the BEAST!

March Blizzard

Well, with all the fantastic weather we have been having, it was probably inevitable that we'd have at least one more big snow...and it came yesterday! Now, compared to Minnesota blizzards, I would not qualify what we've had at our house as a true blizzard, but it sure has been cold and really windy. We've probably had 5-6 inches of snow at our place, but it will likely all be gone by the end of today and definitely by tomorrow when temps will top out in the low 50s. Now, you know you have true friends when Rachael and Daron braved the snow and wind to pop over last night to see our new floors! Thanks guys!!

-L

Red Oak #2 Grade 3.25 plank Bella Hardwoods

We have been saving up to replace most of our first floor with hardwoods, and we were able to do that this week! On Tuesday evening, Jon and I ripped out the old carpet and pad (that was REALLY gross!!) and demo out the parque in the entryway. On Wednesday morning, the crew arrived from L & M and began installing the hardwood. They finished up everything but the last transitions into each bedroom (the carpet specialist will do those), and it looks AWESOME! We are SO EXCITED!! We love that we went with #2 red oak since you get all the variations in colors, design, and the knots and imperfections that we wanted. Check out all the "before" and "after" pictures!

-L

P.S. Natalie has been hilarious through this process. We did all the demo work after she'd gone to bed Tuesday, so on Wednesday morning, she woke up and saw the exposed floors. Her eyes got all wide, and she threw up her hands and just looked at me and back to the floors. It was pretty funny. It was like she was saying, "Where did it all go? All gone?"


before






this parquet had seen better days back in 1985




installation is underway


progress












AFTER!



flush vents...nice


this morning

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Backyard Fun!

We have been soakin' up the Colorado sunshine the last few days, yesterday we went on a hike to Red Rock Canyon (it's an old quarry site) with our neighbors Daron and Rachael. We brought the dogs along and had a nice afternoon hike. Dakota saw a pond and jumped right in. It was the kind of pond when you think its nice and clear water but once you step in you see that it's actually mud and very shallow but Dakota could not have cared less, she was just happy to be WET. We forgot the camera, so there are no pictures....sorry. It's fun to be outside now that spring like weather is here. We came home and grilled some AMAZING guacamole burgers and watched the second half of Pirates of the Caribbean 2. Then today we did some fun pictures in the backyard of Natalie and then ended it with a family picture which was somewhat difficult to capture with Dakota and Natalie. We had to take 3 shots on self timer to get this one which turned out pretty good. Anyway you need to make plans to come visit us here in Colorado if you haven't all ready!

-J

We think Natalie might be half graham cracker monster. She devours a full size graham cracker in about 2 minutes!


Natalie thinks it's fun to splash in the the dog's water bowl....it's very hard to keep her from water these days!

Natalie at 10 Months!

Hey so Natalie finally is 10 Months old and loves life! She has been going through a significant teething time (6 all at once!) and 5 of the 6 are now at least slightly through the gums, so she has 7 teeth now! We had the temps get up pretty nicely today to just under 50 (nice since it's been teens and low 20s at night and we've had snow falling at least 1-2 times daily over the past couple days), so we went outside to the backyard for these. It was really cute to see her standing by trees and planters, and she's starting to stand totally on her own for 1-3 seconds every so often. I'm sure she'll keep getting more confidence with that. Her crawling has turned to "warp speed" and she is now able to climb all the way upstairs by herself! She says "da-da" and "mom-mom" lots (though not necessarily talking about us or to us) and is VERY LOUD sometimes with her vocals!

-L

Buggy in the BIG girl bath!

Natalie has been taking baths in the big girl bathtub for about a week now and so we thought we would let you all know she LOVES to splash in the water and play with her water toy friends!

-J

Our dog... but not for much longer!

I guess we need to share with you that we have gotten a dog and feel that it might have been a bit pre mature, the dog and our decision for adopting her. Life has been "let's all pull our hair out" the last 3 weeks. She is an 80lb puppy thats only 17 months old and the biggest baby we have ever seen. I suppose we are going to have to post her on craigslist to find a family that can manage her. We do want a dog but after 3 weeks of having her we are still neutral as to whether we love her or not. I know it's sad to say but we are leaning toward saying goodbye.

here are some shots taken in the backyard today.

-J





This is funny because I threw her a Milk Bone and it landed just short of her rope. She did end up reaching though.

Audi S4 Video!

Julie Sarah and Eli the dog came for a visit this last weekend and got to visit with Natalie and meet Dakota "our dog" (more to come on that on a later post...2 much DRAAAMA!) We had a most fabulous time with them to say the least. We were their first stop of three. They left Tuesday morning and headed straight west for the big hole in the ground, some call it the Grand Canyon. After that they were heading down to Tucson AZ to spend some time with Grandma Bobbie & Papa Ed, Dad & Pam and of course see Big K and special sauce Josh and Lil K. aka. my brother and FAM! Any hoo while Julie was here she wanted a couple photographs of her car so we zipped around town and grabbed a few. Here are my favs!
We had a great time and are looking forward seeing them for the next visit to Colorado!

-J

WPPI 2009

We attended our annual WPPI convention for the 3rd time from Feb 13-18th. It's always in Las Vegas since over 10,000 photographers attend each year, but this year, the convention moved from Paris & Bally's to MGM Grand. It was a nice change of location! Natalie came with us which definitely made things a little more complicated...but overall, a great trip. We returned with a long list of things to re-vamp and improve about our business! Crazy to think that in just 10 months, Natalie has traveled to the Mexican Riviera on a cruise, flown to Houston, AND flown to Vegas, in addition to roadtrips to St. Louis and parts of Colorado!

-L




In our room at the MGM Grand...


Natalie studies up on the schedule for the week...


Fun times dancing with Natalie and one of her many escalator rides in the stroller...




The convention is a combination of platform classes and the huge trade show...




We got to see Blues Traveler in concert thanks to Nikon! It was a free thank-you concert from Nikon to all WPPI attendees. We only stayed for a couple songs since it was pretty late and very loud. Natalie actually kept the ear plugs in!