Write My Life

Amen.

I hear this question every day and sometimes multiple times in a day. Jackie and Jenny love knowing what we will be eating in the evening.

When I answer, I often get an immediate reaction like “Yes!”, “Oh” or “Ugh.”
In July I tried several new recipes. When they asked, “What’s for dinner?” I often replied, “Something new.” These new recipes were often pasta dishes with foreign objects like broccoli or asparagus. These made the girls apprehensive. Then, there was the addition of garlic and other spices, which proved to be a bit strong for the girls. They did try everything, though.
Now when they ask, “What’s for dinner?” and I reply, “Something new” they just sigh.

It’s a perfect relationship. A + B = C

A – Elizabeth hates to cook
B – Denise hates to clean up after cooking
C – Denise cooks and Elizabeth cleans up afterwards.

Elizabeth moved into our house for 3 weeks in July. The visit blessed me in many ways.

• We shared time together, i.e. discussing, laughing and helping one another.
• She entertained Jackie and Jennifer, which gave me more time for extra activities. I completed more scrapbook pages in 3 weeks than in the last 3 months!
• We watched many episodes of America’s Test Kitchen together. Then, I proceeded to try many new recipes.
• Elizabeth arrived after vacation, giving me time to catch up on mail, laundry and chores.

Thanks Elizabeth. You are always welcome to come and stay – however long you want!

Elizabeth enjoys teasing her brother about how often he has visited her at her home – zero. Our trip to Colorado rectified that situation. We drove to Fort Morgan, a small town on the Colorado plains, in order to see Elizabeth’s house.

We stayed overnight at her house. She toured us around the town, showing us Riverside Park, the elementary school where she works and her athletic club.

We enjoyed the mid-sized Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. The highlights included the giraffe exhibit and the lion family. At the giraffe exhibit, the raised platform allowed us to be eye level with he giraffes. The lion family entertained us. The cubs were very playful. They pounced, chased and pawed each other. We couldn’t always tell if it was playful or not, especially the large male lion.
The girls also enjoyed the hippopotamus, the Amur (or Siberian) tiger and the lemurs.
Mike’s cousin Ethan works for a zoo in South Carolina so he provided insight on the zoo plants and habitats.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo giraffe exhibit features a raised platform for viewing. As a result we were able to stand face to face with the giraffes.

With my camera in hand, I photographed a moving hummingbird. It was amazing the stop its action with my camera. The other cool sight was seeing the hummingbird sitting still on a branch. It looked so much bigger and different perched on the branch.

We visited the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. The attractive red rock formations provided many photographic opportunities. Jennifer enjoyed taking photographs as well.

We arrived with all the relatives but split into three groups. Even though we hiked separately, we managed to cross paths with our relatives in several places.

July 7, 2006