Stan and Chris Get High...

....mile high, that is. Stan and I took a very quick trip to Denver to bother spend time with Scott and Kelsey. We had a wonderful time with them. We flew out Friday afternoon. Scott and Kelsey own a beautiful home, built in the 1920's that Scott has beautifully remodeled. Here's a good example: Scott turned the tiny upstairs bathroom into a functional space by pushing back a wall, adding new sink and corner shower, and putting up subway and glass tile. He has done a lot of work, and the result is gorgeous. We are amazed at his remodeling skills! Scott also gutted, reconfigured, and remodeled the kitchen and added a bathroom, bedrooms, and family room to the unfinished basement. Scott, I'm totally going to wave this picture under Dad's nose for inspiration as we prepare to do some bathroom remodels of our own....

Kelsey, on the other hand, is a fabulous cook. I could get fat(ter) eating at their house on a regular basis. On Friday Kelsey made marinated salmon, steamed asparagus, and a kind of noodle-type thingy made of potatoes and other ingredients that is rolled into a long rope and cut and shaped. Delicious! On top of the last dish was this sauce:

Romesco Sauce

1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced

1/4 cup extra virgin oil

1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

kosher salt and red pepper flakes

Pulse in food processor until sauce-like. Store in fridge for about a week.

I wish I'd taken a picture of our dinner that night-my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

On Saturday we went to a brand-new history museum in downtown Denver.

It is so new that we were there not only for opening day, but also for the *ahem* fascinating 30 minute speeches, opening ceremonies, and ribbon-cutting. Most everyone was out in the cold and wind. We had the sense to come inside and watch it on the giant screen.

 This is a great museum. We learned among other things, about mining, Indian massacres, Colorado KKK history, and that Colorado had a Japanese interment camp, recreated here.

They have lots of ancient artifacts, such as my last year's swimming suit

toys that currently also reside in my toy cabinet,

and the food not unlike that which is sitting in my cabinet. 

Do you think I should I be rotating more? I thought Campbell's mutton soup was good forever.

 This is a four story building with 3 levels of museum.

Inlaid stone floor of Colorado map, as seen from the second level.

There are interactive displays

and demonstrations. Here a young girl is teaching us how to stack and unstack cups in record time.

Scott tried it and we're thinking he shouldn't quit his day job just yet.

Of course, no museum visit is complete without ice cream. Denver museum has lego ice cream (note the brightly colored chocolate legos at the right of the picture) with exploding whip cream.

I managed to force some down.

After the museum we walked over to the government building area. We sat on the step that said we were officially "One mile above sea level".

It's hard to see in this picture, but the outer capitol building is being refurbished, and the gold dome was intensely bright.

Looking across the way to the Justice building.

The Denver area is just full of beautiful old restored ginormous mansions. One day I just want to spend a week or two finding and exploring all of the mansions that give tours. This is an example of a home that had stunning stain glass windows, lovely wrought iron, and beautiful tile work under the eaves--I brought my cheap camera and couldn't get a good picture.

Next we went to Scott's latest job site. This is the old train station.

It's being turned into the new light rail station, with the old upstairs office space being converted to hotel rooms.

Scott explaining the light rail system--the part he is working on.

Here's a look at coming rail system--the first parts will be done in phases between now and 2016 and there are more parts to follow

There's still much work to be done--note the hideous fluorescent light fixtures hanging from the lovely old ceiling medallions inside the station.

Next we walked to another section of town where we saw some

funky art.

Kelsey, my very favorite daughter-in-law, suggested we stop at this place. Yep, I forced down more ice cream--this time I had strawberry balsamic gelato. We did lots of walking--ya gotta fuel all that calorie-burning somehow! I love how walk-friendly Denver is.

That evening we went to Wicked. So fun!

Sunday we arose at the crack of dawn to catch our flight home--I'm guessing all four of us are going to need a good afternoon nap.

Thanks, Scott and Kelsey, for letting us come and have fun. 

We had a great time and can't wait to do it again!

Learning to Share

 Today is our 35th anniversary.
Thirty-five! How is that possible?

Yep, 35 years ago today when Stan had black hair and I had a waistline, we got married.

Which, of course, means it is also Megan's 19th birthday.

Megan, age 2

No matter how hard we try, we can't seem to have our anniversary without Megan having a birthday.

Megan, age 3

One of the many things that stands out in my mind about Megan's growing-up years is her Passion for Pooh. Note the pajamas and

Megan, age 5

"Megan as Pooh".

Megan age 4

Maybe that explains why Megan is so obsessed with these other animals--she's still trying to fill the void that occurred when she couldn't fit into the above costume anymore.  
That happened about 3 1/2 weeks ago, didn't it Megs?

Poor Mikki looks like she'd rather be in the Hundred Acre Woods.

Megan age 6

Recently Megan was caught cheating on Pooh Bear with Black Bear.

 

Megan at college at 18

Megan, just yesterday you were wearing these braces

Megan, age 13

I like this grainy picture of 13 year old Megan--no cell phone, no facebook, no cordless wandering around-just good old-fashioned conversation.

Megan age 13

Megan has always hated being mistaken for a much younger person,

Megan, age 14

but she's going to like that problem a lot more when she's thirty. She's going to love it when she's fifty.

Megan, age 15

Either way, I suspect Megan is always going to be cute. We were always concerned she wouldn't hit 5' tall, but Megan had one last glorious growth spurt around 14 and 15 and by the time she was 16, she reached a stately and respectable 5' 3"

Megan, age 16

Since Megan has been away at college, we've come across a few pictures like this one on our computers that have us wondering: Is this the time you were arrested at gunpoint for breaking into Castle Rock Middle School? Or was it the time you were detained by the police for questionable loitering in a neighborhood not your own? Perhaps it's that time you were nabbed by the men in blue for ding dong ditching? It's a good thing you are a good girl, else wise we would have been worried.  Life is certainly a lot quieter since you've grown up and left home!

It's hard to believe this was only a year ago. We can't wait to see what next year brings!

In the meantime let's not forget that it was our anniversary first.

Chris and Stan last Tuesday. Ok, let's be honest-it was last Monday.

So classy of you to work all day on your birthday/our anniversary so that Dad and I can party!

 

Megan, in her Del Taco uniform

 Oh, Megan you're so mature! Happy 19th! We love you!

Slice of Life

I started this blog a few years ago to document Megan's last year of high school, as well as to keep a record of some of the goings on of Hailey and Makayla for Amy. Amy is a fun and interesting writer, and I used to love to read her blog posts.Unfortunately single motherhood, work, and school have made this sort of activity too time consuming. I agreed to take it over until Amy's life is less full. Yes, Amy, someday it will be less full. I do spend several hours a week with Amy's girls, and they are some of my favorite hours. Today after I picked up Hailey from school and slowly walked the mile or so to our house with the two girls, I thought as I listened to Hailey explain how the polar bears are depending on us not to ruin their environment, "Nothing in my life tops this". I know Amy would love to be the one walking her girls home, and I wish she could, but I'm glad I can do it for her a few times a week.

Now on to a few of the current events of our lives:

Three months ago when Stan rid the ceilings of popcorn, I bought paint for the newly improved bedrooms. This spare upstairs room was tan and bright blue.

I FINALLY got to work painting it a pale mossy green.

Bedrooms don't take long--I finished it Saturday night, just in time for use by

this cute girl that some guy dropped off on Sunday night.

It's probably a good thing Megan's here, since we hauled her stuff home last week. Not to mention Megan gives me a new blogging target.

It's good to have Megan home. After a year of college, she's become darn near perfect. She found a job, she does her own laundry, she's relatively tidy, and she's fun to have around.

 Her one remaining fault is her mistaken belief that she should have a dog.

She found these two rain-soaked dogs in our front yard and tried to sneak them into the house.

 Two words, Megan: Na Oh!

Makayla was excited to see Megan when I picked her up. She spent the next hour following Megan around, chatting and showing off.

Makayla and I walked down to pick Hailey up from school and found Hailey talking with one of her friends. The friend turned to us and said kindly to Makayla,

"Oops, you forgot to comb your hair today."

Yeah, this is as good as it gets, combed or not.

 Hailey had "school store" today-that day you can bring a dollar to school and buy stuff like pencils, erasers, and candy. The school then uses the money for various projects. Surprisingly, as I stood there watching while Hailey was deciding, not a single student bought anything but candy. Gotta love how the schools (rightly) ripped out the pop machines, but still shovel sugar to the kids.

Hailey was anxious to show me how she's mastered the monkey bars. She's been working at it for awhile and was so excited to finally be able to do it. She said more than once "I am so awesome!"

Yes, you are.

 So there you have it--a few slice of life days at the Joneses.