after one and a half years of advertising google ads i finally got my check in the mail. $103.11 for doing absolutely nothing, very nice.

i started my day out by stepping in mud with flip flops on. thankfully the day only got better from there. jon and i did a big 3.5 hour hike all along the mountain with baby in the bjorn.


some random lady took our picture and i wanted to have the sun in the background since the aspens were better that way, but the woman absolutely REFUSED to take a photo into the sun. therefore we have shadows on our eyes and the crappy aspens behind us. thanks lady.

sparky and i had the genius idea of doing 2 minute run intervals with the baby stroller all the way to the top of the mountain. we are trying to jump start me back into shape.


sparky huffin' it up the hill. the real question is who's pushing who here?

we started are hike in the late afternoon, it was a lot longer than i had anticipated, and i failed to bring any water, but it was really purty.


the aspens were off the hook. we came up here on the right weekend for color.


sparkles figures out the next hike.

pic of jon and baby sam right after i warned him not to pull a "michael jackson" move.

sam's first of many visits to a ski resort.


jon is getting up really early, riding his bike to the top of beaver creek, and looking for elk to shoot with his bow. he hasn't seen any elk, but he did see this great view, and some bear poop.

jon and i celebrated 3 years of marriage last night with a chatauqua picnic and a short hike with baby.

SHOCKER!!!!

sara brought over sushi making supplies last night. last time jon and i attempted the sushi making process we decided that it's easier just to run up to safeway and buy some rolls for $6.00.


jon working on his smoked salmon masterpiece.


this is a shot of my ugly avocado, cucumber, green onion, and miso mayo roll. i once bought this sushi maker my senior year in college while eating cereal and watching late night t.v. after a big party. i have since passed the sushi set on to fellow blogger, leah.


sam watched us and ate his hand. he really loves watching jon and i chew our food. he especially loves when i crunch on carrots, he thinks it's funny. (and yes, we know he has fat wrists and forearms so no need to comment on how large they are)

yesterday was the first race of the season that i was planning on doing. the bad news is that i didn't do it due to my recent 2 week sickness/set back. it was really hard to watch the women race, but i'll be out there getting my butt kicked soon enough. racing cyclocross with zero fitness is going to be a real test.

i'm feeling better now. let's hope it stays that way.

i forgot my camera at the race so i have no pictures, but jon "the cookie" baker won the men's race without ever breathing hard. i think it is the blonde mohawk. the husband got 8th place or so, not bad for a new dad.

i woke up this morning to find jon giving sam a computer lesson.

VC Babies!

the madre came over to babysit so i could have some more "me" time. while the baby was being sat on i had a bilingual lunch with root, c-ray, and churro in anne's new back yard. everyday at work churro brings his own highly flamable hot plate and cooks up some corn tortillas. he's the hispanic macgyver of stove top cooking.

this is syrae's teacher i.d. she's bringing back the rat tail. sparky, does this one make you jealous?

this one is for you kenny. i knit the boy some hair.

today my mom and i wanted to see what sam would look like with eyebrows. so...we made some out of electrical tape.


then i wanted to see what he would look like if he chose to grow a bad '80s mustache when he gets older.

i think he looks a bit like uncle leo.

sorry for the lack of posts. i've been real sick lately. so sick that i am actually sitting and learning how to knit from my mom. ( that's real sick) i should be better in about a week or two.

uncle todd was here babysitting for a while, and boy did he had some tricks up his sleeve on how to calm a baby. after all, he and his wife did manage to raise 3 of the sweetest, cutest kids around. he had to get home early because of ike turner terrorizing the neighborhood, and one of those sweet children managed to break 3 fingers after slamming them in a drawer.

mimi reading a very informative book to mr. sam. everyone poops, a must have book for all ages.

hurricane ike (which i believe is named after wife beater, ike turner) is headed towards houston (my hometown) and galveston. my mom and brother are here with me on a planned trip before they knew about ike, and my dad is at home working on "flood/hurricane patrol", and my brother's family scooted up to dallas yesterday early to avoid the gridlock traffic on the outbound freeways. our family's houses are far inland so they should be fine, the spin off tornadoes are the only thing i am worried about.

there's a new babysitter in town. mimi is here for a visit and my brother todd comes later in the week. meanwhile i have actually been able to read the newspaper, pay some bills, and catch up on some games of word twist on facebook.

my prayers have been answered. (full story here)

what, i'm totally 21 as of yesterday. (click)

amy on drink number 3, good news is she didn't throw up later in the night and she actually got up for cross practice the next morning... impressive.

the past couple of days i have been under the weather. thankfully the madre has come to the rescue both those days. thanks so much madre.

our boy has some reeeeeeaaaaalllll long legs.

i just checked my website "hits" and look at my virtual readers on sam's birth day. off the charts.

after over a year of taking prenatal vitamins i finally read the suggested usage on the back of the bottle. 6 pills is the suggested serving, not 1 like i've been doing everyday.

lesson to be learned here, read the label kids.

cyndi was nice enough to snap this iphone picture from boot camp yesterday. we worked out around the homeless person sleeping on the bench. i think we may have spooked him when he woke up surrounded by a bunch of women grunting with their thera bands.

work we did around the cabin included:


extensive window washing work.


beating up some rock and then burying it in the ground. (while in slippers) i did the beating up and big sam did the digging and burying.

and changing about 63 poopie diapers on the dinning room table.

the "fishing" cabin that jon's grandfather built received a much needed tummy tuck and eye lift...the thing is getting some much needed plastic surgery. the new trex deck and paint really helped spruce up the place.


the view from the deck is of the south platte river.

babysitter #1 enjoys a sleeping baby, a good book, and a bag of popcorn.


babysitter #2 and baby taking a cat nap before going to the gravel pit to shoot guns.

babysitters #3 and #4 hanging with baby after getting a surprisingly good night of sleep. they thought sam would scream and cry all night, but sam was a perfect sleeper. in fact this was the first night that he slept 6 hours.

mom and baby enjoying the zero gravity chair and a view of the south platte.


jon isn't shooting his father at the gravel pit, but this picture sure does look like he is. safety first kids.


what??? jon and i actually go to ride our mountain bikes together while all babysitters combined forces and watched mr. sam. it was awesome.


sam's first bike ride. i think he was confused when we didn't go on an african safari since that seemed to be his dress theme.


headed out on the gravel road. i can't wait until we can actually take him out on the bike paths of boulder.

overall the weekend was great. jon got to go out hunting every night and morning. he saw 2 elk, but was hunting for the elusive deer with his manly hunting bow. i got in 3 mountain bike rides, 2 leisurely strolls and 2 hikes. thanks babysitters for a good time.

our first road trip with baby. we packed a lot of crap.


2 bikes, a chariot, chariot attachments, 2 zero gravity chairs (i love those things), and all of jon's deer hunting crap with bow went in the back. it took jon 1.5 hours to pack the thing the morning of our departure.


we packed baby in real tight... snuggled up right next to the snyders pretzel snaps.