Happy Birthday Granny!

My grandparents have been visiting us for the past week and we've had wonderful quality time together playing games and sight seeing. I was so excited to have my Granny with us on her birthday, as we are usually states away. She is such a special person to everyone who knows her, and I felt lucky to be with her to celebrate her 76th birthday!

I made a Sour Cream and Lemon Pound Cake for her birthday cake since she loves lemon desserts. I had a hard time figuring out what to make her, as she kept insisting I bake something the rest of us wanted (like um, chocolate!). Well that wasn't going to happen, it was HER day! The cake came out delicious, but doesn't look very pretty. I would make this again... I followed some recommendations in the comments for this recipe and tripled the lemon zest, added a little more lemon juice, and topped it with a glaze (powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest). Here's a picture of how it turned out... As usual I had trouble getting it out of the pan, so I just flipped it upside down which actually did better I think for the lemon glaze.

Happy Birthday Granny! I love you more than I could ever put into words.

Catch-up: July

I'm still trying to catch up... We kicked off July with our trip to Jackson, WY and then kept rolling. Here's a list of highlights:

• Renaissance Festival: Went with some friends and enjoyed the junk food and people watching, but I think I'm good for another few years before I need to go back!
  
• Lilith Fair: I was able to score $10 tickets to Lilith Fair, so I got some girl friends to go with and we had a good time. I swear what money we saved on tickets was easily spent on food and drinks! Bottled water (which you couldn't bring in yourself) was $5, and this concert started at 2PM and went until 10 PM! The highlights for me was Erin McClarey, Ingrid Michaelson, and obviously Sarah McLachlan. I have to say I was disappointed in the format of Lilith. If you wanted to reserve a good spot on the lawn for the main artists, then you couldn't be at the other stages. I really wish that ALL the Lilith artists went to ALL the Fairs nation wide, like they did in the late 90s. I've heard that they are trying to make it better 2011... I hope so!

Sarah McLachlan

Finale - all artists

• Rocky Mountain High: Event at Denver Museum of Nature and Science... we met up with some friends, and made some new ones! We had a great time, and learned about how the Rocky Mountains were formed over cocktails while enjoying this view:

Sunset over the Rockies

The Denver skyline

• My little brother came to visit for 10 days! He's 8 years old, and wow, what a whirlwind that was! We kept busy, as I tried to show him all that Colorado has to offer :). Here's a run down of our activities:
• Hiked the loop around Red Rocks
• Saw the movie Despicable Me, and we both loved it!
• Hiked at Elk Meadow Park and saw a mountain lion (from a safe distance)
• Took a lantern tour of Cave of the Winds - his favorite part of his visit!
• Walked around Garden of the Gods
• Went bowling with M & K :)
• Camped and hiked at Rainbow Lakes - fire and s'mores need I say more?

Whew, I think that's it for July! 

Oh Canada!

Note: I wrote this last week when I didn't have a WiFi connection, and forgot to publish it later. So... here it is finally. More Canada highlights and pictures will be posted soon! 

We started our Canada adventure last week by hanging out on Devil Lake (Ontario) with my husband's entire family. We spent the week swimming, fishing, playing games, and relaxing. I read two books while we were there! We also took a day trip to Ottawa. It was a great week, and we had some real quality time with everyone.

Once we left Devil Lake we took a VIA train from Kingston to Montreal (Quebec) and spent a couple of days there. We spent the entire time in Old Montreal with the rest of the tourists. We couldn't believe how crowded it was there. We went on a walking tour which was very informative, and also went to the Montreal Museum of Archeology and History - which I would recommend visiting if you're ever in Montreal - and learned about how the city was born and became a metropolis.

This morning we took a train to Quebec, and are staying at a hotel in the heart of Vieux (Old) Quebec. I'm in love with this area. It's like a slice of Europe in North America. It's beautiful, and I just don't think we will be able get enough out of our two days here. We definitely want to come back!

I'm typing this from a ferry we are taking a joy ride on to see the city from the water (we are waiting at port). Here is a picture of Old Quebec from the St. Lawrence seaway.




After Quebec, we are flying to Halifax, Nova Scotia and renting a car to explore Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. I'm so excited for that portion of our trip.

Till next time....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My 5: Thanksgiving 2009 Edition

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a while since I've made a "my five" list, and I thought it was a perfect time to blog it since I have so much to be thankful for this year. It's something some friends and I have been doing randomly (not just for Thanksgiving) for years, and I don't even remember who started it... This year I was reminded by another friend - thanks ACQ!

1. My family and friends.
   
2. Living in beautiful, colorful Colorado. What a difference it makes to live in a place you love!
3. Our new house that is becoming home more and more each day.
4. My pupdog Koda, she is my sunshine.
5. My husband - for all his love, patience, and getting a job here so we could move to CO!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day with their families and/or friends!

Note: This was supposed to be published yesterday but somehow I forgot to hit publish... so it's a day late. Oops.

Calling all Moms!

I am so excited about Shaklee's new line specifically for babies and kids! These new products will be available May 1st, and you can check out their online brochure here! I should be getting more information about Shakleebaby and Shakleekids soon... let me know if you're interested and I will pass it along. Ordering is easy through my Shaklee Independent Distributor website.

Catch up

It has been a while since I posted, so I thought I should do a catch up post before blogging about new topics of interest (I have a list!). November was a busy month for me... Work was hectic, the holiday madness began with Thanksgiving, and I celebrated my 30th birthday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Most years we travel to be with family for the holiday, but this year we stayed home and celebrated with our friends. We have much to be thankful for, and it was nice to share the day with great friends eating yummy food and watching football. Though I have decided that 8 hours of football is just too much for me :).

As for my 30th Birthday... it was easier than I expected or maybe it just hasn't hit me yet. I don't feel 30 years old! I had a great night out with friends - dinner, drinks, and live music. Funny how the band got exponentially better as the night went on and more drinks were consumed. I have decided to embrace my 30s - they are the new 20s right? Right! What is funny is that yesterday I woke up with a sore neck. I couldn't turn my head to the right. And though it's better today it is definitely not back to normal. It's amazing how many movements require the muscles in your neck, I had no idea! Hopefully this is just a freak thing, and not the beginning of my body falling apart like my husband keeps warning me about! I will not allow it. As soon as my neck is back to normal I'm going for a long run.

I can't believe another year has flown by... where has the time gone? The holiday season is upon us already, and I have yet to even begin Christmas shopping! Thankfully our families usually only exchange gifts for the kids. Personally, I much rather plan some fun activities to all do together as a family than exchange gifts. For one thing, shopping this time of year is stressful in itself, and I hate the stress of finding the perfect gift. Besides, it's not GREEN to buy stuff just to have a gift to give. It is quality time with loved ones that is priceless, and in my opinion, the greatest gift. I'm trying to cook up some ideas for things our family can do together this year and that all ages will enjoy (from grandchildren to grandparents)... let me know if you have any ideas to share!

Oh, if there are any Twilight fans out there... I updated the previous post with my thoughts about the movie in the comments section. There are book/movie spoilers so be warned!