We hope 2010 has been a great year for you. For us, it has been full of good memories and pleasant surprises. We celebrated the engagement and then wedding of Mike’s brother Bryan to Amanda Thompson, took a cruise to Alaska and, after many hard months of trying, we were ecstatic to find out that we are expecting a baby girl!
In March, we attended (and I was a bridesmaid in) Hannah and Simon’s wedding. The wedding was in Boulder, but there was no lack of Brits in attendance, which made it all the more fun! The following month, I had a business trip to Dallas, so Mike tagged along and we got to take a detour to see my mom’s hometown and visit my uncle Lynn. May was Brenda and Joe Sanchez’ wedding at the gorgeous Arrowhead Golf Course.
June brought us a visit from Colin and Mariko for James and Jamila Cox’s wedding ceremony and then we followed them back to Oregon for the reception. We had a ton of fun in Oregon, trying wines and fancy donuts and hanging out with the Blessings and the newlyweds. We spent July 4th with Mike Piel and Emma at Mike’s family’s place near Buffalo, WY. They have land up there with cabins and a clubhouse and plenty of hiking, fishing and open space—gorgeous! Later in the month, we took another trip to Wyoming to visit dad and Crystal in Saratoga. While we were in Saratoga, we went on a hike and did some fishing along the way. Another highlight of the summer was a rafting trip we took in the Royal Gorge. We also took a four-wheeling trip with the Cox’s later that month and Mike was introduced to his first true off-road experience.
We found out in July that we are expecting a baby! Mike was instantly really excited to get the news, but I think I am still in shock! I’m six months along now, due April 7th, and so far so good. I’ve been feeling fine, except for some back pain, and am thankful to have dodged many of the negative symptoms I heard so much about when I was first pregnant (so far).
In August, we attended my 10-year high school reunion (and Mike’s in November). It was crazy for both of us that it’s already been 10 years since we graduated! It was fun to see everyone and remember the old days of high school.
In September, we continued our tradition of visiting a new state every year by taking a cruise to Alaska. The trip was amazing! We saw whales up close, a bear, sea lions, dolphins and all kinds of other wildlife. We also enjoyed all the wonderful food, including a chocolate buffet one night. The shows onboard were another highlight and we saw a comedy show, dancers, trapeze artists, etc.
In the fall, I took a business trip to San Diego, which was great because I got to see Susan, who I hadn’t seen in far too long! When I got back, we took a weekend trip to Breckenridge with Carter and Ashleigh and another couple. The house we stayed in was lovely and we really enjoyed relaxing time with them. Shortly after we returned from Breckenridge, I took a business trip to Vegas and brought Anna, Beth and Carolyn with me, which made it all the more entertaining. In November, we took a trip to Washington, DC to surprise Nathan for his 30th birthday! The trip was great and he was definitely surprised. When we saw him for the first time, Nathan looked at me like I was crazy and he could quite figure out what the heck I was doing there. We finished off the year with two very important weddings—first, Lindsey and Anand got married at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, which was gorgeous! I was a bridesmaid and enjoyed learning all about the Indian traditions (and Indian dances) that were involved in the wedding. A few days later, Bryan and Amanda were married in Thornton. Mike was a groomsman and had a wonderful time seeing his younger brother get married and participating in the festivities (even though he says it’s a bit strange to see a ring on Bryan’s finger)!
Anyway, that’s what’s been going on around here! I hope you’ve had a wonderful year and that you’ll let us know what you’ve been up to.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
What Boo-tiful Fall Weather We’re Having!
From Mike:
So here we are in October. Can you believe the holiday season is just around the corner? Where has the year gone?? Anyway, here’s what’s been happening at the Nishi household:
Big News Alert (for some of you, anyway): We’re Pregnant!!! That’s right, campers, we’re gonna be parents! Scary, huh? You’re telling me! Although we’re new to this whole pregnancy thing, we’re both really excited about the prospect of starting our family, and ask for your prayers to keep both Kelly and the baby healthy, happy and comfortable. We’re due on April 7th and should know the baby’s gender on November 16th, so we’ll keep you posted!
Now that you’re officially informed of the big news, let me take you back to August. Remember August? I sure don’t, but I’ll do my best to recall what we were up to. Where to start? Ah, yes…Alaska!
As many of you know, we visited the second state in our “Alphabetical Tour of the U.S.” by cruising to Alaska aboard the Norwegian Pearl. We sailed out of Seattle for seven days and visited Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Victoria B.C., and sailed through the Inside Passage, and Glacier Bay. What a beautiful state! When we were ashore, we went whale watching (which was definitely a highlight!), rode a train into the mountains, took a double-decker bus tour, shopped, watched a lumberjack show, sampled the local fare and saw a myriad of wildlife including a hungry black bear, a few bald eagles and even a porcupine! In Glacier Bay, we got to see several spectacular glaciers, and watched and listened to them melt and break apart sending huge chunks of ice crashing into the ocean…it was incredible! The sound that glaciers make when they break apart, or “calve,” is awesome! It literally sounds like thunder! The ship itself was also quite a sight. When we weren’t ashore, we spent our time eating, watching live performers, playing bingo, bowling or simply relaxing in the lounge with a good book. Overall, the trip was fun and relaxing, and we both highly recommend a visit to Alaska.
In September, we attended yet another Milburn wedding…this time it was Joseph’s turn! The entire wedding took place in the backyard of a huge house that backed to a large pond and a golf course…it was very scenic and made an ideal setting for the occasion. We had a great time celebrating, eating, dancing and enjoying the company of close friends. Congratulations to Joe and Shelby!
The following Saturday, Kelly and a few girlfriends went on Banjo Billy’s Bus tour of Denver. I stayed home, because I am lame, and thought the tour would be equally as lame…boy, was I wrong. Kelly came back with amazing stories of Denver that would surprise any long-time Colorado resident! She also gave me the biggest guilt trip of my life. Admittedly, I missed out on a great time, and as a result, I have no awesome stories to tell. Sorry, you’ll just have to ask Kelly.
On September 25th, Kelly and I drove up to Estes Park for our annual Fall Colors Hike. This year, we decided to hike up Lily Mountain. Although, in her present state, Kelly decided not to attempt to reach the very top (mainly because it required monkey-like rock climbing skills), I managed to reach the top and snap a few photos of the incredible 360-degree views. It was stunning! However, fall must’ve come late this year, because there weren’t many “fall colors” to see…oh well, there’s always next year!
The following week I started working four 10-hour days; allowing me to take every Friday off. It’s been wonderful! I can’t imagine going back to a five-day work week now. The best part is that Kelly also has Fridays off, so we get to spend our three-day weekend together! :)
Kelly went to San Diego for a few days in early October for a conference, so I was home alone. While she was there she got to catch up with a friend, Susan, who is also pregnant. The second weekend in October we were fortunate enough to be invited to Breckenridge for a mountain getaway with Carter, his girlfriend Ashleigh, and Ashleigh’s friend Rhys and her boyfriend, Sam. Rhys’ dad’s firm owns a huge house up there, and was kind enough to let us use it for a few days! We spent the weekend cooking, eating, drinking, hiking, playing games, hot tubbing and watching football. It was unbelievably relaxing!
For a few months now, our friend Alex and I have been planning a Men’s Retreat. Now, when I say Alex and I, I really mean just Alex. :) Anyway, the retreat was last weekend up at Snow Mountain Ranch outside of Winter Park. We partnered with New Denver Church and got about 20 guys to join us in learning more about the things that men crave: money, sex and power. Alex, along with Norton, the pastor of New Denver, discussed biblical ways to satisfy your God-given cravings. It was a ridiculously good time of bonding, learning more about ourselves as Christian men, growing in faith and generally doing manly things. We hope this won’t be the last retreat we plan, so I’ll try to do a better job of advertising the next one.
While I was on my way home from the mountains, Kelly was on her way to Las Vegas for yet another conference…and a girl’s weekend. Anna, Beth and Carolyn met up with her to celebrate Anna’s birthday until Tuesday, when they returned to reality. Kelly still had the conference to wrap up, so she didn’t get home until last Wednesday. I still don’t really know the details of what happened there, but I’m sure everyone behaved. ;)
This past weekend we hosted a Broncos party and got to watch the Raiders utterly destroy any remaining dignity our beloved football team had before Sunday. We did, however, get to watch history in the making, as the Raiders set a franchise record for the most points scored in a single game: 59. Well done, Raiders. I still hate you. I will speak no more of it.
So, that’s it in a nutshell. Sorry for its tardiness! Hopefully the next one will be a bit timelier, and not as lengthy! Until next time, God bless and Happy Halloween!
So here we are in October. Can you believe the holiday season is just around the corner? Where has the year gone?? Anyway, here’s what’s been happening at the Nishi household:
Big News Alert (for some of you, anyway): We’re Pregnant!!! That’s right, campers, we’re gonna be parents! Scary, huh? You’re telling me! Although we’re new to this whole pregnancy thing, we’re both really excited about the prospect of starting our family, and ask for your prayers to keep both Kelly and the baby healthy, happy and comfortable. We’re due on April 7th and should know the baby’s gender on November 16th, so we’ll keep you posted!
Now that you’re officially informed of the big news, let me take you back to August. Remember August? I sure don’t, but I’ll do my best to recall what we were up to. Where to start? Ah, yes…Alaska!
As many of you know, we visited the second state in our “Alphabetical Tour of the U.S.” by cruising to Alaska aboard the Norwegian Pearl. We sailed out of Seattle for seven days and visited Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Victoria B.C., and sailed through the Inside Passage, and Glacier Bay. What a beautiful state! When we were ashore, we went whale watching (which was definitely a highlight!), rode a train into the mountains, took a double-decker bus tour, shopped, watched a lumberjack show, sampled the local fare and saw a myriad of wildlife including a hungry black bear, a few bald eagles and even a porcupine! In Glacier Bay, we got to see several spectacular glaciers, and watched and listened to them melt and break apart sending huge chunks of ice crashing into the ocean…it was incredible! The sound that glaciers make when they break apart, or “calve,” is awesome! It literally sounds like thunder! The ship itself was also quite a sight. When we weren’t ashore, we spent our time eating, watching live performers, playing bingo, bowling or simply relaxing in the lounge with a good book. Overall, the trip was fun and relaxing, and we both highly recommend a visit to Alaska.
In September, we attended yet another Milburn wedding…this time it was Joseph’s turn! The entire wedding took place in the backyard of a huge house that backed to a large pond and a golf course…it was very scenic and made an ideal setting for the occasion. We had a great time celebrating, eating, dancing and enjoying the company of close friends. Congratulations to Joe and Shelby!
The following Saturday, Kelly and a few girlfriends went on Banjo Billy’s Bus tour of Denver. I stayed home, because I am lame, and thought the tour would be equally as lame…boy, was I wrong. Kelly came back with amazing stories of Denver that would surprise any long-time Colorado resident! She also gave me the biggest guilt trip of my life. Admittedly, I missed out on a great time, and as a result, I have no awesome stories to tell. Sorry, you’ll just have to ask Kelly.
On September 25th, Kelly and I drove up to Estes Park for our annual Fall Colors Hike. This year, we decided to hike up Lily Mountain. Although, in her present state, Kelly decided not to attempt to reach the very top (mainly because it required monkey-like rock climbing skills), I managed to reach the top and snap a few photos of the incredible 360-degree views. It was stunning! However, fall must’ve come late this year, because there weren’t many “fall colors” to see…oh well, there’s always next year!
The following week I started working four 10-hour days; allowing me to take every Friday off. It’s been wonderful! I can’t imagine going back to a five-day work week now. The best part is that Kelly also has Fridays off, so we get to spend our three-day weekend together! :)
Kelly went to San Diego for a few days in early October for a conference, so I was home alone. While she was there she got to catch up with a friend, Susan, who is also pregnant. The second weekend in October we were fortunate enough to be invited to Breckenridge for a mountain getaway with Carter, his girlfriend Ashleigh, and Ashleigh’s friend Rhys and her boyfriend, Sam. Rhys’ dad’s firm owns a huge house up there, and was kind enough to let us use it for a few days! We spent the weekend cooking, eating, drinking, hiking, playing games, hot tubbing and watching football. It was unbelievably relaxing!
For a few months now, our friend Alex and I have been planning a Men’s Retreat. Now, when I say Alex and I, I really mean just Alex. :) Anyway, the retreat was last weekend up at Snow Mountain Ranch outside of Winter Park. We partnered with New Denver Church and got about 20 guys to join us in learning more about the things that men crave: money, sex and power. Alex, along with Norton, the pastor of New Denver, discussed biblical ways to satisfy your God-given cravings. It was a ridiculously good time of bonding, learning more about ourselves as Christian men, growing in faith and generally doing manly things. We hope this won’t be the last retreat we plan, so I’ll try to do a better job of advertising the next one.
While I was on my way home from the mountains, Kelly was on her way to Las Vegas for yet another conference…and a girl’s weekend. Anna, Beth and Carolyn met up with her to celebrate Anna’s birthday until Tuesday, when they returned to reality. Kelly still had the conference to wrap up, so she didn’t get home until last Wednesday. I still don’t really know the details of what happened there, but I’m sure everyone behaved. ;)
This past weekend we hosted a Broncos party and got to watch the Raiders utterly destroy any remaining dignity our beloved football team had before Sunday. We did, however, get to watch history in the making, as the Raiders set a franchise record for the most points scored in a single game: 59. Well done, Raiders. I still hate you. I will speak no more of it.
So, that’s it in a nutshell. Sorry for its tardiness! Hopefully the next one will be a bit timelier, and not as lengthy! Until next time, God bless and Happy Halloween!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Summer Fun
From Kelly:
Holy cow! Have we seriously not posted a blog since MAY!?! What have all you faithful readers been doing with yourselves?!?! It must have been a dry and lonely summer for you. . . Well, good news is, we're back!! Since I can't update you on the WHOLE summer, here's a shot at getting you caught up on the past few weeks.
At the beginning of July, we took at trip with Mike Piel and his gf, Emma, to Mike's family's homestead near Buffalo Wyoming. Mike's family has had this land since the 1800s and they use it as a family retreat. It has about eight cabins plus a mess hall situated around a big green open space. There are creeks and mountains and hikes on their land. It's truly an oasis! While we were there, we did a lot of relaxing and playing ping pong. The boys also did some fly fishing, but weren't super successful (i.e. they didn't catch any fish). We also went for a couple of hikes. The longest hike turned out to be bushwacking up a mountain because we couldn't find the trail. We climbed over logs, through boulder fields, through brush and up loose dirt hills, but we finally made it to the top! The view was awesome up there and, happily, we found the trail for the journey back down.
The weekend after that, we headed to Oregon for James and Jamila's wedding reception! We stayed with Mariko and Colin and had fun seeing their new condo and hanging out with them and their two dogs-- Buster and Molly. The first day we arrived we went bowling (for some relief from the heat) and then went to dinner and a unique Eugene restaurant. The next day we checked out Saturday market and had donuts at legendary Voodoo Donuts. This donut shop has really unique flavors, like bacon, grape and fruit loop donuts. I got rainbow sprinkles because I'm boring, but Mike was more adventurous and tried the Tang flavor. Then, we headed to a gorgeous vineyard about an hour away. We wine tasted and then went back home to get ready for the party! Their reception was wonderful and everyone had a great time celebrating the newly married couple. A highlight for me was when Jamila told Mike to stop standing so close to the cake; I think she was worried he was going to sneak a bite! On Sunday we went and enjoyed the coast and then grilled at Mariko and Colin's place. Monday was spent shopping at the tax-free outlet mall and then catching a plane home!
The weekend after that, we made another trip to Wyoming. This time it was to visit my dad and Crystal at their house in Saratoga. Our trip had been rescheduled, so we didn't get to float the river as we had previously planned (the river was too low), but we did manage to go on a wonderful hike to a waterfall (well, more like a rocky river) and Mike had fun fishing in the North Platte all along the way. Mike caught quite a few brookie trout and broke in his new fishing pole. We also went to happy hour at the historic Wolf Hotel and enjoyed relaxing and watching movies with the family. Another highlight was going shooting at the gun range-- I am actually a decent shot! My dad is also building a new deck on their house, so Mike got some tips for when (if) the time comes to build our own.
Weekend after that, we headed down to Canon City to camp out at the local KOA before our rafting trip the next morning. The camping experience was pretty funny because it was definitely not camping as we know it-- there was a "live music hour" with a guy playing a guitar with an amp across from our site and a dessert social to go along with it. There was also a store about 200 yards from our tent! Oh well, it served its purpose and we woke up the next morning, packed up, and headed to the rafting site. Rafting was a ton of fun!! I always forget how much I love whitewater rafting until I do it again. We went through some class IV rapids (V is the highest), so there were definitely some scary parts (for me at least), but we had a great guide (from Nepal) who navigated us through all the hard parts well. The only incident we had was Mike falling out of the boat! We were in a rough patch and he slid off the back of the raft, but luckily he was holding on the whole time and, as soon as I convinced her to stop laughing, our friend Amy pulled him back in the boat.
The last weekend in July, we went camping again. This time we went with James, Jamila, Anna and Beth to one of our favorite spots-- Camp Dick in Peaceful Valley (right outside of Jamestown). I like this spot because it's close to Boulder and it's gorgeous. We had a wonderful campsite away from all the other campers and we spent the weekend relaxing and eating as much traditional camp food as possible (hamburgers, hot dogs, s'mores, etc.). The rest of the group took James' Jeep up four-wheeling to a reservoir and a lake, but I had to catch up on schoolwork, so I hung out at camp and read. James had some other friends come meet up from Denver so there were other vehicles to go four-wheeling with and, from what I hear, it was an awesome trip!
Last weekend we actually stayed home (shocking, I know), but we still had some excitement-- We bought a new car!! Well, actually an SUV. We weren't sure exactly what we wanted when we headed out, but as we started looking at the options and test driving, we decided that we definitely wanted a CR-V, which meant all it came down to was the color. I wasn't seeing anything I liked until finally at a dealership down south, they had THREE green ones, which was just what I was looking for. We ended up with a 2007 CR-V with a green exterior and tan, leather interior. It has 39,000 miles on it so it should last us a really long time! I hope so at least because I really hate car shopping! I would post a picture, but I can't find my camera right now. . . so pictures to come soon. After we bought the car, we went to Lindsey Gardner's housewarming party, which turned into Lindsey and Anand's ENGAGEMENT party!! We were super excited to hear the news! They are a great couple and we definitely wish them all the best :)
This Monday we went to dinner at one of our favorite places--Buffalo Wild Wings--to celebrate Bryan's birthday (Happy Birthday, Bryan!) and then spent some QT with the Milburns on Tuesday night. Tonight, we are headed to the end of the season kickball party and then tomorrow night is my high school reunion. I can't BELIEVE it's been ten years already!! I also can't believe summer is winding down, with kickball being over and no more camping trips, it's definitely feeling like fall is just around the corner. But, fall means football and snow, so that's okay with me!! I hope summer is going well for you too and let us know what you've been up to!
Holy cow! Have we seriously not posted a blog since MAY!?! What have all you faithful readers been doing with yourselves?!?! It must have been a dry and lonely summer for you. . . Well, good news is, we're back!! Since I can't update you on the WHOLE summer, here's a shot at getting you caught up on the past few weeks.
At the beginning of July, we took at trip with Mike Piel and his gf, Emma, to Mike's family's homestead near Buffalo Wyoming. Mike's family has had this land since the 1800s and they use it as a family retreat. It has about eight cabins plus a mess hall situated around a big green open space. There are creeks and mountains and hikes on their land. It's truly an oasis! While we were there, we did a lot of relaxing and playing ping pong. The boys also did some fly fishing, but weren't super successful (i.e. they didn't catch any fish). We also went for a couple of hikes. The longest hike turned out to be bushwacking up a mountain because we couldn't find the trail. We climbed over logs, through boulder fields, through brush and up loose dirt hills, but we finally made it to the top! The view was awesome up there and, happily, we found the trail for the journey back down.
The weekend after that, we headed to Oregon for James and Jamila's wedding reception! We stayed with Mariko and Colin and had fun seeing their new condo and hanging out with them and their two dogs-- Buster and Molly. The first day we arrived we went bowling (for some relief from the heat) and then went to dinner and a unique Eugene restaurant. The next day we checked out Saturday market and had donuts at legendary Voodoo Donuts. This donut shop has really unique flavors, like bacon, grape and fruit loop donuts. I got rainbow sprinkles because I'm boring, but Mike was more adventurous and tried the Tang flavor. Then, we headed to a gorgeous vineyard about an hour away. We wine tasted and then went back home to get ready for the party! Their reception was wonderful and everyone had a great time celebrating the newly married couple. A highlight for me was when Jamila told Mike to stop standing so close to the cake; I think she was worried he was going to sneak a bite! On Sunday we went and enjoyed the coast and then grilled at Mariko and Colin's place. Monday was spent shopping at the tax-free outlet mall and then catching a plane home!
The weekend after that, we made another trip to Wyoming. This time it was to visit my dad and Crystal at their house in Saratoga. Our trip had been rescheduled, so we didn't get to float the river as we had previously planned (the river was too low), but we did manage to go on a wonderful hike to a waterfall (well, more like a rocky river) and Mike had fun fishing in the North Platte all along the way. Mike caught quite a few brookie trout and broke in his new fishing pole. We also went to happy hour at the historic Wolf Hotel and enjoyed relaxing and watching movies with the family. Another highlight was going shooting at the gun range-- I am actually a decent shot! My dad is also building a new deck on their house, so Mike got some tips for when (if) the time comes to build our own.
Weekend after that, we headed down to Canon City to camp out at the local KOA before our rafting trip the next morning. The camping experience was pretty funny because it was definitely not camping as we know it-- there was a "live music hour" with a guy playing a guitar with an amp across from our site and a dessert social to go along with it. There was also a store about 200 yards from our tent! Oh well, it served its purpose and we woke up the next morning, packed up, and headed to the rafting site. Rafting was a ton of fun!! I always forget how much I love whitewater rafting until I do it again. We went through some class IV rapids (V is the highest), so there were definitely some scary parts (for me at least), but we had a great guide (from Nepal) who navigated us through all the hard parts well. The only incident we had was Mike falling out of the boat! We were in a rough patch and he slid off the back of the raft, but luckily he was holding on the whole time and, as soon as I convinced her to stop laughing, our friend Amy pulled him back in the boat.The last weekend in July, we went camping again. This time we went with James, Jamila, Anna and Beth to one of our favorite spots-- Camp Dick in Peaceful Valley (right outside of Jamestown). I like this spot because it's close to Boulder and it's gorgeous. We had a wonderful campsite away from all the other campers and we spent the weekend relaxing and eating as much traditional camp food as possible (hamburgers, hot dogs, s'mores, etc.). The rest of the group took James' Jeep up four-wheeling to a reservoir and a lake, but I had to catch up on schoolwork, so I hung out at camp and read. James had some other friends come meet up from Denver so there were other vehicles to go four-wheeling with and, from what I hear, it was an awesome trip!
Last weekend we actually stayed home (shocking, I know), but we still had some excitement-- We bought a new car!! Well, actually an SUV. We weren't sure exactly what we wanted when we headed out, but as we started looking at the options and test driving, we decided that we definitely wanted a CR-V, which meant all it came down to was the color. I wasn't seeing anything I liked until finally at a dealership down south, they had THREE green ones, which was just what I was looking for. We ended up with a 2007 CR-V with a green exterior and tan, leather interior. It has 39,000 miles on it so it should last us a really long time! I hope so at least because I really hate car shopping! I would post a picture, but I can't find my camera right now. . . so pictures to come soon. After we bought the car, we went to Lindsey Gardner's housewarming party, which turned into Lindsey and Anand's ENGAGEMENT party!! We were super excited to hear the news! They are a great couple and we definitely wish them all the best :)
This Monday we went to dinner at one of our favorite places--Buffalo Wild Wings--to celebrate Bryan's birthday (Happy Birthday, Bryan!) and then spent some QT with the Milburns on Tuesday night. Tonight, we are headed to the end of the season kickball party and then tomorrow night is my high school reunion. I can't BELIEVE it's been ten years already!! I also can't believe summer is winding down, with kickball being over and no more camping trips, it's definitely feeling like fall is just around the corner. But, fall means football and snow, so that's okay with me!! I hope summer is going well for you too and let us know what you've been up to!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
April Showers. . .
From Mike:
So, what is the deal with this crazy Colorado weather?? I should be used to it by now, but every once in awhile, God throws me for a loop and proves to me that he really is capable of making it rain, snow, and shine all in the same day! Incredible! Anyway, here’s what’s been going on in our neck of the woods.
We concluded our trip to Texas at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, which epitomized the phrase “Everything is bigger in Texas.” This hotel is HUGE!! The hotel rooms surround a massive 4.5 acre indoor atrium complete with a river walk, a miniature train, and more natural flora and fauna than I care to list. The hotel also has eight restaurants and cafes, a shopping center, two pools, a vineyard and over 1,600 rooms…absolutely ridiculous. Anyway, despite Kelly having to work, we enjoyed most of the amenities the hotel had to offer, without leaving the grounds. While Kelly was playing breadwinner, I was lounging by the pool reading and lazing around in the room. It was great! The weather didn’t really cooperate much while we were there, so it was nice to have an indoor sanctuary to keep us dry.
The following Saturday we got to babysit the wonderful, the fabulous, Miss Miriam Milburn! We drove over to Casa de Milburn and spent the evening being entertained by one of the most people-oriented one and a half year-olds we know so Heather and Daniel could have a date night. We played, colored, and watched Veggie Tales until it was time for dinner. For those of you who don’t already know, Kelly has a deeply seeded fear that every child she feeds will choke and die, so aside from preparing the meal, I took over most of the feeding duties. Miriam is getting acquainted with using silverware, so I would scoop up a little food and hand her the fork so she could do the rest. Although Kelly watched with trepidation as Miriam stuffed the fork into her mouth, we all survived dinner (despite falling victim to one of the largest accidental water spills I have ever experienced – caused by Kelly I might add). We stayed up for a bit afterwards, put Miriam to bed, and the rest of the night went off without a hitch!
The next day after church we drove to Denver to have brunch at Snooze with the usual crowd. After waiting over an hour for a table, all seven of us squished into a table built for four and we dined on some of the most delightful breakfast foods you could imagine…well worth the wait. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Snooze, order the pineapple upside down cake pancakes. They are amazing. And get a bellini while you’re at it…equally as amazing.
Last Friday night I held another poker night. I actually managed to pull off a win this time! Although there were only four of us, it turned out to be a great night that ended with me taking everyone’s money. You can’t beat that, can you? Poor Kelly spent the whole evening upstairs studying for her Statistics final.
On Saturday, Kelly did some last minute cramming, and then drove to Longmont to take her Statistics final. Although she’s worried about how well she did, she’s happy to be done with the only math class she’s required to take for her second degree! Congrats, honey! Afterwards, we met up with Kelly’s mom for lunch at Baker Street Tavern for a delicious meal.
Sunday after church Kelly drove to Denver for Brenda Dorrance’s bridal shower and in the afternoon I drove down to meet her for the first gathering of our new church/bible study/huddle thing. We’re not really sure what to call it, but we’re really excited to be a part of a small group of believers who want to grow in faith and friendship. For some time now, we have been talking to our friends Alex and Katey about possibly starting a church of some sort. Not a church in the traditional sense, but a group of believers who gather to fellowship and study God’s Word together. If God decides to turn our little group into something bigger, we’re all open to the challenge.
That’s about it! God bless you, friends…until next time!
So, what is the deal with this crazy Colorado weather?? I should be used to it by now, but every once in awhile, God throws me for a loop and proves to me that he really is capable of making it rain, snow, and shine all in the same day! Incredible! Anyway, here’s what’s been going on in our neck of the woods.
We concluded our trip to Texas at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, which epitomized the phrase “Everything is bigger in Texas.” This hotel is HUGE!! The hotel rooms surround a massive 4.5 acre indoor atrium complete with a river walk, a miniature train, and more natural flora and fauna than I care to list. The hotel also has eight restaurants and cafes, a shopping center, two pools, a vineyard and over 1,600 rooms…absolutely ridiculous. Anyway, despite Kelly having to work, we enjoyed most of the amenities the hotel had to offer, without leaving the grounds. While Kelly was playing breadwinner, I was lounging by the pool reading and lazing around in the room. It was great! The weather didn’t really cooperate much while we were there, so it was nice to have an indoor sanctuary to keep us dry.
The following Saturday we got to babysit the wonderful, the fabulous, Miss Miriam Milburn! We drove over to Casa de Milburn and spent the evening being entertained by one of the most people-oriented one and a half year-olds we know so Heather and Daniel could have a date night. We played, colored, and watched Veggie Tales until it was time for dinner. For those of you who don’t already know, Kelly has a deeply seeded fear that every child she feeds will choke and die, so aside from preparing the meal, I took over most of the feeding duties. Miriam is getting acquainted with using silverware, so I would scoop up a little food and hand her the fork so she could do the rest. Although Kelly watched with trepidation as Miriam stuffed the fork into her mouth, we all survived dinner (despite falling victim to one of the largest accidental water spills I have ever experienced – caused by Kelly I might add). We stayed up for a bit afterwards, put Miriam to bed, and the rest of the night went off without a hitch!
The next day after church we drove to Denver to have brunch at Snooze with the usual crowd. After waiting over an hour for a table, all seven of us squished into a table built for four and we dined on some of the most delightful breakfast foods you could imagine…well worth the wait. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Snooze, order the pineapple upside down cake pancakes. They are amazing. And get a bellini while you’re at it…equally as amazing.
Last Friday night I held another poker night. I actually managed to pull off a win this time! Although there were only four of us, it turned out to be a great night that ended with me taking everyone’s money. You can’t beat that, can you? Poor Kelly spent the whole evening upstairs studying for her Statistics final.
On Saturday, Kelly did some last minute cramming, and then drove to Longmont to take her Statistics final. Although she’s worried about how well she did, she’s happy to be done with the only math class she’s required to take for her second degree! Congrats, honey! Afterwards, we met up with Kelly’s mom for lunch at Baker Street Tavern for a delicious meal.
Sunday after church Kelly drove to Denver for Brenda Dorrance’s bridal shower and in the afternoon I drove down to meet her for the first gathering of our new church/bible study/huddle thing. We’re not really sure what to call it, but we’re really excited to be a part of a small group of believers who want to grow in faith and friendship. For some time now, we have been talking to our friends Alex and Katey about possibly starting a church of some sort. Not a church in the traditional sense, but a group of believers who gather to fellowship and study God’s Word together. If God decides to turn our little group into something bigger, we’re all open to the challenge.That’s about it! God bless you, friends…until next time!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Hello from the Lone Star State
Have you ever noticed how sometimes one task leads you to another until you find yourself embarking on a complete project on a Sunday night, usually originally motivated by boredom? Well tonight we are sitting in a hotel in Dallas watching the World Poker Tour and I started thinking how I should start working on our 2010 photo album until I realized that I need to put blogs in the photo album if I'm going to do it right, but that in order to put in a blog, I needed to actually write one! So, here's what we've been up to!
For our second anniversary, we kept it pretty low key since I was getting sick and we had Hannah's wedding coming up. We decided to use a gift card to go to Carrabba's for their Denver restaurant week special. We feasted on Italian food and couldn't believe it has already been two years!!
One of the biggest things we've done since last we blogged was being involved with Simon and Hannah's wedding! We had a great time with them leading up to the even, including a bridal shower at Hannah's godmother's house. On the Friday before the wedding we went out with the bride/groom for their bachelor/bachelorette parties. Hannah's party started at Cinzetti's and then we headed to Sing Sing where Danny gave the rest of the party the dares he had created for her. There were some pretty funny dares-- including finding people with driver's licenses from five different states and arranging a group of guys in order of height without talking. Later in the night, Hannah broke her heel, so in good bridesmaid fashion, I swapped shoes with her and the bride was on her way again. Later in the night we accidentally ran into the boys!! While it was fun to see them, Hannah wanted nothing to do with the bachelor party, so we kicked them out and continued the party on our own.
The night before the wedding, after the rehearsal dinner, we took the visiting brits to The Rio where we introduced them to their particular brand of margaritas (which they loved) and sopapillas (which they weren't too sure about, so Jenny and I ate extra). On Sunday, they held the wedding at the Rembrandt Yard, which is a great art gallery in Boulder. It was a gorgeous affair and we had a ton of fun celebrating and the dancing the night away to all our favorite songs.
The following week I wasn't feeling so great and had a bunch of school work to do, so we laid pretty low. School is going well-- I'm taking a statistics class and a child development class. Of course I like the child development class more, but I keep reminding myself that I just have to get through the statistics class too. . .
For St. Patrick's Day, we went over to Beth/Anna/Jamila's house for a wonderful corned beef and cabbage dinner, as well as some green wine and beer. That weekend, Suzanne treated Carolyn, Amanda and me to dinner and a play in Denver. We Nishi girls-- past, present and future-- saw For Girls Only at the Denver Performing Arts complex and then had lunch at Maggiano's. It was a fun day of spending time together!
The following week was Mike's birthday. To celebrate, we went out on the day of with his family and my mom to Rock Bottom and then headed back home for an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. The next night, we met up with some friends at Happy Sumo and then had everyone over for cupcakes and to watch March Madness. I had decided to make Mike some strawberry cupcakes, but it turns out strawberry cupcakes are pink! So, it looked more like a sweet 16 than a 28th birthday party! Oh well. . . They were still yummy.
For Easter, we started out the morning by helping with the kids at Northern Hills. Of course the kids were wild and it was a pretty crazy day, but we survived. Then, we went to brunch with my mom in Brighton at a place called MoJo's. They had some really delicious cinnamon rolls! That evening, we headed to the Nishis', where Brianna greeted us all decked out in her swimsuit and snowsuit-- ready for whatever the Colorado weather might bring! We had a good meal with everyone (even though I had killed my appetite by eating too many chips and jalapenos now that Lent was over).
The group for which Mike is a board member, www.builtontherockeducation.org, had a fundraiser concert and silent auction. It was a wonderful event and helped spread their vision to build a school in Africa even further.
On Saturday, we left for Texas! I needed to come to Dallas for a business trip Mon-Wed and so Mike decided to tag along for the weekend so we could go visit my uncle Lynn, whom he had never met. Yesterday we drove to my mom's hometown, Sulphur Springs, where we drove around to see the sights (like my granny's house and the courthouse downtown) and then went to a delicious catfish dinner out in the country. Today, we headed over to my uncle's to meet and visit with him a bit before we headed to the cemetery to visit my grandparents' grave. Then, we drove to Dallas and checked into a new hotel where we are staying tonight. Tomorrow, we go to the Gaylord Texan for the conference and that place looks really nice, so I'm pretty excited to stay there!
Alrighty, I think you are now officially updated. I hope you are all doing well and let me know how you are when you get a chance! Now about that photo book. . .
For our second anniversary, we kept it pretty low key since I was getting sick and we had Hannah's wedding coming up. We decided to use a gift card to go to Carrabba's for their Denver restaurant week special. We feasted on Italian food and couldn't believe it has already been two years!!
One of the biggest things we've done since last we blogged was being involved with Simon and Hannah's wedding! We had a great time with them leading up to the even, including a bridal shower at Hannah's godmother's house. On the Friday before the wedding we went out with the bride/groom for their bachelor/bachelorette parties. Hannah's party started at Cinzetti's and then we headed to Sing Sing where Danny gave the rest of the party the dares he had created for her. There were some pretty funny dares-- including finding people with driver's licenses from five different states and arranging a group of guys in order of height without talking. Later in the night, Hannah broke her heel, so in good bridesmaid fashion, I swapped shoes with her and the bride was on her way again. Later in the night we accidentally ran into the boys!! While it was fun to see them, Hannah wanted nothing to do with the bachelor party, so we kicked them out and continued the party on our own. The night before the wedding, after the rehearsal dinner, we took the visiting brits to The Rio where we introduced them to their particular brand of margaritas (which they loved) and sopapillas (which they weren't too sure about, so Jenny and I ate extra). On Sunday, they held the wedding at the Rembrandt Yard, which is a great art gallery in Boulder. It was a gorgeous affair and we had a ton of fun celebrating and the dancing the night away to all our favorite songs.
The following week I wasn't feeling so great and had a bunch of school work to do, so we laid pretty low. School is going well-- I'm taking a statistics class and a child development class. Of course I like the child development class more, but I keep reminding myself that I just have to get through the statistics class too. . .
For St. Patrick's Day, we went over to Beth/Anna/Jamila's house for a wonderful corned beef and cabbage dinner, as well as some green wine and beer. That weekend, Suzanne treated Carolyn, Amanda and me to dinner and a play in Denver. We Nishi girls-- past, present and future-- saw For Girls Only at the Denver Performing Arts complex and then had lunch at Maggiano's. It was a fun day of spending time together!
The following week was Mike's birthday. To celebrate, we went out on the day of with his family and my mom to Rock Bottom and then headed back home for an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. The next night, we met up with some friends at Happy Sumo and then had everyone over for cupcakes and to watch March Madness. I had decided to make Mike some strawberry cupcakes, but it turns out strawberry cupcakes are pink! So, it looked more like a sweet 16 than a 28th birthday party! Oh well. . . They were still yummy.
For Easter, we started out the morning by helping with the kids at Northern Hills. Of course the kids were wild and it was a pretty crazy day, but we survived. Then, we went to brunch with my mom in Brighton at a place called MoJo's. They had some really delicious cinnamon rolls! That evening, we headed to the Nishis', where Brianna greeted us all decked out in her swimsuit and snowsuit-- ready for whatever the Colorado weather might bring! We had a good meal with everyone (even though I had killed my appetite by eating too many chips and jalapenos now that Lent was over).
The group for which Mike is a board member, www.builtontherockeducation.org, had a fundraiser concert and silent auction. It was a wonderful event and helped spread their vision to build a school in Africa even further.
On Saturday, we left for Texas! I needed to come to Dallas for a business trip Mon-Wed and so Mike decided to tag along for the weekend so we could go visit my uncle Lynn, whom he had never met. Yesterday we drove to my mom's hometown, Sulphur Springs, where we drove around to see the sights (like my granny's house and the courthouse downtown) and then went to a delicious catfish dinner out in the country. Today, we headed over to my uncle's to meet and visit with him a bit before we headed to the cemetery to visit my grandparents' grave. Then, we drove to Dallas and checked into a new hotel where we are staying tonight. Tomorrow, we go to the Gaylord Texan for the conference and that place looks really nice, so I'm pretty excited to stay there!
Alrighty, I think you are now officially updated. I hope you are all doing well and let me know how you are when you get a chance! Now about that photo book. . .
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Is It Spring Yet???
From Mike:
Oh man, for some reason, I haven’t had time to write a blog! Well, actually, I’ve probably had more than enough time, just no energy…sorry! Anyway, this one may be a bit long, but here goes…
In January, we started reading through a book called Sacred Marriage with Heather and Daniel. The book is fantastic!! We both would highly recommend it to any and all married or engaged couples. The author looks at marriage from the standpoint of making you holy, rather than happy. It’s given us all a fresh perspective on how we approach various aspects of our marriages and it’s been really fun and enriching to read through and discuss it with such close friends. We get together (almost) every Thursday to go through the questions in the back of the book, and it’s been great!
On the 17th, Katey and Alex put together a Murder Mystery Dinner at their house in Centennial. It was great! Our particular mystery was called “Murder on the French Riviera.” We both got our character assignments and began putting together our costumes a few days before…I was the gardener, and Kelly was the hot young Scottish secretary who doesn't like wearing her glasses (that was actually in the character description the company gave us)! When all the guests had arrived, we immediately got into character and tried to show off our best French accent. The murder mystery was a bit confusing at first, but after awhile we got into the swing of things and the true story began to form in our minds. Unfortunately, the conclusion to the mystery was fairly anti-climactic, but we all seemed to enjoy ourselves, and decided that perhaps next time we would visit one of those professional murder mystery houses that host them for you.
Kelly also started working towards earning her second bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies in January. For now, she’s taking a Statistics class at Front Range (to fulfill a CSU core requirement), and a Human Development course at CSU, both are online. Aside from the math class, she seems to be enjoying herself and learning a lot, so hopefully that will continue as her course schedule gets more intensive!
Probably the most exciting thing that has happened since our last post is the engagement of my brother!! He had both my family and his (now fiancee) Amanda's family meet at Davidson Mesa (which has an amazing view of Boulder Valley) because that's where my parents got engaged. We tried to hide while he and Amanda arrived, but there is a serious lack of hiding spots up there! Anyway, he parked, walked her over to us, got down on one knee, and popped the question. It was great. We got the whole thing on video. Afterwards we took pictures and sipped champagne, then drove into Boulder for a celebratory lunch at the Olive Garden. Good show Bryan!
Later that night, we celebrated Carter’s birthday downtown with an Asian Fusion dinner at Ling & Louie’s, followed by dessert and drinks at The Tilted Kilt nearby. It’s always a good time when the whole gang gets together, and this was no exception. Though for some reason, most of my memories from that night involved watching Carter eat something with whipped cream on it…
Kelly and I started teaching the 5-year-old Sunday school class at church twice a month. It’s been so fun getting to know the regular kids and all their little quirks. I had never really worked with kids that age before, but it’s a great age! They rarely cry, they can talk, and they haven’t noticed the opposite sex yet…a far cry from most middle schoolers! :P
The first Sunday in February we went to Ben and Nicole’s annual Super Bowl party. Unfortunately, we were among the few people rooting for the Colts and drew a lot of jeers from the unusually large number of Saints fans there at the end. Oh well, it turned out to be a great game and we were happy to see the Saints win their first championship.
A few days later, we got the wheels moving on the next stop in our “Alphabetical Tour of the United States” by booking an Alaskan cruise! We’re planning to leave Seattle on Norwegian Cruise Lines in August for a 7-day cruise through Glacier Bay to various ports in Alaska…we can’t wait!
The following weekend I went to see “Wolfman” with Daniel and company for his birthday…the movie was actually a lot more entertaining than I was expecting! We went to Noodles for a bite to eat afterwards and then parted ways. It was a fun, but short, celebration followed by terrible misfortune. I went to my parent’s house to do our taxes afterwards and got some shocking news. Apparently, we made a lot of money last year, and the government didn’t take out enough from our paychecks…so now we owe a truckload of taxes! Suffice it to say, we’re cutting back on a few things over the next few months to save up the money to pay it all.
In light of our tax situation, we decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home a quiet, romantic fondue feast. Kelly had me watch her all-time, favorite romantic movie, “Up Close and Personal,” with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer while we gorged ourselves on yummy cheese fondue, steak, chicken, and chocolate-dipped strawberries and other goodies. Overall, it was a great night and a whole lot cheaper than eating out and going to the theater!
I know we’re not Catholic, but Kelly and I kept with tradition and gave up a few things for Lent. I gave up candy and watching “Family Guy,” and Kelly gave up tortilla chips and using the computer after work. I have a feeling this may be tough for both of us, but hopefully we’ll use the next 40 days to better ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. Please pray that we use this time wisely, and to the glory of our Creator!
Last week Nathan and Emily flew into town to see family, which meant Kelly monopolized a lot of their free time. It began Wednesday night with a CSU basketball game in Fort Collins, lunch on Thursday, dinner at Sushi Hai and drinks at Fado on Friday, and ice skating on Saturday. The ice skating was probably the most fun part of the weekend. Nathan, Emily, Beth, Carter, Lynnette, Kelly and I drove up to Evergreen because Kelly had heard from a coworker that you can skate on Lake Evergreen in the winter. It was awesome! The entire frozen lake was full of kids and families skating, playing hockey and broomball, and even a few ice fishermen! I got to show off my serious lack of balance and coordination while slowly sliding around the ice; desperately trying not to fall and humiliate myself. It was a blast, and afterwards we all drove into town for lunch at Beau Jo’s. Yum!
Tuesday night we had Kacy and Tara over for dinner. Believe it or not, it was the first time they had been to our house! Much to Zora’s dismay, they brought their two awesome dogs, Stewie and Champ, who are just about the cutest, sweetest, most well-behaved King Charles Spaniels you have ever seen! Kacy and Tara put on a show to demonstrate how well-trained the dogs are. It was so cool to watch them sit, stay, lay down, bow, shake, roll-over, and even do figure 8’s around Kacy’s legs…and they’re still only puppies!
Tonight we are going over to Brian and Angela's for dinner to meet her brother Brian and Brandi's new baby-- Bree. We are also gearing up for Hannah and Simon's wedding next week, which should be a great celebration!
I think that about covers it. I hope you all are blessed and well. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad spring is just around the corner! Until next time!
Oh man, for some reason, I haven’t had time to write a blog! Well, actually, I’ve probably had more than enough time, just no energy…sorry! Anyway, this one may be a bit long, but here goes…
In January, we started reading through a book called Sacred Marriage with Heather and Daniel. The book is fantastic!! We both would highly recommend it to any and all married or engaged couples. The author looks at marriage from the standpoint of making you holy, rather than happy. It’s given us all a fresh perspective on how we approach various aspects of our marriages and it’s been really fun and enriching to read through and discuss it with such close friends. We get together (almost) every Thursday to go through the questions in the back of the book, and it’s been great!
On the 17th, Katey and Alex put together a Murder Mystery Dinner at their house in Centennial. It was great! Our particular mystery was called “Murder on the French Riviera.” We both got our character assignments and began putting together our costumes a few days before…I was the gardener, and Kelly was the hot young Scottish secretary who doesn't like wearing her glasses (that was actually in the character description the company gave us)! When all the guests had arrived, we immediately got into character and tried to show off our best French accent. The murder mystery was a bit confusing at first, but after awhile we got into the swing of things and the true story began to form in our minds. Unfortunately, the conclusion to the mystery was fairly anti-climactic, but we all seemed to enjoy ourselves, and decided that perhaps next time we would visit one of those professional murder mystery houses that host them for you.Kelly also started working towards earning her second bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies in January. For now, she’s taking a Statistics class at Front Range (to fulfill a CSU core requirement), and a Human Development course at CSU, both are online. Aside from the math class, she seems to be enjoying herself and learning a lot, so hopefully that will continue as her course schedule gets more intensive!
Probably the most exciting thing that has happened since our last post is the engagement of my brother!! He had both my family and his (now fiancee) Amanda's family meet at Davidson Mesa (which has an amazing view of Boulder Valley) because that's where my parents got engaged. We tried to hide while he and Amanda arrived, but there is a serious lack of hiding spots up there! Anyway, he parked, walked her over to us, got down on one knee, and popped the question. It was great. We got the whole thing on video. Afterwards we took pictures and sipped champagne, then drove into Boulder for a celebratory lunch at the Olive Garden. Good show Bryan!
Later that night, we celebrated Carter’s birthday downtown with an Asian Fusion dinner at Ling & Louie’s, followed by dessert and drinks at The Tilted Kilt nearby. It’s always a good time when the whole gang gets together, and this was no exception. Though for some reason, most of my memories from that night involved watching Carter eat something with whipped cream on it…Kelly and I started teaching the 5-year-old Sunday school class at church twice a month. It’s been so fun getting to know the regular kids and all their little quirks. I had never really worked with kids that age before, but it’s a great age! They rarely cry, they can talk, and they haven’t noticed the opposite sex yet…a far cry from most middle schoolers! :P
The first Sunday in February we went to Ben and Nicole’s annual Super Bowl party. Unfortunately, we were among the few people rooting for the Colts and drew a lot of jeers from the unusually large number of Saints fans there at the end. Oh well, it turned out to be a great game and we were happy to see the Saints win their first championship.
A few days later, we got the wheels moving on the next stop in our “Alphabetical Tour of the United States” by booking an Alaskan cruise! We’re planning to leave Seattle on Norwegian Cruise Lines in August for a 7-day cruise through Glacier Bay to various ports in Alaska…we can’t wait!
The following weekend I went to see “Wolfman” with Daniel and company for his birthday…the movie was actually a lot more entertaining than I was expecting! We went to Noodles for a bite to eat afterwards and then parted ways. It was a fun, but short, celebration followed by terrible misfortune. I went to my parent’s house to do our taxes afterwards and got some shocking news. Apparently, we made a lot of money last year, and the government didn’t take out enough from our paychecks…so now we owe a truckload of taxes! Suffice it to say, we’re cutting back on a few things over the next few months to save up the money to pay it all.
In light of our tax situation, we decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day at home a quiet, romantic fondue feast. Kelly had me watch her all-time, favorite romantic movie, “Up Close and Personal,” with Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer while we gorged ourselves on yummy cheese fondue, steak, chicken, and chocolate-dipped strawberries and other goodies. Overall, it was a great night and a whole lot cheaper than eating out and going to the theater!I know we’re not Catholic, but Kelly and I kept with tradition and gave up a few things for Lent. I gave up candy and watching “Family Guy,” and Kelly gave up tortilla chips and using the computer after work. I have a feeling this may be tough for both of us, but hopefully we’ll use the next 40 days to better ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. Please pray that we use this time wisely, and to the glory of our Creator!
Last week Nathan and Emily flew into town to see family, which meant Kelly monopolized a lot of their free time. It began Wednesday night with a CSU basketball game in Fort Collins, lunch on Thursday, dinner at Sushi Hai and drinks at Fado on Friday, and ice skating on Saturday. The ice skating was probably the most fun part of the weekend. Nathan, Emily, Beth, Carter, Lynnette, Kelly and I drove up to Evergreen because Kelly had heard from a coworker that you can skate on Lake Evergreen in the winter. It was awesome! The entire frozen lake was full of kids and families skating, playing hockey and broomball, and even a few ice fishermen! I got to show off my serious lack of balance and coordination while slowly sliding around the ice; desperately trying not to fall and humiliate myself. It was a blast, and afterwards we all drove into town for lunch at Beau Jo’s. Yum!Tuesday night we had Kacy and Tara over for dinner. Believe it or not, it was the first time they had been to our house! Much to Zora’s dismay, they brought their two awesome dogs, Stewie and Champ, who are just about the cutest, sweetest, most well-behaved King Charles Spaniels you have ever seen! Kacy and Tara put on a show to demonstrate how well-trained the dogs are. It was so cool to watch them sit, stay, lay down, bow, shake, roll-over, and even do figure 8’s around Kacy’s legs…and they’re still only puppies!
Tonight we are going over to Brian and Angela's for dinner to meet her brother Brian and Brandi's new baby-- Bree. We are also gearing up for Hannah and Simon's wedding next week, which should be a great celebration!
I think that about covers it. I hope you all are blessed and well. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad spring is just around the corner! Until next time!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Starting Things off Right
From Kelly:
Well for us, 2010 is already off to a great start!
For NYE, we stared off the night with a Hibachi dinner at Mt. Fuji and then headed to party at Onyx and Audrey's house. It was such a fun party with delicious snacks and even party favors and champagne at midnight. The best part, though was that there was a really cool fireworks show at midnight, which I won't go into too much detail about, but it was awesome! After the party we headed back to Beth/Anna/Jamila's house where we had a big slumber party and played some games.
New Year's day we spent at Mike's cousin's house for the annual Japanese new year celebration. It was sad not to have bachan there to administer the annual Saki blessing, but it was a fun day nonetheless. We spent a lot of time eating and playing games and watching football.
The weekend after NYE, we were lucky enough to get to go to the Broncos-Chiefs game. Carter and Adam each offered us a free ticket, so Mike sat with Adam and I sat with Carter until the very end of the game when we met up with Mike in his super sweet "section 106" tickets. Unfortunately the Broncos couldn't pull out a win, but it was nice to wrap up the season by getting to see a live game!
This last weekend we went on a trip to Winter Park with some friends (there were 13 of us). We rented a house with a pool table, flat screen TVs, hot tub-- the works. It was a pretty awesome set up. When we arrived on Friday, we decided to do some snowshoeing with Carter and his dog, Chloe. It actually worked out really well (considering we had no idea where we were going) and we came upon a place that rented snowshoes for $8 with a trail right next door. Perfect! We hiked a little ways down the trail and saw some beautiful winter landscapes-- mountains, rivers, bridges, etc. It was gorgeous! When we were done we headed to the house to meet the rest of the group. Once everyone had assembled (minus one carload), we headed out to dinner at Smokin' Mo's BBQ. James had found this place and it was a great find-- delicious BBQ and a fun atmosphere. It was a good opportunity for everyone to get to sit down and talk as we got the weekend kicked off.
Saturday, most of the group headed off to the slopes to ski and snowboard, but Matt and Linnea went snowshoeing and the rest of us (me, Beth, Anna) lounged around the house reading and taking the dog for walks; we also went to lunch and checked out the stores and then came back and played pool/wii while we waited for the group to get back. That night Matt and Linnea made a fabulous lasagna dinner and we had a house guest-- Christy-- who was in town volunteering. Later we spent time playing games and hanging out in the hot tub. Some people even took the plunge of jumping in the snow and then back into the hot tub. In fact, I was the only person in the hot tub who didn't take that challenge. I consider myself the smart one!
Sunday we picked up the house and headed out to go tubing in Fraser. If you have never been snow tubing, I would highly recommend it! It was very scary (for me), but also really really fun. We had only paid for 45 minutes, but afterward everyone agreed that we could have gone for twice as long. On the way home we stopped at Beau Jo's for some delicious Colorado-style pizza and then headed back to reality at home. Overall it was an awesome weekend and I was so happy that everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and one another's company.
Other than that, things have been going pretty much as normal for us. I am starting my part-time schedule this week (so I'm off on Tuesdays and Thursday) and yesterday had a wonderful day of running errands and getting stuff done on my to do list. It was also a bonus that the weather was so nice! Another exciting part of yesterday was finding out that I'd had a quote published in my favorite magazine-- Real Simple. They do a monthly question for readers to answer and then they pick some of the answers to publish. I had answered a couple of the questions one day when I was web surfing and sure enough one of them got picked! I was so excited because I've been reading that magazine for years!
I guess that's it for us this round, let us know what's been going on in your neck of the woods!
Well for us, 2010 is already off to a great start!
For NYE, we stared off the night with a Hibachi dinner at Mt. Fuji and then headed to party at Onyx and Audrey's house. It was such a fun party with delicious snacks and even party favors and champagne at midnight. The best part, though was that there was a really cool fireworks show at midnight, which I won't go into too much detail about, but it was awesome! After the party we headed back to Beth/Anna/Jamila's house where we had a big slumber party and played some games.
New Year's day we spent at Mike's cousin's house for the annual Japanese new year celebration. It was sad not to have bachan there to administer the annual Saki blessing, but it was a fun day nonetheless. We spent a lot of time eating and playing games and watching football.
The weekend after NYE, we were lucky enough to get to go to the Broncos-Chiefs game. Carter and Adam each offered us a free ticket, so Mike sat with Adam and I sat with Carter until the very end of the game when we met up with Mike in his super sweet "section 106" tickets. Unfortunately the Broncos couldn't pull out a win, but it was nice to wrap up the season by getting to see a live game!
This last weekend we went on a trip to Winter Park with some friends (there were 13 of us). We rented a house with a pool table, flat screen TVs, hot tub-- the works. It was a pretty awesome set up. When we arrived on Friday, we decided to do some snowshoeing with Carter and his dog, Chloe. It actually worked out really well (considering we had no idea where we were going) and we came upon a place that rented snowshoes for $8 with a trail right next door. Perfect! We hiked a little ways down the trail and saw some beautiful winter landscapes-- mountains, rivers, bridges, etc. It was gorgeous! When we were done we headed to the house to meet the rest of the group. Once everyone had assembled (minus one carload), we headed out to dinner at Smokin' Mo's BBQ. James had found this place and it was a great find-- delicious BBQ and a fun atmosphere. It was a good opportunity for everyone to get to sit down and talk as we got the weekend kicked off.
Saturday, most of the group headed off to the slopes to ski and snowboard, but Matt and Linnea went snowshoeing and the rest of us (me, Beth, Anna) lounged around the house reading and taking the dog for walks; we also went to lunch and checked out the stores and then came back and played pool/wii while we waited for the group to get back. That night Matt and Linnea made a fabulous lasagna dinner and we had a house guest-- Christy-- who was in town volunteering. Later we spent time playing games and hanging out in the hot tub. Some people even took the plunge of jumping in the snow and then back into the hot tub. In fact, I was the only person in the hot tub who didn't take that challenge. I consider myself the smart one!
Sunday we picked up the house and headed out to go tubing in Fraser. If you have never been snow tubing, I would highly recommend it! It was very scary (for me), but also really really fun. We had only paid for 45 minutes, but afterward everyone agreed that we could have gone for twice as long. On the way home we stopped at Beau Jo's for some delicious Colorado-style pizza and then headed back to reality at home. Overall it was an awesome weekend and I was so happy that everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and one another's company.
Other than that, things have been going pretty much as normal for us. I am starting my part-time schedule this week (so I'm off on Tuesdays and Thursday) and yesterday had a wonderful day of running errands and getting stuff done on my to do list. It was also a bonus that the weather was so nice! Another exciting part of yesterday was finding out that I'd had a quote published in my favorite magazine-- Real Simple. They do a monthly question for readers to answer and then they pick some of the answers to publish. I had answered a couple of the questions one day when I was web surfing and sure enough one of them got picked! I was so excited because I've been reading that magazine for years!
I guess that's it for us this round, let us know what's been going on in your neck of the woods!
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