Summer goal #1: Get Sparky back in shape

Last summer we were told that Sparky had a malignant tumor and a torn knee and needed treatment for both. We could not afford to address either issue and we did not think Sparky would make it through the winter. I was told we would have to put her down, but she seemed so happy and full of life I did not see a need. Now this spring her tumor has miraculously disappeared and she is not limping anymore. So today we decided to try and take her for a walk and she did so well we decided it is time to get her out and back into shape. Hopefully she has a few more good years to enjoy.
Hard to believe last Saturday we had 14 inches of snow and built a snowman. By Monday most of the snow had melted and as you can see there is hardly any snow on the Rockies in the front range. The mountains of higher elevation in the background are still covered in snow as you can see if you click on the pic to enlarge.
Sparky was intrigued by the ground hogs we encountered along the way. They quickly jumped into there holes as we closed in.

We have a visitor: Dad is on his way

My dad has mentioned to me a couple of times over the past year that he would like to come visit us at the end of April. I did not expect him to really show up though. We always have family mentioning to us a time they would like to come visit, and although I believe their intentions are true, they do not make it. My daughters Whitney and Chelsea can't stand not see their mother for very long (and they love Colorado) so they visit three or four times a year. Other than my adorable daughters and their guys, only Grandma Jewell has come to see us in the two years we have lived here. Hence, I created the blog to tempt more family to come see us.

Dad called me at 11 pm on Wednesday and said "Jenny, are you ready for my visit this Sunday?" Of coarse I am (Not really). Dad was planning on driving his new car out here on Sunday, 14 hours all alone in the car. I was worried so we used one of Sean's free frequent flier flights with Southwest to send Sean to Arizona the next day. Sean is going to keep grandpa company for the long drive. I am so excited, yet a bit overwhelmed with school and job hunting. Next weekend I am going to road trip with dad to Iowa to see our family there. I love going on a road trip with dad. We listen to great Beatles music and have deep intellectual conversation. In 2005 my brother Josh, Sean and I drove with dad to Universal Studios and had a great time. My brother is a character and is always picking on my dad. Josh actually picks on everyone, it is his way of showing he cares. We love you to Josh and remember you are my favorite brother.

Dad, Dracula and Josh at Universal Studios

By this time tomorrow I will be kicking back with dad (hopefully if I get my homework for Tuesday out of the way). I'm sure we will see a couple of movies, because that is dad's favorite thing to do. I will definitely take dad to Red Rocks because the Beatles played there back in the day and there are displays commemorating their performance. I'm not sure what else we will do yet, maybe a drive to Breckenridge, Estes Park or Vail since they are all a short drive and Spring is here. Or maybe the Cave of the Winds, never been there but looks "neato" as Butters would say. I guess I'll ask dad what he is interested in, there are so many things to do. I'll keep you posted.

Snow Day Fun

I woke up on Saturday morning and heard Scott and Sean laughing. I got out of bed to see what all the excitement was about to discover it was still snowing and Millie was out having fun. Sean and Scott starting throwing snowballs from the back porch in their pajamas with no gloves on. After they realized how cold it was they came in and put on some winter gear to go out and play. They were having so much fun throwing snow balls at fences, trees and bushes and watching the snow come tumbling off.
Sparky was busy trying to dig under the back deck to get to the bunnies and had to be bribed to come in. Once I got her into the house, her and Millie were begging me to go back outside. You can see how wet Sparky is in the picture below. She will fight us to take a bath but go play in the snow, whatever!
Scott and Sean were still outside and spotted the snow plow coming up the street and jumped in the car to make a coffee run. Scott has no problem driving in the snow in his little Nissan Sentra. For those of you who may believe you need four wheel drive to live in Colorado, this is proof you don't. I can't believe it is past noon and still snowing.

Heavy April Snow

It is only 7 pm and this snow is predicted to continue until noon tomorrow. I went out to shovel the driveway for Scott who was on his way home from work and by the time I finished the driveway there was another inch packed on it and I was exhausted and drenched. I wanted to shovel our huge sidewalk but this snow is super heavy (you can tell by looking at the tree) and I am so outta shape. Scott came home, saved the bunny and started to shovel. He was going to walk down to the rec center but I think he worked out enough with this snow. Fortunately we still have power some are not so lucky. While I was cooking dinner and looking out the window I watched cars struggling to get up the hill. One was stuck and so many nice neighbors came to the rescue. I am so curious what we will wake up to tomorrow.

Bunny Rescue Season Begins

We have a family of rabbits who live under our front porch and every spring when the new bunnies are born they end up in our window wells. The first year we moved in there were bunny skeletons in the wells, because the house was empty in the spring. Scott and I wonder if there are bunny families at every home in Highlands Ranch because you see them running under porches everywhere. We really need to put covers on those things, it is on my long to do list. Today is April 17th and we are getting yet another spring rain/snow mix and Sean heard the bunny hitting the window in the storage room in the basement and decided he should save him. Usually Scott does the bunny rescues, however it is only 10 am and Scott is at work. I told Sean we could wait until Scott came home but Sean was too concerned so he put on a pair of gloves and saved this little guy. It looks like we better put some covers on soon or start looking for bunnies to save everyday.The picture above is of the bunny Sean saved just as he dumped him in the snow and he began to run quickly under the porch.
A couple of hours after Sean rescued the bunny Millie started to anxiously whine in the guest bedroom and I followed her in there to find this bunny. I'm not sure if it was the same one or a different one. You would think they would figure out not to jump in again? I tried to save him but the well was too deep and it was snowing so much I was drenched from head to toe. Scott to the rescue!

Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater

On Monday before Dave and Chelsea flew home we headed over to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. Growing up in Arizona where Sedona is famous for Red Rocks, I believed they were unique to the area. However, living in Colorado for the past two years and driving back and forth to Phoenix numerous times, I realize there is red rock in various locations of the southwest including Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. There are two nice red rock parks we have discovered and visited since we moved here.
1. The Garden of the Gods is about 45 miles south of us in Colorado Springs and is absolutely beautiful! There is biking, hiking, horsebackriding, picnicing, rock climbing and more. I forgot my digital camera when I went there with Grandma Jewell so I do not have pictures to post. However, you can go to their website and watch a video, see pictures and get some info. Visiting the park is FREE!
2. The Red Rock Amphitheater is about 20 miles NW of our house in Morrison, CO and is known as nature's best open air acoustic amphitheater. The park offers numerous hiking/biking trails as well as plant, animal and bird sightings. There is a museum with collections, videos and posters of past concerts. When you are standing at the top of the amphitheater you have a breathtaking view of Denver and the surrounding suburbs. Best of all this adventure is FREE! Sean would love to see a concert here as would I however, they are not free and we don't have jobs. Someday.
In the picture above you can see downtown Denver in the upper left side and if you look closely on the left side of the stage you can see Dave taking a picture of Chelsea and I. If you click on the picture you can see a larger version. Chelsea was not feeling well this day so we chose not to venture down.
This is a picture I took last year when Whitney, Chelsea and I were walking around the park and spotted this deer. (Scott says it is a mule deer?)

Denver Zoo

Thursday night Chelsea and Dave flew in to town to spend a long Easter weekend with us. The weather was not so nice. Friday was not to bad with scattered clouds and temps in the 60's, so we decided to spend the day at the Denver Zoo. Fortunately it was Good Friday so Scott and Sean could join us. Wow what a great experience we had. All of the animals were active and willing to pose for pictures. Dave and I were taking so many pictures Chelsea was questioning what we would do with them. Obviously, I can't post all of them on my blog. However I would love to share a few.
We spent quite a bit of time at this bear exhibit because the bears were pacing, playing and fun to watch.

Peacocks

These birds were cruzin all over the zoo and they did not mind how close you were to them.

Polar Bears and Penguins

Growing up and raising our kids in Phoenix, we would have to drive to San Diego to see these animals.

Komodo Dragon

This lizard comes from the largest species of lizards and has been known to kill humans! Chelsea said "you think your so bad try to get me now". (Only because of the thick glass between us and the dragon). In case you would like to visit the Denver Zoo when you come to visit us here is the website to check out. http://www.denverzoo.org/

Mom's ruining the man cave

So Sean returned from Arizona today to discover my little projects in the basement. Not only did I feminize the guest bedroom but as Sean says "I changed his bathroom into a spa". I could not help it. I am getting tired of the dark bold colors in the basement and want a fresh bright look for all of the guests that will be coming to visit. So I painted another Ralph Lauren color from the Modern Light collection called Eucalyptus. I found matching rugs ($10) and green towels ($4) at Ross. I already had the white towels, washcloths and other accessories from my old blue bathroom in AZ. The complete bathroom redo only $70 for a fresh and relaxing new look. I was happy Sean said it looked like a spa, that was my objective.

The guest bedroom and basement bathroom were not my only projects in the "man cave" while Sean was gone. I also cleaned out and organized Sean's closet and painted a dark brown wall a lighter cream color called Oat Straw by Behr and hung one of my Van Goghs. I moved Sean's Super Bowl poster to another wall in this rec room.

The Guest Room is Getting a Makeover

Wow! I can't believe how busy our guest room has been lately. Whitney visited from March 11-15 and then Sean's best friend Austin showed up and stayed from March 17-25. On the 25th Sean and Austin flew to Arizona and I decided I wanted to give the Guest room a fresh look before Chelsea and Dave show up on April 9th. Our guest room is generally Chelsea's old bedroom from Arizona. We used the same paint scheme bedding and stuff when we moved to Colorado. Before

I did not have much money to invest but I am making the best with what I have. I already have all the paint supplies and primer, so one can of Ralph Lauren Natural Berry paint from the natural light collection for $29 got me started. Then I went to the Macy's clearance shelf with a coupon from the paper and found sheets originally $70 and pillow shams originally $70 both marked down to $29.99 plus an additional 30% off and then after my $10 off coupon I paid $31.98 for a savings of $108.02! Then I scrounged through boxes of old things of the girls and found a few things to place in the room to go with my new serene and fresh look. I found it difficult to capture the pretty color on the wall, The picture below does not do it justice. I am going to paint an old lamp and keep a lookout at Goodwill for finishing touches for the room. Please let me know when you would like to make your reservation!

After