A Rocky Mountain Weekend

Some of the Finlays came out to Colorado this past weekend to spend some time in the Rocky Mountains.  We went downtown for a dinner of Crepes, to ice skate, and to watch the parade of lights.

On Saturday, we drove up to Georgetown and walked around the Christmas market there.  We also rode the Georgetown train which Gavin, our nephew couldn't get enough of!  Here we are with Santa in front of the train.

Isn't the scenery spectacular!

We went to Ian's work party a few days ago at Invesco Field and took these pictures.  Ian in the media room.

 On the field.  What a cool experience to look up at all the stands.  We learned that the chair that makes the eye in the bronco in back of us is the only chair brought over from the old stadium and is a very coveted seat in the stadium.

Thanksgiving In Los Angeles

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Finlays in California.  The whole family started the day off with our own Turkey Trot down the bike path.  Here is the whole crew after the race.

Alana and Ian with the turkeys. 

We started off black Friday by shopping all the great deals at the dollar store!  Actually, we had gift cards from our wedding to the dollar store in CA that we still needed to cash in, so we stocked up on A LOT of travel sized toothpaste for Ian.  Why not?  The rest of the day we spent hiking the Hollywood Hills and looking at stars at the observatory.

 A classic Finlay family jumping picture.

I am sorry I didn't take more pictures of the weekend but we had a great time in sunny California!

A Weekend in Ohio

This last week Ian had training for work in Ohio so I flew in later in the week and met him there.  On Friday I drove down by myself to Kirtland, Ohio and saw some sights that are important to our church's history.  Then we drove to Akron, Ohio and spent the weekend with his Grandparents.  We had such a great time!

Saturday we spent touring Amish country.  Our first stop was the biggest hardware store I have ever seen called Lehman's.

Inside I found my favorite pear tool which looks like this.  I have been searching every kitchen store I could think of to find this and finally found it here!  

Our next stop was the Ashery Country Store where they had spices for really cheap!  We walked out of there 30 minutes later with a bag full of spices.

We made our rounds to the Guggisberg cheese factory and Der Dutchman for a home cooked dinner of baked chicken and potatoes. 

We are looking forward to our next trip to Amish country when we can buy some wood furniture.

Halloween

This week Ian and I have enjoyed some Halloween activities.  We carved pumpkins with our friends Allison and Sarah.

Here are the finished results....

Last night we dressed up for a Halloween party with our friends.  Thank you to the Southwest Airlines magazine for the idea!  Any guesses as to what we were?

If you are interested...

In case you are interested... the business (Sculptures In Ice) we have been trying to start up is now on Facebook and Twitter.  You can find us on Twitter with the name IcedSculptures.  On Facebook, our page is sculpturesinice.  You can visit our website by clicking on the Sculptures In Ice button on the right of this blog.

In case you are interested... Sculptures In Ice sells molds you can put in your freezer to create professional-looking ice sculptures.  We currently have ten different ice sculpture molds to choose from and two more in production right now.  They are really fun decorating ideas for parties and weddings.

So.... if you want to help our little business out, find us on Facebook and Twitter so you can receive all the latest news about our products!  Here is what they look like.

And.... In case you are interested.... here is a fun Halloween party idea using the pumpkin mold.

Freeze the pumpkin mold with orange soda.  Once frozen, place ice sculpture in a cauldron full of orange soda.  Plastic spiders, plastic witch fingers, and dry ice can be added.  

No Evidence

Ian and I had such a fun weekend celebrating both of our birthdays and sadly this picture is the only evidence we have of our weekend adventures!

What you are looking at is a picture of the most delectable french fries ever made- french fries made with truffle oil and topped with fresh parmesan cheese and parsley.  My mouth is salivating just looking at them right now!  Yumm!  They come from a new gourmet hamburger restaurant called Larkburger in Colorado.  We ate these (and a very expensive burger) on the way up to Sedalia to camp overnight.  


While camping we got to try out a new game called Appletters and watched the movie, Waking Ned Divine.  I made my first flourless chocolate cake with a raspberry sauce (thanks to Ian's mom for the great recipe) and we took it up with us to celebrate Ian's birthday.  We really enjoyed being in the mountains and camping for one of the last times this season.        


Ian surprised me this morning on my birthday and stayed home from work (which means he delayed his flight to California a day) so we could spend the day together!  To start the day off, we got to play tennis with my mom and dad.  Tonight we had a picnic dinner with food from my favorite restaurant at a nearby park.  What a great weekend!    
    

Stargazing in Colorado

I am no astronomer, but tonight I went stargazing with Ian's cousin Allison who has recently moved to Denver.  Right now you can see the bright harvest moon as well as Jupiter and Uranus.  In doing some research I discovered the harvest moon is the first full moon after the start of fall.  So long summer.... The moon and the planets are in the east sky and are incredibly bright.  Apparently Jupiter and Uranus won't be seen together in the sky again until 2037!

Land of the Irish Part 2

We dropped Ian's family off at the Dublin airport on Tuesday and continued our travels down the east coast of Ireland.  We stayed a night in Dublin looking at ancient artifacts like the Book of Kells and the oldest harp in Ireland.  To get our Celtic dancing and music fill we enjoyed the performance Riverdance.

Another highlight was Newgrange.  This tomb is 1000 years older than Stonehenge and 400 years older than the Pyramids.  Built of rocks carefully stacked on top of one another, it is still standing today with little restoration being done.  This tomb could also have been used as a worship center or a calendar.  During the Winter Solstice, the sun shines perfectly through the opening, to illuminate the inside.

After spending time in the city, we always moved back to the countryside where the views were spectacular!  We took two very scenic drives around the country.  This picture is at the top of Sally Gap in Wicklow National Park.  

The other scenic drive was around the Ring of Kerry near Killarney National Park.  Ian took this picture on that drive.  He was excited about seeing sheep everywhere!

One night we stumbled upon a little town called Dunmore East along the coast.  We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast there with a view of the ocean. It was everything you would expect of an Irish town with thatched roofs, friendly Irish folks, and spectacular views.  

 

Close by was the Waterford Crystal factory which we toured the next morning.    

  The factory here only makes high end items.  Ian is pictured in front of some of the items for sale.  It was so interesting to watch the crystal pieces being made.  On display was an NBA trophy, a Pebble Beach trophy, and a 9/11 memorial replica on display in NY.   

 Our last and favorite stop was in the town of Portmagee on the Iveragh Peninsula.  We took a boat ride out to the Skellig Islands.  There are two islands.  One is only inhabited by birds.  The other is famous for a monastery that was built on the top.  Monks lived there until about 1200AD.    

 To give you an idea what an incredible feat it was to build on this island, here are the steps we had to climb up to get to the top.  

A bad fall would take you over the edge in this picture.

The monastery had "beehives" where they lived, cooked, and worshipped.  

In the foreground is the cemetery.  

We enjoyed being in the land of the Irish where we both have ancestry and are looking forward to going back someday.  

The land of the Irish Part 1

The past ten days we have been exploring Ireland!  We went to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of Ian's Grandparents as well as continue our own honeymoon.  Here are some highlights of the trip.  

Ian's family picked us up at the Shannon airport and we went straight to the Cliffs of Moher.  These vertical cliffs were a great introduction to Ireland! 

The first few nights we stayed in a quaint town called Adare.  All the women enjoyed high tea at the Adare Manor where we were staying while the men did a little golfing.  Left to Right is me, Alana, Erin, Ian's mom Margaret, Grandma Helen, and Aunt Helen.   

Apparently Tiger Woods and many other famous golfers have golfed on this course.

The next day we went to the 15th century Blarney Castle.

After hiking to the very top, we all kissed the Blarney Stone to receive the "Gift of Eloquence" or the "Gift of Gab."  To do so, you have to hold on to two bars and bend over backwards.

   

This is the Finlay family on the top of the castle.

The food in Ireland was delicious.  Many mornings we had what was called the full Irish - eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, and toast.  Our favorite was the Irish Stew.  Really just a beef stew with vegetables.  Here is our first taste of it.  

After leaving Adare, we visited St. Michael's Church in Limerick where Ian's great, great, great grandparents were married.  Here is the whole group in front of that church.  

  

From here, we traveled to Northern Ireland.  The first stop was in Londonderry or Derry.  A tour guide took us around the city explaining the history of the city and the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants there.  This conflict came to a head on January 30, 1972 where 13 civilians were killed in Derry now known as Bloody Sunday.  This city is one of the few still surrounded by a wall.  We are standing on top of the city walls with the outer city in the background.  Apparently this is the area where the phrase "Cat Walk" was started.  The high-class ladies of the city would come to this portion of the wall and strut down the wall in their finest apparel to show off.  The poorer population outside the walls would yell and make fun of them coining the phrase "Cat Walk."      

Another highlight in Northern Ireland was Giant's Causeway.  The hexagonal columns made from volcanic rock look surreal and were thought to be placed there by giants.

Dragon Boat Racing

This weekend we added a new experience to our bucket list.  Ian and I participated in dragon boat racing!  Every year there is a dragon boat racing festival at Sloan Lake in Denver, CO.  We joined up with the Ernst and Young team to race across the pond in dragon boats.  As you can see from the pictures, this was the real deal with a drummer and official dragon boats.  Here is the team practicing paddling in sync with the drum beat.

The dragon boat race.

San Francisco!

Ian has been traveling to Oakland, California every week for work so this last week I decided to tag along on the Southwest Airlines companion pass.  On Monday and Tuesday, I traveled over the Bay Bridge to San Francisco to visit my sister Jennie, brother-in-law Scott, and their two little girls.  They were visiting in San Francisco for a few days before moving to Beijing China.  We had a great time visiting all our favorite places in San Francisco!  First stop was to Fisherman's Wharf to enjoy some clam chowder in sour dough bread bowls.  Stop number two was Ghiradelli Square for some ice cream and chocolate.  Afterwards, we thought we would walk some of the calories off by walking down Lombard Street (the curviest street in the world).  We enjoyed seeing them before they flew to China!   

On Thursday, we drove North for some summer fun in Roseville!  We had a delicious picnic with Aunt Helen and two cousins, Erin and Allison, at Folsom Lake.  We enjoyed the short, but great visit!

4th of July Weekend

To start off the fourth of July weekend, we attended a Colorado Rockies game.  

The rest of the weekend was spent in Aspen, Colorado.  We drove through Independence Pass to get there.  What beautiful landscape!  

In Aspen, we enjoyed walking around the town, eating at the famous Little Annie's restaurant, watching fireworks, listening to a symphony, and hiking.  While hiking, we found a memorial garden for John Denver.  Many of his famous songs were inscribed on rocks.  I thought of my mom who introduced me to John Denver's music.  We watched fireworks in the evening on Aspen Mountain.  

 On Monday, we got up early and hiked to Crater Lake, which sits at the base of Maroon Bells.      

We decided to be adventurous and hiked off the beaten path to a beautiful waterfall near Crater Lake.  Ian is pictured here after having conquered the mountain to get to the waterfall.