First Snow

I remember back a couple of years ago when our first snow of the season didn't happen until December 31st. I liked that year!

We had our first snow of the season on October 27 and 28th. Noooooo, I'm not ready!

Design and Concept Meeting

Chris and I had our first Design and Concept Meeting with Alliance Homes. We met with Linsey and Kelly to go over ideas, wish lists, and the look at the lot again.

We started first at one of the Alliance completed homes that is a model similar to what we might choose. The homeowners were not home but graciously allowed us to tour through their home, peek in closets and cupboards, and take pictures.

Alliance is a great builder and anytime we mention them, others who have worked with them previously give glowing reviews.

Since I have had the time, I came armed with ideas and pictures of features that we like from our Pelican Shores home, ideas from the website Houzz.com, and ideas from other home builders we have toured in the past.

Who knew that the model homes Chris, Kristen and I toured in Arizona would end up on our favorite list?

PS This is just an idea. Chris and I love the look but will consider two tones on the cabinets.

I also reworked some spaces on the Alliance Pinehaven plan and Linsey loved my ideas. They are using that plan to work from and create a price list.

Now that we have given them ideas, we wait and plan to meet back on November 27 for a meeting to discuss price.

Lemon Tree Fall 2023

You might think I post a lot about my lemon tree on here, but I love seeing it grow. I love that I haven't killed it!

I brought it back into the house earlier this month when the nights started to get too cold for it.

It has two lemons on it right now that probably won't be ready until the first of next year, BUT there are a bunch of new leaves and blossoms coming. It makes me excited!

Grandma and Grandpa Rice

My parents have been visiting in Utah for the past week or so after a fun trip to the coast with my brothers.

Susan hosted a dinner on Sunday afternoon and Amy and Kristen drove to Orem to spend time with family, mostly to get to see Grandma and Grandpa Rice.

Kristen brought her "boyfriend" and apparently he was given a thumbs up! Kristen and TJ had a bit of challenge getting to Orem. I'll post pics once Kristen sends them to me.

Flat Top Mountain Hike in RMNP

Chris and I were a little late getting into the park on Saturday morning. We got behind a huge truck that had us going 10 mph at times on highway 36 between Lyons and Estes Park. The truck probably had a line of 30 cars following it. After at least ten miles of this, the truck finally pulled over.

Fortunately we were still able to get into the Bear Lake section of Rocky Mountain even though were a half hour late on our timed entry reservation.

We parked at the Park n Ride, got on the bus and rode up to the Bear Lake Trailhead.

We hadn't planned to hike to Flat Top, but Chris wanted to see the views. So, off we went. It was pretty much a constant incline. 

We stopped for lunch at the Dream Lake Overlook and then continued on past the Emerald Lake Overlook, above tree line.

The clouds were pretty awesome.

We were starting to get into snow that was kind of slick.

We decided to turn around.

Saw this huge herd of elk as we were leaving Estes Park.

Amy's Pic from Misha

Amy asked Misha if she could draw her a picture of a fighter plane.

Amy was able to have the pic enlarged and printed on a canvas. Looks pretty cool.

Chris' Asia Work Trip

The rest of Chris' Asia work trip involved long days of work and evening dinners. 

He helped at a conference in Singapore (where he also presented).

He flew to Australia and then New Zealand. While he kept pretty busy with so much work, he was often exhausted and lonely.

He did have a few weekends where he had some downtime and did a little sightseeing and hiking, but that is not always so much fun to do on your own.

Love the Dahlias

I have really loved the three dahlias that I planted this spring. They have been blossoming a lot of the past couple of weeks. The huge dinner-plate size plant got so heavy that it kept falling over and broke off part of the plant. I had to cut it back

The other two plants are great for picking and having flowers in the house.

I keep cutting new flowers as the old ones fade away. I will definitely plant them again. I want to try planting ranunculus as well.

Eyelashes

Amy recommended an eyelash serum. I started using it in July and my eyelashes just started showing lots of growth in the last couple of weeks.

I kind of like putting mascara on now!

If you want to try this lash serum. Click here.

PS It is not easy to take pics of your own eyelashes!

Pumpkins

I planted one pumpkin seed this spring and ended with about 30 pumpkins!

Misha carved one for the house (which didn't last very long) and then she took a couple home to Denver to carve for decorations.

I invited my neighbor down the street to come and pick a few. She brought her four-year old and he finally decided on a couple.

I still have a lot so I will either spread them around the yard for decorations or invite neighbors to come and pick a few if they want.

Awesome Sunset

Misha posted a picture of the sunset on our family chat. I hadn't been paying attention to the sky, so I appreciated the reminder to look outside.

Denver

Pelican Shores

The sky was beautiful with the amazing fall colors and lake as a back drop.

Chris' Birthday

Chris was in Australia for his birthday. The good thing? We got to wish him birthday on the 15th and 16th since he was far ahead timewise.

The sad news? It isn't so much fun to have a birthday on your own.

He sent us a birthday morning picture!

We celebrated with a nice hike in the mountains, takeout from Wahoo's Fish Tacos, and Crumbl cookies once he got home.

Rainbow in Ft Collins

I went to the Ft Collins temple while Chris was gone. It definitely helped pass the time and give me so people interaction.

The sky was dark and overcast when I went into the temple and it began to pour once I got back to my car. I stopped at a tile store, Costco and then went through the drive thru at Chick fil A for dinner.

The rainbow was brilliant.

Flu Shots for Amy and Kristen

After Kristen got back from San Diego, she went to stay at Amy's for a couple of days. They both got their flu shots from CVS where Amy's roommate works in the pharmacy.

Chris in the Philippines

When Chris knew that he would be going to Singapore and possibly Hong Kong, he decided to add in a stop in the Philippines. He always says that he never knows if he will ever get back again and so takes advantage of Asia work trips to fit in time to see he Filipino friends

He invited them to come and swim at the hotel where he would be staying on the Clark Air Base. He ended up getting rooms for them to come and spend the night.

They were thrilled. It was a new experience for them, especially seeing the prices on hotel food ($15 hamburgers were a shock). They came and swam, hung out and enjoyed time with Chris.

We have been blessed to help support Allysa in nursing school, so you could say that we have four daughters in college! Allyson will graduated high school in a year or so and we will likely help her with advanced schooling as well.

It will change their lives to have an education and a well paying career.

When he left, they took a bunch of pics and said another teary farewell.

Misha Home for the Weekend

Misha came home for the weekend to spend some time with me (and to do her laundry).

She spied the multitude of pumpkins in the back garden area and spent a couple of hours carving a pumpkin and cleaning out the seeds.

Long Work Trip for Chris - Philippines

I dropped Chris off Saturday morning at the airport around 10 am for an 11:30 flight to Japan and then a connection to the Philippines.

He will be gone for two weeks and needs to start his trip in Singapore. He figured if he was going that far, he ought to try and fit in a trip to the Philippines to see some of his favorite Filipinos!

Sadly, just before boarding was to start he got notification that the flight was delayed. The departure team was delayed and delayed until he was looking at a four hour wait. Ugh.

He could have gotten so much more done around the house on Saturday morning with that extra time!

He was relieved to finally be on his way, but now he would miss his connecting flight from Japan to Manila. 

Such a long flight. He finally was on his way on Saturday afternoon around 2 pm and I got notification during church Sunday morning that he had finally landed in Manila.

Fortunately he stayed in a really nice place in Manila Sunday night and then planned to go see the De Oceras on Monday.

He offered to have them come and swim at the hotel pool he will be staying at on Monday night. That grew from an afternoon a the pool to booking three extra rooms for them to stay the night as well. Hadn't planned on that, but probably something the De Oceras never get a chance to ever do.

From the Philippines, Chris will fly to Singapore, then Australia and the New Zealand.

I just know I am going to miss him for two weeks!

Kristen's Fall Break to San Diego

Kristen left Saturday morning for a long day of road tripping to a friend's house in San Diego. She went with a group of about 8 kids. They spent a couple of days in California playing at the beach, exploring, and enjoying time away from studying.

They stayed at one of the friend's homes and left to drive back to Utah on Wednesday the 11th.

Misha's Popcorn

Misha texted for instructions on how to make popcorn on the stove. She doesn't have a microwave.

I gave her some instructions and told her that she needed to make sure she shook the pan a lot so the popcorn didn't burn. I'd say she did pretty good for her first try.

She might scale down the amount next time. Apparently she had two more big bowls of it!

Pulling the Jet Ski Out

It's that time of year. Time to pull the jet ski out of the water. It didn't get much use this summer. Enough use that somehow the latch to close the seat cover got broken, but not enough to use up a full tank of gas.

I shuttled Chris down to the beach to get the jet ski and then met him at the boat ramp so he could attach the trailer and then pull the jet ski out of the water.

We brought the jet ski up to the house so Chris can get it fixed and cleaned up for the season. Quite likely it will be one of the last times we use the jet ski on the lake. 

If/When we move next summer, our neighbor, Mike, said already that he would buy it from us. It is good deal for anyone who does buy with the low miles and usage.