Tuesday, November 1, 2011

What's the going rate for tomatoes?

I love tomatoes!
Did you know that there are over 7500 varieties of tomatoes?
I bet I would love them all.


I also love to GROW tomatoes.
When we lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Bryan built me
a container garden on our small little deck.
When we lived in Syracuse, New York Bryan built me
garden boxes made from the wood we found in our neighbors garbage pile.
When we moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado Bryan built me bigger and better garden boxes built out of wood we bought from an actual store!
It was easy to garden in Milwaukee.
It was easy to garden in Syracuse.
But Colorado Springs has presented a whole herd of problems!


Here are a few reasons I suspect life to be hard for my little flora-friends...
Altitude.
(6700 feet above sea level makes breathing hard for all life forms...
especially when life forms try to go on the occasional run!)
Hail.
(nickel-sized to quarter-sized hail will take the life out of car hoods,
not to mention fragile plant leaves and fruit!)
Wild life.
(rapidly reproducing rabbits, greedy deer, and the occasional bear. Grow your own food!!!)

But this good man here on the right and his trusty side-kicks
were determined to give me tomatoes!!!



Lots of soda for the laborers means lots of cans to crush....
someone had to do it!

Is there anything better than seeing your children hard at work under the tutelage of your husband? I think not.


The end result?
A pergola impervious to those greedy deer
and.....

...lots of TOMATOES!!!!
I love tomatoes!

Correction: I LIKE tomatoes.
I LOVE my husband!

P.S. The going rate for this here bowl of tomatoes?
DON'T EVEN ASK!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Maroon Bells

Some people say marriage is challenging.
I say marriage is beautiful.
Some people say climbing a mountain is challenging.
I say climbing a mountain is beautiful.
Just look at this mountain!
Beautiful.

This is Maroon Bells.
For our 15th anniversary Bryan and I wanted to do something challenging.
We woke at 4am, drove from Aspen to the Maroon Bell trail head,
and embarked on a crazy adventure!

See how happy I look?
(I had no idea what I was in for!)


Bryan is a seasoned climber. He has climbed about fifteen 14ers
(peaks over 14,000 feet) in Colorado.





A kiss for good luck before our climb to the summit!


It was about HERE that we began to realized what we were in-for...





(look at the steep grade on the "easy" part of our hike)


Refueling break.


Isn't this an amazing view?


Boulder fields are a killer.
Thank heaven for trekking poles.


Finally reached the summit
(or at least the 'false summit)

There's the REAL summit!
It was another 2 hours from this point.


The mountain goats in the back ground followed us.... mocking us the whole way.
What creature in their right mind would live on rocky cliffs?!?!


We climbed up chimney's...

...down chimney's.....


...across ledges...
...and hours and hours of climbing up,up, up.....

...to the top of the world!!!


It's so great to know you can't possibly climb any higher!

Challenging climb? Yes.
Worth it? Absolutely.
Beautiful sites to behold!


A kiss for good luck on our descent.
(We should have kissed much longer! We needed more luck!
The descent kicked our tails!)


Ha! These are picture that I would typically delete in about two nano-seconds.
However.
I can't describe how tired we felt!
These pictures give a bit of a clue!
We didn't make it back to our truck until 11pm... 17 hours of non stop climbing!
Oh, my aching legs!


Some people say climbing a mountain is challenging.
Some people say marriage is challenging.
And they are right.
BUT!
Mountain climbing is challenging but also beautiful.
And Marriage is challenging but also very beautiful.
Especially when you achieve your goals together.


Happy 15th Anniversary!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Guns 'n Roses

Traditional picture:
Mamma enjoying breakfast in bed with the kids on Mother's Day
Non-Traditional picture:
Mamma enjoying breakfast in bed with the kids on Mother's Day...
with a gun.
Bryan is a great gift giver.
Every year for Mother's Day he gives me something that enhances my mothering skills.
Such as a gun (?!)


Happy Mother's Day!


Monday, October 10, 2011

Bella Notte

Could there be a more romantic dinner?

"Oh this is the night, it's a beautiful night
And we call it bella notte..

"Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes
On this lovely bella notte.
Side by side with your loved one, You'll find enchantment here...

"The night will weave its magic spell,
When the one you love is near!

"Oh this is the night, and the heavens are right!
On this lovely bella notte!"


To celebrate Valentine's Day together we enjoyed our own
Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti Dinner

Things started out fairly clean...



...but things went down hill pretty fast!












After dinner we played a family favorite:
Tag + Socks + Newly Polished Hardwood Floors = Lots of Laughing!





We ended the night with a treasure hunt.

1. Find hidden hearts
2. Stick hearts to Mom's and Dad's face.
3. Get a piece of candy AND a kiss!




Family = L-O-V-E