Camping: Maroon Bells outside of Aspen, CO

View the slideshow above to see all the great pictures!

We arrived at the campsite on Friday, June 26th near 3pm. After we set-up camp, we were lucky enough to drive to the visitors center at the base of the Maroon Bells to take pictures before sunset. The other folks in the pictures are Tim and Seema Fairbanks. Our devote camping buddies.

Matthew at the Playground - getting soo big!

Addicted to Twilight

Why didn't I ever read the series before the movie? ~Rebecca

Once again, Gail has converted another soul to Stephanie Meyer's talent of crfting a wonderful story filled with romance, humor, and delight! If you haven't begun the series, you should start. It's great summer reading

Kristen and Jeremy Burks Wedding - June 14th

Chicago - Museums and Boat Tour

Matt Transue Visits Gail in Colorado

Life Lessons - from a wise woman

A woman is like a tea bag - you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.

Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.

It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.


~Eleanor Roosevelt

Life Lesson - Character

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.

The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we beliee to be just.

When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause is really a good one

~Abraham Lincoln

Life Lesson

All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.
Sir Winston Churchill

Memorial Day - Rebirth of Patriotism

Today Larry and I road our bikes to the Memorial Park at City Park, Westminster, CO. It's about a five mile loop to the park and home, but a great tradition that Larry and I will continue in years to come.

It's been a rainy weekend but enjoyably cool and we can always use the moisture. We decided to take the open space to the bike route we wanted, but it wasn't as dry as we had hoped. We encountered lots of mud!!! Our bike tires had about a half an inch of mud on them which made the remainder of ride pretty messy. Mud kept flying off our tires on the ride, and we encountered more mud on the bike path and puddles through the underpasses. Needless to say, when we arrived at the Memorial, we were covered in splattered mud head to toe.

The message at church this weekend was entitled"Replacing Apathy with Courage" and how as Americans we have lost patriotism. Today we had the opportunity to speak with Cpt. Timothy Webber of the US Army.

Tim mentioned he's having busy day, starting with the Boulder Bolder this morning with his fellow Army soldiers, then visited the Broomfield and Westminster Memorials before going to lunch and visiting a retired soldier who was injured during a tour of duty. Tim has a few more months before going on his third tour of duty - most likely to Afghanistan.

Larry and I thanked Tim for his service (13 years) and his valour in defending our Freedoms! We also learned that Tim's brother, Chris, also serves with for the Air Force as a doctor.

I'm always amazed at how many Americans don't understand the sacrifice that our Armed Services men and women provide so we can have the freedoms we enjoy. Today was a blessing to meet Tim and see his dedication to remembering those who had served before him!

As a child, I was in love with America's history and how we defended our beliefs and land to become a free countyr. Over the centuries, we've continued to defend our liberties and beliefs. And today, these men and women continue to serve, defend, and sacrifice their lives and time with their families to uphold these virtues many centuries later.

Now more than ever, we need to take these moments to take a stand and remember the foundation of our freedom!

~ Rebecca and Larry

Star Trek - the old story, for the latest generation

I saw the newest Star Trek movie over a week ago and loved it! I have to admit, I have been a "trekie" ever since I was a kid and always have had a crush on Spock. The cast of this latest production play the original characters head on but with new life and extraordinary charisma.

Zachary Quinto who pays Spock in the latest movie is my favorite new leading man. Chris Pine who plays James T. Kirk also plays the somewhat humorous yet cocky captain in this latest film. The CGI is fabulous and it's a great action packed movie. What a way to start the summer.

I'm enclosing a few pics I've found while surfing the web after seeing the film. There are going to be many ore movie reviews this summer as Transformers 2 and GIJoe will be released this summer as well!

So You Think You Can Dance Premiers Tonight

I was only able to watch a few minutes of the premier this evening as we had Gail visiting tonight. We took this opportunity to have game night - played UNO and watched Done the Imposible about how Firefly fans got Universal Studios to make the movie Serenity. Very cool.

DWTS - Dancing with the Stars predictions

After watching last night's performances, I predict the following couples being in the finals:
1. Melissa and Tony
2. Gilles and Cheryl
3. Shawn and Mark

I was hoping Lil Kim's performance would take her to the final three, but Shawn's perfection last night is making it hard...

More Snow

Well, we received more snow yesterday afternoon. I was working from home and heard thunder first, saw some rain outside my window. Then fifteen minutes later, our green belt in front of our house was covered in white. We received another 3 inches yesterday.

We're supposed to receive more snow this weekend as well. Who knew in April?

~ Rebecca

Blizzard - March 2009

Last week we received a Spring Blizzard that dumped 1.5 ft of snow at our house. The funny thing is, two weeks ago Rebecca had gone for a 12 mile bike ride and it was 78 degrees outside. That Thursday, March 26th we got snow int he morning and it kept falling all day long.

Rebecca went to work that morning in Boulder, and left at noon to head home before the storm got worse. It took her 2.75 hours to get home when her commute typically takes 20 minutes. Hwy 36 was closed at noon and remained closed till 3:30pm until CDOT plowed the highway.

We were worried that we wouldn't be able to make it to the mountains with friends on Friday, so we carpooled in their 4x4. Needless to say, most of the snow melted on Friday and the streets had lots of steam coming off them. It was quite surreal.

Enjoy the pictures. Kit had a blast playing and eating the snow!

Rebecca traveling for business

January has been a busy month for Rebecca - traveling to San Diego, CA for a sales meeting on the 15th and attending RCMA (Religious Conference Management Association) in all places... Grand Rapids, MI the week of January 26th.

She's blessed to have this opportunity, but Michigan in the dead of winter was kind of crazy. The convention she attended didn't produce too many leads, but she got to know one of her colleagues better. And she worked out in the hotel fitness center every day!

She doesn't anticipate other travels for work any time soon.

Merry Christmas - Straight No Chaser

I just heard of this group last night on the radio heading home from work. I hope you enjoy the Holiday melody as much as we do! Rebecca

Merry Christmas!

Mexico Christmas Party

So, we just returned from our brief trip to Mexico over the weekend. And it was a rude awakening... coming home to 10 degrees and snow compared to the 80 degrees with tropical breezes yesterday. We had a wonderful time hanging with some work mates and their friends. It's gotta be the best Christmas Party ever!!!



The first night was a blast, letting lose. Getting tacos before the buffet at the Taco Shack, which is always crowded. Though I think they should add fish tacos to their menu. We then had a group dinner and hit "The Galaxy" discotheque afterwards. It's a Star Wars themed club and we all had fun cutting up the dance floor. Lindsay and Javi especially had fun busting a move or two.
Most of us stayed out till about 1:30 or 2am.



We spent most of our time lounging poolside with great drinks and conversation, and then moved to the beach in the afternoon. Larry played beach volleyball each afternoon and met many fellow tourist in the process.

Here are some pictures from the Resort and the fun we had.


Fun in the Sun:

6 degrees of separation

So today, I was talking to two clients who now live in Georgia and North Carolina, but both grew up in Schenectady, NY. Just on the other side of the river from my grandmother's family in Scotia, NY. And one of my clients knew of the Lansing Dairy in Scotia, which was run by my great grandfather. Small world...

2008 First Winter Storm

Last night on the drive home from TSO - Trans Siberian Orchestra, it was snowing and getting us in the mood for the holidays. This morning, we awoke to 4 inches of snow on the ground and our commutes to work this morning were much longer than normal. The ground was white and there is definitely a crispness in the air as it only reached 20 degrees today.

We leave for Mexico in two days will experience 80 degrees there, and Denver expects 50's this weekend. Go figure...