A Year of Change

Yesterday Lori and I took Mojo for a long walk early in the morning while the boys were still sleeping and apparently it was too long as he was limping a little when we made it home. We think he has a little arthritis from running down the stairs too fast which he has a habit of doing. Once he sort of slipped or fell and that’s when his on and off again limp started. Oh well, he seems fine this morning which too is normal after he gets some rest.

Then it was off to the western show again. We now have a couple of strategic alliances with a couple of leaders in their respective fields. One is a top custom boot maker from El Paso and the other is arguably the top living silversmith in the World. Both were drinking our wine last night and soon we will be doing some fun events together, and hopefully sporting some new boots and buckles!

Then it was off to Nordstrom as we needed to see if Jagger’s sport coat and pants could be let out anymore. Sadly we were out of material on both. Now this I expected but what came next was a shock. The least expensive sport coat to be found anywhere in town for Jagger is, wait for it, you’re not going to believe it, here it comes, $300! I about fell out of my chair. I mean come on, $300 for a 12 year old kids coat? Trust me, I checked everywhere. Most stores don’t even carry things in his size as he’s so tall and lean. In fact, he’s basically in an adult coat with it being taken in all up and down the back and then having the sleeves shortened just a bit. Good news is we can let it out a few times as he grows. Throw in a pair of black slacks for Mr. Ty and a new white shirt along with a couple of black dress belts and bam, we were $500 poorer. Jag was thrilled as he now is at the age where he likes and appreciates nice clothes, but he felt bad as he kept thanking us and apologizing all day for the clothes costing so much. We told him not to be silly and we were happy to buy them for him, which we were, we just couldn’t believe a coat for a 12 year old would cost $300!

Before that we went to the Cherry Creek Grill for lunch. Mom and I had salads and Ty had grilled cheese but Jag had a French Dip sandwich. A few bites into his sandwich, he bit down on a bone and hurt his front tooth! We think it moved his tooth as he was in real pain and said it did. The manager who was a nice younger guy, probably around 30 or so, was so attentive and concerned and on top of it right away. Not only did he tell us that he’d be contacting their insurance company right away, which would follow up with us next week,  but he also bought all of our lunches and gave us a $100 gift card on top of it! By the time we were home from Nordstroms, I had an email from him, again expressing his concern and again offering his apologies. Never have I experienced such great customer service. He said, the important thing was that our child was hurt, and that was his only concern and again that he was so sorry. He promised to find out how the bone made it through the entire process and made its way into the sandwich. We wouldn’t be surprised if someone lost their job over it which Jagger said he hoped didn’t happen.

Then it was off to home after Lori window shopped for some new black shoes as hers are all beat up. Even though the stores have some sales, there were no new shoes for her! On the way home Ty called his friend Jude to spend the night, (I’m sure this surprises no one) and he came over at 3 :30. Three pizzas (thank God I had a coupon) and some playing outside later, they all went to the pool from 6:30 until 8. Our friend Daniella took them to give us a break. They then actually went to sleep around 10pm, I think, as that’s when we zonked out.

Today Lori is determined to get us all on a hike. We’ll see how that goes as it’s supposed to be 95 degrees. Here comes the heat! I think, and hope, her head is better. I made her take some pain pills yesterday trying to get ahead of the pain and this morning when half asleep she said she thinks she was feeling better. We’ll see when she wakes up.

I’ve been staying away from politics but just have to share this, Obama’s new EPA (environmental protection agency) rules are 38 times longer than the Bible! How’s that for govt. red tape! Wow, no wonder nothing can get done and everyone is so frustrated.

That’s it for today, hope everyone is doing well, take care and seriously, God Bless!

Today the weekend begins, yea! We both sure need it. We’ll be heading down to the western show this morning with Lori in tow. The boys and I stopped by for a quick preview yesterday afternoon. We made some good connections and today will go back and firm up some relationships.

Lori also wants to get a hike in if we can. I think we’ll see if we can head up to Mt. Evans later today. Not sure when the next U.S. World Cup game is on but we hope to see it. It’s still been raining in the afternoons. Ty was at Vinny’s, again, and I took Jag for some grey slacks and a white dress shirt as promised. He looks so grown up. I was telling Lori that when they all dressed up for graduation or continuation, most kids looked like their parents dressed them up but Jagger looked like he was a member of the Kennedy family or something. I think being tall and thin helps a lot, maybe he can be a model!

That’s it for today, if you have anything interesting to share, please do so. Lori wants a new kitchen, that’s going to be a chore! Take care, God Bless.

Last night after playing all afternoon at Vinny’s, Ty decided to have Vinny come home with him at 7pm for a sleep over. Now these are generally good but the boys do tend to stay up too late. In fact, they were up until 12:30am when luckily I woke up and found their light still on. There they were, playing away on video games. I sure hope they sleep in this morning!

With Ty gone all day, Jagger and I spent the day together. We ran some errands and other things and then Jag decided he was going to make baked apples. He removed the core and filled them up with raisins, brown sugar, butter and of course, more sugar. He was worried that he didn’t exactly follow the recipe but I told him the great chefs use recipes as guidelines and don’t follow them to the letter. (there was a big deal at Aspen Food and Wine on this very subject!) So he was fine improvising and voila, they turned out great!

Lori had a good day at work but has had a headache for 2 or 3 days. I keep telling her to get a headset for her phone and to go to therapy, but she doesn’t listen much to me. Oh well, what’s guy to do. I or she, thinks she’s feeling better this morning.

Today I’ll be running over to the western show and taking the boys to the pool, or something. Ty is going back to Vinny’s as his Mom likes it when Ty is there as then Vinny has someone to play with while she works from home. We kind of trade off from time to time. I promised Jag I’d take him to Nordstroms as he needs some new dress up clothes (sport jacket and pants) that we really can’t afford but he grows so fast and we have the wedding coming up in two weeks. I bought him new dress shoes yesterday on sale at the Nordstrom Rack which is their discount store. They just don’t have dress clothes in his size. Maybe we’ll find something on sale or they’ll be able to let his pants out. I’m just not sure there’s enough material.

That’s about it people, hope everyone is well, take care and God Bless.

Yesterday the boys and I logged 350 to 400 miles in the car, all by 2:30pm. We left the house around 7am and headed to Vail, then drove to Wolcott, turned north, and headed off to Steamboat. After a short stint there, we were on the way home. We saw a bunch of deer, some elk and a bear! It’s rare to see a bear in the wild, even here in Colorado. It was a beautiful drive with us going through a bunch of small towns we hadn’t been through before. By the time we arrived home we were a little tired of being in the car but still had to run to the grocery store.

I made some chili for dinner and Lori made it home a little before 6pm. Today Dr.R is off to New York so hopefully the misses will be home a bit earlier. Not sure what the boys and I will do today but I’ll have to find something fun since I had them on a road trip yesterday.

This morning Ty has track and Jagger no doubt, will sleep through the whole thing. He’ll sleep until 10:30 or 11 if you let him. He’s definitely a teenager. Tomorrow is the western collector show that comes once a year. We love to go look and see all the old western memorabilia.

Finally at 10am our time, the U.S. plays Germany at the World Cup. We need a win or a tie to advance. We can also get in with a loss but need other things to happen and you never want to rely on others.

That’s about it, time to run, hope you all are well, go U.S. and God Bless.

This morning at 7am, the boys and I are off to Vail and Steamboat Springs and then back in Denver hopefully by 3pm. I have some business and will work in some fun for the boys somehow along the way.

Yesterday we were back at it, working our butts off. Lori made it home a few minutes after 6pm and I made chili and garlic chicken breasts over roasted broccoli. It was really good considering that we both had just had a protein shake for breakfast and a salad for lunch.

Tonight I’m supposed to make turkey chili but will need to hit the store when we get back to the city. Hopefully I’ll have the time. That’s about it since we have so much traveling on the agenda. Hope everyone is well, take care and God Bless.

Just when you think you’re getting ahead something pops up and sets you back. Well that happened yesterday but instead of getting down, we’re fighting back! Now don’t worry, nothing life shattering, just an unexpected bill that needs to be paid right away. It’s almost laughable, you work and work and then bam, out of nowhere a setback. Oh well, just another day.

Now yesterday Lori and I were officially back on our Belize program. This means we’re following the eating plan (not a diet) in the book as we did before we went to Belize. It’s only Day 2 out of 22 but we fell better already. It’s all about clean real food and is so good for your body. Check back with us in three weeks and you’ll see a whole new us. Our friend Peggy told us we can go back anytime, for free of course, and we’d all love to go but won’t make it anytime soon.

We both had pretty good days at work. Ty went to his friends house around 3 until Mom picked him up on the way home from work at 6. Jag and I did some work around the house and I managed to get all the laundry done from our trip and keep the house still somewhat clean. That’s about it, time to get after it as we both have lots to do. They say more severe weather today and tomorrow. Tornado’s were out by the airport and other areas but we lucked out here west of town.

Time to get everyone up, it’s 6:30 now so have a great day and we’ll see you tomorrow. God Bless.

We left Aspen around 10:30am and four hours later arrived home. The drive is actually nice until you almost reach Georgetown and then it slows to a crawl. This happens every Sunday year round, with it being the worst in ski season. There’s so many people from Denver that go to the mountains on the weekends that there’s just no way around a traffic jam coming home. If you leave too late on Friday to go up to the mountains, same thing.

It was a great trip, we just love the mountains. We feel as a family that we are just supposed to be there. Maybe we’d feel the same way if we were at the ocean but whenever we’re in the mountains, life is just better. Everything was so green for this time of year. We had great weather the whole time and and squeezed a lot in for being there two days and three nights. Horseback riding, mountain biking, a party, great dinners, fun times with friends, some good business, and a bunch of people watching.

Today we’re back at it, Lori at the her office and me in mine. To tell the truth, neither one of us really stopped working the entire weekend. There was always something that popped up, a text, a call or some emergency that one of us had to handle right away. Never the less, we still managed to have some great family time and fun.

Overall we feel pretty good about where we are. We’re still facing the day to day pressures but have a number of irons in the fire that will hopefully lead to less pressure and a better life in the near future. You’ll all be the first to know if and when something comes to fruition. Anyhow, we hope you all have a good week and are doing well. Keep your chin up, if we can, you all certainly can! God Bless.

We’re not looking forward to it but we need to head back down the hill to Denver today. Yesterday Jag along with Brook and Max went downhill bike riding on the mountain. They rode the ski lift up three times and then came bombing down on their mountain bikes. Apparently Jagger is quiet good at this. He came back covered in mud everywhere that his protective gear didn’t cover. He had a blast. Meanwhile Ty stayed with us and went into town where we had some lunch and stopped by some friends house. He then also spent a good two hours in the pool.

Around 5 we all went back in to Billie and Greg’s house for some fun before going to dinner. We were going to join them at the Steve Winwood concert but didn’t want to spend the money. Finally around 11 or so we made it home. Time to run now as check out time is 10am. Hope all is well, God Bless.

I woke up around 6:30 or so and went up into the village to find a cash machine. Upon my return I cooked up enough breakfast for an army. Bacon, sausage, eggs and cinnamon rolls  were the fare to fuel everyone up for the day. Around 9:30 the kids, Mark and I headed out to the T Lazy 7 Ranch for our high country horseback ride. We made it there 30 minutes later and hung out until we were ready to go. The kids were busy feeding the goats so the time passed fast. Jagger was on Cactus, Ty had Tucson and I was on Annie. We ended up heading out towards Maroon Bells Wilderness for our ride. My stirrups couldn’t extend down far enough so I basically rode bareback the entire trip. This was no big deal as when we were kids we never used saddles anyhow. When I needed to, I’d just hug my knees into Annie’s belly to keep me on her. It was a pretty steep trail with lots of ups and downs. You had to watch the aspen trees as sometimes the horses would run you into one if you weren’t watching. To prevent getting your knees smashed, you just push on the tree and push off and your horse will feel the pressure and move over, thankfully.

Click on the photo to enlarge,

A couple hours later we were back at the corral and jumped off our horses. We then rushed home for a quick shower so we could head into town for the Champagne Reception hosted by my distributor. We made it there a bit after 2pm and the place was rocking. I connected with a dozen or so people I needed to meet with and another dozen I just hadn’t seen since last year. I accomplished more business in the next 90 minutes than I could have over a couple of months and thousands of miles on a plane. That’s why we come here each year.

Finally we headed out, hooked up with the kids who were running around town and went to get something to eat. We sat outside at the Red Onion and had some appetizers listening to music. It was nice and relaxing. Then after a few stops and some window shopping, we headed back to our home away from home. The kids went straight to the pool and we hung out on the balcony with the sound of the rushing stream serenading us. Around 7pm we decided to head down the highway about 20 miles to Basalt to our favorite Mexican restaurant. The food is so good that we’re out numbered by Mexicans at least 20 to 1. A few hours and margarita’s later, we headed home.

Everyone was beat from the long day so sleep was on everyones mind. It didn’t take long for all to fall asleep. Today we’re hiking and then might go see Steve Winwood under the music tent outside this evening. Other than that, it’s playtime in the mountains.  Hope all’s well, Lori will post some pictures as Annette requested, take care and God Bless.

Lots of people love the ocean, like Lori, but for me, I’ll take the mountains anytime. The shear power of the peaks towering over you make you feel so small. The colors driving up were like an artists easel throw against a canvas of blue. Wildflowers everywhere were in full bloom with rushing rivers and waterfalls around every corner. Throw in streaks of white snow still clinging to the mountains and it was a picture hard to beat.

After picking up the good looking one (you should have seen her at the party!) we stopped by the house so she could change and hit the road by 12:45. Around 4 we pulled into Snowmass and checked into our massive 4 bedroom, 4 and a half bath, condo or town home or whatever you call it. Soon it was 6:30 and time to go to the party. We drove the short 2 miles up to the Village and headed in to join the festivities. We found lots of friends right away and began catching up as everyone was doing after being gone for the past few months. The food sucked but the company and especially the band, was great. It’s the same local band that’s played at a number of parties we’ve been to, they’re really really good.

Finally around a little after 10 we headed home. By 11:30 or so we must have fallen asleep. Today we’ll start off (after I go to the gym) with an hour and a half horseback ride up to Maroon Bells. Mark and I are taking the four kids while the girls lounge by the pool. Then there’s the champagne party at 2 or so and then dinner somewhere this evening.

Our place is over the top gorgeous and was rated the #1 destination in Snowmass in 2014. There’s nothing missing here and the beds are so perfect you could stay in them all day. But time to get up and get moving. As John Wayne always said, we’re burning daylight, which is pretty true about life itself. So off we go, hope all’s well, take care and God Bless from God’s Country!