1st Radishes!

I picked our first radishes today! I think I will eat these ones in a salad...but we have lots more coming..what else can I do with radishes? Also there is a pic of one of our yellow/peach roses!

Yeah radishes!

More will be ready soon

Picture perfect rose

Costa Rica 2!

Hello again everyone!
I am writing this post from Samara, Costa Rica, where I am at my Spanish school looking at the ocean. It is so beautiful here, the beach is wonderful and I get to walk the beach every morning and night to get to and from the school-my host home. My host family is nice, they have a modest home with two bedrooms for students. They own a soda (small restaurant) which serves typical Costa Rican food.

This past weekend was the greatest! We visited two National Parks, one a hot springs and active volcano, and one a cloud forest. In the cloud forest, I did a 2-hour zip line tour of the forest, as well as a tarzan jump. Very scary!! The guides had to push me off the tarzan jump. I was free falling for about 10 minutes (well that is what it seemed like) and then the rope caught me. I am pretty sure that I want to move there and work at the zip line place. What do you say Justin?

I leave on Saturday for San Jose, and I stay Saturday night with my old host family. Then Sunday mid-morning I leave for Mexico City. Right now, my friend and I have an overnight layover in Mexico City, but we are going to try to fly standby to get out earlier. But, if not, then we will arrive in Denver on Monday around lunch time. It is a long time to travel, but I guess I am really far away! Haha.

I will let everyone know when I am back home safe! Thanks for all your thought and prayers while I have been abroad. Everything has worked out wonderfully so far (knock on wood).

More House Updates!

Not a WHOLE lot to share, however with mary being in costa rica, she wanted to see pictures of some of the work I have been doing. The first pic you will see is the 4 PAGE "Honey-Do" list she left for me...obviously she was concerned I would run out of things to do while she was gone. Well needless to say, I have been hard at work on the list....things I have completed include building new shelving units for the front and back patios, trimming hedges for the first time, planting gourds, pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini, and squash (yes it's late), finally shoveling out the rest of the white rocks from the front yard, and weeding all of the back yard gardens (which I do not like to do). It's been fun, I have been rewarding myself every night with beer, so I can't complain! Enjoy the pics...thanks for checking in.

The honey-do list

I don't know what flower this is, but it is blooming like crazy in our back yard! Makes for good pics.

The flowers are so big, the stalk can't hold them up, so I had to string them up to stakes.

Finished construction of the front patio shelf. I tried out MDF board for the 1st time, still up in the air on how I feel about it...I think I might like regular wood better.

These are the bushes pre-trimmed...getting a little our of control, it was getting hard to sit in the patio chairs!

Trimmed up...big difference!

Can actually sit in the chairs now!

Weeded, and planted new bulbs in this area. Also planted 2 spirea, and a lily in the corner.

Here's where the squash, pumpkins, zucchini, cukes, and gourds are planted. I separated the different areas with white rocks from the front yard, and the mounds where the gourds are planted are marked with a little white rock (on the right)

Back patio shelving unit. I cut a hole in the top of the unit to hold a large bucket that can be filled with ice and adult beverages!

The white rocks are FINALLY gone! We have been wanting to get rid of those since early spring! Took out all the rocks, and planted a new BIG plant. It is called european white balls or something (probably not it's name), but in a little while it will flower with big white flowers, and grow about 8 feet tall!

In addition to adding mulch, i bought a large pot to house our hose. Cut a hole in the bottom so the hose feeds in from the bottom, then all you have to do is take out however much you need at a time from the top

Gardens are progressing. Radishes (bottom left) are really coming along, as well as our purple beans and onions. Can't really see them, but mixed in with the flowers in front are brussel sprouts! I really hope they do well!

Here are green beans (top left), onions, and lettuce and carrots making there way out

Kinda hard to see, but this is the front patio shelving unit. Built a shelf to hold any small gardening tools that we use often. Also the white box is our dairy box, so I built it into the shelves. Hope the dairy guy likes it!

Kitchen update...we have decided until all the Coopers leave after the 4th to start construction. We didn't want to be in the middle of the job while they were here. Wednesday the plumber comes to inspect what he needs for the job, specifically for moving our new washer/dryer into the pantry. Hope all goes well! Thanks again for checking in.

Costa Rica!

Hello all - greetings from Costa Rica! I am sitting in the lobby of the language school I am attending, listening to the pouring down rain. It is very humid here and it rains pretty heavily in the afternoons, but the nights are pleasant and the mornings it is very sunny and kind of hot!

My fights were long but uneventful. We got into San Jose around 1am, and my host mom was there to pick me up without a hitch. Her house is nice, with many rooms to rent to students (she depends on it as a part of her income - as do many moms do). Sunday I met up with some students from my university and we walked around Heredia. Today we have been busy with Spanish classes, liguistics classes, salsa classes, and another walking tour of Heredia.

I have loved everything here so much - especially the food and the people! The people are so nice, always willing to help or just say hello. The food is amazing and fresh - I could eat here for the rest of my life!

Well, time to run to Spanish class - hope to update soon!

Love, M

Garden/House Updates!

Justin has done a fabulous job on our back patio! We have been neglecting the back since we have been focusing on the front areas, so it is nice to have a place to relax after a long day. First, Justin created a circular stencil based off a pattern from a fabric Mary found (Mary is planning on making pillows out of the fabric!). Then, he tediously painted the pattern on the ceiling. Finally, he finished by painting the non-brick wall and the floor. We placed the furniture and some other ditties, and it is finished! Enjoy these pics.

New furniture, painted floor, and a big painted pattern on the ceiling.

We got a new table to sit at, as well as a big outdoor clock/thermometer

Another view

We put in new lighting so it's hidden, and it actually looks built in!

We hung a very large star that we spray painted black to match all the accents of the house (contrary to popular belief we are not from Texas)

We planted petunias all along the new patio in front (since this pic was taken they have doubled in size!)

Mary then planted lots of new flowers in front of the house (alysum, lobelia, snapdragons, coleus)

Fleurs

Mary's raised beds with flowers and brussel sprouts in front of them!

Here you can see the onions, and the beans start to poke through (they are huge now)

The beginnings of radishes

Hard to see, but there is spinach here

Our very happy roma tomato plants, and basil plants

Rosemary and chocolate mint

Kitchen Update: We chose our contractor!!! He is a great guy (MSU Alum), and is currently drawing up the plans for our kitchen now, which means work won't start as soon as we wanted it to. We wanted it done by the time Justin's family comes out over the 4th, but we are going to wait until they leave to start construction...we will keep you posted when we get the plans.

Hawaii Trip

What a great time in Hawai'i!! Mary went with her sister Becky and bro-in-law Marcus to Lanai'i, Hawai'i to watch baby Gemma while they went off to fancy dinners and meetings. Gemma is a happy 4-month-old who is used to being entertained by her 3 brothers and sisters. This made babysitting easy, all Mary had to do was find ways to distract her when she got fussy. She liked to be walked around a lot, and we were able to borrow a stroller from the front desk and walk her everywhere at the resort. Mary pretty much knows the Four Seasons in Lanai'i like the back of her hand!

We took the 5-hour plane ride from Portland to Honolulu, where our flight to Lanai'i was delayed a few hours. When the plane finally arrived, we boarded the small puddle-jumper, which seated about 25, and proceeded to the "death ride" as I like to call it. The ride was about 30 minutes long, and pretty bumpy on the ascent and descent. I was pretty much white-knuckled the whole time! After the small plane ride, we took a 30-minute shuttle to the resort down by the beach. When we first arrived at the hotel, we were greeted by shell necklaces and a wonderful ocean scent. We continued to our room and found a whole spread of baby things, including a crib, a welcome sign for Gemma with her name in Hawaiian (Kema), and various travel-sized baby items (shampoo, wash, lotion, diapers, etc).

Daily activities included morning hikes, breakfast overlooking the ocean, laying by the pool, taking the free shuttle into the small village, and nights with room service in the hotel room while Gemma slept in the sling or in the bed (she never adjusted to the 3-hour time change). Special events included riding the waves in the ocean, foot massages by the pool, and a fancy dinner at the other Four Seasons in the middle of the island.

Here are some pictures to document the trip! Becky has a lot more, since I didn't take the camera everywhere with me.

Baby Gemma liked the sunrise hike.

Becky and Gemma in Lanai'i City, in front of our favorite little knick-knack shop.
This is where Becky bought mom's flip-flop necklace.

All the new Jeeps lined up for Marcus' open-air Jeep tour of the island.

Another picture of the sunrise hike - I think this is the big island.

On the other side of the previous picture was this -
a view of a beautiful beach and the resort in the background.

The little dot is Becky.

This is the cliff we were just standing on to watch the sunrise.
Becky has a lot more really good pics on her camera.

The pool, where I spent most of my time under the umbrellas with the babes.

Right outside our hotel room - can you see the turkey?

Becky and Gemma, hanging out while Marcus was Jeeping.

Becky and baby in Lanai'i City.

Eating lunch in Lanai'i City.

Hi baby Gemma!! A.K.A. baby James!

Hair Farms and Races

First of all - RACES!! Mary's school friend, Karen, organized three marathon relay teams for the Colfax Marathon this year. Mary was leg #2, which started at 6:30am close to where we used to live. Her leg was pretty much straight down Colfax, 5 miles in total; she beat her previous best time by 3 minutes!! She ran by some pretty unique Denver sights, it was awesome!

Is this on correctly?

Running with a few work friends.



Afterward by our gardens with the medal.

Second race - Boulder Bolder!! Memorial Day was such a great day for this race. The weather was a little warm for the 6.2 mile run, but there were plenty of distractions to keep us cool (including slip-n-slides, sprinklers, icee pops, watermelon slices, and bacon for Justin). We started around 8:00 and ran the whole race together, and it was a great experience! Afterward, we met with with another friend and Jen and her family in the stadium. What a great time! Can't wait until next year!

Justin running very quickly.

Mary close to the finish line (in the stadium).

Random photo:

Sammy loved this orange guy, which is actually a mitt to wash the car!!!

Hair Farms: Mary and a few friends from work FINALLY cut their hair for Lock of Love! They were planning on cutting their hair in March during an all-school assembly, but that got pushed back until May, so they had to wait that long! Mary and Krysta have donated their hair twice since living in Colorado (Krysta started at the same time and us at our school - she is an MSU alum). This was Missy's first time donating with us, and another teacher Amanda has donated often, but this was her first time with us as well. Enjoy these pics!

Mary, Krysta, and Missy "before" shot.

Mary getting her hair "prepped" for cutting!

First one gone!!

Mary's "after" shot.

Missy, Krysta, Mary and Amanda - so cute!