NPS Lily Bait!

So.. what do you think? If Brooke and Steve see this, will they be lured into my trap? Will they come to my house to get the goodies and bring Lily with them? Maybe Michael will come over to play too! I know he's a big boy now, but I don't think they will be able to leave him home alone. Hmmm.... Home Alone.... that could be the idea for a new movie.

Garden Bounty - Veggie Delight!

Wowza! Take a look at our dinner tonight. Everything came from our garden - all in season. Starting at the front and proceeding counterclockwise are the stars of this meal. Beet greens, brussell sprouts, summer squash, zucchini, pineapple heirloom tomato, Celebrity tomato, bread, cucumber, grape juice, and .... la piece de resistance.... Casaba melon with a fresh rasberry drape. MMMMNNN! I feel like that dog in the old cartoon that dies and goes to heaven every time he gets his favorite dog biscuit. How in the world does all this different and delicious food grow out of the same dirt and Weber water? It should all taste like dirt and bugs - but other than the beets, nothing does. We are going to enjoy every bit of this until the last of the veggies are gone. With our winter squashes, Hubbards, Butternuts, Buttercups, that should be around Christmas... maybe New Years Day if we are lucky

Joe is a REAL SALT! (Lake Fan)

Joseph and Robin got to go on a hard hat tour of the new Real Salt Lake stadium prior to it's grand opening in October. Layton Construction hosted the tour of the facility that cost $110 million dollars. We got to tour the locker rooms, Dave Checketts' private box, the party rooms and skyboxes. We enjoyed such mundane areas as the AudioVisual room ( Steve would really have liked to see all of the racks and racks of A/V equipment). Did you know that there was 150 miles of Cat 5 cable in this place? The sky boxes have cushioned seats with the Real Salt Lake blazer logo embroidered on them that came from Slovokia. I noticed all the fire protection mistakes, Joseph noticed all the trade coordination mistakes. We had a great lunch with lots of food we shouldn't have eaten, and had a fun time together.

Trippin' in Telluride

Janene and Robin made a quick trip to Telluride, Colorado to get their picture taken in front of an awesome mountain. Actually, Robin had to go there to work on the New Sheridan Hotel (named so as to distinguish it from the "old" Sheridan Hotel). The first was built in 1897, the New Sheridan Hotel was built in 1895, and both were located on the main drag, Colorado Avenue, until the old one burned down. The contractor Robin is working for is restoring the "new" hotel to its original grandeur (with some added modern features like fire alarm system and elevators).

The entire town of Telluride has been designated a Nationally Historic Landmark District by the National Park Service and much of the town remains as it was at the turn of the century. Great efforts are even made to save some of the most dilapidated of houses and structures, including the New Sheridan Hotel. The town nestles at the head of a glacially carved box canyon. For years, the only way to town was by mule team over the 13,000 foot plus Ophir Pass from Silverton. You may be able to pick out the road to Black Bear Pass in this photo. No kids, I did not drive to the top of that road. Janene would not stand for it.

We found that Telluride has a unique way of getting to the adjacent modern town of Mountain Village (think Deer Valley - only in Colorado). There is an aerial tramway in three parts that goes the whole distance in 13 minutes. There is no charge to ride this and it runs all the time. We rode with a little girl coming home from school one time, and another time with a fireman on his way to work.

And when you get to the other side, you are magically transported to London. Janene tried to call home, but nobody was there. She seemed particularly pleased about that. All in all, we enjoyed the break. Janene drove most of the way down while Robin slept off a small recurring fever from his past illness. Janene caught a cold, and we ate horribly delicious food at fine restaurants. It was good to get back to the fresh fruits and vegetables of our own garden. The vegetarian diet is back on - with a vengeance.

Thank you, Thank you!

I think it only appropriate to tell everyone Thank you. Thanks to all who called and visited. Thank you to all who gave advice on getting better. Thank you for all of your prayers on my behalf. Thank you for all the cute cards. Some of the grandkids did a lot more than just one card including a special one from Laura with quilling and a new pencil for me. And thank you to all the nurses and doctors who were very good at their jobs - even though I didn't really enjoy all the poking and prodding. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!