Stormy Weather

Friends,  Many of you are probably aware that Colorado is experiencing heavy storms and flooding.  I was out during the initial downpour yesterday and it was quite an experience.
Today we are scheduled to pack up our daughter's house and begin their move; they will be with us for two nights. We are praying that the rain and flooding will stop, not only so we can get this move done but for the rest of our state as well. 
I will be checking in as I am able.
Blessings,
Noreen

Severe Weather Warning

Good afternoon friends,  Today has been busy and some crazy weather is happening here in Colorado.
I was just finishing up at the hair salon when the sky opened up and it poured.  I mean really poured. I was planning on meeting my hubby at the copy store, but let me tell you that between the hail and flooded roads it wasn't fun to be out.  I was more frightened than when we had our tornado; in fact, I wondered if there was a tornado.  Visibility was horrendous and the roads were impassible in some places.  Mind you, we pack up my daughter tomorrow-so I'm praying that the rain stops.  We got three inches in about an hour.   Up north they've had 5 inches.  Crazy I tell you. 
I'm not sure what tomorrow holds, wish we could just stay inside-which we will do if there is more flooding.  Seems like it is going to be a bad monsoon season. 
Hoping all my friends in nearby states are safe. 
Hugs,
Noreen

Mid Summer Fun

Good Afternoon Friends, I have to say that this week is going to be so busy, my posts might be late or miss a day. Firstly though, I want to share about a Summer Fun get together we had Saturday afternoon. We had initially planned on a big Open House party in June, but somehow that month came and went with no party. Instead of having a huge party, which would mean hours of work and prep we decided to have two smaller gatherings. We didn't want a house warming party, because heaven knows we have almost all we need. So on Saturday afternoon we had three couples over; two live on our old street-one is Kam and her hubby and another couple. The third couple we've gotten to know are locals as well, all three go to my church. It was such fun!!! We laughed at stories being told and talked of trips and snow shoeing. Here is the spread we had; wantedit simple with just  finger foods and it was perfect.

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Below you will see the incredible flower arrangement and jar that Kam and Mark brought. Thank you my friend! It was so thoughtful and still looks as fresh as it did Saturday.

In a couple of weeks, we will have hubby's golf buddies and their wives over for an afternoon. It is nice that we have plenty of room to spread out. The rest of the week will be filled with packing the last bit of household belongings for my daughter and her family. They rent a truck with a couple of trailers on Wednesday morning and we will pack them up. The family and their pups will be here for two nights, until they take possession of their new home. Life and laughter will overflow here; it will be such fun. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and that your week will be easy and smooth.
Blessings,
Noreen

Happiness Is...

Happy Friday to you! For many, Friday signals the end of a work week and the beginning of fun. For those of us retired, generally every day is a good one. Today is no exception, as hubby returns from a two day golf trip. I'm taking a neighbor out to lunch and then showing her some new stores; she has only been here a year and is having a difficult time finding her way around. I think I can help with that. This evening 6 of our grands are coming, while mom and dad go out to dinner. Tomorrow is another busy day with three or four couples coming over for some Summer Fun-you know the 60's music will be playing.
Watching Hunter with his gal pal Lexie made me think of the simple things in life that will bring us contentment and joy, if we let them. Don't these two look so contented together. An interesting thing I've discovered is that Hunter is very happy going on a two or three mile walk with Lexie, but he seems to get more tired just walking a mile without her.

Next week will be another crazy week as Kim, our youngest, her hubby, their kiddos and two dogs, pack up the house and move to a new one. Poor Kim has still had an awful summer cold, but packing continues. I'm hoping to spend every day with her next week finishing up; that is if she'll let me.
I hope you find joy in the simple things of life this weekend.
Blessings,
Noreen & Hunter

Happy Anniversary

Fifteen years ago today, our oldest daughter walked up the isle and pledged her life to our son-in-law. What a wondrous day it was, so magical and so filled with love. When we first met her husband to be, I was struck by what a man of God he was; however, he was seven years older than Carrie and truly a man. My girl was young, yet mature for her age. First, Brent built a relationship and friendship with our entire family, then little by little got to know our girl. I had released my daughter to the Lord and asked that He make the way clear. Brent is such an incredible man, son, husband, father; he is more like a son than a son-in-law. When he first met our family, he wasn't sure about this homeschooling thing. Look at him now, they have six children and homeschool. He is such an incredible husband and provider for our daughter; we are so proud of who he has grown to be. We are so proud of their marriage and the testimony they have.

This photo is almost a year and a half old, their youngest girl isn't in it; though Carrie may be pregnant in this photo, it's hard to tell. I can't believe we don't have a photo of the two of them, that will change. They will be celebrating tomorrow night and we will have the grands over. One thing that amazes me is how quickly the years fly by-15 yrs ago. Wow, is all I can say. Our youngest had just graduated from high school. I was heading back into the work force-ugh!
 We are so very blessed by our daughter, her hubby and our grands.
Happy Anniversary Brent and Carrie,  may you have many, many years together and may the Lord continue to bless you!
We love you!
Mom and Dad

Summer Fun

It's outdoor Wednesday and I wanted to share a fun class one group of our grands are taking-Archery. Each summer both daughter's have their kiddos take some sort of class; swimming, rock climbing, archery or maybe horseback riding. The year, Carrie's kiddos finished their swimming lessons and now are taking archery. This isn't new to them, they had targets at their old house and loved it. All three oldest have their own bows and are doing so well. Here is our oldest grandson.

Love his form.

Our granddaughter just got her own bow and has exceptional aim.

Our second grandson trying to out-shoot the others in class.
All three have great aim and I imagine the older two boys will eventually want to go bow hunting. For now, this is fine.
Hope you have a fantastic day!
Hugs,
Noreen

Happy Tuesday to you!  It's a beautiful morning here in Colorado, but already hot.  This morning, as I was driving home from a walk, I heard about a video that shows a 90 yr old gentleman dancing.  I thought it was Youtube, but it isn't so I can upload it here.  However, if you need something to brighten you day, check out this short video.  Here's the link
http://time.com/3012697/this-video-of-an-old-man-dancing-will-brighten-your-day/

I love seeing seniors participating in an activity that embraces life.
Hope you enjoy!
Hugs,
Noreen

One Big Boy

Happy Monday Friends. I hope you had a great weekend filled with relaxation and love. On Friday, our daughter and her five kiddos as well as their two dogs(Petrol and Sampson)came to spend the day with us. They were getting new roof on and needless to say Sampson is one big dog who is very protective; it was decided with the heat-we've been in the high 90's, it would be better to have him at our house. Now you must understand, Sampson is a 120 lb Newfie/Lab/Husky mix who is around 11 yrs old. He isn't as agile as he used to be; that boy could jump about four feet off the ground-all fours. Anyway, the poor old guy was pretty stressed at our house, because he hasn't been in a car for years or left their area. He did fine considering and it was a trial run in case the family has to stay with us for a night when they are moving. For some weird reason, I didn't have any photos of Sampson; so took some this morning. He is such an incredible dog and we all love him. Here is he; you can see that he is still shedding and also has a bandage on his rear leg. Somehow when the family was camping, he got a cut on it.

I'm not sure if I ever shared this story with you all or not, but approximately two or three years ago two of our grands were out in the yard playing.  Sampson started barking and so sil decided to go see what he was so upset about.  It ends up that they had a 6' bull snake in the yard and Sampson had placed himself between the snake and the girls.  He was not about to let that snake near his girls.  For a large breed dog, he has surpassed what we thought his life expectancy to be.  When I think of a time in the future when he won't be around, I get really sad.  He has never been an inside dog and prefers to be outside, even in the winter.  He does have a wonderful dog house in the garage, so he can get out of the weather if it is too much. As he's gotten older, he definitely doesn't stay out in the snow like he used to.
The family will probably get another big watchdog, since our sil travels a lot, but they aren't sure whether they will get an inside dog that doesn't shed or another dog that can handle the Colorado winters.  I just don't want to think about it yet. 
I will say that Hunter was quite perturbed that another dog was in his yard on Friday; he's only met Sampson once when he was a puppy and I was more afraid that with Sampson's play and jumping he might hurt Hunter. 
Well, I'm off to see if I can get some tank tops for this hot weather.  I'm sure that all the fall clothing is in, but I'm going to try.
Have a great day friends.
Hugs, Noreen

Celebrate Good Times

Last night our family gathered to celebrate two special guys.  Here they are~hubby who turned 62 yesterday and Mr. B who turned 11.  It was a wonderful celebration, complete with dinner, dessert and presents.  I love having such a big family; seems like we are always celebrating someone.
Today our youngest, Kim, and her kiddos will be spending the day with us(as well as their two dogs). We are having a new roof put on their house before it closes next at the end of the month. Our house should be filled with lots of laughter and fun today. 
Hope you have a great Friday and fantastic weekend.
Noreen

Two Awesome Guys

Happy Thursday to you! Today is a very special day in our family, because we have two incredible guys who celebrate the same birthday. The first one is my dear hubby; I am so blessed to have him in my life. He is an incredible man, husband, father and grandpa. Here he is on a cliff in Kauai; he loves the Islands and would love it if we had moved there years ago. Eleven years ago, our oldest daughter gave birth to a little boy. Hubby teased her because her first born son was named after both his grandfathers and then her second son was born on hubby's birthday.

Here is our Mr. B as he is known; actually he has lots of nicknames. He has a heart of gold, a wonderful sense of humor and is a wonderful son, grandson and brother. He loves animals, specifically dogs(like his nana)and also loves music. He is all boy, rather young man.

Both of our grandsons love anything Lego and even have a blog reviewing Lego kits.  Here he is hamming it up on his brother's birthday last March.  We couldn't be more proud of him.  Of course, if you know me well enough, you know I say that about all our grands.  Mr. B will eventually begin breeding dogs, as his dad did when he was a young man.  Not sure what breed he'll choose; I try to steer him in the direction that I hope he goes-because when a grand has an up and coming business, his grandparents do support him.  This is why Hunter doesn't yet have a pup to share his bed with yet.

To my guys, Happy Happy Birthday to you both! May your day be filled with love and laughter and may your year be wonderful.

Have a great day friends~
Noreen

Here in Colorado, we have some "healthy choice" fast food restaurants~Mad Greens, Noodles &Co., and Quidoba. Quidoba is a fast food Mexican restaurant where "fresh" is the key component. I discovered this favorite about four years ago and love it. I've never been a fan of Taco Bell or other chains, but Quidoba has changed where I go for a quick, good and reasonably priced lunch. Yesterday, after all my walks, I met a close friend at the restaurant right down the road from our house. My choice is typically a "Naked Chicken Burrito"-basically all the ingredients of a Burrito but served in a bowl, without the tortilla. Yesterday, I choose the Mango MoJo Salad, with fresh Mango salsa and chicken. It was excellent; both my friend and I loved this dish. My girlfriend hadn't been to Quidoba before and I think she is now going to be a regular.

Doesn't this look so good! I'm really glad that I walked twice yesterday, because hubby and I went out for Chinese last night for his birthday dinner. His birthday and our second grandson's birthday is Thursday; we will be celebrating with the entire family at our daughter's house. Today will be an easy day; I'm going to run to a Hobby Lobby with my neighbor and also hope to get some stitching done. I hope your week is going well and that this weird, wacky weather isn't impacting your area.
Hugs to you,
Noreen

Say What????

This is Hunter and I've hijacked mom's 'puter cause I need to tell you about today. You see, the morning was going just fine-mom took me over to our old neighborhood to walk with my gal pal Lexie. We did our normal two mile loop, though it always seems like ten to me-short legs and all. By the time we finished, I'm hot and tired. We get home and mom leaves my harness on with leash attached. I'm not sure what's going on here. So this is what I did, I jumped up on my bed(don't tell mom cause they think it's theirs) and was resting quite nicely. I noticed mom had changed from jeans to shorts and seemed to be getting ready for something.

Here I am on one of my favorite spots. Well, then mom tells me we are going to see Odie-I think cool. What I didn't know was that we were going on another walk, although a short one. Odie's mom can't walk far, so we just walk down our street; it's easy-peasy when you aren't tired. Mom is telling me to stop whining, cause she might go on a bike ride with another friend when she gets home. Seriously mom! It is cooler out, but a pup can only do so much. I think I'll just nap the rest of the day away.
Hope you aren't having to endure this much exercise.
Until later, paws and enjoy!
Hunter

Update:  Our friends, two mini-Doodles by the names of Murphy and Stanley, are doing a blog hop today and we wanted to share about this precious boy who claims us as his.
Hunter is two and a half years old and a purebred Bichon Frise.  He came to live at our home when he was five months old.  He holds his mommas heart and follows me everywhere.  He also has his dad wrapped around his paw.  He pretty much runs our home.  We live in a small town in northern Colorado; we have our grown daughters and their families living near us and Hunter loves hanging with his cousins-Lily, a beautiful 6 yr old Bichon-Poodle and Petrol, another beauty who is a  3 yr old Mini Schnauzer.  Life is good and we are grateful for the friends we've made in Blogville.
Hugs, Noreen 

One Last Try

Good Monday to you! I hope you all had a great weekend; we spent part of Saturday up in the mountains with our youngest daughter's family. They were camping and since we were on dog sitting duty, we just went up for lunch. It was fun and we were thankful we left when we did, because it started to rain as we were driving out of town. We arrived home and let me tell you it poured. Our daughter and sil decided to pack it in and head home for the night. It has been such an unusual summer this year with lots of rain; makes me wonder what our fall and winter will be like. Back tracking-on Friday we went to get a tree with a g.c. from my brother and sil. I will tell you that my hubby grew up with a dad who was like a master gardener. His specialty was Lacey Leaf Japanese Maples, so hubby grew up with some real beauties in their yard. When we lived in Ca. you could be sure we had lots, I mean lots, of these beautiful trees. When we moved to Colorado, we brought three or four of our mature trees. Hubby was so disappointed when that first spring they never came back. We finally started buying trees here and had pretty good luck with them. We even planted a beautiful lacey-leaf tree in the front yard of our last home; each year we would diligently mulch around it and even put towels or blankets around the base. For some reason, hubby didn't do that last year-he says he thought it was established. You can guess what happened-it didn't make it. Hubby said he wasn't buying anymore, because Colorado's winters are just too hard on them. However, Friday this is the tree we came home with.

We will give it one more try, hubby swears we will really winter-proof it this year. He said he'll shovel snow out from around it as well. We'll see if this one makes it or not. One nice thing is that the big box store we bought it at has a guarantee that if it dies for any reason, you get your money back. In our front bed, there are plants I haven't had before-one I'm enjoying is Hosta. We have some Russian Sage as well and the bees are loving it.
Today, I joined Kam and we celebrated another friend's birthday.  I've seen both daughters and grands and now will visit blogs and later quilt.
I hope your day is passing quickly and easily.
Hugs,
Noreen

Last night, I sprayed Hunter with a detangler/conditioner so that he wouldn't get mats while playing with his cousins this weekend. It works well, but Hunter doesn't like the smell. Here he is trying to rub it off on our patio cushions.

He finally settled down and forgave me. Now at least, I have hopes that he'll remain clean when he is rough housing with the other pups.

Today we will run errands, it seems like we do that every day. I'm a bit tired as Coyotes woke me up during the night. Amazing how sound travels-they sounded like they were just outside our fence. We are having friends over and then tomorrow we will head up to the Rockies to spend the day with our girl and her family.  Our oldest was supposed to go, but their family came down with some sort of virus. 
Last year, when we went we had to come home in the evening due to heavy rains flooding the campsite. This year, I decided to pass on camping and dogsit the pups instead. 
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Joy to you~
Noreen & Hunter

Happy Thursday to you! Yesterday hubby was at the golf course and took these photos. If I'm not mistaken, these are Grey Heron's. I have never seen a nest of this bird before, so it was pretty exciting.

Hubby loves trying to get Pelicans landing or taking off and I think this is a great photo.

Yesterday I walked twice and received several mosquito bites(ugh), went to the pool with the grands and my girls, ran to Joann's to get some quilting supplies and finished drawing my design on the quilt top. Today, amidst other things, I hope to get the back pieced so I can begin sandwiching the quilt. I didn't sleep well last night, in fact was awake until about 1:30ish, so feeling a bit tired today. Kam and Lexie are coming over to walk this morning. It will be another hot day here and I'm hoping for some pool time. We do have a luncheon engagement with our financial planners, so that might interrupt the pool plans.
I hope you have a great day, remember to smile as it will make your day  better and someone else's.
Hugs,
Noreen

Outdoor Wednesday

Good Morning Friends, In case any of you have wondered about my lack of skills with my IPhone, this should truly cement that fact. Last Wednesday, Barb and I headed down the road to visit two new quilts shops. I had not gone to either store and thought it would be like a mini shop hop. It was so fun and I got to enjoy two new stores that I will probably go back to in the future. When we arrived in Berthoud and parked, this painting was the first thing we saw. What a wonderful painting and a wonderful way to disguise an old storage/grain building. I know I took it tilted to the side, but I loved it despite that fact. I do need to share that I had my eyes checked last week and my distance vision has gotten a lot worse, so I'll be getting some new glasses soon-also a pair of prescription sunglasses.

This is the quilt store and I loved the sign-it was so cute. It had lots of retro fabrics, reminiscent of the 20's and some other great collections. I bought fabric for the back of my Alaska quilt there.

The other store we went to was in Brighton and had a very different name which I can't remember, however it was a huge building with so much to see that I think that we stayed and wandered around easily for an hour. I bought my latest quilt project from there; I'm looking forward to the fall when I can work on it. I want to slap myself for saying that, because I love the summer and don't want it to be shorter than it's been. Today I'll go walking and then hubby and I have a couple of things we need to do as well. I am still tracing quilting designs on my top and then have to configure the back as I'm adding some extra pieces from the front of it. One of these days, I'll get it sandwiched and start the really fun part-hand quilting.
I hope you have a great day!
Hugs,
Noreen

Chihuly Exhibit at Denver Botanical Garden

Greetings to you this Tuesday. I'm sharing more photos today of the spectacular work of Dale Chihuly. Words aren't necessary, his work is so beautiful. Enjoy!

Our weather is cold and dreary today, I'll walk with Hunter and then plan to work on my quilt.  I hope you have a contented day!
Joy to you~
Noreen

Monday Musings

Good Morning Friends! I hope that your month has started out on the right foot. We had such a fun week with our friends from Ca. We ate, played cards, laughed, ran here and there and made memories together. Barb and I hit two new quilt shops that were wonderful, but today I want to share an exhibit at the Denver Botanical Garden. Hubby and I hadn't been to the gardens before; I don't like going into the city unless it is absolutely necessary. It was well worth the hassle with traffic. Dale Chihuly is an incredible artist who revolutionized the world of glass blowing. To be honest, we had never heard of this man before. If you haven't seen his work and there is an exhibit coming to your area, it is well worth the effort to see it. The Botanical Gardens are beautiful in and of themselves, but this was like frosting on a cake.

We spent hours wandering the gardens, surprised at the pieces that just intermingled with the plants.  It was a really warm day and we probably could have spent more time wandering, but the idea of rush hour traffic was on our mind.  I will share more pics tomorrow, but hope you've enjoyed.
May your day be filled with sunshine and smiles. 
Blessings,
Noreen

Memories of Alaska

Tuesday greetings to you. Yesterday I was able to get the last border on my Alaskan quilt, but unfortunately didn't have the time to square it up as I normally would, before showing it to you. Also when I took this photo today, it looks more out of square than it is. I'm so happy the top is finished, though I must figure out what type of pattern to quilt on it. I'm thinking that where there is tree bark, running stitches in rows going the direction of the wood grain. Don't know what I'll do in the middle of the squares. My bff quilting buddy is arriving today, I'm sure I will pick her brain and figure something out.

Everyone keeps asking what I'll do with this quilt, for now it will keep me warm in the winter and eventually go to one of the grandsons. Since our two oldest already have several quilts, I'm thinking it might go to the youngest. I'm hoping Barb and I will get out to a couple of stores and you never know, I may end up with a new project for the fall. I hope you have a great day, remember a smile can brighten someone's day and make you feel great as well.
I forgot some things at the grocery store yesterday, so headed out again.  Hope you have a fabulous day!
Hugs,
Noreen