Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all Family and Friends :)

Welcome back to Colorado, Luke, Karen and Emmett

Luke and Karen,

Please don't hate me for this, but I have to share our fun times with EVERYONE. Welcome back to Colorado -- in the one evening we've spent together I think I stated WAY TOO MANY times how much Bob and I miss you guys! Welcome back to Colorado! We love you -- have I said how much we miss you?

To anyone that reads this blog, these pics just might give a hint of how much fun we have! Looking forward to spending time with you in the next days!!!!!

Congrats to Amy :)

Amy looks very concentrated on receiving her diploma..... CONGRATULATIONS! Amy, if you read this I hope you know how very proud your Uncle Bob and I are of you! You've worked very hard - both at school and always having a job also. Very Cool. Please always remember us when you're rich and famous, Amos :)

I'll be posting pictures from Amy's graduation party shortly. Fun party! Fun Night!

I've had better days :(

Gosh -- what a day today!

First of all, today is Bob and I's 9th wedding anniversary -- Happy Anniversary Bob, and thanks for hanging with me all of our years together. If you ask me, it's the best years of my life, I hope Bob feels the same! Ummm... I think he's happy, I hope he's happy.

So, the day starts our early, because I had to work at 4:00 AM... not complaining, well, maybe I'm complaining a bit - regardless, that's how the day started. The work was smooth, all without errors and I was done by about 4:50.... Oh, and, I was working from home.

I thought to myself, "Self, since you're up - why don't you do something worth while..... get on the treadmill and shed some of the new holiday pounds"..... So, I did! When I was finished, I felt GREAT! I didn't even realize until I was watching the news that we had some snow on the ground..... Just an inch or so - but it was just 28 degrees outside.... I thought since we put new stuff out at work and with the snow on the ground, I'd get an early start to work and hopefully leave early since it's our anniversary.

IN CASE I HAVEN'T TOLD ANYONE.... I WORK FOR A SWEAT SHOP THESE DAYS!!!!! Working at 4:00 AM doesn't mean anything -- they stil expect a full office day.

ANYWAY! I left work around 7:10 this morning. About 1 1/2 blocks down the road -- for those of you that can visualize where we live.... I simply drove down the road headed to Broadway. Once I got to Broadway, a big truck.... big truck - Landscaping Company truck.... I had just turned North on Broadway and they were headed South on Broadway - they were going waaayy too fast, lost control of their truck and broadsided me. VERY SCARY. VERY.

I'm fine -- I hit my head against the driver side window (hard), I've had a headache all day, I'm sure I'll be achey tomorrow -- but, no one was hurt so that is so good.

So, here is a picture of the sad looking truck. I'm glad it wasn't serious -- fixing a vehicle is nothing, compared to what could have happened.

Earlier, I was feeling that today was a bad day -- but, when you take a look at things: Today is my wedding anniversary, and I'm still perfectly fine to celebrate with Bob and I'm not hurt! So, God Bless :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Mark and Deb hosted yet another fantastic Thanksgiving dinner this year -- THANKS! And, YUM, take a look at the turkey Mark is pulling out of the oven! Bob and I had a great time seeing all of the family that was able to celebrate with the rest of us. Pictures can be found at the link to the right -- marked 2007 - Thanksgiving.

I missed out on shopping the day after (Black Friday), not sure if I missed good deals or saved money! Regardless, I missed out.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Happy 50th Kristi

Happy Birthday to Kristi !! Kristi celebrated her 50th birthday over the weekend, and I'm glad that Bob and I were invited to share in the fun. Fun it was -- Kristi and Gary recently vacationed in Hawaii, and Kristi still has Mai Tai's in her mind. Good for us girls -- YUM!

Happy 50th Kristi -- and many many more. Click on the photo album link on the right to see all of the party pictures!

WHAT THE????????

It's just one thing after another with our dear neighbors! Here is the story -- they planted 2 apple trees very close together about 8 - 9 years ago. Well, guess what happens when you plant trees -- especially Apple trees? They grow, they produce apples and if you don't pick them -- the whole experience can get a bit messy. I guess this is the year that they realized they may have made a bad decision on planting them together..... so what do you do? Why don't you just cut off ALL OF THE BRANCHES!!! I can't say that I'm that sad, it gives us back a lot of our view. Too funny, huh! The branches that they removed are just lying in their back yard -- Bob and I have bets on what year they will be removed. You've got to love your neighbors :)

First Sign of Thanksgiving

I don't know...... this seems to happen each year. We have a goose -- yep, a goose. At each Holiday, he dresses in the holiday garb and informs Bob and I that he intends to leave. He packs his bag, and merely states that he is going 'South'. As of yet, he always returns to us -- clothes and all. I'll keep everyone informed, but, here he is in his Thanksgiving outfit. If he doesn't return, I hope he has found himself a nice home. He's not any trouble, I don't know why he keeps trying to leave.......

Ooooooohhhhhhh -- Mexico

The Hougen family went to Mexico recently and I was so envious! Any one that has been there just gets a smile on their face when they hear that someone will be vacationing there, and if you're like me -- you wish it were you!! I put in an order: please bring us back some kahlua and a cute little handmade clay ash tray that are around the hotel! Of course, the ash tray must be 'borrowed'. Thanks Hougens :)

Shout out to JANAY!!!

Congratulations to the Erie Tigers on winning yet another State Championship!!! Shout out to Janay! Congrats! WOW!

The only regret I have is that Bob and I were not at the games. We've been to every game since Janay has played at Erie -- I'm so excited for Janay and the team, but I still can't believe we didn't witness the excitement of it all! Go ERIE TIGERS! Sorry that we missed it, I will feel bad forever.

What a great group of Gals!

First snow of our Winter

We woke up this morning to snow..... I think I'm still tired of it from last year! Well, it was forecasted that we would get an inch or more of snow - they just didn't define for us what 'more' was. We got dumped with lots of snow, to say the least! Here are a couple pics from our back yard today --- hmmmmm, it's supposed to back in the 70's by Tuesday. Bring on the SUN :)

Happy Birthday to Matt Lewis

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY TO MATT :)

I had to include the last name in the title, since we have 3 Matt's in the famly: Matt Anderson, Mathew Hougen and Matt Lewis. Matt Lewis is the youngest - just celebrating his 20th birthday. Gosh, 20 -- what a fun time of life to live!!! Isn't he cute!

Chuck and Allison spent the weekend with Matt in Fort Collins, where he is going to school. Sounds like they had a great weekend.... I heard something like 'Beer Pong'...etc. Sounds like college, huh!

Well -- Happy Birthday Matt! Enjoy college fun!

EBags.com

I started my new job on Monday -- it's been crazy, to say the very least, but I'm sure anyone that has gone through a job change recently (or even not so recently) can relate. I think I'm really going to enjoy this new job! It's been so busy, I've not even had time to shop yet, but, on my first day of work I was given this hoodie sweatshirt -- I'll take it! The atmosphere is fun, the people are fun -- it's a busy work place and I think I'm in for a long road --- however enjoyable!

Start your shopping now! Welcome me to Ebags.com :)

Mums in Bloom

Years ago, Allison bought me a mums plant and it grew in the little flower garden in the corner of our yard for years. It was pretty, but nothing like it is today! When we had our yard re-done, they moved the plant from the corner into the flowering area. I have said before that the flowering area always has something in bloom from Spring until Fall. Well, it's fall and the Mums plant is in full bloom. Thanks Allison!

Last Day of Sabatical

Ahhhhh, I've had some great weeks off from working :) Bob and I have done a lot of great things, and at the same time, I was able to sit at home and do non-routine stuff. It's been fun, and believe it or not, I'm excited to start my new job on Monday!

Bob and I spent the last couple of days in Breckenridge - we had a great time!! In one day, yesterday, I did all of the things I wanted to do while we were up there:

1. Take a hike

2. Suntan at the pool

3. Hit the shops in town and stop for a beer somewhere

4. Relax in the hot tub

Oh, and, let's not forget - watch the Rockies Game!!!! Go ROCKIES :)

These are a few pictures I captured in Breckenridge.

Nice visit with Dad

Bob and I drove up to Strasburg, ND to visit my Dad last week. He is doing well - I think he is doing real well, but when we visit it reminds him that he would rather be at home, and he gets confused as to where he is. When we first arrived, he was in the community room playing Bingo, and we actually had to leave and wait until they were finished!!! That, actually made me happy because it tells me that he is comfortable there and likes the social life. It made me sad to leave, as once it gets cold and snowy, it's really difficult to make a trip back up there. Hopefully though, I'm thinking I can get up there for a quick trip maybe in December. See you then, Dad :)

Ryan

On Monday, I went to the office and resigned my position at On Command. I then came home, picked up Bob and we had lunch with Allison, Chuck, Aaron and Ryan. It wasn't really in celebration of my resignation because Bob and Aaron already had lunch plans long before I chose to resign that day -- but, it turned out to be a real nice lunch / celebration!!!

Here are some cute pictures of Ryan and Aaron. I usually end up with photos of the back of his head or blurry, because he's quick!!!

These are cute, enjoy!

New Front Porch

While Bob and I were vacationing, we were having a new cement front porch layed. We decided on just the plain old, same old cement that we had before. I love the colored cements and absolutely LOVE the stamped concrete, but I don't know if I would still love it in about 10 years, so we just did the plain old. It's huge and we love it...... however, a naughty little neighbor girl carved her initials into it..... right in the front. Whew, we're not happy about that (and neither are her parents). I think we're going to add another plant right in front to try and hide it some. The cement contractor is also going to see if they can sand it down a bit, but, unfortunately there is nothing to fix it :(

On with life! Here are some pictures of our new front porch!

I'm Back!

I haven't been blogging for a while, but I'm back now :)

Lot's has happened.... let me try to fill in everything:

1. My Dad turned 90 and we had a party for him up in ND, I already blogged that but, wanted to remind you!
2. Barb and Kevin Hougen had a huge 50th birthday party hosted by Tessa, it was great!
3. Barb, Kate and myself made a trip up to ND to help Cindy with moving my Dad into a nursing home. I was sad, but it's a long time coming, and he is doing well (He always does well)
4. Luke and Karen moved to Cody, WY in August. We miss them so much!
5. Mychal starts JR. College in Lamar, CO and is signed as pitcher on the baseball team!!
6. Bob and I vacationed in Cape Cod for a week, and our friends Jim and Betty joined up with us for a few days.
7. While we were vacationing, we had a new front porch and some landscaping done in the front yard.
8.. Finally, tomorrow is my last day of work at On Command! I'll fill you in on this, I'm taking a couple of weeks off - sabatical!

Check out new pictures, and I owe you more...... I've uploaded pictures from the family barbecue before Luke and Karen moved and also some photos from our vacation. More to come, I've been lucky to see Mychal play baseball on his Lamar team and I have some photos of the Hougens 50th.

Sorry I'm slow, but you have to admit..... we've been busy :)

Happy 90th Birthday to Dad

My Dad turned 90 on July 25th of this year! What an accomplishment! We had a real nice birthday party for him that Cindy put together. It was a great weekend up in Bismarck, ND. Check out the pics in my photo album. Keep in mind, it was record HOT temps up there -- one day it reached 107, and the humidity is usually just as high. I'm saying this, as when you see pictures of myself it looks like I just took a dive into the pool. VERY HOT. Very great weekend. Happy birthday Dad. We all love you, and appreciate all you've done for us.

Years Gone By....

Years gone by is right!!! HA HA HA HA HA -- that's pretty much all I have to say! This is funny, aren't we a cute couple? Well, aren't we? Amazing really, seems like this was taken yesterday. Now I'm really aging myself talking that way. Whatever, I guess I just felt the need to share this with everyone. I'm going to guess it was around 1991.

Yard Work

Last fall we had a landscaper design something for our backyard that would be pretty -- but we also wanted very low maintenance. He put in some of the decorative grasses and flowering bushes around the yard. There is one area right by our deck, and the first thing you see when you look at the yard from inside. It is all different types of flowering plants of some type, and it's fun because something is blooming all the time. Right behind the little pine, you can see the day lillies that are just now in bloom. The daisies are also blooming right now. You can see the tall reedy type plants in the background and those are gladiolas. After that will be the mums - I believe they are last and it's hard to believe that the summer is moving by us so quickly! Anyway, here is a picture of our new plants. They are young, but I think in just a couple of years we are going to have a beautiful blooming back yard!

Bob and his friend Jeff Francis

Last week Friday, Bob and I hit another Rockies game. It was fun -- we have good season ticket seats, but turns out that throughout all of the 4th of July festivities our seats were broken! When we got to the game, our usher had different tickets for us - so we ended up 5 rows back behind home plate. I loved the seats!!! Bob was missing ours - you really do get used to watching the game from your familiar place. Anyway, on the way out there was a cut-out of a bus and the Rockies player's faces were in the windows...... There was an open window for Bob to stick his head through. Here is Bob with pitcher Jeff Francis :)

Happy 4th of July to America!!!

Everyone, Happy Independence Day!!! It really means a lot right now, with the war in Iraq and everything else that is going on in our great Country right now. I think we are all affected in different ways, but, hopefully we were all able to celebrate this year and enjoy some old traditions and maybe even created some new traditions. Well, as example -- we received a text message today wishing us a Happy Independence Day -- text messaging..... that's something new! It was from cousin Emily -- what a neat surprise :)

I'm always homesick this time of year for all of the 'goings on' in Bismarck -- huh, Cindy! It's just not the same here - still good, but different. Bob and I live in a 'new' town -- we just celebrated 25 years, so they are trying to start traditions and events, but without sounding too critical - it's a slow start! We did have a parade however, and I've included pictures..... I think I counted just 4 floats and NO BANDS! They did have the Highlands Ranch Community Chorus however.... although I think they were lip-singing. I may look them up, and I just might become a member. What the heck! We had 1 set of baton twirlers (remember, no band), and we also had a group of cheer leaders - (no band). It's all right, a new effort for a young town!!

Without further boredom, here are some pictures. Let's see, I had to take a picture of myself because my loving husband isn't into parades like I am, so I was there by myself :) The other pictures are of one of the floats in the parade (local quilting society) and in the other picture, if you look close under the white canopy -- Knights of Columbus!!!!! However, I believe they are from Englewood, we had to borrow. We're still growing!!

Lastly, Bob and I enjoyed a FANTASTIC fireworks show at the Rockies Game last night, and I tried to capture the excitement. AND THE ROCKIES WON!! 11 - 3.

Happy July 4th.

Tulips

A couple of years ago Bob and I visited Allen for Easter. He was a great host, showing us the city of Portland and taking us out and about seeing the beauty of the area. One day he took us to the Tulip Festival! As you can see, we had a great time :)

Pictures and Memories

Recently several people for different reasons have asked me to go through some of my pictures for various reasons..... I'm a huge photo person, I love pictures. So, I have a few boxes of pictures in our basement and pulled one out this evening. It wasn't easy - the one box must weigh about 50 lbs. I guess another reason that I love the new digital technology :) Anyway, I ran into this picture of Esther. For those of you that haven't met her, she is Chris's Mom and we lost her just a few years back. For those of us that were fortunate to know her - what a hoot! And, for the Anderson's and Sands - she is the owner of "Esther's Corn" that has become a Thanksgiving favorite for us! So, now we all know Esther.

Cowgirls

We spent the afternoon downtown yesterday, and my favorite store there is 'Cry Baby Ranch' - it's kind of a 'retro' Western store, very unique. Kristi and I bought new bags -- we both liked the same one, so we'll be twin Cowgirls !

Golfing on Father's Day

Bob had a great Father's Day last weekend, golfing with Allison, Aaron, Chuck, Matt and friend Alan. I walked along and took some great pictures!

Bob and I drove down to Colorado Springs on Saturday to pick up the portrait of Dad, as it is complete. I wanted to get a picture of the artist, Julie Malfitano........ but, of course I forgot my camera. Thanks to cell phones with camera, but it's not the best picture.

I just have it propped up in our living room right now until we have it framed, and on Saturday each time I walked by it would bring tears to my eyes. Now that I'm a bit used to it, I pass it and it brings a smile to my face. I hope Dad likes it, I think he will be proud to be on canvas!!!

Old Blue

I found this picture today, and although it was taken almost a year ago I felt the need to share it. This car was (still is, I think) Bob's pride and joy. He bought it brand new and drove it until I sold it when he was at the lake last year! I say that, but, I didn't sell it without his permission - I would never do that. It was time. Old Blue was a 1988 OLDSMOBILE-98. I don't remember how many miles it had, I think too many for me to count! Regardless, in honor of Old Blue here is a great picture. You see the love in Bob's eyes, don't you?

Happy Graduation, Mychal!

The Rahrich family had a very exciting day today, and we were there to share in the excitement. Mychal graduated from Erie High School today. There's lots of pictures - so take a look at them in my photo album. The link is on the right hand side.

What a great day, and how proud are Chris and Larry - rightly so! Take a look at their fine son, Mychal.

Congratulations Mike! Have a great life ahead!

Jump Rope for Heart

This is Elizabeth, she is the daughter of our nephew Matt Anderson. Isn't she a beauty? Liz was involved in a 'Jump Rope for Heart' and we donated some $ for her participation. Liz collected the 3rd highest donations for her entire school! Her class gave her a party. She is 7 and in the first grade. This is the Thank You card she sent to us.

If the writing is too light to read:

"Dear auna & Bob

thank you for helping me.

Love Elizabeth"

Hopefully you can read it, it's in her own handwriting.

Oh, and, I think 'auna' is short for Aunt Donna :) Cute, huh!

They said it would be here May 9th

LOOK! It's hard to believe that Bob is eligible for Social Security....but, truly he is and we will now look forward each month to receiving payment from our Government. They said that he could expect a check on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, with the first being received 5-9-07. Yep, Bob received it yesterday, May 9th.

One of the benefits of getting older :) Stay healthy everyone and enjoy the years to come!

Hunting in your own back yard

Well, here's the story. You can't see a whole lot in this picture, but, we spent lots of $$ on flowering plants and shrubs in our back yard. The rabbits have managed to eat about half of them already - so Bob is fighting back! Those pesky rabbits.

Happy Birthday to Cindy

Here are most of the Rahrich girls - although we're missing one of the best - Sara. Now, this picture is being posted in honor of Cindy's birthday - she is the leader of all of us! Cindy - or, Cinsia as she is well known in our family - had a birthday yesterday. Sorry, I missed it by a day.

Hope you had a great day Cinsia!

Here are the girls: Back Row: Cindy, Janay, Chris, myself, Barb
Front Row: Kate, Tessa, Melissa, Mary
Oh, and let's not forget Honey (dog).

Rain, Rain, Go Away.....Please!

If anyone is wondering why we would have 2 buckets and a plastic bin sitting together in our bedroom...... we have a leaky roof. And, it's raining to beat hell today. All you can do is laugh - it's not worth crying about. Bob is leaving work early today -- probably around 9:00am to make sure the buckets don't overflow!

Denny

We all lost a good person last week. It's scary to know that you or a loved one may not wake up in the morning.

Bob worked with Denny for 20+ years, and they were buddies. It was a shock to hear that he passed away.

Say 'I love you' often - and give hugs!

Pear-y

Most of our friends and family have a pet of some type. Bob and I wanted something with a bit less maintenance - something that didn't bark, shed, poop....etc. So, here -- meet Pear-y. We named him that because he is a pear tree, non fruit bearing. But, if you look real close you might find a couple of gifts that we've given him hanging in the tree somewhere. We bought him a pear, and a partridge :)

What! You buy your pets gifts, don't you?

John Prine

Barb, Kate, Kevin, Bob, Jerry and myself all saw John Prine in concert last night -- it was a kick. I'm going to invite him to come up for Dad's birthday this summer, it would sure make a great 'sing-a-long' with him there!

Happy Birthday to Allison and Donna

Two really fine people are enjoying a birthday today -- Allison and Myself! What are the chances that I would get to share this special day with one of my favorite people!!!!

Happy Birthday Allison! Enjoy a great day :)