June 29th, 2007: PUSHAmerica Journey of Hope in Cheyenne!

We were lucky enough to have the TransAmerica team from Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity's PUSH America Journey of Hope arrive in Cheyenne this morning. They are one of three teams cycling across the country (from Seattle to Washington, D.C.) to raise funds and awareness for people with disabilities this summer.

Nolan, Barrett and I went over to Lions Park to see them arrive from Laramie and visit with a few of them during their lunch which was provided by the Cheyenne Cowbelles. The Action Club of Cheyenne was also in attendence with several disabled folks so they could visit with the riders.

June 28th, 2007: Barrett has his glasses!

Here are the long-awaited pictures of Barrett in his new glasses. He picked them up on Wednesday of this week and has been doing great wearing them without complaining. It has been interesting to watch him adjust to them and compare what he sees by looking through, below and above the lenses. He has already told Kelly several times what he has been able to see so we think it is a really great thing that they have arrived.

June 28th, 2007: Tornado Capital of the...

OK Wyoming/Nebraska Panhandle, I get it...you are a prolific producer of tornadoes compared to Montana!

For the fourth time (and the third time I have actually been at work) since mid-May, southeast Wyoming and/or the Nebraska panhandle has experienced a tornado. Today's was unfortunately just south of Cheyenne near the Colorado border. Although we put an EXPLICIT statement in the warning that the Tornado Warning did not include the city of Cheyenne, the hospital went into tornado mode, they sent everyone in the mall into shelters and actually sounded the tornado sirens ALL across the city of Cheyenne, etc. Sheriff's Deputies were actually considering evacuating all mobile home residents as well. *Insert Lewis Black's frustrated exclamation here* We definitely have some outreach to do in this community to try to make sure city officials don't unnecessarily warn 50,000+ people again.

June 25th, 2007: Another Afternoon In Colorado

Monday, we made another quick run down to the ice rink in Windsor, CO for a few hours of skating. It was 100+ on the Suburban thermometer, but even with the heat there were only about a dozen people on the ice at any given time. By the end of the public skating period, we were almost the only people on the ice again. Great for less than $10. Kelly came along and got the pictures shown below.

After skating we ran down to the mall in Loveland and did some shopping and then went to On The Border for dinner. At dinner, I noticed that an older couple who I worked with in Estes Park in 1993 was in the restaurant. After dinner we visited briefly with them and exchanged email addresses, and hopefully we can get together with them some time. They lived in Estes Park in 1993, but now live in Fort Collins, CO. Funny how small the world can be.

June 17, 2007: Fathers Day Trip to Rocky Mountain National Park

Last Sunday, we decided to head up into Rocky Mountain National Park and take advantage of being so close to one of our favorite locations.

We had a great day, with a picnic lunch near the Alluvial Fan (Endovalley) area and a trip up Trail Ridge Road (including a visit to the store where I used to work in the summers of 1992 and 1993).

After coming back down Trail Ridge in the late afternoon, we swung through Estes Park just long enough to grab a bite to eat at Ed's (and catch Tiger's missed put on 18 in the US Open). We had a great dinner at the recently (a few years ago it turns out) renovated Ed's and wound our way through a few shops and playgrounds along the way. On the way home, we watched a little thunderstorm get quite big and produce a nice lightning display in NE CO and SE WY.

Below are a customary few pictures...

At the Alluvial Fan.

Again at the Alluvial Fan.

Nolan...rock climbing (aka...bouldering) at the Alluvial Fan.

Nolan in the snow at the base of the stair "trail" above Trail Ridge Store.

Nolan resting on the rocks on the trail above Trail Ridge Store (note the road in the background).

Nolan at the top of the stair "trail" above Trail Ridge Store. He's not quite ready for Longs Peak, but we'll probably have to try it in a few years! Kelly and Barrett waited on us down in the store, in which the food service area is being totally renovated this summer by the new concessionaire, Xanterra. Otherwise it is the same old place. I get a kick out of the fact that this sign was changed a few years back as it used to say something about being "higher than Oregon's famed Mt. Hood" which is actually about 800 feet lower than this point. Some whiny Pacific Northwesterners must have been 'offended' by RMNP poking a little fun at another national park being vertically challenged.

June 16, 2007: Garage, what's a Garage?

We had a very successful garage sale and trip to Goodwill and Salvation Army today. I awoke at 5am and moved our mass of "stuff" out to the driveway for an 8am start. First folks started arriving at 7am which was actually nice since they were spending. We quickly surpassed our $10 fee for advertising in the Cheyenne paper (for two days)--which was amazing after hearing from the Billings Gazette last year that they wanted $50 (!!) for a single day of announcing a garage sale!--and ended up passing on a lot of our old stuff to anyone interested.

So...2 months after I started work here we actually have a garage that can be used by both of our cars! It is still tight with bikes, etc. but we are VERY excited to have moved up at least into the 2-car garage world. I would say "bring on the hail storms," but that might not be good, so I'll just say "bring on the snow." I'm parking indoors!

June 15, 2007: Challenge to Jazzy!

That's right, the Zeltwanger's posted a picture of their micro-hood installation during their recent move-in, so I decided to photograph ours as well (although, my MIC was not nearly as willing to come help with the install). Why? Well, just thought we could post a direct challenge to see Jazzy's work when he gets to install one during his move in (even if you're renting, Jim!). In the words of Ted Knight in you know which movie, "Well, ...we're waiting..."

Oh, and I had to include a pic of the finished product too. We love it!

June 12, 2007: Nolan's First T-ball Game

Nolan had his first t-ball game last Tuesday and had a great time. His team is full of energetic 4 and 5 year olds!

June 8, 2007: Bikle Visit

We enjoyed a brief afternoon visit with the Bikle's a week ago this past Friday. Chuck even broke out his Viola de Gamba for a brief demonstration. After he played a song, Nolan asked him if he could play "Twinkle, Twinkle" and Chuck broke right into it without missing a stride.




We may have another visit from Chuck and Laura later this summer when they next come south for another lesson with their instructor in Denver. It was great to visit with more friends from Montana!

June 5, 2007: Astros vs. Rockies

We decided after Kelly's doctor appointment Tuesday to take advantage of a Rockies Value Game and head down to the big city and see Kelly's Astros play. Barrett and I rooted on the Rockies, while Nolan wore his Astros shirt and joined Kelly in rooting for them. The Astros prevailed 4-1 in a very good game (including a bench/bullpen clearing situation--I wouldn't really call it a fight though).

We got down to Denver real early to pick up our ticket package since it also included a parking pass, and then drove around the city a little bit. We stopped at Invesco to see the Bronco fountain and to drop by the Broncos store. The following picture is of the boys outside Invesco Field and check out the hail shaft in the background from a nearby thunderstorm!


After parking, we stopped by the Breckenridge Brewery for a little bite to eat (since our ticket package also included 4 hot dogs and 4 drinks at the stadium) before the game. The Denver chapter of Texas A&M alumni was supposed to be meeting there to distribute their tickets for the game, but we did not end up seeing any of them at the restaurant (we'll have to track them down later at another event).

We then went into Coors Field for the game and were there early enough for the boys to play on the playground in the Left Field corner (they think of everything, don't they). The playground was right behind our section so it worked out really nice as we waited for the game to start.


We were under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch at game time, but the weather was actually perfect as it was a nice warm evening (and all the storms were well east of Denver).



Here we are. Barrett did really well, but did get scared a few times about how dark it was getting. Nolan just had a blast the whole evening, especially when trash talking with me and pretending to fight after the bench clearing situation.



Above, another picture of the boys enjoying the game.



Here's Kelly and the boys toward the end of the evening.

We hit the exit to Coors Field just before 1030pm after the game and the boys did a great job walking the 1/2 mile or so to our parking area. We jumped on I25 and were back at the house at 1205am after the drive home.

We all had a great afternoon/evening enjoying being able to have this fun without taking a whole weekend to come down to Denver as we've had to do in the past! We are so thankful to have these opportunities, but we sure still miss Montana at times.

On that note, we have our second visitors from Billings coming by this Friday when the Bikles pass through town! It was great to see the Solum's last week and we really look forward to our visit with the Bikle's.

Nolan in High Demand!

Nolan had his first t-ball practice today at the park by where he will start school this fall. Ironically it was not for his team. We signed him up for YMCA t-ball in early May, and two teams have come calling! The Rangers called first, then the Padres...with the Padres first to practice on Sunday. Nolan did great practicing with the Padres, but when I returned home from work today he told me "the Padres have enough players, I'm going to play for the Rangers."

Kelly spoke to the organizer and in fact they had mistakenly put him on both rosters and he was needed on the Rangers. Amazingly, the YMCA t-ball has 14 teams and they play at a local soccer park dividing the 3 soccer fields up into 8 different little ball fields! It should be interesting when games start June 12th. The Rangers first practice will be next weekend, so practice will have to continue in our front yard.

Note: Nolan's connection to Texas continues since his Billings "house" Mite Hockey team was the Stars (in reference to Dallas) and now the Rangers (of course also in the Metroplex). Plus, a local antique store owner recently gave Nolan an old Nolan Ryan (as a Texas Ranger) Kellogg's Corn Flakes box when Kelly and my Mom were shopping for furniture for our 'heritage' room in the new house! Funny how things end up happening some times!

More to come soon...