Somewhere over the rainbow...

Last night, my parents took the three of us out to dinner at the Red Lion Restaurant. It is a favorite dinner spot for my kids (and husband… sorry you missed it, Fred!) and they were asking about going all week. Generously, my dad made reservations and off we went.

Colorado is not known for having much rain, so it was an unusual evening with a fair amount of rain. When we were finishing up dinner, my dad announced that we would not be eating dessert at the restaurant because he thought we’d go to the mall (aka Pearl Street) and grab an ice cream. However, as we left the restaurant and began the trip down the canyon, it was raining pretty steadily. So, there was a quick change of plans. My dad took the drive on Four Mile Canyon, which connects Boulder Canyon to Sunshine Canyon. I was thrilled! It was a wonderful drive with plenty to look at. This was old mining territory and we drove clear up to Gold Hill. I’m not sure how excited the kids were about this winding drive through the mountains, but I was in the front seat and was enjoying every moment. As we began to head down into Sunshine Canyon, the rain had just about stopped and this huge rainbow came out. At times, it even looked like a double rainbow. The views were breathtaking and we could not resist pulling out the camera and looking like a bunch of tourists. Who cared? It was an amazing evening. Even when we got down to Pearl Street, there were people everywhere taking pictures.

So see. I have found what is at the end of the rainbow. Boulder, Colorado.

Blogging from the Rocky Mountains

Since we are out of town and I couldn’t bring any of my crafting supplies, I won’t be able to share any creations with you this week. However, I will take a moment to post a couple of family photos in another day or so.

The kids and I are enjoying our visit to Colorado. The time spent with my parents is so precious because it’s so infrequent. I hope my kids grow up with some impressionable memories of their visits with the “Colorado grandparents.” I know that as a child, my parents took us to Colorado pretty much every Christmas and I still have fond memories of those trips.

On Saturday when we arrived in Colorado, we took a little outing to see the traveling Viet Nam memorial wall. What a sobering experience to see those thousands of names etched into this massive wall and to know they all died defending our country. This wall is transported by a huge tractor trailer and was only in town for 3 days.

My dad planned a surprise outing for us on Sunday. We went to the dinner theatre in Boulder and saw Will Rogers Follies, which was fantastic! Perhaps it was a bit long for Melissa, but it was a wonderful treat for all of us.


Monday and Tuesday have been filled with day to day activities such as going to the gym (the boys), going for walks (the girls), cooking (Freddie and Melissa will take turns doing this), time in the hot tub, and of course lots of playing games.

Our next surprise is not until Thursday, and I am being kept in the dark as much as the kids are! But we have been instructed to wear “nice” clothes, so I’m sure it’ll be something fun.

Check back soon for some family photos!

Where is that monogram card?!

Where, oh where is that card I promised I’d post? I had it out at my scrapbooking workshop last weekend and I must not have put it back where it belongs. I hate when I do that! I’m working on being more organized, but obviously I’m not there yet!

In lieu of the “missing card”, I am sharing with you a card that I made at a technique class a few months ago. The technique is called burnishing and I think it gives this card a calming, dreamy look. I’m not sure the photo captures that, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one! You stamp your image first and then apply the burnishing by using daubers.

I’ve got lots of packing, getting organized and running errands in store for the next couple of days, not to mention working! So, I need to get busy.

Mom and dad, we can’t wait to see you!

July 16th

As I sit here ready to type my first post on my new blog, I've got a few questions flashing through my mind. You know, things like:

• Am I crazy to start a blog?
• Will I have enough to say and share?
• Will I be able to keep it current?

The answer is, of course, I do not know. But I won't know unless I try!

So, here I sit glued to my computer when I should be cooking dinner. Melissa is eating out this evening at a friend's house and the boys are not complaining yet that there is no food in sight. But, perhaps before they start, I should refocus my energies to the kitchen!

The slideshow at the left of the page contains every page layout that I did for the infamous scrapbook for my kids' school. I put it together basically within a week and feel like the results were pretty good. So, for all of you that listened to me talk about this book, now you can see it for yourself!

And, later this evening I plan to post a picture of a monogram card I made for a monogram card swap. While it's a simple card, I thought it was beautiful and hope you agree!

Off to cook dinner for the boys. I'm outnumbered this evening so I best be on good behavior.

Until next post... Shannon