New Home

Here are some pictures of our new home, will add more later.

When we first saw it...

Beautiful spring surprises.

Living room, front door on the right

Living room gas fireplace, stairs

Dining area, deck and mountain views out the sliding door.

Kitchen, love the granite and hardwood floors on this level.

Lana's room

Lana's big girl room and big girl bed

...and toy room, she loves her ball pit!

Media room

The best couch ever in our media room

Basement guest room

Basement, Alex's desk is in the right hand corner not pictured

Guest bath

Terraced garden on left side of back yard

 Sarah

Fun Denver Weekend

  Last weekend was a great one for our family.  On Saturday April 30th we drove into Denver for The Great Alpaca Show.  We have never been, and it was free!  Plus Alex's Dad owns some Alpacas in College Station and he is going to move them up to his brother's rancj in Colorado Springs.  We figured what a great place to go to find out about showing an Alpaca and meet others who own Alpacas. 

   It was great, Lana loved seeing all the Alpacas.  It reminded us of a dog show.  The Alpacas are on leashes and the judged check their fleece and their body structure.  It was neat to listen to how the judges rank the Alpacas, and they go away with ribbons. 

   The cutest part of the whole show was the costume contest.  I can so see Lana doing this one day.  The kids dress their Alpacas up, and then they dress to match.  Some of the photos are a little fuzzy, but I have to show you all the great costumes we saw.

It's Santa!  it was hilarious when he made a mad dash right through a judging ceremony, lol!

It's a duck!

Cow and a cowgirl

Dressed for a mascaraed ball, and two army cadets

Lana loved watching.

   After the show we found a little restaurant that served California fish tacos.  They were mighty tasty, and a place that had a parking lot with spaces in downtown Denver.  Afterwards we went to the Flagship REI store that looks over the South Platte River.  There is a walking/biking trail that follows it all the way down near where we live.  We could have spent a fortune in that store, tons of outdoor gear.  We found Lana a great sun hat for the British Virgin Islands and she loved playing at the kids play area.

  Getting Lana to leave the play area was a whole other story.  She had only napped for about a half hour in the car on the way to the Alpaca show and after a fun filled afternoon she had had enough!  Oh my the screaming and crying and laying on the floor.  She has never done this and I couldn't keep from laughing.  I know that's terrible, but there was nothing to do to console her.  I carried her as much as a could, but she is heavy and squirming.  She calmed down a little outside looking at a stream, and then got distracted by a cute dog.  We had some crying and yelling in the car before she decided to eat some snack and have a drink.

  The next day we all went to the Farmer's Market.  We found some great finds, fresh bell peppers, tomatoes, and asparagus.  At another booth we got some Cashew butter, yum yum.  Best of all we got a jar of whipped cinnamon honey.  I love having it on the buttermilk biscuits I have been making.  All in all a great weekend together.

   Sarah

Mother's Day

Sunday May 8, 2011:

    What a great Mother's Day!  It started off a little rocky waking up with a headache.  Luckily it went away quickly with medicine and a buttermilk biscuit with cinnamon whipped honey.  I was then spoiled with the best buttermilk pancakes made from scratch with bacon, yum!
 
   The weather has been beautiful here!  80 degrees, sunny, breezy, perfect!  We all enjoyed lunch in the backyard and playing Frisbee with Logan.

   That afternoon Lana did an art project for Mommy, Grandma, and Gigi.  Hand prints will be coming to you when we visit Houston.  Then Lana had a blast finger painting with Daddy. 

    That evening we all enjoyed another great steak dinner with sweet potatoes and broccoli.  I didn't get any pictures but I was continued to be spoiled by freshly baked brownies with ice cream for dessert.  What else could a pregnant Momma ask for?  A day full of good eats!

   Sarah

Easter 2011

   We had our first visitors for our first Easter weekend in Colorado!  Gigi and Grandpa came up and spent the weekend with us.  Unfortunately a cold front blew in just before they arrived.  We had weather in the 40s all weekend, cloudy, and mixed precipitation.  That didn't stop us from having fun with our family though.

   Lana was so excited when Gigi woke her up Saturday morning.  She kept saying "Gigi, Gigi!"  We enjoyed coffee and a big breakfast before we hit the road for family near Colorado Springs.  John's brother Paul just bought an 80 acre ranch with a barn and house in January.  They plan on moving their Alpacas up to the ranch as soon as it's ready.  This was the first time Lana got to meet her Great Uncle Paul and Great Aunt Marge.  We were pleasantly surprised to see Alex's cousin Michelle there with her two kids Mackenzie and Chase. 

   I think Lana's favorite part about Uncle Paul and Aunt Marge's house were their new chicks.  6 new chicks are in a cage in the kitchen until they are old enough to go out.  Lana loved looking at the chicks, talking to the chicks, and petting the chicks.  She also had a lot of fun trying to get the two old dogs to play fetch with a ball and rolling a basketball to Aunt Marge. 

    Lana was really interested in what Chase was writing, so she decided she needed to write some family names down, and got a little help from Gigi.

    We all enjoyed a hot chili lunch and finished it off with homemade cookies.  It was so great getting together with extended family.  We need to do it again soon.

   Easter Sunday we enjoyed some time at home.  Hot coffee by the fireplace and another great breakfast thanks to Alex.  Lana loved helping to die Easter eggs and put on her earings she got in an Easter Egg. 

   Lana also had fun trying on her new Thai fishing pants from Thailand.  Aunt Marijane and Kevin got them in Thailand and love their pairs.  They will all be matching on our upcoming British Virgin Islands trip.

  That evening Alex made a great Easter dinner.  I think he has mastered the art of grilling.  Just check out his grill marks!  We all enjoyed our steaks this evening with sauteed mushrooms and onions, mashed sweet potatoes, and broccoli.  Yum!

Lana being silly with family.

   Sarah