Around the house

Now that warmer weather is here, there's lots to do around the yard. Todd rigged up the spouting turtle in the pond; it's now ready for the fish to move back to the pond for the summer.

A year ago we planted this clematis; it took a while for it to take hold, but now it's going good. We have two large blooms and 3 more on the way.

While in the Desert..................

We took the opportunity to see the Glee concert. For those who don't know, it's a popular tv comedy about a high school singing group. Well, they went on tour and we got to see the concert.

Here we are before the show.

It was a fun show - great music and lots of dancing!

We had some great Mexican food too.....here's my chicken mole. It was good but not nearly as good as the chicken mole made by mi amiga, Silvana, in Fort Collins.

Another evening we tried the restaurant across our hotel; we didn't want to go far as we had just finished shopping. Ellen and Julia are happy about the scrumptious desserts.

This chocolate cake was HUGE; see how big it is compared to the i-phone?

And the flan was good too, if you like lots of almond.

AZ Fun With Friends

It's been 10 years (much too long) since I last got together with my friends from childhood. To celebrate a milestone birthday, we gathered in Scottsdale, AZ. We had a great 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen.

Nice sleeping areas and huge, spa like bathrooms.

A BIG MAHALO to Julia for bringing the Portuguese sausage all the way from Hawaii! It was so ono-licious!

Cici having her coffee and relaxing; thanks for brining the rice pot!

Miss Ellen - getting the beverages poured and keeping us entertained with her great stories!

Karen and her cute smile (and her adorable purse)!

More Half Marathon Pics

Here we are, walking along the river towards campus, nearing mile 9. Krista's dad and cousin were our support crew and bought us the big containers of Gatorade in our hands.

As if that weren't enough, they also bought us doughnuts!

Chocolate covered - it hit the spot - we really need that sugar boost!

Just after crossing the finish line - all smiles.

Dad and Todd showing off the half marathon t-shirt, medal, and their gold, Starbucks membership cards........oh my!

.......at the finish!

Run, run, run.......

What a surprise it was to open the Monday morning paper and see Todd's photo. The caption was about the little girl trying on ther dad's medal and didn't mention Todd, but it's still cool.

Eau Claire Half Marathon

Here's dad, all dressed and ready to go; Misty was upset she couldn't tag along.

Todd getting ready.

The weather was perfect, blue sky, lots of sun, and perfect temperature with a breeze.

Gentlemen, are you ready?

A is for Animals

I'm nuts about animals, I just can't help it; here I am with the baby lamb.

We didn't go for a horse drawn carriage ride; I think it'd be more fun to ride the horse.

What a beautiful horse and you can see the blue sky and sunshine, just lovely.

Save the best for last, a video of the Great Pyranees puppies.

More Farm Babies

Chics holding chicks..............here's Sam and baby chick.
My turn next................

Jodi...........don't drop it =)

Lots of little chicks, way more fun than the marshmallow peeps you get at Easter.

What I really wanted to adopt was a great pyranees puppy.

Kate looks like she's in love - who wouldn't be?

These puppies grow up to be 125+ lbs of furry love.

Farm Fun

About a month ago, I wrangled some friends into making a short trek to Govin's Meat and Berry farm in Menomonie for their annual Lambing time. It was a treat, we saw lots of new little critters. Here are the piglets.

Here's their mom...........she's pretty big. I think they said she was 500+ lbs - can anyone say "extra large pork chop?" I asked why she was in that cage contraption and I learned that it gives her piglets time to crawl out before she plops down on top of them. Pigs are really smart so after a few weeks, the piglets learn to run away when mom wants to lay down and the cage is no longer necessary.

I got to hold one of the squealers and would have loved to take it home.

Hungry? Yum, yum.

Adorable newborn w/ mom.