African thunderstorm

A friend of mine sent me this video. I have to agree that I think this is almost better than the original!

Check it out!

African thunderstorm

Feeding Frenzy!

In Missouri, we were happy to have one! I could fill the feeder once a week and hope that one would feed off of it. Here in Colorado, I can hardly keep up!

They don't care who is in the way either!

I am NOT complaining! I simply have to keep a steady supply of sugar and life is good!!

Keep This Between You and Me

Invesco Field at Mile High - Home of the Denver "Donkeys"; I mean Denver Broncos. I work for one of the coolest places in the world! We attended a team building event at the local Denver NFL football stadium. Seriously, how cool is that??

Now, I am still a Kansas City Chiefs fan and that will never change. However, I will admit that being able to tour another NFL stadium was pretty cool. I took several photos with my iPhone so they may be just a little blurry:

This is inside one of the many "keg fridges". Man, they make some serious money off of all of these drunks!

This is the stall for the bronco that runs across the field for every touchdown. The silly thing is air conditioned/heated.

Shanna doing her trophy pose!

The 'Broncos' team preparing for the events.

The press box.

The view from the Champion's Club where former players watch every game.

The view looking up on the outside of the stadium.

A replica of the fountain out front of the stadium.

So, just keep this between you and me. I had fun at Invesco today. I passed, punted, and caught a football on the field. How cool is that???

A Raging River Runs Through It

Early evening and I am working to finish up the dinner dishes. Looking out the back window of the house, the sky begins to turn dark. Flashes of light followed by immediate rumbling tells me that the storm is very near. We stand outside in the calm before the storm watching the clouds churn until the droplets of water overtake us. We race inside and watch from through the screens. Suddenly, the sky opens up and drops Mother Nature's fury on our small village in the valley. The time and the rain seem endless. The view of the neighborhood is blocked by sheets of torrential rain. Small pellets of hail pound us from all angles until the noise begins to drive me insane. The lights flicker several times until finally going out; leaving us in total darkness save the lightning flashes. Flashlights become our beacon in the night. The dripping from various locations in our ceiling, is definitely keeping our attention focused directly on the storm and nothing else. Buckets, bowls, and towels are strategically placed to keep water from damaging our personal belongings. After an endless hour (maybe more), the storm passes and we are left with only the sound of our small stream raging in the night. The waters have overflowed their banks and are lapping at the base of the hill on either side. Full size trees are rolling through the water; tumbling until an obstacle holds them in place. Bridges are disappearing under the fast flowing current. The road is covered in sand, rocks, and boulders making passage difficult. We venture out into the night to survey the damage; forgetting the camera on the shelves. The road is blocked to the South; police lights flashing to warn us to turn around. The road is damaged but passable to the North but the time has slipped away and sleep calls to us. We return home. Lights and running water in the house still allude us but sleep finally takes over and we rest. At first light, we will see the damage:

The house - just some wash out.

Across the road from us, the river was raging across the bridge and the road.

About a mile down the road from our house is a little park area that I like to walk the dogs to. This is their watering hole.

Field of wild flowers - damaged but still beautiful!

I do not know the storm totals but if I were to guess, I would say 3 to 4 inches AT THE MINIMUM in only about an hour to an hour and a half. As far as we know, no one was hurt. Only one house that we know of had any real damage and that was just a mud slide covering up the garage. Another house is now completely secluded as the road in was completely washed out (seriously, the road is gone). Unfortunately, when we went for a drive this evening, I once again forgot the camera! If I get a chance in the next couple of days, I will try to get some photos; it definitely has changed the landscape around us a bit. We obviously have gotten power back and everything in the valley is returning to normal. I just have never seen it rain so hard in such a short period of time; crazy!! Oh well, we kind of like the adventure of it all!!

The Double-Jointed Dance

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to the most amazing, talented, and maybe just a little bizarre child ever to grace the Schumacher family reunion. He is the one; the only; Amazing JJ!! He can dance with his should blades while singing a cute little tune. Check it out:

The video says it all - he has a talent...

First Completed Project

So here it is; my first completed bracelet in my new studio:

Have a couple more started and I cannot wait to show them off!!  Of course, I have to finish them first...I think I will go up and work on that!

C'ya!

Random Camera Fun

Mike and I decided that we would go fishing yesterday after he got home from work (he had to work 3 AM to 7 AM).  I was to have everything ready to go so that when he got home around 8 AM, we could jump in the Xterra and be on our way.  Well, he got home about 8:45 and I was ready.  We did jump into the Xterra and head on down the road.  Now, from our how to the lake we wanted to go (Rampart Range) is only about 15 miles from our house as the crow flies.  However, there is no direct path from our house.  There are several 4 X 4 trails so we chose one and headed up.  Thank goodness I packed a lunch because we didn't make it to the lake until around 12:30 PM.  Our chosen path was slightly hilly, rocky, and required 4 Lo most of the way!  Now, with such a late arrival (if you are not already aware), trout don't really like hot weather so at that time of day, catching fish is just a little slow.  I did have some random fun with the camera though:

Mike is bored out of his mind waiting for a fish to bite. 

My bobber floating in the water - that's right, no fish biting it.

Looking at the end of my pole down into the water - super cool that there is a close-up setting on our camera!

Lucky for us, some storms ended up rolling in...

We took another 4X4 trail back down to our house.  Unfortunately, I was too busy holding on to take any photos of the trails.  I am sure we are going to take them again!

Project Complete

For the past week during my "staycation", I have been working on a project to complete my studio above the garage (cleaning it up and making it usable).  I completed that project today and video taped a tour for you so you get a first-hand look:

This is Room #1:

This is Room #2: 

I'm glad to be done and look forward to spending some time up there

The Shack

A couple of weeks ago, my mom was here and spoke about a great book she had just read called "The Shack".  She searched pretty hard at all of the stores we visited to find a copy for me to read.  She (of course) was successful and handed it to me telling me that everyone she has spoken to about the book owns a copy for themselves and a copy to share.  After she handed me my copy, I read the back cover and was simply intrigued by what the text synopsis had to say (you can find more at their web site) so I started reading right away.  It took me a total of 5 days to read (would have been less if I would not have had a couple of other projects to complete while on vacation).  Quick, easy, and keeps you engaged; my favorite kind of book!

Guess what folks?  This book is wonderful!  While claimed to be only a novel and open to interpretation as to the validity of the story itself, you will find yourself laughing, crying, and really reaching into places that you did not know existed in your heart/mind.  By the end, you will greatly long for a loving (and real) relationship with God; the kind of relationship that you have with your best friend.  I do not want to reveal much more because it really will take away from your experience in reading it.  However, I would love to share with you the opportunity to read it and then discuss the contents after.  I have a copy to share so contact me and let me know if you are interested!  

Thank you Mom for making me think and beginning to speak with God the way He really intended!

Trust in the Lord

Things to do in the neighborhood

A few storms and the fact that Mike was getting a ton of calls from work kept us close to the house today.  We decided in the middle of the afternoon to cross the bridge down the hill from us and hike the nature trail along the river to Deckers.  

 

We ended up with some fantastic views of Trumbull.  This first one is our house:

Behind us in all of the clouds is Scraggy Peak.  Notice we are both wearing rain jackets; it started pouring on us as it has been the past few days.  We didn't let that stop us from finishing our hike though!!

Finally, I couldn't resist the temptation to take a close-up photo of a wild flower:

We stopped at the Decker's store from an ice cream and then headed back to the house along the road.  This is only ONE of the trails we can take in our neighborhood.  I look forward to our next opportunity to explore what we have right outside our door!

C'ya!

Happy Holiday!!

I have been playing around on Facebook all day today - I don't know why I'm not outside enjoying this fantastic holiday - but there you have it. A friend of mine posted a video and I think it is just adorable. Unfortunately, Youtube no longer will allow me to embed it into my blog for some reason so you will have to click on the link to view it. It is well worth it though!

Have a happy (and safe) 4th of July!

C'ya!