Garden of the Gods, and Pikes Peak

On July 6 we took my parents to Garden of the Gods, and up to Pikes Peak.

Garden of the Gods is in Colorado Springs which is about 90 minutes from where we live. The outstanding geologic features of the park are the ancient sedimentary beds of red, blue, purple, and white sandstones, conglomerates and limestone that were deposited horizontally, but have now been tilted vertically and faulted by the immense mountain building forces caused by the uplift of the Pikes Peak massif. Evidence of past ages; ancient seas, eroded remains of ancestral mountain ranges, alluvial fans, sandy beaches and great sand dune fields can be read in the rocks (www.wikipedia.com). Garden of the Gods was very mellow, relaxing good time. We hit the gift shop and the cafe for lunch afterward.

My mom and dad at Garden of the Gods.

Mark and I.

Rocks

Pikes Peak, which is at an elevation of 14, 110 ft., was the exact opposite of Garden of the Gods. The road leading to Pikes Peak is shaky at best. There are sections of the road that are not paved, and many sections have no guard rail; one small mistake and you will tumble down the mountain. To call the road leading to the top two lanes would be generous.

Mark pointing out that we could easily drive off the cliff.

A view out of my window on the way up to the Peak.

Mark, please pay close attention.
We made it to the top.

My Dad really felt the effects of the altitude at the top, and to a lesser extent my Mom & Mark did more than I, although I could really feel it. I ended up driving down the mountain. Mark said he would never go to the top of Pikes Peak again. The road was scary, but something I would do again.

July 4, 2010

July 4th was such a fun day this year for Mark and I. My parents arrived on July 2 and will be staying with us for a couple of weeks. It was nice having my mom here on July 3 to help with the preparations for July 4. On July 4 we had my parents, and the Hughes family over.

The day started out pretty good weather wise, but turned out to be windy, rainy, thundering, and quite cold. Due to the clouds, lightening, and rain the firework show in our town was canceled, but our neighbors came through with a small, illegal show that were able to enjoy.

My mom and dad hanging out in our backyard.

Howard cheering on the Giants.

Emma and Sarah playing in our backyard.

The clouds moving in.

My mom trying to keep warm while waiting for the fireworks to start.

Setting off poppers on the corner.

Our Lou Boy on the 4th of July

Happy 37th to Me

Last Sat. April 24 I turned 37. This year, Marks mom Helen was able to join us on my birthday. What a treat to have some family to hang out with on my birthday, it was so nice to have two people sing to me. This year I decided that for my birthday I wanted to go to a pottery studio and paint pottery. I knew the only way I could ever get Mark to go with me was to do this for my birthday. Painting pottery is something Mark would never want to do, but it did seem like he was having a fun time. Mark chose to paint a chip and dip plate in the theme of the 49ers. On the back of the plate he put the word Lemonade, meaning, when you're given lemons. Helen chose a trivet to paint, and I picked out a bowl that I painted into a popcorn bowl.


My first present came on Fri. Mark sent me flowers




















On Sat. we started our day by going out to breakfast, then a few errands, and then on to the pottery studio. Painting pottery was so much fun, we were at the studio for four hours.

Helen and I painting
















Mark making Lemonade















Helen painting her trivet















Me working on my popcorn bowl















And, the finished products

Dr. Rebecca, Dr. Rebecca to the OR

Well Mark and I had quite the incident tonight. Mark has been known to get a skin tag or two, and when he wants one removed, he calls me in. So he had this one on his leg that was bothering him a lot. He had been asking me for a couple of weeks to cut it off. Well today he asked again. I told him when I was done working I would take a look at it. It was big, but nothing I couldn't handle. I'm sure most people might find this practice of cutting off skin tags gross, but I love it. I get my tools (tweezers, antiseptic wipes, and a pair of scissors that I set aside for his tags) and I go to work. Looking at this tag, it appears to be pretty big, and I am a little bit nervous to cut it. I tell him, no matter how much it hurts, don't yell. Cutting off his tags never involves a whole lot of blood, it really is no big deal. Well, as soon as I cut the tag off, man, the blood started gushing. I didn't know what to do, this has never happened before, I was not prepared for this. I quickly grabbed the box of tissue on my side of the bed to try to stop the blood, it would not stop. Knowing how much Mark hates blood, I was trying to play it cool, like it was no big deal, you know, all in a days work, but it would not stop bleeding. I was starting to get nervous, thinking he might bleed to death. After about 30 minutes of non stop bleeding I was thinking that a trip to urgent care might be in order, but I didn't want to say anything. Thankfully Mark said he might need to go to the Dr. as he was starting to feel week. I think Mark lost a good amount of blood. I could tell he was getting nervous, but I could see that the bleeding was slowing down. After about 45 minutes the operation was complete, the bleeding had stopped. Later in the evening we were watching TV and he was talking about how much blood he might have lost, and he looks over at me and says, "You thought it was great." I have to admit, it was sort of like my own private surgery show.

The Tax Man

Mark and I had our taxes done today. A tradition that Mark and I started during our first year of marriage is to go out to dinner on the day we have our taxes done and celebrate the fact that we are getting a return. All I can say is that this year that tradition has sadly come to an end.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies. The only problem is that a batch makes way too many cookies for me, as Mark does not like them. I really wanted some, so I came up with this great idea. What if I make some for me, and deliver the rest to our neighbors. I can report that our house smells great, and all of our neighbors are enjoying warm chocolate chip cookies on a chilly night.

Our new flooring

Mark and I have had some work done to the inside of our house. We had new carpet in the living room, and family room, new vinyl in the downstairs bathroom, and the hall leading in from the garage, and new wood flooring in the kitchen, and dining area. We love it. We did notice that on the wood floor in some places it was separating. We called Empire to report the separation. Yesterday they sent out somebody to take a look. The guy was in our house for about 30 seconds and said he had to go to the truck and make a phone call. When he came back in, he said he had bad news. Our floor was installed incorrectly, and has to be removed, and new flooring installed. We are grateful that so far, Empire seems to be living up to the warranty, we are keeping our fingers crossed.