Southwest says "Come visit Scott and Jen"

The picture above was taken in the open area footsteps from my front door last fall.

Southwest Airlines has the best deal ever going on to fly to Denver. You can get a $59 one way ticket between Phoenix and Denver almost any day of the week between now and January. You may have to fly super early in the morning or late at night but who cares at these prices? Roundtrip with taxes and fees is less than $140. More so, you can check 2 bags for free! I love this simple, straight to the point, no frills airline. We fly Southwest back and forth to Phoenix all the time with no hassles or complaints.

This picture also footsteps from my front door shows how beautiful the blue sky is here!

October and November are absolutely beautiful for fall colors and not to mention Sean and I both have milestone Birthdays in October. Can you believe my baby is going to be 18?

Scary Hornet Nest!

The community mail boxes are practically in our backyard and our mail man Tim, is the friendliest they come. Millie cries at the back door when he pulls up and the dogs run out and say hi to him. Yesterday, Tim called for me to come out because he wanted to show me a Hornet nest he feared because it was huge and hanging low in the tree above the mail boxes. So many families and pets walk under this nest to check their mail or on their way to the rec center or open areas.

This is a picture of the tree from my backyard, You can't see the Hornet nest from this angle.

One of our neighbors and Scott came to the rescue by placing a trash can under the nest, spraying and running. I took the neighbors three adorable little girls in my house where we watched out the back window. Scott then got out his branch trimmer and they cut off the branch so the nest fell into the trash can and they put the lid on tight and moved the trash can to Chris's backyard. I can't believe these guys, they were our neighborhood heroes and neither one of them were stung!

Thanks Scott and Chris!!

Hottest Weekend of the Year and No AC!

This weekend was so incredibly HOT! Saturday was 96 and Sunday Denver reached 98 degrees actually the record high for the day set back in 1878. My dear family in Arizona may laugh if they read this but keep in mind our house does not have a central air conditioner. We have one window A/C unit in our family room that can keep the room somewhat comfortable and Sean's man cave in the basement although warm is livable. However, the rest of the house is an oven right now at 83 degrees. I have been planning for a garage sale and there was no way I could do any kind of housework or garage organization in this crazy heat.

Scott and I have been weighing the idea of having central A/C installed and even had a quote for around $5,000. At the time we thought this just did not make sense for something we will use only two months a year. But after a weekend like this one I begin to reconsider. We made do and went to a couple of movies this weekend to escape the heat. Tomorrow should be about 15 degrees cooler thankfully!

Millie's Cujo Encounter

Scott and Sparky were walking ahead of us right before the Cujo encounter.

We were out on our usual walk minding our own business and up ahead was a man picking up the big dog poops from his two big scary looking dogs and I turned to Scott and suggested we slow down so we would not have to encounter them. They were kind of taking up the walkway and I was okay with that I just thought we would wait for them to move on. Then one of the dogs who resembled Cujo snarled at our dogs, broke loose and ran like a raging bull towards my precious baby Millie. As images of my little Mils being attacked flashed in my head I swooped her up in my arms and stood still while this dog snarled and growled at us. He calmed down once he recognized we meant no threat to him and his owner got his collar back on. Otherwise the walk was beautiful as usual.

Millie was exhausted after her near death experience!

More Reasons to LOVE Colorado!

A picture I took during our drive on the 285 near Fairplay, CO (South Park)

I have been trying my hardest for the past two years we have lived in Colorado to convince our family to move out here with us. I am so in love with this beautiful state and love everything about living here except my family is not here with me. I actually had a nightmare last night that Scott and I had to move back to Phoenix and I started to cry. Not that I do not like Arizona and appreciate the beauty of the desert and the convenience of traveling to Southern California or Las Vegas. But the summers are so long and hot and here the summer is awesome! Yes I have to deal with snow in the winter but the summer and fall make it worth it. At least coming from a desert girl who never knew summer could be so pleasant and only knew of fall from pictures.

Enjoying the Platte River near Bailey, CO

When we decided to move to Colorado we were influenced by so many surveys and reports naming Colorado as one of the "Best of" lists. Since we have moved here things have not changed. Today US news named Denver, Colorado among America's 10 Best Places to Grow Up. Another list I recently read was The counties in the country with the Best Job Growth and what do you know Douglas County, CO (were we live) was named as the fifth best in the country. How about what states are predicted to be the first to recover from the recession? Hmmm Colorado tops the list again. Money magazine released the 2009 Best Places to live and what do you know Louisville, CO tops the list. What more can I say? I have already posted numerous blogs with pictures and experiences and we can hardly get a visitor out here.

Whitney, Chelsea, my dad and grandma Jewell and Sean's friends are the only visitors so far. Both Whitney and Chelsea say they would love to live here but they have to finish school first. My dad even showed interest in retiring here in a couple of years. Scott's brother and his wife would be out here now if they could sell their house in Arizona. So I guess I need to be patient and keep posting tempting reasons to join us in Colorado!

Skin Cancer Screenings

Scott and I both spent over 30 years of our lives in the sunny Phoenix, AZ area and have experienced overexposure to the sun on many occasions. Scott has such fair skin he burns all the time. He burns doing yard work, going on hikes, swimming, pretty much any time he is in the sun for over an hour (he always forgets sunblock and I always get mad). Sometimes I chase him down and practically beg him to put sunscreen on and he refuses or conveniently forgets. Fortunately we do our daily walks in the late afternoon or early evening. Now we live in Colorado were it is almost as sunny as Arizona only we are closer to the sun! Scott, I and our children all have sunspots and moles and I am concerned one of us may develop skin cancer.

Did you know skin cancer like most forms of cancer is almost 100% curable if caught in the early stages? Unfortunately, it is also almost 100% deadly if caught in the late stages. None of us have ever had a skin cancer screening and I thought this is a new check up I am adding to our yearly routine exams. I called a dermatologist and scheduled for Scott, Sean and I to have a screening next week. For anyone who is reading this I expect you to stop what you are doing right now and call to make an appointment if you have not had a screening in the past year. Especially my friends and family in Arizona and here in Colorado!

Some of the early signs of skin cancer to watch out for when looking at a skin growth or mole: (According to the Web MD Website this is the ABCDE rule)

• A is for asymmetry. One half of the mole or skin growth doesn't match the other half.
• B is for border irregularity. The edges are ragged, notched, or blurred.
• C is for color. The pigmentation is not uniform. Shades of tan, brown, and black are present. Dashes of red, white, and blue add to the mottled appearance. Changes in color distribution, especially the spread of color from the edge of a mole into the surrounding skin, also are an early sign of melanoma.
• D is for diameter. The mole or skin growth is larger than 6mm or about the size of a pencil eraser. Any growth of a mole should be of concern.
• E is for evolution. There is a change in the size, shape, symptoms (such as itching or tenderness), surface (especially bleeding), or color of a mole.

Today's Walk

This morning Scott and I headed out to see an early morning showing of 500 Days of Summer and as we sat in the car and discussed what a beautiful day it was we changed our minds and decided to take the dogs out on a nice long walk. We have never ventured very far with Sparky because of her unfit condition and bad knee however, we have been taking her out regularly for about three months now and figured she could handle it. In the picture above Scott and I were trying to get the dogs to pose but they did not want to stop. I had to buy Millie the harness she is wearing because she was always pulling so hard she would choke herself. Half way through the walk we had to make Sparky go down into a creek for a drink of water. She enjoyed her walk so much, she has never been so excited.

Sparky still looks good at the end of the walk.

Straight from the Garden Salad

Scott went out to the garden and picked a few fresh veggies and made me this healthy and delicious salad. My garden salad consisted of Kale, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Zucchini from our garden and store bought asparagus and Newman's Organic Italian dressing. Thanks Scott!

What a Beautiful Surprise!

So like I said in an earlier post, Scott and I decided on a whim to take highway 9 to the 285 home from the mountains not really knowing what to expect. Boy were we in for a special treat! Soon after we drove through Breckenridge we hit construction that left only one lane for both directions of traffic. I worried we made a huge mistake, but as we passed that mess and headed towards Fairplay Scott said we have to pull over, I can't believe what I just saw.

Scott was amazed that there was a lake down there (must be freezing) and mountain ranges with no trees near the top suggesting the mountains were well above 11, 000 ft elevation. Even right behind where we were standing the tree line was obvious. (See picture below) In an attempt to capture the beauty you could only realize in person, I snapped a few pictures of these at the time unknown beautiful mountains. Driving away signs informed us we were near Hoosier Pass and over 11,000 ft. As any curious person with the Internet I walked in the door and straight to Google our sitings. Come to find out I captured a few of Colorado's popular 14ers that reside in the area of the continental divide. Mt. Bross 14172 ft
Mt. Lincoln 14286 ft
Quandary Peak 14265 feet

Cool! According to the Colorado Rocky Mountain roads website the area we were near today is where water melting from the Rockies separates and flows towards either the Atlantic Ocean via the Platte River or the Pacific Ocean via the Colorado River. We learned some Colorado geography on our detour today. Obviously we need to get out more and explore the beauty of the state we live in. I'm sure Scott would love to climb one of these mountains.

Coney Island's World Famous Hot Dogs

Scott and I decided to take a different route home from the mountains today and detoured off the I70 down Highway 9 to Highway 285 where we had to stop in Bailey, Co for a world famous hot dog. I remember seeing this place on the travel channel and was pleased to find it only about 1 hour drive from our house. The building is actually shaped like a hot dog. I decided to add a root beer float (me) and chili cheese fries (Scott and I shared), because after all the hiking and bike riding we figured we deserved it! This food was definitely worth the drive, I am going to bring Sean back here soon. http://coneyislandcolorado.com/

Goofing Off in Vail and Beaver Creek

Our weekend went by super fast in the mountains this weekend, we feel so fortunate the drive to this resort town was only 1 hour and 45 minutes! We crammed so much into the weekend my legs feel like jello today. We hiked, biked, swam and hiked some more. We did squeeze in time for many good eats as well!

FYI...Did you know you can click on the collage to enlarge the pictures if you like.

Beaver Creek Resort Weekend

Finally Scott's court ordered child support has ended! After 18 years and more than $100,000 plus medical, dental and much more for his children he can finally know what it is like to see the money he is earning. In celebration of this great milestone in our life we decided at the last minute to getaway for the weekend into the Rocky Mountains to celebrate. Fortunately last minute room rates at Ski resorts in the summer are a steal! We drove up Saturday morning and were pleased with the wonderful location and accommodations at The Charter resort.

Scott is such a Monkey!
View from the Resort

Beaver Creek Village was only foot steps away with many restaurants, shops and recreational activities such as horseback riding, miniature golf, hiking, biking and even outdoor ice skating in August. You can find pictures and information about all the fun activities on this web site http://beavercreek.snow.com/summerhome.asp

View of Beaver Creek Village from the mountain

Four Mile Hike Down Beaver Creek

We took the ski lift up the mountain so we could hike four miles down. Scott would have loved to hike four miles up however, other than our daily walks in Highlands Ranch I do not exercise and I feared the pain of going up.
The view from the top of Beaver Creek Mountain looking towards Vail. Can you see Interstate 70 way down there?

Scott had to send out picture mail before we could start our journey down.
The journey begins!
Lodge pole pines and aspen trees bordered our trail down the mountain.
We made it more than half way!!!
We did it! Four miles down an 11,000+ ft mountain!! Maybe next time we can try hiking up (If Jen would get to the gym)

Baby Pictures

I was trying to find pictures of Chelsea as a baby because when I was with Owyn I thought he looked so much like Chelsea when she was a baby. However, I am having a hard time finding any pictures of her as a newborn other than the one at the hospital. The other picture I included of Chelsea is when she was around five months old. I can't wait to see what he looks like at five months.
When I was looking through baby pictures I found pictures of Sean that looked similar to Owyn's so I thought I should include some of Sean compared to Owyn as well. FYI....The yellow towel picture I think is Sean, I thought it was Chelsea until I discovered the nose was straight. So it is either Sean or Whitney (all my kids looked alike when they were born and I did not label the pictures...Bad, Bad Mom).

Hopefully when I have more time I can dig up some more. Miss you Owyn!!!!!

Whitney is so far away!!!!!

Our daily walks are the highlight of my days, a time to distress, unwind and share random thoughts and ideas with each other. Today as Scott and I walked the dogs through the open area in our neighborhood we took a detour and ended up walking through fields of sunflowers. Looking at the sunflowers made me think of my oldest daughter Whitney. Whitney has always been a fan of sunflowers so much so they were the flower of her wedding. I can't believe Whitney is so far away in Nashville! As a mother I feared my children moving far way from me and now it has happened. I know a Master's degree from Vanderbilt will open doors for Whitney in the future but where will she settle after college and start her family? Chelsea and Owyn in Arizona is difficult enough. Ideally I would like all of us living in the same city so when I am a teacher I can spend my breaks with my grandchildren. I know that may be too much to ask but less than a six hour drive would do.

Whitney has started her own blog about her life in Nashville. Please check out her blog Goodbye Desert...Hello Music City.

Good Year for a Garden

The beautiful weather and excessive amount of rain this year has made our garden really take off. Here are a few of my favorites.
We have so much Kale! I am am so excited. If you are not familiar with the health benefits of kale please do some research and add it to your diet. Kale is known as a great antioxidant that prevents cancer and provides many vitamins and fiber too!
I love Zucchini! We have so many coming in Scott has taken some to work and we have handed out to the neighbors as well. My favorite is fried and Scott has found a great recipe for making fried zucchini for me YUM!!!!!
This is a cucumber Scott picked this morning and I used in a tossed salad for dinner this evening.
Our tomatoes still need some time. We are afraid we will have too many at once. We need to learn how to can if we keep this up.

Breakfast on the Patio

What a welcome home! After frying in Arizona's 110+ degree weather I came home to a pleasant 67 degree morning and the smell of fresh pine trees. Scott and I woke up this morning and decided to pick up bagels and coffee and enjoy breakfast on our back patio. Kids are outside playing, people are riding by on bikes, walking dogs and so on. These are the kind of summers I always took notice of on movies when I was growing up but never experience living in the hot Tempe, AZ desert. I love it!!!!

Scott and Sparky in the back yard after breakfast this morning

Sparky and I this morning enjoying the nice 67 degree morning!