Baseball is so much better at a stadium

We are going to the Rockies game tonight! Yeah, this is the first game of the season for us. I got tickets from one of our Engineering consultants. First pitch is 6:40 against the Padres. GO ROCKIES!!!

It's baby season!

It has been an exciting 10 days in the life of friends….5 new babies and 1 adoption finalized.

Congrats to….

• Hunter, Aaron and Abby on their sweet little girl, Karly!

• Jill and Bob on the final check mark in the adoption of adorable Sarah!

• Heidi and Brandon and arrival of little miss Teagan!

• Doug and Kassidy on the token boy of this group Trayston!

• Michael and Shannon and the arrival of Ms. Reagan!

• Jack and Cammie and the late arrival of Charlie Elizabeth!

Welcome Karlyle Jean Gresham!!!!

My fellow Sunflower Cove mate and dear friend Hunter had baby #2 today!!! Congrats to Hunter and Aaron for being parents again and congrats to little miss Abby Gresham, you're a big sister. Abby was the littlest flower girl in our wedding and now she has a sister.

All my love, hugs and congrats to the Greshams!!! Two girls hopefully means there will be at least one more ;)


Dear Abby,
Being a big sister is so much fun. You get to show her how to do everything you know, play with her like she is a doll, and occasionally boss her around. The best part is as you get older, your love for her will grow and you can double date to high school dances, and then raise your families together. Your mom always wanted a sister, and I'm so happy that you have one!
All my love little miss!
Auntie Meg

Kauai

I know many have been waiting for the blow-by-blow of our trip to Kauai…here it is. We had an absolutely wonderful time! After three weeks of frantically getting our house ready to go on the market, this trip was more needed than we knew.

We left Saturday morning and had a looonnggg 7:30 hour flight to Honolulu, with a little 29 minute hop to Kauai. Our favorite part….2 beers for $5, it was like Happy hour on the flight. Ha! It was dark by the time we got the car and headed to the condo, so we had to wait for morning to see the beautiful island. The time difference kind of rocked all of us the first night and we woke Easter Morning to sun and too many roosters cock-a-doodle-doing! Kel and I made Easter breakfast and we headed to the north end of the island for the first of many beach trips. We walked the beach, played in the sand, shooed away the chickens and soaked up the sun, it was a pretty low key day. Sunday night Marlo, my Dad’s wife, took us to her favorite place, JJ’s Broiler. Laura, Andrew’s girlfriend also arrived to make our party of 8 complete.

They are everywhere!

There were a few things we had planned for the week. First, each person/couple was taking one night to making dinner for the group. Second, we had to celebrate my Dad’s 60th birthday…after all that is the reason we were there.

Monday came with renewed energy. We took off to explore the closest beach, which turned out to be our favorite, Hanalei Bay. It is this beautiful huge bay with miles of beach. We hung out there for most of the morning then headed a few blocks away for some lunch and a little shopping. Kelly and Dan cooked a really good healthy version of parmesan chicken with marinara sauce and pasta. *SIDE NOTE – I started not feeling well early in the evening, which turned into a little bug that had me up all night over the toilet. We’re not sure what it was, but I am thankful it was only 1 night.*

Tuesday we woke to rain, lots of it. We had planned to do a hike that morning, but with the rain and me not feeling well, Kyle, Dan, Andrew and Laura took off for a different hike they had read about. I stayed in bed until about noon, finally feeling better and Kel stayed back and read her book. When the hiking group got back, they looked like they had rolled in mud. Turns out they were slip-sliding around the edge of the mountain as they attempted to up a steep incline. They got cleaned up, ate lunch and we all headed to the farmer’s market. It was fun to see different fruits, weird gritty healthy drinks, and ice cold coconut milk for sale. Some went to the beach or pool and I stayed at the condo and started my Dad’s birthday dinner. I made a German Chocolate Cake, the best recipe, and Kyle helped me start the main course.

My Dad is from New Mexico and they do Mexican food their way. One of the most noticeable items is enchiladas. They are flat instead of rolled like you see at restaurants. You stack your ingredients: tortilla, chili, cheese, lettuce and continue with as many layers as you want. It is topped with a fried over-easy egg on top. They are awesome! We learned how to make these from my grandma, and knew it would be the perfect dinner for my Dad. They were a hit…it made my Dad’s day!

Wednesday we decided to explore the other side of the island. Kauai is the smallest of the Hawaii islands and there is a road that goes about 2/3 of the way around. Our mission was to see Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It was a curvy, steep long climb to the top, in the car, but the views were amazing! It was chilly and windy, but worth the drive. On the way down, we stopped at a little shack Kyle had read about, The Shrimp Shack. It was great…I think the guys could have eaten two plates of shrimp. The trip back to our side of the island included a stop at Spouting Horn, through the tree tunnel and then home to the pool. Spouting horn is volcanic rock in the water where the waves come in and the force shoots the water up through a whole. There is some crazy story about a dragon and his enemies or something, but it is just volcanic rock and water….! The tree tunnel was a total bust, disappointing…no need to elaborate. Andrew and Laura made 4 different pizzas and a pasta salad, yum!

Thursday we were taking the hike we discovered on the first day. It was a 4 mile hike to a beach and then on to a waterfall. It started fine, fairly vertical, lots of huge rocks, tree roots, streams to maneuver around. The view from the first look out point was beautiful. I only made it another ¼ of a mile or so and decided that this wasn’t the hike for me. Andrew and Laura had already sprinted ahead of us, and Kyle, Kel and Dan continued on. I slowly made my way back down the mountain and enjoyed a morning and afternoon of reading and pool time. I did a little prep work for our dinner and then headed out to pick up the hikers. I got there just in time and they were EXHAUSTED!!! The hike was much more than they thought, they ran out of water and we starving. We stopped at Kalypso’s for drinks and some food. That was exactly what they needed and we went to the pool. Kyle and I cooked dinner, Vanilla bean shrimp over Jasmine rice with roasted veggie. It was delicious! When we were in Tahiti for our honeymoon, they used vanilla in savory foods, not just baking and sweets. So we decided to show everyone how good it can be.

Friday…oh, only two more days. Hanalei bay was again calling us. It was sunny, hot and huge waves. The day was lazy as my Dad was taking all of us to a Luau that night. We grabbed lunch in town and then went to the pool for a bit. We had to leave about 4:30 for the luau, so it was a short day. We had a great time at Gaylord’s luau with traditional food, song and dance.
Saturday was the finale….sadly. It was by far the hottest day. We did a little shopping, ice cream eating and laid by the pool with our cooler of beer. If you are ever in Hawaii, you have to try Lappert’s ice cream. It is amazing! By mid afternoon, we were getting ready to head to the airport.

It was a wonderful trip full of laughs, memories, a great birthday celebration and pictures to capture it all. Thanks Dad and Happy 60th!

Kauai Update...

We have had an incredible 48 hours on this beautiful garden island! The forecast was showers daily and a high of low 70's.....it has been sunny, 80's and BEAUTIFUL!!! Our skin has been sun kissed.

We have spend a good part of each day at the beach followed by food and drinks. We are taking turns cooking dinner or going out...Last night was Marlo's night. We had dinner at JJ's Broiler a beach side spot in the center of the island. Tonight is Kelly and Dan's night to cook, chicken parm...yum!!!

Tomorrow we are headed to the very north part of the island for a 4 mile hike to a pool and waterfalls. We are up and at em' early with lunches packed, and we'll be pool side by mid-afternoon. We are also celebrating my Dad's b-day with his favorite dinner (New Mexico style enchiladas) and dessert (German Chocolate Cake), he has no idea. Until later....Aloha

Kauai vacation

Ah…..we are off to Kauai for a week. This is celebratory trip for my Dad’s 60th B-day!!!

The beach goers are
Dad and Marlo
Kyle and Me
Kelly and Dan
Andrew and Laura

We have lots of things planned, hiking, relaxing at the beach, surfing, eating, a sunset whale watching cruise and celebrating…..pictures to come!

For Sale

Its official, our house is on the market! This is probably the first time most of you have heard, and it has been a whirlwind three weeks of prep. About a month ago Kyle and I were throwing ideas around about house stuff and had a list of houses we wanted to see. When we crossed all of them off, “in the ghetto”, “too much work”, “bad neighborhood”…etc., we decided maybe we should get our house in order before we start looking. Of course putting a house on the market is all about timing. We had a week long vacation coming up and it would be ideal to have the house on the market while we were gone. After that thought crossed our minds, it was set….Do anything and everything to get it on the market by the time we leave.

It will be 9 years in May that I have owned our little place, and needless to say, it needed a paint job. At first we weren’t interested in doing it ourselves until I received bids…..I think we’ll do it ourselves. Thanks to a snow day caused by a spring blizzard, I started painting Friday morning. Kel came over to help and we were done by 11:00pm on Sunday night. We were exhausted. Kyle worked on the bathroom, re-caulking, sanding, patching holes in walls, etc. (I had a minor painting injury, it sounds ridiculous. I stepped down from a stool and hit my heal on the bed frame….pow, it was a dime sized hole in my heal. OUCH, I’m fine now.) A handyman was hired to fix a few items, we replaced the stove and hired a cleaning crew. **NOTE – don’t break your flat glass cook top, it is the same price as a brand new range.** Throughout the process we have been packing boxes to clear the place out. It feels like we should move into the garage because everything we really need is in there. For now, we are managing fine, but it’s not even been 24 hours.

Kyle loved this process of getting the house ready, hiring a realtor and it was a learning process for both of us. Sure I’ve purchased a place before, but I haven’t sold…..an entirely different game.

I know the next question “Where are we moving?” There are many answers to hat questions, but first and foremost, we are trying to sell our place. We will figure out the next step once we’re over the first hurdle. For now, we are on the market, attempting to keep it spick and span and headed to Kauai for a much needed vacation.

Bombay Bowl

I love curry, anything with curry you better believe I’m going to order it. Kyle and I went to this new fast casual restaurant called Bombay Bowl on Sunday and it is AWESOME!!! It is the same idea as Tokyo Joes, or Qdoba rice bowls of sorts, but it is Indian! Oh so good. You can create your own bowl or they have a few standards. Ah….I wish we lived closer, I’d be there all the time. YUM!!!

www.bombaybowl.com

Chicken Fried

Have you heard that song? Its country so those who don’t listen to that genre….you’re out of luck. It has been all over the radio in the last few months, and I love it. While at work on a Saturday about a month ago, my co-worker, Jena and I were singing along. Needless to say, we check out the tour locations for the Zac Brown Band and sure enough, Denver CO on March 31st. We were so excited.

We bought tickets and last night was so much fun. The concert was at a small, intimate theater, The Ogden. The opening band is a new act, Gloriana and they were really good, I need the CD. I, surprisingly, didn’t know anything about the Zac Brown Band outside of the one song. They were really good, a must have new CD and I can’t wait to see if they win “best new artist” at the ACMs on Sunday. They have a different tone and vibe than most of the new bands, and to quote Zac, “it’s lake music”. A perfect description