High waters

We had an above average year of snow fall in the mountains of Colorado this last winter.  With warm weather and some rains recently we are once again watching the water rise and some places further upstream from us are getting flooded again. You may remember the flood story from last year.  Well Kevin and I noticed last Sunday the water was raising again and spreading back out.  So we took a little walk across the bridge: 

We see this new path under the bridge being created again, this was not there a few days before. 

 Even Mobi stopped to sick her head through the bridge supports and take a look. 

Here you can see the water is rising.  Remember last year when we had the flood, the water was over a mile wide and up above this bank flooding into the park beyond those trees.  It would have a LONG way to go to get there again this year, and we don't anticipate that, but still it is high for our area.  

 Here you can see how close to the road bridge it is.  At this time on Sunday it still had quite a bit of room to spread out so it hasn't really risen here, but the river is much wider today. 

I think how nature provides for us and the power of the water is truly amazing to see what it can do. 

Pheasant hunting?

We seem to have a small pheasant family (3) living at the logs at the end of our property.  So no, they are not hunted (unless Chip and Dale decide to try to hunt and they are quite the killers).  But it is fun to see the wildlife we have and enjoy them. 

Guittard NonPareils

There is something about NonPareils that I love. Maybe it is the memories of my mom getting them for me, albeit rarely, from the Sears candy counter as a kid. Maybe it is the crunch of the white dots when you eat them.. anyway I just love them. So when I was at Costco and they had a bag of them, into the cart they went. There was a look from Jody that said to me "Do you really need that?", but I left it in the cart anyway.

So the brand that they had at Costco was Guittard, and they are a pretty well known chocolatier, so I expected something good. Needless to say I got what I expected. The discs are a little over 1" in diameter and are just the right thickness and snap nicely when you bite into them. I'll be sad when the bag is gone, but such is life and maybe Costco will have them next time I am there. :)

Next up... working on the sizable stash that arrived from Germany... 

A gift from Germany....

Hey Guess what?  Did you know that Kevin really likes chocolate?  He does and if you know him at all, you already knew it.  Well our friends in Germany also know.... You all remember our exchange student Florian?  Well his family sent us a great Easter box.  We just got it a week ago, and it was packed FULL of really yummy treats.  Check it out.....now for me...there are mint eggs, and a mint chocolate bar....I love mint...don't get me wrong, I like a lot of the others but those are my favorites. 

If you come to visit soon, there will still be some for you to try too....Kevin has promised to blog about the chocolate bars as we taste them. 

Enjoying the view....

 Sometimes we get so busy we forget that we live in an incredible area and should really step back, reflect and enjoy the nature around us.  The other day, we enjoyed our visitors at the end of our property. 

Where or where has Kevin and Jody been?

Well here it is already towards the end of March.  Where have we been in 2014?  Well Jody has been to Chicago and to Miami, and will be in Orlando next week (all work, no fun).  Kevin has spent two weeks in Baton Rouge (all work, no fun).  Actually the all work, no fun motto seems to be pretty consistent for us in 2014 so far.  Don't get me wrong, it isn't that we don't get some short small times to relax, it is just that for both of us work has been crazy.  Really Crazy.  We both have very large projects we are working on and long hours.

Kevin will be starting a new project in a few weeks (we hope he finds one), as he rolls off his current project.  We don't know what that will bring, likely more travel for him, we just do not know where yet.  Jody will be heading to Chicago again in April for meetings, hosting her own conference for the entire university (Her 6th annual) in June, and traveling to Georgia to present at a conference (Kevin will go with her).  So it looks to be a very busy spring around here....

It has also been cold and windy here.  Really Windy.  So being outside really hasn't been on the top of our list.  However, the days are getting warmer, and it won't be long and we will be able to sit out on the deck with a glass of wine and relax....aaaah looking forward to that.  Maybe some sunshine, and vitamin D will be just what we need. 

Ch ch cha

Chia

First Snow

 We had our first snow a few weeks ago.  Here in Colorado, we tend to have warm days, and cold days side by side a lot in the fall.  One of my coworkers said it best when she said "your weather is Schizophrenic"


Anyway, these pictures are the same day.  We woke up to snow and it was still snowing.  By 3 in the afternoon it was almost all gone

We are lucky, in that this is quite common, for snow not to stay too long.  Soon, though it will be cold all day long. 

Cute kitties

As it gets colder out, the Chip and Dale want to hang out in the house more.  Here is where I found them one day.  Then I kicked them outside :-)

DisneyLand!

We got to go to Disney Land recently.  It had been almost 15 years since we had been there.  Yes we have been to Disney World, but still.  Since Kevin has been traveling and working not too far there, I flew out with him and stayed and worked, and then we took a long weekend to play.  Kevin had a bunch of hotel points so we had a free room and got an upgrade: 

Our room overlooked Disney.  In fact we got to watch the fireworks from bed....

Last time we were at Disney Land, downtown Disney was just starting out, and the California Adventure Park did not exist.  So first we spent some time in Downtown Disney....and got to go to one of my all time favorite stores....the World of Disney Store...we actually went back several times...

 They had this really great art store too.  I fell in love with this painting.  But Kevin said $13,000+ was too much. 

One day while walking, they had some street artists and several doing some chalk work on the ground.  Very cool:

 

 There is a Lego Store there.....One of Kevin's all time favorite stores.  I like all the giant things put together with Legos:

 

We spent a full day at California Adventure, and then a Full day at the Disney Land park, and one day we did a few things at both....

We rode the carousel.  

But we did not ride the big Wheel.  I am too chicken of heights for that.  

We met a lot of Characters....of course Mickey himself.  He gave me a BIG Kiss and Hug.  He was so glad to see me again. 

Goofy was glad to see Kevin too.  (but still not as excited as Mickey was to see me)

 

Don't forget if it wasn't for Walt, none of this would have been possible....

We saw parades at both parks.  Disney really does a great job with parades.  One day while sitting on Main Street waiting for the parade to begin, we got Serenaded by this group:

 

I still like green Army Men.....

 

 

Do you remember Tinker Toys....this was really cool

 

 

See those girls dressed as Jesse:

 

Well they weren't tied to that pole for nothing.  This is what they did.  Kinda crazy as you go down the parade.  But perhaps this is something for our cousin April to do....

 

 

 

We also ate lots of Mickey food:

Can you believe that was my very first Mickey Ice Cream....

We also really enjoyed Cars Land at California Adventure.  So fun

 

 

We toured Mickey's house, and I sat on Pluto's bed...Mobi was so jealous

I wish we had a regular mailbox, so I could have one of these...

And somehow, Kevin ended up in Jail....as usual.....

The Sunday we were there was my aunt Nancy's birthday and we were seeing her the next morning.   Well if it is your birthday at Disney, you can get a Pin that says Happy Birthday.  Then all day long, everyone says Happy Birthday to you.  So I got one with Nancy's name on it and wore it all day.  That way I could collect all the Disney magic in the pin and I gave it then to Nancy.  

One of the funny things was that evening we went to dinner in Downtown Disney.  I forgot it was on, and my waiter brought me this cupcake and they all sang to me.  So that pin was full of magic!

I told Mickey that I would try to not make it so long before we saw him again. He showed us to his door, and put on a happy face, to tell us goodbye.