Horse Show

Many of Taylor's favorite activities include anything that has anything do with horses. She has been active in 4H over the past few years, nearly always involved in a horse project. Fortunately she has 2 horses she gets to take care of and enjoy. Every time I see her around them, she truly shines and is completely responsible for them.

Today was one of her horse shows, so I went up to Kersey to spend the day attending the events. I didn't get to spend too much time with Taylor, as she was very busy tending to the horses and participating in various events. She did very well, winning several ribbons and even Reserve Grand Champion in one of them.

When the show took a break for lunch, Alex, Taylor and I went to Kersey Pizza and enjoyed lunch together. It was great to spend some time with the busy girls.

Spring Break with Taylor

This past week Taylor was on Spring break and decided to come for a visit. It had been a while since she last stayed with us, so we were very excited to have her.

We had an amazing week that started out with one of our favorite restaurants for dinner, Los Dos Potrillos because she loves it just as much as the rest of us. It was a real treat.

Angie was happy to have another volunteer for facials and treatments so Taylor got to be pampered. One day Angie took Taylor and Sidney to the mall and yet another day Taylor came to work with me and brought Howie along. She is such an animal lover and has aspirations of becoming a veterinarian, which I think is her perfect calling

In the photo, you can see "movie night" where Sidney and Taylor made a bed in front of the TV and watched Zombieland, which I think may be their new favorite movie. Another night, they watched it again in addition to New Moon, which they both were very excited to come to pay per view.

For the New Moon "premiere" the girls had their friend Rachel over while Angie and I each enjoyed a night out of the house with our friends. Angie had a girls night with Danielle and a couple other ladies, while DJ and I coordinated a last minute poker party at the clubhouse. Sidney and Taylor get along so well most of the time, they truly are sisters.

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas again, can you believe it? Kitty sure can!

It seems like it was just New Years' 2009, but here we are again with another holiday season. This year we again had Christmas dinner at our home, on Christmas Eve. My parents, sister, and both Alex and Taylor were here to help us celebrate. It was great to have the girls down for a few days over the holidays.

We opened presents as a family on the night of the 23rd so there wouldn't be any rushing around on Christmas Eve with the other going ons. Angie and I also did all the prep work for dinner. Angie's menu included a big salad, lasagna, spaghetti, meatballs, and kielbasa.

Christmas morning, I got up early to take Alex and Taylor home. Once I got back we relaxed by the fire and watched movies the rest of the day.

Happy holidays!

Honey Do and Other Randomness

Angie gave me a new 4 piece DeWalt power tool kit as a wedding gift. I'd have been complaining about my old cordless drill needing a new battery which cost nearly what a new drill would cost so she decided I could get more use out of a combo kit. Does anyone else see a honey do list coming? Actually, we have both discussed some projects we'd like to get done and these tools are going to come in handy!

Now for a week in review:

Alex and Taylor were in a car accident on their way to school a couple weeks ago. Thankfully both are OK. I started this week out by taking Alex, Taylor, and Sidney out to lunch in Greeley. It was great to spend time with all 3 girls and I know they like getting together too.

After lunch, Sidney and I drove home, where here dad picked up for an overnight visit. She had Monday off so she was able to get some extra time with him which she and Jay both love. Friday night, Sidney spent the night at her friend Allie's and we returned the favor on Saturday night because the girls wanted to go to Rec and Rock at our area rec center.

This week our house is looking forward to so many things. Angie's cousin Mark is graduating CU this weekend so Roxann and Donaldo are coming to celebrate, as are Marvin and Taylor. Since our families have never met, we are planning a small gathering at our house for formal introductions. Looks like a busy week!

Happy New Year!!!

2008 flew by, but what a great year it was. We worked on projects around the house, spent countless hours at the gym (but admittedly need to get back into that habit), went on an Idaho summer trip, and many many other things. Obviously the big event of the year was Angie and Sidney moving in and all of us making a home together. Yes, it was a great year.

Sidney and Taylor wanted to stay up for New Years and there was no way they were going to let us say no. So we celebrated the ringing in of 2009 as a family. Angie and I had Chocolate Martinis from a recipe she found on sipping chocolate and the girls had their version of Margaritas. We played the new family game we received at Christmas and also played some cards. At midnight we we went outside with our noise makers and joined some neighbors in a champagne toast.

Happy New Year, here's to wishing 2009 is even better than last year!

Another Trip to Amazing Jake's

I've had the luxury of staying home through the holidays which has allowed me to spend time with all the girls, but especially Sidney and Taylor once Alex went back to her mom's. Since they have been so good and helpful around the house, we decided to reward them with a trip to Amazing Jake's. Last time we tried to take Sidney and Taylor, Jake's was closed for a private party, so the girls were looking forward to the chance to go again.



I took the girls during the day while Angie was at work. They had been bored during previous days because many of the neighborhood kids weren't home until late afternoon. Jake's provided the opportunity to get the girls out to lunch and provide a few hours of entertainment. We all played mini golf, laser tag, and video games. Sidney and Taylor climbed the rock wall, rode the go carts, and most of the other attractions. All in all the girls had a great time!

Christmas 2008

Christmas time has arrived again!!! It's hard to believe. It seems like just a few days ago I was putting up the Christmas lights and thinking it may be too early. But time flew by and Christmas is here.

Angie and I spent a quiet Christmas Eve alone and exchanged gifts. My girls came over Christmas day and they joined Angie and myself for a fried turkey Christmas dinner at my parents house with my family. Sidney spent all of Christmas at her dad's.


Alex spent a few additional days at our house before heading back to her mom's for physical therapy on her shoulder, but Taylor is staying through New Years. Sidney came back Saturday evening which allowed us to exchange gifts with the girls and to open Santa presents.

I want thank everyone who sent gifts, we are truly blessed. I kept looking under our tree in disbelief, we literally ran out of room! I think everyone got exactly what they wanted...and then some.

We promised the girls we would take them to a movie on Sunday, so we all went to see Marley and Me. It was such a great movie, but if you are pet lover, especially a dog lover, expect your eyes to well up with tears. On the other hand, Marley reminded me of another terror Lab, my parents dog Dixie. She is very sweet, but is quite the handful

Thanksgiving 2008

 

This year Angie and I took over hosting Thanksgiving from my mom. OK, so it took a little prodding from mom, but we were very excited to do so. Actually, there wasn't much prodding. We felt mom deserved to be able to relax at Thanksgiving after slaving away for all of us all these years. Besides, it really makes sense since we are closest to being in the middle of everyone.

I think Angie was ultimately surprised at how relaxed she was throughout the entire festivities. I like to think I helped out in that area. I probably didn't, but like I said, I like to think so. Angie prepared a delicious turkey which she brined from a recipe her mom gave her. Nancy brought over deviled eggs (it isn't Thanksgiving without them) and we had all the traditional Thanksgiving sides of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green bean casserole. Alex and Taylor were able to make the trip down from Greeley so it was the first time we have been all together for some time.

It looks like 2008 is a year of starting new traditions at the zoo. I like it!

Lunch Date

Taylor came for a visit this weekend, giving Angie's mom the chance to meet her. Earlier in the week, I had made arrangements to meet Alex for lunch at Rock Bottom Brewery in Loveland. Since this is close to their home, I brought Taylor along for the late lunch. Alex took her home from there.

It was nice to be able to visit with both the girls and spend time with them alone, but we all missed Angie, who was working, and Sid, who was home playing. I don't blame Sid, what 10 year old wants to spend half her day in the car when she could be outside playing. Alex, Taylor, and I had a very casual lunch and caught up on school goings ons, Alex's jobs (she works at Dairy Queen and also at a corn maze for Halloween), and Taylor's horse.

With Alex and Taylor being so busy, more frequent lunches will have to happen so I can keep up with their important stuff!

Weekend Fun Pics

Some weekend photos....

Breakfast at the Zoo

This weekend both Alex and Taylor were able to come down to spend time with us. Since my family doesn't get to see the girls very often, Angie came up with the idea of making everyone breakfast at our house today. I swear she lives for this kind of stuff. She made blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, hash browns, and of course bacon. It was delicious. Angie also made sure we got a family photo, the first one in a long time!!!

After breakfast everyone received gifts from Nancy, my sister. She recently returned from a long trip to Europe which included a cruise and brought souvenirs back for all. We then got to see numerous pictures of her trip. She visited some very beautiful places like Spain, Greece, Italy, France, and Croatia.

BBQs, Parties and Movies

This past week was a busy one at the zoo. Tuesday, Sidney had yet another sleepover. This time she spent the night at her friend Sedona and V's so Angie and I got a quiet evening alone. The sleepover worked out perfectly because on Wednesday I flew to Mountain View back to the Google mothership for a training class. I hadn't been back to the Mountain View campus for nearly 18 months, which was my 2nd week at Google. The campus is very different than working in an office outside of Mountain View serving a much larger variety of food and all 3 meals. I got my wheatgrass everyday!

Angie picked Taylor up on Friday because I didn't get home until nearly midnight. Saturday we relaxed for the first part of the day and went to "Centennial Night Under the Stars" in the evening. This was a fun event with lots of display booths, a twilight movie of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" followed by a fireworks "extravaganza"! We ended up getting home late again.

Taylor and Sidney attended their friend Rachel's birthday party on Sunday afternoon before Taylor went back to her mom's for the week.



Alex and Taylor start school already this coming week otherwise she would have liked to stay longer. Angie and I finished up the weekend by going to her company's summer BBQ.

Weld County Fair

Weld County Fair was last week and Alex and Taylor each had their projects.

Taylor was entered into several horse events, but a misstep of Rambo in her first event pretty much ended her fair festivities. She was very disappointed, but not nearly as scared as I was when I saw her nearly go over the top of Rambo's head as he did all he could to try to ensure she not hit the ground. Fortunately the only thing hurt was her pride. It was decided that it would be best to rest Rambo for the remainder of the fair.

Alex's fortune was much better. She has taken an interest in photography and had some projects take 3rd prize and 1 project took Grand Champion. She was very excited and may even attend the Colorado State Fair.

Wow, 3 updates in one day....don't get spoiled!