Zero Degrees

Jon and I finally caved.  It hit zero today so we turned on some of the heaters.  It has been feeling more like winter and less like summer these days.

This weekend Jon and I made another trip to Ikea to get the stuff we need to have overnight guests.

Lisa and Ben are just a couple hours away by train and it's taking everything in me not to just pack a bag and go see them.  

Jon got all of our Ikea stuff up and even found time to 

hang a little project I've had sitting on the sidelines windowsill for a while now.  

We will be meeting up with them later this week.  Jon is taking most of the week off and we'll be heading out.  Now we just need to figure out the logistics - YAY!!!

B.C.

June 20 - July 5

B.efore I got my C.amera and after my quick trip over the pond Alessandra and I had a few little get togethers.



On the 21st Dale had surgery on his knee.  Big bummer all around.  It did however give me a chance to run out to the Ranch and visit the Eich's.  Although we didn't get a lot of time with Grandpa we did get to spend the day with Oma.  We enjoyed SpaghettiO's and banana pudding.  We got to see a bunch of birds and horses and all in all had a great day.

Our first weekend we spent taking care of Dale except for when we slipped away for an afternoon to check out the zoo.  It was Alessandra's first time and she loved it.  Especially the elephants and monkeys.


After that came a very warm whirlwind of playdates, playground trips, and outings.

We got to see one of my friends from high school, Krista,  and her two little girls at Monkey Bizness.  So much fun and I was so glad I got to see her.

We also went to the Wild Life Experience.  It was my first time and to be honest I didn't expect it to be so awesome.  It was like the zoo but for Alessandra it was even better because it was shorter, inside, and she could easily find all the animals.

Alessandra and I made it out to the playground I used to play in when I was a kid.  Luckily, for Alessandra's sake, it has been fixed up a bit and she loved it.

A quick lunch date with my Jonesians, and a an ice cream social with Aunt Katy.  A lunch date with my Amber and Lisa - two of my very best friends from high school.  Some cupcakes, fro yo, hugs and giggles finished out our week.

The weekend found Alessandra and I at a Marrieds lake adventure.  It was AWESOME.  So relaxing and fun with plenty of sunshine and water to go around. By the end my cheeks were hurting as much as my heart.  My cheeks from smiling. My heart from the realization that these times are short and before I know it I'll be an ocean away from  all the people I care so much about.


A playdate picnic with my Oracle girls and some of the most beautiful babies in the world.

An extended family trip to the Butterfly Pavillion.  I got to hold a friendly little tarantula and Alessandra got some play time with her second cousins.

We got to see my Aunt Mary and most of her clan.  My cousin Jenna was sorely missed.  She was away on some archaeological expedition - no joke - so I didn't get to catch up with my Jennamerink this time around.

A Barbecue pool party with my Mom and Dale's good friends. to celebrate the 4th of July.  No firework shows this year because of all of the fires in CO so Alessandra had to settle with watching three different shows on t.v. You should have heard all of her owwwws and awwwws.  She loved it.  And we loved watching her.

The rest of the week was jam packed with errands/logistical chores.



It was a crazy couple of weeks and now that I look back on it I was Really Busy, even though I was itching to do and see more.  Isn't that just how it is.

Charmian

Happy Birthday Auntie Lisa

I promised Auntie Lisa we'd have a drink in her honor for her birthday.  

So here it is - the dinner time production of "Cheers Auntie Lisa"

Please forgive the squeeky voiced singing and poor lighting.

And Auntie Lisa...  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I'd like some Larmian with a side of Chisa

There are some friends that you don't have to dress up for, you don't have to clean your kitchen before they come over, and you don't have to plan a thing.  You can have as much fun going out for drinks as you can going ice climbing or hanging out and playing Super Mario.  They open their house to you.  They let you borrow their things without a second thought.  The Reederman's are those kind of friends.  Jon and I love them, love spending time with them, and appreciate them more than they will ever know.

Lisa and Ben are awesome.  They love adventure, travel, and the outdoors even more than we do.  And have the time and resources to go on SO many wonderful adventures.  Jon and I are always wishing we could join them in their outings, but life seems to stop us more often than we would like.

Today Alessandra and I were able to spend the day with Auntie Lisa.

We hung out around the house and skyped with Jon. 

Isn't this little coverall so cute - it's from Alessandra's Great Aunt Cathy.

We went to lunch at an amazing restaurant (Lisa chicken wasn't cook so she had to send it back and our appetizers came out with the meal - but I still thought it was pretty darn awesome.) called The Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse.    

The Restaurant was so cool!  Let me tell you about how this restaurant came to be.  Boulder has a sister city which is Dushanbe.  Each city built a teahouse.  Then they disassembled it and then reassembled it in the sister city.  I think Boulder may have gotten the better end of this stick because this building was INCREDIBLE!!!

Then we went to visit Ben at work and check out one of their new bikes.

This one has been Alessandra tested and approved!!

All in all it was an amazing day - the only thing I would change is the frequency of our Reederman visits.

Love you guys!!!

Charmian

My BK Girls meet My Little Sweet Pea

Little Alessandra Mae with Christy the Canadian and Auntie Lisa!

Love these girls and loved seeing them with my little girl!

Charmian

Fall Fest

My lovely Reedermans have an annual Fall Fest and for the first time we were actually in the same state so I could partake. 

This is Z - Baby Boy Block - isn't he so adorable!!

During the Fall Fest the girls and Z went for a hike while the boys went mountain biking.  

The boys getting ready to head out on their bikes.

When we got back we had an awesome Fall Feast.  

Well, what else would you eat at a Fall Fest but a Fall Feast?  

Everyone enjoying the Feast!

I couldn't stay for the rest of the shin dig.
Check out what they did after I split on Ben and Lisa's blog.  

Here are a few pictures from our "hike".
We really just walked up a dirt road for a little bit and then came back.
As you can see I'm about to pop and being up that high definitely had me winded.  

None of the girls wanted to deliver a baby that afternoon so we kept it short and sweet.

Our view as we "hiked"

Lisa with all the dogs.

Me and Z - hee hee that rhymes.

Larmian and Chisa!

Charmian

Extra Curricular Activities

Besides work I’ve been staying really busy with, well, being busy.

One thing that has been fun is all of the lunches and dinners I’ve been able to go to.

I had dinner with a couple of my Marrieds and I was able to enjoy delicious homemade fettuccini alfredo and shared a few good laughs and stories ta’boot.

Next was the Eich Girls Night Out, which was with my Sister and Cousin – N – Law. It was awesome, the food was delicious, and we filled the night talking about all things baby.

I had the opportunity to go to a Rockies game with some of my favorite coworkers. It was a ton of fun and I even got to enjoy a delicious veggie dog (yes – I am a vegetarian and yes the hot dog was surprisingly good)
and cotton candy (I know surprise, surprise).

Here are a few pix from that little adventure.

Rockies in action.

The HR team

My twin, Jules, and Bran

Da' Girls 

  

More of the game.

Sorry about the pictures being all funny
I had them cropped and rotated and when I went to import this happened. 

If I was more of a techy I could probably fix it - I hope you still enjoy!

I went to another one of my Marrieds for a puppy play date and lunch.  All the girls (Dotty, Ripley, and Emme) had a blast and Emme was nice enough to share her doggy pool with Ripley and her ball with Dot.  It may well have been the cutest thing ever seeing Ripley trying to figure out the pool. 

This week I had lunch with one of my oldest and dearest friends that I lost touch with for years and was recently able to reconnect with.  It was so great getting to catch up with her and hear what she's been up to.  I can't wait to get together again!!

And last but not least, this afternoon I got to have lunch with my lovely Mrs Reederman.  She was sweet enough to drive all the way down to my office just for a couple hours of together time.  She's the best!!

Thank you all for keeping me busy,
you are definitely helping my time fly by.

Before I know it the Baby and Jon will be here :o)



31 Already

July 19, 2010

This year I was lucky enough to have a birthweek instead of just a birthday. 

My birthweek started July 17th by having dinner with the Hullabaloo's at Cafe Brazil.  Nicole's birthday is just a few days after mine so we got together for a Hullaberger dinner to celebrate, and celebrate we did.  We started our meal with fried plantains with a spicy dipping sauce, fresh bread, and some fabulous drinks.  I was in hog heaven and we were just beginning.  Dinner came and there wasn't a meal on the table that wasn't absolutely delicious.  I was so stuffed but I couldn't stop there we finished with cheesecake and ice cream.  Delicious!!

On the 18th my Mom (Grandma), Mother in Law (Oma), and I had a wonderful birthday lunch at The White Chocolate Grill and then spent the afternoon working on the baby registry and topped off the day with Cold Stone Creamery.

On my actual birthday me, my "Twin" (Twin because we have the exact same birthday not because we look alike.), and another one of our girlfriend's from work had a delicious lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. It was so good but unfortunately we had to hurry through lunch so we could get back to work.

On the 20th my department threw me a delightful little get together complete with my favorite Papa John's Pizza and a GIANT Mrs. Field's cookie.

We finished off my birthday week with an awesome dinner with the Reederman's at Strings Restaurant where our friend Lance Bartow is the executive chef.  Lisa has this amazing ability to make every birthday super special and this one was no exception.  We got to the restaurant and Lisa had a beautiful tiara and flowers sitting on the table for me.  Dinner was incredible - so fresh and delicious.  It was the meal that wouldn't end and every new course was even better than the last.  It wouldn't be a birthday dinner if we didn't finish of the meal with dessert which, if you can believe it, was even better than dinner.

All in all it was a great birthday, and I definitely think I can get behind this birthweek thing.

Thank you all for making this year's celebrations incredible!!

Charmian

Drums Along the Rockies

July 10, 2010

Drum Corps days of summer are here and Jon and I had the opportunity to go to a show for the first time in five years. Drums Along the Rockies is very special because it's the home show for the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corp.

You may be wondering, what’s so special about Drum Corp and why do you care so much?

Well let me tell you…

One of my good friends from high school, Lisa Reederman, was planning on auditioning for the Blue Knights in November of our senior year of high school. Simply put, she didn’t want to go to auditions alone and I don’t blame her, it can be a pretty daunting experience. So she invited the best member of our high school color guard to go with her – nope, it wasn’t me, it was Sarah.  Lucky for me Sarah didn’t want to go so she settled for me and I’m so glad she did.

We went to the camp and although I was in the Color Guard and she was in the Drum Line we spent every moment possible together. Long story short we both made it and our lives were changed forever. We made so many great friends and even more memories that we love to reminisce about to this day.

I made one very special friend – Jon…yup, that’s right – I met my husband at that first BK camp. When we met we didn’t fall head over heels in love, but rather we became good friends.  That’s how it stayed for a few years until one of our mutual friends, Freddy, told us we would be perfect together and the rest is history.

… and that’s why Drum Along the Rockies is so special for us. It reminds us of when we were young. When we met and when we fell in love. It gives us the opportunity to see all those friends we made over the years and gives us one night to catch up, tell stories, and be grateful that we get to go home to our soft beds and clean water. To all of our BK family, thank you for the good times and bad. Thank you for the blood, sweat, tears, and laughter. But most of all thank you for being a part of the first chapter of our great love story.

                                         

Boulder Beer Brewing

    

Beer is best served with FRIENDS!! - J&C