Thoughts from the Ridge

A day in the Kitchen

2012-01-17T15:41:00.001-07:00

It is common knowledge that I like to bake and"play" in the kitchen. I don'tget to do it as often as I would like, but Saturday was one of those days. I made two batches of Banana Bread to take tothe church, I made my mom some candied popcorn, and I made Tiramisu. YUM.

I had made it before, but never did it turn out thisgreat. Yes I used a new recipe, but I think the real difference was in the Lady Fingers. I used Delallo Savoiardi Lady Fingers imported from Italy. I have trouble finding the lady finger biscuits like this around here, most of what I ind are soft lady fingers and too spongy. These were perfect.

I guess Kevin liked it ok.....

This was an A+, my mom who does not typically like Tiramisu, did like it and asked that I make it for her next time she hosts her card group.

4 months old

2012-01-10T14:57:00.000-07:00

Today Mobi is 4 months old! She is getting so big....she still wants to crawl into your lap.....

Here she is at Thanksgiving, not long after we got her...and in the same spot today:

You can see her feet are giant

Mobi and Stormy are good friends, and they play a lot together, but try to get them to sit beside each other and take a picture...well that is another story....

So how big is she really? Here are the two girls stats....

	Age	Height	Weight
Stormy	6 yrs	24 inches	90 pounds
Mobi	4 months	23 inches	62 pounds

According to Great Dane growth charts she is right where she is supposed to be, and it really doesn't matter, we love her however she is.

Mobi the lap dog

2012-01-09T15:21:00.002-07:00

Mobi (at just about 4 months) is still trying to be a lap dog. Not sure how much longer she is going to be able to do this, but she looks forward to it every morning.

Christmas cards

2011-12-29T07:52:00.001-07:00

Thanks everyone

Peanut Flip Review

2011-12-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

When Kevin and I were in France for our Honeymoon (many many years ago....Ahhh how I long to go back to Europe (hopefully to Germany)...hint hint hint Kevin....) we had Curly for the very first time. I have blogged about Curly many times....I absolutely LOVE them.

I knew them as this:

When we were in Florida and visiting with Florian and his parents they brought me some. I was in heaven. Finally we found some.....still made by Lorenz but called:

I was in love....YUM YUM YUM. My favorite...

Then just the other day, we went to World Market.

So this is what I have learned, while the ones from Brentwood that we picked up at World Market were good, the original things from Lorenz from Germany are the absolute best! They are so good, so peanutty, and crunchy just a great snack. In a pinch, if I don't have any of the Lorenz and I happen to be close to a World Market (the nearest one is about 100 miles =160 KM) away, and they happened to have these, I would try it, but I would always want the original first. :)

New Ornaments

2011-12-26T00:00:00.001-07:00

The other day, we got a really special gift in the mail. It was from Florian and his family. Some very beautiful wood ornaments. This is only a small portion of the ones we received, but we took a picture of some hanging on the tree so you could see them:

THANKS so much!

Peppermint Marshmallows

2011-12-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

I found some peppermint marshmallows in the store, so I made some rice crispie treats....in the shape of Mickey Heads of course...

They were really good, a nice subtle minty flavor. I looked for some more marshmallows...and couldn't find any, so I guess that means I must make my own....

Merry Christmas!

Bad Puppy

2011-12-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

You may remember from an earlier post, that we had made a Ginger bread village with Caelum right after Thanksgiving. It was beautiful:

We put up a little table in the dining room, and placed it on the table.

Then one evening, we were quietly eating dinner in the Kitchen and Mobi disappeared. Upon investigation, Kevin found her, with her feet up on this table, eating away.

An entire house is now missing....what terror that must of been for the tiny village people. So sad

What happened to Mobi? Well she got in big trouble and had to go to puppy jail:

Stormy wasn't really in jail with her this evening, and by the look of all the puppy toys on the floor you wouldn't really think it was too bad in jail.

Puppy Cuteness

2011-12-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

So sleepy....big yawn....

Taking a nap....

This sitting and being good is tough stuff....how much longer till Christmas?

Too Cute...enough said

Presents are wrapped

2011-12-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Finally, I got all the presents wrapped and under the tree....we don't have too many presents this year, so it isn't as full as usual, but when others bring gifts for Christmas afternoon there will be even more.

Snow before Christmas

2011-12-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

Just the other day I was emailing our "kids" Nadine, Pauline, and Florian. They had all asked if it was cold and if we had snow. I had said, "nope, no snow here" and then....well we got a little bit. About 1- 2 inches (2.5 - 5 cm). Not too much, but it felt a little more Christmasy here.

The puppies love the snow, how fun to RUN and RUN and RUN

Today it should be about 45 degrees (7 C) and by Christmas Day it should be about 55 (12 C), so the snow certainly won't last long.

How much longer till Christmas?

2011-12-21T09:35:00.001-07:00

Our Girls are ready or Christmas....they are trying to be good as they wait for Santa :-)

You can see Mobi is getting big. She is almost as tall as Stormy, though not quite as heavy, she will never be as broad in the chest, but will be taller soon.

Private Movie

2011-12-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

For Kevin's birthday we went to see a movie. Kevin wanted to see Hugo, and it was playing in 3D in most theaters around. So we decided last Saturday to go check it out. Here I am with my fancy 3D glasses:

I know it is a dark picture, but can you tell that there is NO ONE around me? That is right, that is because there was NO ONE in the theatre...Yep, Kevin and I had the entire theatre to ourselves. On a Saturday afternoon, there was absolutely no one there, we had a private showing.

The movie? It was good, a very interesting story. I give it two thumbs up.

Kevin and Jody Update

2011-12-05T16:04:00.001-07:00

So betcha been wondering what we have been up to? I mean come on Kevin and Jody...post already!

So we have been busy, but not doing anything exciting...whathave we been up to?

Well we got a new Puppy Mobi, a great Dane. Wait you already knew that didn't you?

Ok, so Kevin went to Indianapolis Indiana for a worktrip. We went to a Wedding (congratsDanielle and Dan). We went to see the Lion King and had Truffle Fries at theShip Tavern. We took my parents to IKEA just for fun, wehad Thanksgiving at our house. We made a Ginger Bread Village with Caelum.

We decorated the house.

Only one tree this year...and not Jody's Mickey Tree :-( Our other tree was not in very good shape, so Kevin has his tree up this year.

Stockings are hung by the Chimney with care....

Wewent shopping. Oh and we worked....alot....

So now we are getting closer to Christmas, and we areworking on wrapping up the year at work, getting ready to Celebrate Kevin'sbirthday, and getting all ready for Christmas and New Years.

So that is what we have been up to.....What have you been doing?

Puppy Update

2011-11-24T10:42:00.001-07:00

So our new puppy has a name! She is Mobius...or Mobi for short. She is so sweet and she is adjusting well to her new home. She loves her big sister Stormy....though she is rapidly growing and will soon be bigger than Stormy.

She loves to lay on the tile next to the fireplace like this...though she is getting to be too big to sleep too comfortably but she hasn't given up yet.

But her feet don't stay up too well...

But when she sleeps like this it is so precious...Here she is as "Stormy's Toys"

And this is her today on Thanksgiving day, just relaxing before the big feast...

Waiting patiently with Stormy...

Erdnuss-Berge

2011-11-18T15:42:00.001-07:00

When Jody and I visited with Florian's parents in Florida they sent us home with more chocolate (I'm still amazed by their generosity). One of the things we received was basically peanuts in dark chocolate. Erdnuss-Berge roughly translates to peanut mountain.

Normally I'm not a big fan of nuts and chocolate, but these are really good and in fact I think Jody liked them more than me and I think I could eat a lot of these. Recommended.

Introducing

2011-11-05T14:28:00.002-06:00

Well we aren't really sure what her "forever" name will be, but we think she is the sweetest...

Yesterday we took a little drive to a small Colorado town and picked her up. She is a Great Dane Puppy and is just 8 weeks old. She should get pretty big, here are her parents:

This is her dad Sargent....he was very very sweet and I could have brought him home too...

He likes to lean up against you to get attention, here he is with my mom

This is Mom (Scooba) and Dad....

Here are some of the pups

Stormy is adjusting well, and she even thought about playing a little, I think in a few days they will be fast friends

Stormy even let her bite her tail...

Her first night, she found the treat basket and immediately fell in love with the bunny

Here you can see her unique coloring, and she has blue eyes.....

So what should we name her? Any ideas?

Harlow's 1st Birthday

2011-10-31T12:35:00.000-06:00

On Sunday we went over to Dez & Tim's house to celebrate Harlow's 1^st birthday. So Harlow opened her presents...

Oh look a box... let's empty it out and play in it

And then we had some cake that Dez made...

Definitely not a cakewreck...

And then Harlow ate it....

I wish I had a picture 10mins after this...

All in all, a nice afternoon with a nice sugar rush ending....

First snow of 2011/2012

2011-10-31T12:26:00.002-06:00

While I was out of town for work, the first snow of the season hit us here in Colorado. Luckily it was not a major storm and didn't cause me any trouble getting home. Because the trees had not lost all their leaves yet, there was quite a bit of damage in some areas, but we did not have any at our house since Jody went out and knocked the snow off.

However, it did provide us with some nice pictures. So here they are

During the storm on Wed

Thursday Night

By Saturday the snow was basically gone, except for the shaded areas. So that is the start of the season, and it looks like we'll have more in the next day or two.

Conference presenting

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

So as I said earlier, I was accepted to present at a conference in Miami. Now funny enough this conference was at the same hotel that work has had graduation at in the past, so I knew the area, and the hotel. When Kevin and I checked in, we chatted with the person at the desk, and it turns out he had been to CO a few years ago etc...anyway, small talk paid off as they upgraded our room to a suite....it was sweet.

one night we walked over to Bayside, it is a fun little area, near the water, with shops and restaurants. Here is Kevin at Bubba Gump (taken especially for Pauline)

However we didn't eat there, we ate at a Cuban place.

On the walk back to the hotel we saw this statue....

My presentation went off without a hitch, we were a little worried as we had the last presentation of the day on a Saturday, but I guess our topic "Supporting General Education by Connecting Faculty Acrossthe University to General Education Disciplines" was interesting to a lot of people. :-) Here I am with my co-presenter Heather (Asst chair of math).

Florida!

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

Recently I was accepted to present at a conference in Miami. And as luck would have it, the same week I was going to be in Florida, our exchange student from this summer, Florian would also be in Florida on vacation with his parents. So Kevin decided to go with me, and we went a day early, and drove from Miami to Sanibel Island to get to meet Florian's parents and to see Florian again.

It was a really nice day....Here we are driving across the bridge

As we got into town, we saw this sign, it made me laugh....Now, in CO I guess we have don't feed the wildlife signs, so this isn't any different, but still not something I see everyday.

First we met Florian and his parents at their condo and sat and visited and exchanged gifts. Then we went to lunch:

This is the pier at the restaurant we ate at...

Then we went to the beach.....can you see this, this is entirely shells....

The GULF!!! This was the first time I had seen the gulf up close and I got to put my feet in it :-)

Then we went to ice cream

Then we went over to see the lighthouse and more beach

Driving along alligator alley....didn't see any, but I did like seeing the palm trees and the evergreen trees together.

It was really wonderful to meet Florian's parents! They are very nice people and we had a great day with them. I wish we would have had more time, as both Kevin and I enjoyed our visit.

I had said we exchanged gifts, and Florian's parents were very very (too much so) generous. Here are all the things they brought us....

You see the Coo Clock in the box, where here it us hung up on the wall:

You can hear what it sounds like here: I am not sure if Stormy yet gets it :-)

What a wonderful (but short) vacation, before my conference.

Dickey's BBQ

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

Recently we were in Greeley. I go often as I have an exchange student from Norway there, and I have to do monthly contacts with the family. So after a recent visit, we met my friend Kari at Dickey's Barbecue Pit. The food was really good, and not very expensive...I think I might have to stop in again soon!

Brush Oktoberfest

2011-10-16T14:21:00.000-06:00

Well this post is old, but I am just getting around to putting up some pics. Kevin and I made it to the Brush Oktoberfest this year. Now, this is a small event, across a few blocks and in conjunction with a car show. But the Oktoberfest here, is really a family event with booths of food, things for kids to do and just a tiny Beer Garden....

They have a tent with various things happening. Here is a ...umm....ok I will just say it, and Old lady dance group showing off the "Chicken Dance"

A view of all the booths.....

And this? Well not sure how Sicilian Snacks fit into Oktoberfest, but it looks like it didn't stop people from trying out the food.

Since this is a small town event, and not very big, we spent about an hour there, but as you can see it was a gorgeous day and a great way to get out on a Saturday.

Ritter Sport - Pfefferminz

2011-10-05T00:00:00.000-06:00

Well Florian, here it is... the day you have been waiting for... the day I ate the Ritter Sport Mint Chocolate bar... To bad you were not here for it. Actually, I ate it about two weeks ago, but am just now getting around to writing about it.

Florian said this was his favorite bar, and he tried unsuccessfully to get me to open it while he was here. I knew he liked it alot and so that made me a little concerned I would not get any of it. (Just Kidding). Anyway, Florian was right, this is a very good bar and I would pick one of these up just about any time. The mint is strong, but not Altoid string and the chocolate is a nice, crisp, dark chocolate. Recommended if you like mint.

Ritter Sport - Halbbitter

2011-10-03T12:16:00.001-06:00

The Ritter Sport Halbbitter is a dark chocolate bar. Even though it is only listed as a 50% bar, it actually tastes like a darker bar, perhaps a 65% one from other vendors.

All this means is that the chocolate the RS uses in the bar is a good quality chocolate and that is hard to complain about. Anyway, this is a good bar and I would purchase one of these again.

Big Cheese

2011-09-16T09:00:00.000-06:00

So many of you know that I was recently promoted to Dean. I officially started on Monday and this has already been a big change for me. I have a lot to learn, but am really excited about all the new things I will be doing.

Monday was a very crazy day with hours of phone calls, and training pieces, and oh, some actual work too....so it was a great surprise when these arrived to me:

Beautiful right? The card simply read "To the New 'Big Cheese' !! From Mickey and his friends, Kim and Ron"

Thanks Kim and Ron...it was VERY nice of you to think of me!

New Camera... Sony DSC HX9

2011-09-15T09:00:00.000-06:00

Jody had a minor accident with our camera, an Olympus Stylus 1010, while we were on our trip to Oregon. It is a decent point and shoot camera that takes good outside pictures, but average indoor pictures. She dropped it in Wyoming and what do you know the camera broke enough that it still took pictures, but became annoying to use. I actually put a band-aid on it so that it would keep working during the trip. We've had this camera for over 4 years now, so for a digital point and shoot camera that is a pretty good life span. (Don't get me started on how crappy things are made these days.)

While we were in Oregon we talked about getting a new one (due to the 0% sales tax), but I'm picky about what technology products I buy and I have to read about them before I go to the store and pick one out. So I found the Nikon 9100 and the Sony DSC-HX9 and both seemed to be reasonably good cameras for what I want/need to do. I take lots of inside and outside pictures and wanted something that did well with both, with minimal fuss.

So I went to two Best Buys in my area and neither store had them in stock, but they both offered to order me one and ship it to my house. I figured I could do that on my own, so I went price shopping online. Neither camera is discounted at this time, and then I remembered I got some discounts through work. I found that I could get the Sony for a good price though that service, so I decided that was the one I would get. The camera is a 16Mpix and has a 16x optical zoom, which having a good zoom is something I wanted. It also does a lot of other things and so I'll have to learn how to use those. The sweep panorama feature seems pretty cool and wish I would have had it when I was at Crater Lake.

After I got it (which took 3 days from Sony Direct, which is great) I took some sample pictures out in the yard.

Rose in the yard, no manual mode select just get close and it switches to macro mode automatically.

Stormy, taken in "pet" mode, she is wondering if she gets a treat for allowing me to take her picture.

An 8-point buck in our backyard that happened to show up the other morning. He is about 1000 yards or more from the house and if you make the picture full size by clicking on it you can seem him quite clearly.

The Sony is a little bigger than the Olympus physically, and the one thing I liked about the Olympus is that I could put it in my pocket and go. We'll see if the Sony is as "pocketable".

Heading home... :-(

2011-09-13T09:00:00.000-06:00

So the day arrived. Time for Pauline to go home. 7 Weeks actually went by very fast. Granted we were busy with Chicago and Kevin's graduation, a trip to Oregon, stuff around here, but you when she arrives you think, we have a long time together...7 weeks. Then all of a sudden you turn around and the day to head home is here.

We took Pauline to the airport Sunday Morning, she had an early flight out of DIA, to LGA, then change airports to JFK, and her flight to Berlin. Yes that is a crazy schedule but she made it just fine.

Here she is going through security...

All clear and ready to go to her gate...

Down the escalator and to the train. We had to just wave goodbye here.

It was a really great visit and wonderful to see her again after two years. We hope she had a wonderful time here again, and that she visits us again soon. Though she said, she thinks it is our turn to go visit her....Hmmm I think that would be super...we must start planning.

Flaky Flix Cookies

2011-09-12T10:00:00.000-06:00

The other day I posted about a cookie I love, but that is not made any more, Flaky Flix. So I found a recipe on the web for how to make your own. It basically is getting some wafer cookies from the store, covering them in chocolate and cornflakes. They are not super pretty, but they taste pretty darn good.

The chocolate I used was a mixture of several different chocolates that were kinda left over, Hershey's Dark Kisses, Ghirardelli, Nestle, and some other stuff I'm not even sure what it was.

Packing to go home....

2011-09-12T09:00:00.000-06:00

After 7 weeks, packing to go home is a big task. First Pauline packed all things up and we took her suitcase downstairs and weighed it on the big scale. She was well under (4 lbs under) her weight so all was good.

The Last Supper

2011-09-11T17:37:00.000-06:00

Pauline wanted Italian Nachos before she went home. So of course that is what we did. I did tell her, she had to help with making the chips.

I know she said these were one of her favorite things....So hopefully when the craving comes back for more, she will come back to Fort Morgan.

Ikea - Chocolate

2011-09-10T15:28:00.000-06:00

Who buys chocolate from a furniture store? Yup, that would be me.

I ended up get the dark and milk chocolate bars. After all the Ritter Sport bars with Hazelnuts in them, I just could not bring myself to get one this time. Our German exchange student, could not believe I was paying for these bars, as she says they get coupons in Germany to get these for free, I'm guessing to get people to come into the store.

As of right now, I've only had the dark bar and it was a better than average bar, nothing very exceptional, but not near as bad as a Hershey bar. This is one of those bars where if you need a chocolate fix, it will solve it, but not something you would buy to have a really good bar. Enjoy!

Ritter Sport - Milk Chocolate with Cornflakes

2011-09-09T15:24:00.001-06:00

When I first saw this bar it really intrigued me. One of my favorite cookies is one called Flaky Flix, unfortunately they are no longer made.

They were a chocolate wafer cookie, covered in chocolate and then rolled in cornflakes. Very light chocolate snack and I could eat a box of them without even trying. In fact I recall my Mom limiting how many sticks I could have at a time.

So anyway back to the chocolate bar from Ritter Sport, which I found at Target and World Market.

This is a great chocolate bar. Everyone here at the house loved it and wished that I had bought more than one of them. So next time I am at Target I'll probably stock up. I definitely recommend this bar as it has a good flavor and a little crunch to it.

Finally...IKEA

2011-09-07T06:35:00.000-06:00

Ok, For many of you, this is not at all exciting...but for me. I loved it. We finally got an IKEA here in Colorado. However it is about 1.5 hours from the house down near Park Meadows. On Saturday, we decided to take the drive down and see what all the fuss is about. Here we are....almost there....

We got there a little before they opened, but they were already directing traffic....

We had fun looking around. It is a big store, and I could definitely go back again sometime. We didn't buy much just some small things. We also bought some Swedish Chocolate...I am sure Kevin will blog about it with his chocolate series, after we taste it.

After IKEA, we just did the entire area....we went to World Market, Halloween City, walked the entire Park Meadows Mall, had lunch at CPK, went to Costco and Target. It was a good day.

Chuck Crain Concert

2011-09-06T12:27:00.000-06:00

Wednesday night we had heard about a concert at a local church, so we decided to go. It was Chuck Crain. Chuck sings with the Presley's in Branson Missouri .

He had a really great voice and while the crowd was not too large, it was a nice concert.

Pauline wanted her picture taken with the "American Star" :-)

3 for 1 Review

2011-09-05T10:03:00.000-06:00

Ok, I gotten a little behind on my chocolate posts. So I'm going to post about 3 bars I have recently tried (the sad part is that I have about 6 more bars waiting to be tried). Anyway, the three I am going to talk about here are the Milka Noisette bar, the Ritter Sport Joghurt bar, and the Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate with a la Mousse au Chocolat. These are three very different bars and I have to say that I enjoyed them all.

The Milka Noisette is similar to the Alpenmilch bar, but with the addition of Hazelnuts to the bar.

Like the Alpenmilch bar, it was very smooth and had a good flavor. I've moved to keeping the bars in the refrigerator so that they don't melt as quickly, and that turned out to be a good choice for this bar.

The Ritter Sport Joghurt bar has almost a cheese cake like filling in the bar. I found this bar to be quite good.

I don't think Jody's Dad cared for it much since he doesn't like yogurt, but in my opinion it didn't really have a yogurt taste to it. I would purchase this on again, if I were able to find it.

The final bar is the Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate with a la Mousse au Chocolat. A really long name for a candy bar. I found this bar at World Market and Target, so I thought since I am trying other Ritter Sport bars, I might as well try this one. I thought this was a good bar, but Jody didn't care for it much.

This bar had the dark chocolate, with a creamy center, and I just don't think that Jody cares for that. However, I would definitely get this bar again. Very smooth texture with the bite of dark chocolate.

The Year of the Dragon Fly

2011-09-05T09:37:00.000-06:00

This summer we have had a TON of dragon flies. I love to watch them fly around too. The other day I went out front and there were thousands (and I am not exaggerating). They were all over our flowers...

Can you see them? I know it is hard to get a good view, with the camera, they don't really stop moving and the camera isn't sure what to focus on.... There are at least three in this picture...

I marked them for you....

I am sure with summer being almost over, so will all the little things like this, and all will turn brown as we get ready for winter....

Fort Morgan Museum

2011-09-03T07:25:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday night we decided to go to the Fort Morgan Museum. Oddly enough Kevin had never been and it had been years and years and years since I had been.

I tell ya, Kevin never follows directions....

The museum does a nice job talking about the history of the area

There was a large section on Glenn Miller

The soda fountain

Kevin again not following directions...though in this case, I don't think it was the sign he wasn't supposed to touch.

Downstairs they have an area about aviation in Colorado and some "discovery" items for kids, so that meant we HAD to play.

Here I am learning to fly and reading the manual

Pauline wanted to give it a try, too, but we were about to crash and we were afraid....

I think we were lost, I couldn't figure out the map (maybe because it was upside down)

Pauline decided to go on a moon walk with moon boots and everything

It was a fun way to end the work day and spend an hour or so.

Gift for Caelum

2011-09-02T06:34:00.000-06:00

When Pauline was here two years ago, Caelum loved talking to her and getting to know her. However, he was only 3 years old, so after two years, he didn't really remember her. However, after just a little while they were fast friends again. Pauline brought Caelum a Lego to put together. So on Sunday night after dinner, they sat at the table together to put it all together.

The Flea Market

2011-09-01T06:23:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we went to the Mile High Flea Market.

You can find almost anything here....including these.....hmmmm

We didn't get a deer head....but we kept looking at all the booths...

The fruits and veggies were amazing, I could have bought a lot but I didn't have a way to keep things cool in the hot car....all I did buy was some very very cheap sweet corn.....

We did get a few small "treasures" Kevin got a hat, I got some aqua beads, a cup cake carrier brand new never opened from Khols with the price tag and receipt on it still and I got it for 1/3 of the original price.

We went early, and by the time we had walked the acres and acres we were glad we were early as it got HOT, in fact it was a a record breaking day.

Chocolate Bars - Milka Alpenmilch

2011-08-31T14:30:00.000-06:00

Milka Alpenmilch (Alpine Milk), this is one of the non-Ritter Sport bars that Florian brought. I believe it is made by Nestle, under the Milka brand name. Anyway, it is a very smooth, very soft milk chocolate. I can barely hold this bar as it starts melting immediately in my hand. Having chocolate melt in my hands is not new, but this bar seems to be very sensitive. Of course the bar was kept on the counter and here in Colorado we try to keep the house at 77-78 degrees during the summer, so maybe that is just a little to warm for this bar.

Anyway, this is a good bar, minus the melting issue. I would pick up one of these any day.

New Friends and Wii

2011-08-31T12:42:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, my Aunt Diane and Uncle Harry came to visit with their three grand kids Dani, Mandi, and Tyler. Dani is getting married soon, so my mom and Dani and Aunt Diane worked on the wedding dress. Tyler, Uncle Harry and my dad went over to my brother's house. So Mandi and Pauline had a chance to get to know each other, visit and play Wii....

Temple Square

2011-08-31T06:32:00.000-06:00

Saturday night on the way home we stayed in Salt Lake City. We got in mid-afternoon so decided to go down to Temple Square and take a tour....

We also go to go into the convention center and tour it too.

No this lady is not trying to steal the pictures....she decided it was crooked, so she was trying to straighten it. This was our tour guide for the convention center.

These pictures are from the top of the convention center...

You can see part of the water fall here...

I think it is amazing there are steps and gardens on top of the building, if it wasn't for the great views of the tops of buildings you may forget you were so high.

It really is an amazing facility they have there, and so well taken care of. It is wonderful they have it open to share with anyone.

Sacremento

2011-08-30T17:02:00.000-06:00

We left Oregon on Friday mid morning and headed down towards Sacramento. Partly because we wanted to make sure Pauline got to go to California (if only for a short time)

We stopped downtown at the state capital and went in to tour around...

As normal the politicians were not there, but at least we got to see the rooms where they work.

Around the Ranch

2011-08-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

We were there for a few days, so of course you take some random pictures around the ranch...

Matt and Abby enjoying some ice cream...

Kassidy and her Ice Cream

Jim doing the irrigation...

Just hanging out after dinner...

Pauline in her riding "gear"

Jim relaxing.

And of course...Pauline driving the golf cart...

Horse back riding

2011-08-29T17:03:00.000-06:00

Pauline wanted to ride a horse, so Kim got Flashy ready for riding...

Kassidy was at school, but Abby helped...

Then it was time to ride....first was Kim

Then Abby...she even rode all by herself....

Then it was Pauline's turn....though here we weren't sure if she was thinking about changing her mind :-)

Abby waiting while Pauline rode...

German Resturant

2011-08-29T12:13:00.001-06:00

One of the things Carol wanted us to do while there is go to a local German Restaurant. So we headed off to dinner. We sat down and immediately the server spilled an entire glass of ice water on Pauline. "welcome to America" we told her, she was a really good sport about it, even though she was very wet.

Here we are waiting on our dinner....Jim and Carol

Jody and Pauline....

And our food. I can't remember what everyone had (the actual title, so I will try)

Jody: Spaetzle with ham and a sauce...

Kevin some type of roast, German potato salad, and spaetzle

Jim a sandwich and salad and fries

Pauline schnitzel, potato dumplings, red cabbage.

Carol, I don't remember....so I am completely taking a guess.....chicken with dumplings and an egg...

Dinner was good, Pauline said some things were not done correctly on her dish, but it was fun to try.

Around Town

2011-08-29T12:13:00.000-06:00

We spent a little time just wondering around town....This guy was a really hard chess player, we all had to try to beat him....

I was really concentrating...

Then I made my move...check and mate...

We went to Harry and David

They were making the most wonderful smelling caramel corn. OMG I was in love with just the smell.

Here is Pauline on the tire swing at Ron and Kit's house.

Yes this is a computer cord "man"

Fun Center

2011-08-28T13:28:00.000-06:00

Tuesday we went to the Fun Center.

We played mini golf....here Carol lines up her shot.

Kassidy, looking...did it go in the hole?

Pauline, thinks she can hide out in the corner...

Of course I needed a picture with the bear....

Kevin and Jim decided to go racing...

yes, Jim is drinking and driving...(water)

Kevin and Pauline decided to take a couple rounds in the batting cages...

And everyone including Abby and Kassidy played a few games inside too.

Birthday Party

2011-08-28T07:53:00.000-06:00

We weren't able to be there on Carol's actual birthday so we had a birthday party Monday night while we were there. Those in attendance: Carol, Jim, Kevin, Jody, Pauline, Kim, Matt, Kassidy, Abby, Ron and Kit.

And we tried on Pauline's famous orange glasses...Kevin "in a bugs life"

Crater Lake

2011-08-28T07:52:00.000-06:00

Sunday before we headed to the Ranch, we first made a detour and stopped at Crater Lake. It was really really blue that day....I think most of these pictures speak for themselves....

Someday I really hope to spend an entire day there, and do the boat trip down on the lake....

Still a little snow up there...

Oooh look at us, on the "other" side of the wall.....we are so dangerous...

Here is a panoramic Kevin did with his camera

And Pauline Jumped over Crater Lake too....

This sign cracked me up. Really? You think you should stay away? How sad that of course there are dumb people out there and this sign is necessary....

I loved this stump, It would make awesome yard art...

Salt Flats

2011-08-27T14:13:00.000-06:00

OK....more trip stuff (and more to come....you may have to even page down to see all the new posts...)

On the way to Oregon, driving across Utah, of course we had to stop at the Salt Flats

And Pauline Jumped over them....

And of course we wrote our names in rocks...

Sites of the road trip to Oregon

2011-08-27T06:58:00.000-06:00

We have been busy. After we got home from Chicago we were only home 3 days and then we headed off in the car to Oregon. This is a bunch of pictures "from the road" some on the way to Oregon and some on the way back...

We drove through Wyoming on both directions...

These are Pauline....

And this is Pauline falling off the rock......

We also drove through Utah both directions as well. However there wasn't a nice place to stop and take a picture...besides see the no Parking sign....

On the way out we drove through Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and then into Oregon. Unfortunately Nevada and Oregon didn't have a nice place or sign to take a picture of.

There also isn't much to see....

On the way back we drove through California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming...here is Mt Shasta....

And Lake Shasta...

And this BBQ Sand at KFC, did not sound good at all...sounds a little gritty....but heh for $2 might not be too bad.

While in Oregon, I bought Stormy this toy Giraffe that we named Geoffrey. The road going home was so straight and boring at times that even Geoffrey could drive it....so I let him take the wheel for a bit.

We will have more vacation pics soon...

Art Institute

2011-08-27T06:57:00.000-06:00

My boss had mentioned to me on Saturday that if we wanted to go to the Art Institute to let her know and she would meet us there. She is a member and could get us in free. Well with how hot it was outside at the Bean, we thought some indoor sightseeing sounded great. I sent my boss a text and she came right over to get us in.

Here are some of our "favorite" pieces.....

Pauline thought this was a great Knick Knack

Kevin liked the Zombie and the Medieval Area:

I went with the more traditional art pieces:

They also had a special display of Soviet War Posters. Definitely click on the link to learn more about what they are. This is the first time these enormous handmade posters have been displayed in the United States since World War II.

Here are a few of the posters....

This is the description of the poster at the bottom. Kevin took the picture of both, and then I had to laugh....notice the "no photography" sign....oops. Kevin didn't notice till after he took the picture.

We only had a couple of hours in the museum. I really hope to go back and spend more time. We barely scratched the surface of the place. The Native American area was really cool, as were the miniature houses.

Downtown Chicago and the Bean

2011-08-26T14:40:00.000-06:00

We tried to do a variety of things, so Friday while we were wondering around we went to a couple of malls....and to the Lego store, where I took a picture with Woody.

And Pauline found her favorite dress...A dress made out of Skittles!

There was this giant Marilyn Monroe downtown, she was approximately 30-40 feet tall. Unfortunately I didn't get to take my picture with her.

Sunday after we left Navy Pier, we walked down Michigan Avenue towards the bean...and Pauline found her favorite book store...

The Bean:

Kevin steadying the bean...

So we started the day at the Willis Tower, had a huge rain storm, but by this time it was getting HOT and HUMID....we needed to take a break and wanted to see something else. So we weren't too far away from the Art Institute.

Navy Pier

2011-08-26T12:25:00.000-06:00

So the cab ride to Navy Pier was interesting....as most cab rides are in Chicago, you get in, say a little prayer and hold on.....

Right inside was Bubba Gump, so of course Pauline had to go in....

There are also a lot of really neat touristy shops inside and we walked through the very nice atrium....

So we wondered around and then, the sun came out! It was a nice day after all....

So we played at the fun mirrors...

And walked outside along the pier to get a good scene of the Chicago Skyline...

And of course, anytime I can, I pause to take a picture with a statue.....

Willis Tower

2011-08-26T09:50:00.000-06:00

We decided to stay in Chicago and not go home till later on Monday so we could do some sightseeing. So the first place we went on Sunday was to the Willis Tower. Kevin and I had been there before.

Here are some of the views. Notice those clouds coming in....

Pauline in the skybox

Looking from one skybox to the other...outside the building...

Pauline looking down....

Jody and Pauline looking up at Kevin. We are in the skybox so that is the ground way down there...

When we left and went back down to street view it was pouring rain. I mean it was coming down in sheets....we thought the day was ruined for sure as we planned some other outside activities. But we grabbed a cab and headed over to Navy Pier to at least do the inside shops....

Celebratory Dinner

2011-08-26T06:46:00.000-06:00

And what do you do after graduation? You have to Celebrate with a great dinner. Kevin wanted to go to Lawry's the Prime Rib. That is what they do, they serve Prime Rib Dinners....so that is what we had.

It was really good. They start out with the spinning salad bowl. Then the servers actually bring the meat to your table, ask you how you want it cooked and cut it for you right there, and serve you. We also had creamed corn, mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding.

Pauline's plate:

After dinner, we also had dessert of a small sundae. It was really really good, great dinner and great occasion to celebrate!

Ice Cream

2011-08-25T18:45:00.000-06:00

After graduation, we went downtown and walked around and just happened across Ghirardelli .... oh darn thought Kevin and Pauline....so we had to go in.

We had one thing to share...well since I don't really eat much ice cream it was for Kevin and Pauline to share, I just had a couple of bites....

But I guess they liked it ok.....

Graduation

2011-08-25T14:04:00.000-06:00

Graduation day, started off with a Hooding Ceremony for the Master Degree students. Here is Kevin filing in with the other students...

In the hooding ceremony, they call you across the stage and they place the hood (the long piece that hangs down the back) over your head. This is Kevin being hooded:

After the hooding ceremony...

Then it was time for all graduates of all levels to line up with the faculty....

First the students marched in, then the faculty. I didn't know that I was going to be on stage till the night before....then right before we marched in, someone said the first 6 people will be in the front row...so immediately 5 people went to the back of the line and that left me....yep 2nd in line right in the front row. Ugh. That just meant I had to be good, no fidgeting or talking.....

Then the stage dignitaries came in (the provost, and president and speakers and deans...)

This guy (Pauline thought he was funny)

Then people spoke....
The Provost:

The President:

Then the long line of graduates. There were over 7000 graduates and 1100 who participated and walked across the stage...that made for a long wait to sit...so I waited and watched for Kevin:

There he is.....

After Kevin, we just waited for all the graduates to be done....This is me, looking over to the side at the line of graduates thinking "how many more?"

I joke, but really, this is what I do, it is really what we work so hard for every day at the University. It is always great to see students succeed and remember what we do is really making a difference in student’s lives. Seeing families celebrate with their student, and young kids looking up at their mom or dad so proud of what their parent has accomplished, reminds us that we not only touch our student’s lives, but the lives of everyone they touch too. So impressive.

And then graduation was over.....I think all that studying made Kevin's head hurt:

And he had tears of happiness....ok, I think it was just that the sun was really bright.

And here is the two of us together in our graduation regalia.

Congratulations Kevin! I am proud of you!

Chicago Boat Trip

2011-08-25T10:23:00.000-06:00

As most of you know, the first weekend of August we went to Chicago for Kevin's graduation. Since Kevin is a Gift of Knowledge Student (he got a discount on tuition since I work there, that is the "gift of knowledge"), they had a boat reception for all Gift of Knowledge Graduates.

Here is our boat:

While we waited to board we took a stroll along the river and enjoyed the nice weather.

Here we are on the boat, it was a nice reception, appetizers, drinks etc...before we set out to the lake, we had a toast to all the graduates and a few people spoke to congratulate them.

As the sun set, and we road out to the lake, we had great views of the city.

It was a fun evening, good food, music, two magicians, a balloon sculpturer, free drinks, great weather, and good conversations....

Ritter Sport - Weisse Voll-Nuss

2011-08-24T14:59:00.000-06:00

Ok, it has been awhile since I did a chocolate blog, but I've been traveling and so I haven't been blogging. Before I left I had tried the Ritter Sport - Weisse Voll-Nuss (White Chocolate with Nuts).

This is a pretty good bar for a white chocolate bar. Very smooth and the hazelnuts go well with it. It disappeared pretty quick around here, so I guess you can say it went over well.

Some pictures from Pauline

2011-08-24T10:32:00.000-06:00

Here are some fun Pictures from Pauline while at our house:

Stormy:

Custodian? Huh? Pauline thinks he looks like a custodian at her HS. Ha ha ha

Sunset:

Kyburz:

Yummy Cupcakes I made

Batting Cages

2011-08-24T10:15:00.000-06:00

Before we headed off to Chicago and Oregon, I had to make a trip to Greeley to do a home visit. While I was visiting with the family Kevin and Pauline went to a batting cage to pass the time. Why aren't there pictures of Pauline? Well you will have to ask Pauline, but I guess it is because she had the camera :-)

Melting Pot

2011-08-03T10:10:00.000-06:00

On Saturday night, we went with our friends Kim and Ron out to dinner at the Melting Pot. We decided we needed to get together to celebrate all things (birthdays, graduations etc...), for the past few years.

Kevin and Pauline and I arrived a little early, and decided to wait in the bar where it was cool. Yummy drinks....(they aren't really both mine). I had the Orange Martini, Kevin had the strawberry Lemonade with Basil and Vodka, and Pauline had a coke.

We had a really quite private table for the 5 of us. It was great. We had the Four Course Classic for the table. So first was the cheese course. We had Cheddar Cheese and the Traditional Swiss. In this course we had bread, apples, carrots, broccoli, etc..for dipping.

Next was the salad course. We all had different things, Kevin had a Ceasar Salad, I had the California Salad and Pauline, Kim and Ron each had the House Salad.

While we were eating our salads, they started cooking our broths for our cooking style and the next course. We again went with two, a Coq A Vin and a Court Bouillon.

They add some yummy veggies and such too....

While we waited it was a great time to visit and chat with each other too. I love this part as you never feel rushed....

Then our meat entree's arrived for us to cook for our third course. Here starting at the upper left and going clock wise....shrimp, Teriyaki-Marinated Sirloin, Herb-Crusted Chicken Breast, Sesame-Crusted Sushi-Grade Ahi Tuna,, and in the center Peppercorn Angus Sirloin

In addition to all this wonderful food, we had potatoes, mushrooms, and broccoli to add to our broths to cook too.

Below is Pauline, she had dropped something off her fondue fork and had to fish it out.

The 4th course of was dessert. We again went with two the Dark and Dulce Chocolate Fondue, with bittersweet dark chocolate and sweet, thick dulce de leche accented with coarse sea salt shown here:

The second one we had was the traditional Smore's. Milk chocolate topped with marshmallow cream, flambéed and garnished with graham cracker pieces

This course we had as you can see, bananas, strawberries, cheese cake, marshmallows, rice crispie squares, pound cake, brownies, and graham crackers.

It was a great dinner and great company. What a fun Saturday night.

Ritter Sport - Trauben Nuss

2011-08-02T14:53:00.000-06:00

Truaben Nuss translates to Grapes/Raisins and Nuts. Due to the raisins in the bar, it resulted in a different texture. This bar was much chewier but with the crunch of the nuts. The chocolate was the milk chocolate that Ritter is well known for, which is excellent as always.

I have to say that this was not one of my favorites either, mainly due to my preference to avoid fruit and nuts in chocolate. Ritter is trying to give people some variety in their bars, and I am sure some people like this one. However, the opinion around here varied from it was ok to this is one of the worst. I still think the peach/passion fruit was far worse than this, but I don't think I would buy this one either.

Pauline and Mert get the mail

2011-08-02T06:57:00.000-06:00

I know I said just 1.5 weeks ago that getting the mail around here is sort of an "event". That is because the workhorse/golf cart is fun to drive.

Last time Pauline visited she also went to get the mail. Now she is a driving expert (she just got her official driver's license not too long ago)...so she drove my dad down to get the mail the other day....

Stormy's morning routine

2011-08-01T11:52:00.000-06:00

So Stormy sleeps all night, we get up and Kevin and I start working, and this is where we can find her most mornings. Sunbathing and napping in the sun. Why do I post it? I guess because I am jealous at 7 am, this laying in the sun sounds great.

Plantagen Schokolade - Amacado and Guacimo

2011-07-28T14:53:00.000-06:00

When Pauline came she brought some small chocolate bites that I had not seen before (no surprise as there is a vast world of chocolate to eat out there). They are made by Plantagen Schokolade (aka Plantations Chocolate). The two that she brought were the Amacado and the Guacimo bars.

The Amacado is a 60% bar and the Guacimo is a 47% bar. I enjoyed both of these, but I preferred the darker one, just cause I prefer dark chocolate. The 60% is a nice percentage of chocolate, I've had bars with a much higher percentage and in some cases they quickly get bitter and are not pleasant. Now I just need to find these in a bigger bars.

Ladder ball!

2011-07-27T09:45:00.000-06:00

We have a Ladder Ball game or sometimes called Ladder Toss

The basic object is to toss the balls onto the Ladder across the way. Here you can see Kevin and Pauline try their hand at it.

Ritter Sport - Marzipan

2011-07-26T09:38:00.000-06:00

The Ritter Sport Marzipan bar got a mixed reaction around here. Marzipan is not a common flavor in the US, but I grew up having a lot of Dutch treats with Almond paste in them, so I guess I am more inclined to it. Marzipan can taste very different depending on who makes it. I've had some I can barely stand and then there are good ones. To me the Ritter Sport Marzipan is a good one. I liked the dark chocolate/marzipan combination as it has the bitter and the sweet in the same bite. The marzipan almost has a coconut like texture and flavor and it reminds me of eating a Mounds bar.

Unfortunately, Jody's dad and I were the only ones that liked the bar. Everyone else had one bite and that was enough for them. I'm not sure I would buy this bar, but I also would not turn it down, if given one. So I guess this one is a "try it yourself" kinda result.

Enjoying our own wildlife

2011-07-24T21:30:00.000-06:00

We are fortunate to live in a state with lots of wild life. We also like to get to enjoy it often and that means sometimes we leave our area and head towards the mountains. However, sometimes we get to enjoy the wildlife that is literally in our back yard.....

Ritter Sport - Stracciatella

2011-07-23T15:35:00.000-06:00

The latest chocolate bar to be opened from the collection is the Ritter Sport - Stracciatella. It is based on the Italian Gelato Stracciatella which is similar to the American Chocolate Chip ice cream. I found this bar to be quite tasty as well. Chocolate chip ice cream is one of my favorites and so this bar has a lot of flavors that I like. You even get a little bit of the sugar cone flavor in it.

I think if I saw this bar again I would get it as well. Not quite as good as the Espresso bar, but one of the top ones so far.

Its a Girl !!!!

2011-07-23T10:16:00.000-06:00

And she arrives late today! Pauline is on her way back to Colorado for another visit. We are very happy to see her again.

Florian Goes home today

2011-07-22T07:40:00.000-06:00

Today Florian goes home. We will miss him. We have had a fun and FAST 4 weeks. We did a lot of fun stuff, and hope he enjoyed his time. He has promised to write, so I hope he really does.

Going to get the mail

2011-07-21T16:30:00.000-06:00

Around here, getting the mail each day is a highlight. Hmmm what does that say about us? Really it is just fun to get on the cart and drive down to the mail box (about 1 mile round trip).

Making Chocoloate Chip cookies

2011-07-21T08:51:00.000-06:00

Last night after dinner, I decided to make some Chocolate Chip Cookies. Those who know Kevin know that those are his favorites. I didn't do anything special just stuck to the traditional Nestle Toll House Recipe.

Florian helped out.....

First we mixed them up

Put them on baking sheets and into the oven...

and enjoyed.....

Ritter Sport - Espresso

2011-07-20T13:57:00.001-06:00

Well I think I have found my new favorite Ritter Sport Chocolate bar. In the collection of chocolate that Florian brought over, there was this one named Espresso. It intrigued me, as I like coffee and chocolate, but I saved it for later. Well yesterday was later, so now I asked myself why did I wait so long.

So I will be looking for this in my local store and might pick up one every now and then.

Rockies Game

2011-07-19T14:14:00.000-06:00

Every year for Mother's Day and Father's Day, I get my parents tickets to a baseball game. I get my dad wheel chair seat and my mom a companion seat and always in the club level. This year I also got three tickets nearby (for Kevin, and Florian and me). So on Sunday, we went to see the Colorado Rockies play the Milwaukee Brewers

Now the Brewers are not that great of a team, and recently the same can be said about the Rockies. The game was close, but the Rockies lost 3 to 4. The Rockies didn't play so well, so they didn't really deserve to win, but it would have been nice to see them win while we were there.

The Coors Field is a great stadium. It is set up really well and always so beautiful, below you can just see the mountains in the background on the gorgeous day.

This is our attempt at a self taken group photo :-)

Kevin and Jody

We wanted to get a picture of Florian all set in his Rockies hat (free at the game), his t-shirt we had gotten for him before he came to Colorado and the stadium and field behind him. I know it was Florian's first baseball game, I hope he really enjoyed learning about the classic American sport as well as going to a professional game.

Fort Morgan

2011-07-19T06:37:00.000-06:00

So you would think one of the first things we would do when Florian got here would be to go to our famous Rainbow Bridge and see the park. But nope, we have been really busy going to lots of different places and while we cross the bridge a lot, we haven't ever stopped by. So Saturday afternoon, since we were home most of the day, we went down and walked around. It was HOT about 100 F (38C) outside.

This past winter the mountains had a lot of snow, and we have had an unusual July (more rain than normal), so the river is really high right now,

We brought Stormy along too, she loves to go for walks...but she thought it was hot too....so we rested in the shade.

So while Florian goes home this week, we finally made it to the edge of the bridge, so he could have a "Welcome to Fort Morgan" picture.

Harry Potter

2011-07-18T14:34:00.000-06:00

Friday Kevin, Jody and Florian went to Westminster to see the last Harry Potter movie. I thought it was very well done. Of course there are things I wish they had been able to include, but overall it was done well in the spirit of the other movies and the books. I am just so sad that it is over now.....

Learning Baseball

2011-07-15T20:13:00.000-06:00

To get ready for the Colorado Rockies Baseball game on Sunday. Kevin has been teaching Florian a little about the game. So for the last couple of days, they have practiced hitting the ball outside.

A swing and a miss

Foul Ball

Love the look on his face :-)

A Hit!

Ritter Sport - Pfirsich-Maracuja Joghurt

2011-07-14T15:59:00.000-06:00

I didn't have high expectations for the Pfirsich-Maracuja Joghurt (Peach / Passion Fruit / Yogurt) bar. For one it is white chocolate, so not really chocolate, and then it had fruit in it. So here goes nothing...

Unfortunately, this is not a bar I would ever personally get again. The peach and passion fruit flavors are very strong in it. I like peaches but have never cared for passion fruit much. But trying out new things is what life is all about, so I'm glad I tried it. Jody's mom did seem to like it and took the rest of it home, as this was the first bar I didn't want to finish.

Florian Cooks!

2011-07-13T15:54:00.000-06:00

On Monday night, Florian made Schnitzel for us.

First he breaded the meat....

And then he cooked it in a pan.

I made some noodles, salad, and strawberries to go with it. It was fun to try something new, that Florian could share with us.

Ritter Sport - Nugat

2011-07-12T11:13:00.000-06:00

When I looked at the picture on the wrapper I expected something similar to a # Musketeers bar. Hard chocolate shell with whipped chocolate inside. This bar was not like that. The texture of the outer shell and the filling was very similar so there was not a lot of contrast.

However, this is one of my favorites so far. Good flavor, even with the hazel nuts in it, and very light.