More Fall and Some Celebrations

A couple of weeks ago we raked up the leaves in the front yard...our tree is always the last one in the neighborhood to shed it's leaves.  Bryan had already raked a bunch up the weekend before, and you see there are still plenty on the tree.  So the pile wasn't huge, but I jumped in it anyway.

Ready...

...set...

...go!

Halloween seems so long ago by now, but it was only slightly over a month.  Bryan always looks forward to having trick-or-treaters stop by the house, so this year we decided to dress up a little bit too.  I had just gotten a fabulous black cat mask, and Bryan had a flight suit from a work skit, so that's what we were.  We had a lot of kids stop by, several of which thought it was funny when Bryan referred to their costumes as "uniforms." 

Then a few days later I turned the big 3-0.  I had great birthday celebrations this year!  First I was surprised with a birthday celebration when I arrived in Texas to help out with my new nephew.  Gina and Mom made things lovely, and Justin grilled up some fabulous salmon.  So awesome!

Day-of it snowed, but I still took myself off to get a pedicure and then Bryan took me out for dinner that evening.  On the way home, he casually asked if I wanted to go bowling (as we drove by the place).  I almost said no because I didn't have socks on, but I'm glad I said yes because some of our small group friends were waiting inside to surprise me!  I even got the high bowling score of the night (luck was on my side).  Fun times!

 

Oh looky - my toenails match my shoes.

Bryan got Broncos tickets for my birthday, so Nov 17 we piled on the layers and headed to Mile High to watch Tebow lead the Broncos to a win over the Jets.  It was an exciting game the whole way through, with the winning touchdown coming in the last few minutes.  Another great birthday memory!

We were too busy cheering to take pictures during the game, but we got a few beforehand.

 
All-in-all, turning 30 wasn't bad.  In fact, I plan to make this a great year, so one could even say it was pretty good.  Thanks to all who helped me celebrate and made me feel so special!!!

Colorado Fall

What with the two rounds of snow we've had so far, fall seemed very short in Denver this year.  However, we did get some spectacular leaves!  First we got in the spirit with a few table decorations...

...then we took a Saturday drive over Guanella Pass between Grant and Georgetown.  It was breathtaking to see all the gorgeous, bright yellow aspen in all their glory.  Despite the day turning cloudy, we still got a few good pictures.

I love the contrast of the Aspens against the Evergreens

This is one of my favorite pictures - they just lined the road!

We got up high enought that the Aspen disappeared for a bit....

...and then above treeline all the trees disappeared...

...and then there they are again as we came back down.

We never did use the bikes that day as the road ended up being gravel part of the way and very busy!

After all that hard work of looking at lovely leaves, we stopped in Idaho Springs for pizza at Beau Jo's...along with the other 50,000 people from Denver who were leaf-looking that day, it seemed : )  Farewell fall - you were fantastic while you lasted!  I look forward to your return next year.

September Weekend at the Beach

I am so behind on this...well, about a month I guess.  Could be worse : )

Bryan had to be in Daytona Beach for a work meeting in September, so we decided to put some of the hard-earned frequent flyer miles to use and send me along with him.  I worked on school stuff while he was in his meetings, then we spent the weekend resting up and playing on the beach.  Daytona Beach is interesting in that it slopes out so gradually that you can wade WAY in and still touch bottom. 

The water was SO warm that we pulled our beach chairs down in it so when the waves came up they splashed us a bit.  And then we went out in the ocean and splashed the waves right back.  Ok, not really, but we did play around in them quite a bit.  It was so much fun!

There's our beach chairs (with Bryan) down in the water.

Bryan was using the towel to protect his slightly burnt legs.

Daytona Beach is forever long!

And thus begins a string of pictures I like to call "Bryan taking on the waves."  Who won?  Depends on your perspective, I suppose.  Bryan came out standing up (despite several of these pictures), but from what I can tell, those waves are still there, rolling on...

At least he's still laughing...

Take THAT waves!

I love the ocean.  Walking in the sand, listening to the waves crash up on the beach, watching the water rise then fall in a froth of white foam...ahhh!!!

Summer Happenings

Well now that summer is officially over, I decided I should recap a few of our warm-weather activities. 

The end of May brought Bryan's brother Dylan's high school graduation, which we attended.  That was also the day that I discovered how much sliding down carpeted stairs can rip up your legs.  I have a picture, but I'll spare you the oozing nastiness and just advise you don't try it on your own.  Anyway, congrats Dylan!!!

Maddie, Dylan, Taylor, and Bryan

We also went to a party in Greeley celebrating Bryan's cousin Katie's graduation.  She now has ner nursing degree - way to go Katie!

Bryan had a birthday in June, and we celebrated with some friends and family at the bowling alley.  Not just any bowling - cosmic bowling!  For some reason the crazy lights didn't magically make me roll any more strikes than usual, so I'm pretty sure the birthday boy won.  Between the two of us, at least.

Bryan at home with birthday gifts.  Those darn balloons deflated after one day! : (

We celebrated the 4th of July at the Outlaws (Denver's lacrosse team) game.  I honestly don't remember if they won or not, but it was fun and the fireworks were much better than the pictures protray!  I was just happy to see fireworks this year - we got rained out of the game last year half-way through.

Not quite as full as a Broncos game, but that means you get to sit close enough to actually see the field!

And after the game, they pulled our car right inside for us, and roped it off so no one else would bother it...how nice...

Speaking of rides, this summer I got a bike and off we went.  Bryan calls me "Mary Poppins" because he says I look all prim and proper sitting up so straight on my hybrid cruiser, but I love it.  We did some exploring around Denver, and went on some trails in Evergreen too.  I rode Bear Creek Trail by our house quite a bit, and Bryan took off to plow up Green Mountain several times.  Next summer I might try to find a used mountain bike so I can attempt a few more "off-road" trails.  Biking is good exercise, but I also just enjoy cruising along with the wind blowing around me...makes me happy on a pretty day.

Bryan ready for a "serious" ride!

Sometimes the end of summer brings heavy hail to Denver, but this year it just came to our house once.  It's wasn't big enough to cause any damage and it didn't last very long, but it sounded crazy coming down!

We did a nice dinner out downtown in Larimer Square at the Capitol Grill.  It was quite yummy...especially the chocolate hazelnut cake that we only ate a few bites of then took to-go.  And then accidentally left it at the place we stopped for coffee/tea afterwards...oh well...

And then over Labor Day Bryan's mom and step-dad came to visit.  We had a great time driving through Bear Creek Part, trying out the Cherry Cricket, exploring Boulder, and going to the George Lopez/Santana concert at Red Rocks.  I left the camera at home almost the whole weekend :(, but I did get this priceless shot of Bryan.  We were in this great store in Boulder that's dedicated to spices - everything you could think of.  They must have figured little kids would be bored while their moms shopped, so they had crayons and paper and this wall for kids to post their creations.  You guessed it - Bryan was bored and drew a picture that he was quite proud of.  But not quite proud enough to write his age on it, like some of the kids did.

With all that, my trips for Gina's baby shower/Tim's graduation and Jenny's wedding, Bryan's work travel, and my summer finance class, the summer flew right on by!  Now it's fall and we have a whole new string of activities ahead of us, but that's fodder for a different post...