast, but beautiful nonetheless as the trees in the background were starting to turn - another couple of weeks and their colors will be spectacular! The 59 acre farm is what they referred to as a "living farm", meaning the owners of the farm live off of what it produces from the gardens. They also have a community "pizza" feed every weekend and make these AMAZING fresh pizzas (with homemade goat cheese) which help to supplement the farm's income. There is no electricity, but rather solar panels which heat water for an outdoor shower, lights are from lamps and candles, and wood burning stove heat the house during the winter. It was really an eye opener to see so many on this farm embracing this lifestyle and we were lucky to have them receive us into their home so graciously. They made the wedding events seem effortless and no one went without a chair to sit on or food to to snack on. And the entertainment was provided by mother nature and the animals that also inhabit this farm. It was so much fun to watch my 2 year old grandson and 1 year old grandniece race around the goats, chickens, horses, oxen and kittens and run up and down from the house to the barn and back again. There was also a child's cottage right on the edge of where the woods began - with a creek that ran right behind it. What child wouldn't thrive with this as his daily adventureland.

Juggle THIS !!

Another attraction at the Aquarium in Denver, was this gal who put on a juggling act. She came out into the audience and picked my son-in-law, Jeremy, to come up and help her. It was the MOST hilarious thing and had us all in giggles before she was done. She was juggling a flaming torch, a large knife, and a stuffed teddy bear. Unbelievable!

GLOW FISH !

Okay ... I'll be the FIRST to admit that I have very limited knowledge of the fish world - which is why I don't eat sushi! I would have called these large goldfish. They were part of the Aquarium exhibit that we went to in Denver a few weeks back. When anyone went to take a photo, their eyes would ILLUMINATE and give off this eery result.

Beginnings of Fall

I love the fall. Crisp mornings. Trees turning all sorts of colors in one last burst of beauty before they fall. And when they do fall, giggles and fun from the kids jumping into stacks of raked leaves. And the final harvests, apple orchards, football games (I had to add this for my husband's sake) hayrack rides, and the pumpkin patch. This beautiful wreath was made by my daughter-in-law, Chrysty, who has a talent for taking almost anything and making it beautiful. It's also my favorite time to bake. I love making jars of apple butter, apple pan pies, apple crisp (I'm sensing a theme there - grin). And here in the midwest another tradition is going to the apple orchards during Applejack Days and picking up bags of kettlecorn - there's nothing like it. Just enough sweet and salt to make it very hard to put down before the entire bag is consumed in one sitting. It's my husband's favorite time of year because the he knows grass cutting season is coming to an end, and just possibly that he'll be diving into his favorite baked goodie, apple pie. ENJOY the days of fall, everyone!

Remembering my brother, John.

Today would also have been my older brother John's birthday. We lost him to cancer when he was only 21 years old. Over the years I've often wondered how all of our lives would have been changed had he been around to share them with us. What it would have been like to lean on an older brother, someone to call on when times were good and when times were rough. I miss you, Johnny!

Happy Birthday Sis!!!

Today is also my sister Shari's birthday. Shari - hope your day is filled with all those things you love the most. Happy Birthday!

Happy Anniversary Trisha & Craig

Today is my niece Trisha's wedding anniversary and I just wanted to wish her and Craig a very happy anniversary!

Happy Birthday Hailey Rae!!!

Today is my grandniece's FIRST birthday. We had a family celebration on Sunday and boy did she have a GRAND time eating her THREE TIER cake that her Aunt Gloria made for her. And her dad, Matt, is SUCH a great dad! He is just in awe of each new step this little cutie takes. She won't be spoiled - yeah - not much (grin). So happy birthday, my little grandniece, and may ALL your cakes in life be three layers!!

Finding NEMO

We had SUCH a great time in Colorado last week visiting with my son and daughter-in-law. They have a BEAUTFUL home in Parker, Colorado and they were such gracious hosts to mom and stepdad! Where do I start? Do I tell you about the beautiful weather (only 6% humidity - I'm just sayin!!!) Being born and raised in Nebraska, going somewhere with such low humidity just makes my skirt fly up! And MOUNTAINS - did I mention yet that there are MOUNTAINS in Colorado? Not just the bluffs we have here in Nebraska - no - honest to goodness big and beautiful, snow covered, aspen covered MOUNTAINS! I rode to Denver with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson - Jonas and I had the BEST time in the back seat and he was SSSOOOO good sitting for such a long ride - for a 2 year old! We arrived in Denver on Thursday just in time for Mark to whip us up a fabulous luncheon. We had a great afternoon relaxing and chatting and then Sterling arrived about 5:30 from Salt Lake City and we all went to dinner at Maggiano's (another story for another time - but one word - YUM!). Friday morning we ventured to the Aquarium in downtown Denver. The picture shows Jonas and his dad looking for Nemo! Jonas got such a kick out of all the different sizes and colors of fish, but when he finally found a Nemo and Dora fish - oh my - he was in awe!! Friday night Mark bbq some fabulous chicken brats to go with our MEGA leftovers from Maggiano's and we all had fun watching Jonas' having fun (Uncle Mark Did It!!)! Later that evening we went for ice cream in downtown Parker. Saturday morning Laura, Jeremy and Jonas traveled up to Estes Park to meet up with Jeremy's folks and spend a few more days. We stayed in Denver with Mark and Chrysty. They took us to the Coors Brewery in Golden. Very interesting and free tour, but of course the BEST part was the sampling lounge after the tour was over. Mark and I don't really enjoy beer, so we shared our "free" glasses of ale with Chrysty and Sterling. Mark then drove us up to Black Hawk in the mountains, which was a 40 minute ride covering 20 miles of BEAUTIFUL canyon. We stopped at Ameristar for a couple of hours (what a gorgeous casino!!). Later than night we had a wonderful dinner at On the Border (Sterling's favorite mexican restaurant) and waddled home full to the brim! Sunday morning we got up and went to a farmer's market in downtown Parker and oh did we have fun there. We bought sauces, and baked goods, and produce - OH MY!! The beefsteak tomato we brought home was to die for! Big as your head and as red as Rudolph's nose! We wish we had brought home more than we did, but next time we go we will know what to load up on! I also made a FABULOUS fresh peach cobbler when we got home that was heaven on a dessert plate!

So bottom line, this was one FABULOUS vacation. And for me, just having all of my kids together at one place and time made me the happiest MOM this side of the Missouri River! And a big HUG to Mark and Chrysty for being such gracious hosts and surviving the family invasion! And brace yourselves, as next year we're gonna stay TWICE as long!