The Pink has packed its bags....

A couple weeks ago my parents came up for the weekend to paint our house.

James and my dad power-sprayed the whole thing on Friday to get rid of any dirt and loose paint. James now wants a power-sprayer...he had a lot of fun with it :) We cleaned the gutters and scraped paint in a few spots.

Saturday morning we got up early and started painting! Let me tell you, it was very therapeutic covering up all that pink with a nice gray. We got all of the base color painted on Saturday and my dad also fixed a couple of boards that had rotted. It was a long day, but very productive!

On Sunday we got up a little later and started on the roof-line trim which is a dark grayish charcoal. We got that finished and painted the door a brick red. We started getting a little rain so were not able to finish all of the white trim, so that is an ongoing project, a little at a time.

The pink is gone!!!! I am so excited!!!!!

Here is the Before:

And After:

I did a little photo-editing so you don't have to look at the dead grass :) This space will eventually become a patio area with a table and chairs!

So for waiting so long to post, it's been a little crazy lately. I will post again soon!

WoW!!!

No this isn't a post about World of Warcraft.

This is in response to what individuals can accomplish when they work together.

Most of you read The Pioneer Woman, if you don't then definitely check it out. Ree posts funny stories, great recipes and beautiful pictures; trust me it is worth a few minutes out of your day.

Well last week I pulled up Ree's website and saw a post about Fat Cyclist with a request and contest for people to donate to his team for the Live Strong Challenge through the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Elden's (aka "FatCyclist") wife, Susan is battling cancer, you can read about her story and Eldens riding on his site. Ree put up a Nikon D80, (lens included) along with a copy of Photoshop CS4 as a raffle and everyone got a "virtual" Ticket for each $5 donated; she also gave away 3 copies of Photoshop CS4 just for posting a comment on her post.

Okay, now that is pretty cool in and of itself. One blogger posting a contest to help another blogger and his family. It is great when we can help each other out.

Now for the WOW!

Within the time for the contest (a couple days) 1,551 Pioneer Woman readers donated $28,632.

Now that is just awesome! In a time when there is overwhelming negativity and sadness it is refreshing to see such a large heartfelt expression of love and the desire to help one another.

I am always amazed at how we can all connect through something deemed so impersonal as the Internet. People who don't know each other, who will probably never meet face-to-face, live miles and worlds apart can come together to help support someone they don't even know. Knowledge of another person and their struggles are brought to light so that hundreds or thousands of people can offer up their thoughts, prayers and financial support to help.

Happy 4th of July!!

Yes, I know it is already the 6th......

So make it a Happy Belated 4th of July!!!

James and I drove down to my parents on Saturday morning and James' parents came up. A lot of other people came over too and it was a great time as always! I am still so thankful that we can do things with both of our families, I know that for many people that is not the case.

Not only can James and I, my parents and his parents all be in the same place, but we enjoy it! We are planning to get together to play games soon and to go out to dinner next year to celebrate all of our anniversaries (since we all were married in June, I guess we picked a good month)! I feel so blessed with all of our family and just wanted to share :)

Back to the 4th....

So I am a slacker and forgot to take pictures, I know Susie took some and will probably post on her blog. We got to spend some nice time hanging out on the deck, eating food and drinking peach margaritas...yes the margaritas started early again! We made 5 or 6 batches...I lost count :)

Then it started raining, so we moved the party indoors. My mom made shish-kabob (not sure is that is spelled right, but you get the point) and my dad grilled, they were very good; besides, I like meat! Potato salad, pasta salad, veggies, beans and of course guacamole! There is always a lot of food when we get together.

We saw a few fireworks that people set off, but mostly just enjoyed the company.

I hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July!

Thank you to all of our service men and women, we appreciate all of your sacrifices that allow us to enjoy so much freedom!

Mommy to be...

So this weekend was exciting...

On Saturday...

We went tubing down the Poudre River. The water was higher than when we've gone in the past, but it was nice not to hit your butt on rocks in the river. We had a blast and are looking at going again in a few weeks! Once you have a tube, it is free entertainment :)

Then on Sunday...

We had a baby shower for my friend Sara (I know you were hoping for something else...LOL...sorry)

Another friend, Tanae (my Matron of Honor in our wedding) and I threw the shower for Sara. We decided to be creative and re-purposed the candles from our wedding along with some baby socks to create centerpieces for the tables.



Then Tanae had a good idea for a decoration/present from us. We got some clothes for the baby and hung them on a piece of twine over the doorway. It looked cute and Sara got to keep the decorations. Basically everything we used to decorate with (except the tablecloths which were plastic and got trashed) was stuff for Sara to use for the baby or nursery.

I was in charge of the food, which we kept simple as the party was after lunch and before dinner. Fruit, veggies and the Mexican 7-layer dip that Sara requested.

Tanae requested baklava, which sounded good to me :) so I made a platter of it, we made sure to have coffee on hand as well. Tanae and I enjoyed our coffee and baklava on a nice Sunday afternoon!

Then I made cake balls. The blue ones are devil's food chocolate and the others are German Chocolate (they are rolled in toasted coconut).

The pink ones are red velvet and the yellow are spice cake.

It was as great time and the food was a hit (especially all of the sweets)! Congratulations Levi and Sara, we can't wait to meet the little one!

Callie

Meet Callie...



She is a sweet little calico kitten that James' parents kept out of a recent litter from their barn cats.



We met Callie when we went to the Springs. She likes to climb up the dish towel to make it onto the counter. I was so surprised the first time I saw her do it, sorry I didn't get a picture. She got lots of attention from pretty much everyone, I guess being cute can have its advantages.




Apparently she also has quite the sweet-tooth, as she kept going over to the cake to steal some frosting...





I guess she decided James' breakfast looked good too, since she made her way to his plate the next morning. I think she likes people-food a lot more than kitty-food...



Well there's a little cuteness to start out the week!

Margaritas and Whipped Cream

We drove down to James' parents on Saturday morning to celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary and renewing their vows. After we got there James and Clyde made a trip to the liquor store. Once back we discussed the fact that none of us had eaten breakfast....

Now you would think that being about 10:30 in the morning we would

1. Make breakfast

or

2. Head straight to lunch

We opted for another option...

3. Peach Margaritas!!!!

So at about 10:50 in the morning on Saturday we started the celebration with these wonderful, tasty peach margaritas. Followed closely by a big bowl of guacamole (we, and by "we" I mean Clyde, had to make 2 batches of guacamole since we ate the first bowl so quickly).

Needless to say, margaritas, beer and lots of good food pushed away the vows and we just had a good party! I am so glad we were able to come down to celebrate!

Here is a picture of the happy couple 16 years ago on their wedding day.

I was too busy enjoying my margarita to get a picture on Saturday....oops!

Congratulations Clyde and Susie! We love you!



Since the kids are still a bit young for liquor consumption, they got whipped cream!

The spray kind, right in the mouth, when they attempted to close those little mouths, whipped cream had a tendency to spurt out usually onto their hands! They had a blast!

Apparently mixing large amounts of good food and alcohol causes extreme need for sleep, so everyone but Susie and Molly crashed out for awhile. It was a low-key evening from then on, but a great visit!

Is it Really Friday?!?!?!?!

I can't believe that it is already Friday! This week has flown by, not that I mind it being Friday....but still time is flying by!



James is off getting poked for his new job today. Since he is not a fan of needles, I do feel sorry for him. Hopefully it is not too bad or long of a day for him.



It is finally sunny today! For the past couple weeks it has been off and on rain, mostly overcast with some hail mixed in. I am happy to see the sun!

Nothing much new lately....working, playing hockey, hanging out with friends and family....it's great!

We are heading to Colorado Springs this weekend to celebrate my in-laws renewing their vows! I will try (I promise) to remember to take pictures and will post on here when we get back.

Have a wonderful Friday!!!