Oh my heck!

It may seem to you that we go on quite a few trips lately, and we wouldn't disagree with you.  We were very lucky to visit Paige and her family for 5 days in UT, and we had a great time.  We went because Paige was performing a storytelling concert for the UT Arts Festival, and it was incredible.  Here are the three ladies before the show:

They were all brilliant and wonderful, each in their own style.  They wrote their own music for the show, too, which made it all the more impressive, leaving us wondering when the CD would be out...?

We also got to spend some time with Gramma Scurr, and we loved getting to spend time with her.   No. 1 loved Gramma Great, and I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual.

 She also tried on her period costume for the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, where she works.  It is the building's 100th anniversary this year, and all of the staff dressed up.  We had fun doing an impromptu photo shoot, and she looked great!

We loved hanging out with family and friends while we were there.  Here's a few pictures of the people we especially love in UT:

1.  Our nephews.  Paige, we have decided for all intents and purposes to call them No. 1 and No. 2, and just because we like to slip in a Star Trek reference now and then.

     2.  Brandon.                                3.  Lisa and her kids!

I miss you, Lisa!  We are sad we don't get to see you more often.

During trips wherein we get to see any sort of nephew, the goal becomes to get as many adorable pictures of them as humanly possible.  If some random person looked at our camera right now, they would probably assume that they were our children, by the amount of pictures we have of them.  Below is the attempt to get both of them to smile at once.  I'm pretty sure No. 2 got prodded or poked or sat on before this picture was taken, resulting in his less-than-thrilled demeanor.  It was shortly after this that No. 1 decided he was done with 'showing us his teeth' (how we get him to smile) and all was lost.  So here it is - Taggart and I can't help but laugh at the No. 2's expression:

Are we done yet.....?

We got to go to the farm with Paige and Grammy and the kids.  For the record, I have officially been corrected by the two year old, Taggart's mom is NOT Grandma, she is Grammy, as his other grandma is called Grandma, and I would do well to remember it.

The farm was great, it was gorgeous weather, and we had a splendid time, followed by a splendid run-in with our favorite UT establishment, HIRES.  For you Canucks reading, it strongly rivals the greasy greatness of a Peter's, but with fry sauce, which you may also have never experienced.

Here's Taggart in jail with the little guy:

Here's No. 1 dancing in 'Ms. Kitty's Dance Hall' on the farm, and No. 2  staring up from focusing intently on Brandon's face just long enough to get a picture.

This picture is for Darlene - this is the kind of peacock that decorates Lucius Malfoy's lawn!

Oh, and we can't forget the most monumental of occurrences whilst in UT: No. 1 rode a pony for the first time!  Last year he apparently wouldn't go near one, and while the ducks and geese still scared him, we are making progress... and looking cute doing it.

Thanks, guys, for a fun-filled visit.  We can't wait for the next time we come out. :D

Tale of Two Apartments

          On May 24th, (I day after we returned from Kansas) we moved.  Following our spirit guides we found a new path illuminated before us, a path that took far from the familiar streets, sights, and sounds of Colorado Springs and took us to Denver.  In so doing, we had to leave the town that we both grew up in and we had to leave the place that we first called home together--our apartment.  We have since moved to a new apartment in Denver Proper so that Danielle can attend the University of Denver.  But to commemorate our time in C. Springs lets have a look back at our empty first home.  

  These first two pictures are where we spent most of our time watching movies, eating, playing computer, doing puzzles, homework (often? Well, it did happen), worked out, read, built forts...you know, the regular stuff. 

This third picture is, of course, the aforementioned Blanket fort.  This is an aerial view.

Most of you, I assume, will recognize these modern household fixtures as a common everyday loo.  By the way, I cleaned the sink right before we moved out and I was quite proud of it considering the state it was in.  During our tenure here our shower rod punch a hole in our ceiling, the caulking from our tub continuously separated itself from the wall, and the surface of the tub was flaking off like peel-ly, sunburned skin.  Oh, fond memories.

This is got to be the smallest kitchen ever (and by "ever" I mean, the smallest kitchen in a residence that I've ever lived in).  It was the worst.  But Danielle did make some amazing food here.  Cheeses balls, pies, mints, hamburger helper anyone?

Hello Denver!  And a look to the future of our current apartment.

This is our new kitchen.  This picture may be deceiving, its much bigger than our last kitchen.  Also, good things are made here too.  Apple brie salad, chicken burritos, roast and mashed potatoes, kraft dinner anyone? (See what I did there?  That was the same witty-list-joke-thing that I used for the last kitchen description *thumbs up*) 

These next pictures show our new loo (rhyming words is fun).  I added more pictures of it to show that it's bigger than our last one.  This bathroom comes with everything you see here-sink, toilet, linen closet, tub/shower, and even a full sized washer and dryer (my wife not included).

Lastly we come to our living room.  Unlike the rest of our place, this room is smaller than our last living room but by placing our entertainment center in front of our fireplace we were able to squeeze everything in.  But I must say when were first got her (the apt.) and our whole place was filled with boxes, I wasn't sure everything would fit into this place.  It was like a box jungle in here--a small, localized, box jungle but without the creatures that are indigenous to box jungle, of course. 

I hope you've enjoyed these virtual tours through both of our apartment.  If you're viewing this because you are looking for a place to live, I'm sorry to inform you that both of these apartment are all ready rented out but if you're interested in moving into our current apartment complex please tell the office people that we referred you and we'd be happy to split the $150 referral money with you...70/30.

We're not in Kansas anymore... but we were!

Well geez.  There are so many good pics taken this trip, it is hard to narrow them down to one post.  The day after Taggart's graduation we went out to Kansas to see his sister, JoLee, graduate with her PhD from KU.  The entire family was there, it was really fun.  The nephews were a riot the entire trip, and for a couple of two year olds and a baby, there was almost no squabbling about playing together and sharing, which we considered a significant victory.  We went to a couple of grad parties for JoLee, and hung out with the family.  Kansas is really green, Taggart and I loved it.  He said it reminded him of West Virginia.

At Red Robin, nearing nap time.  You can see this is a dangerous time of day, when at any moment, you could fall out of the two year olds' good graces.  But the guys did great, and all the more to our entertainment.

 This was his 'microphone' - he would get up on the stool and give speeches.

 The graduates.

 The entire family.  This was not an easy shot, but we got it!

 We are just in love with these three guys!

Taggart and I had originally booked a hotel because we weren't sure if I would be able to handle the resident cat, Zephyr.  Turns out, I did great, and we were able to stay at JoLee and Nate's house for the rest of the trip.  but our first night in the hotel, there was a tornado warning, and the city's tornado sirens were going off as we made our way back to the hotel.  I guess in all the time JoLee and Nate have been there, this was the first serious tornado warning.  We feel really privileged to have been a part of that. :D  We had a great trip, and now that we know I'm ok with Zephyr, we're excited to plan another trip out to see them soon.

Taggart's Graduation

Here's Taggart right after the ceremony.

We've decided to play catch up a bit, since we're starting this after several huge things have happened in our lives.  At the end of May, we were excited to see Taggart graduate from UCCS with a degree in Communications.  His sister and her family were able to come out for the Commencement ceremony.

We had a graduation party afterwards at my mom's clubhouse, and several of Taggart's friends came.  We had a pretty great time, and were glad to see everyone come support Taggart.

Taggart and his cake.

He's got his thinking cap on.

 

It was a busy weekend.

Ta Da!

Well, this is our first post.  We figured it was time to let you in on the inner workings of our lives.  Welcome to the club, and enjoy - this is pure gold.