Happy Memorial Day!!

Dear Friends and Family,

I had a great birthday last Monday, though I had a work a 10 hour day at Crocs, it was ok. Jimi took me to dinner where we ordered a smorgasbord of different sushi's and a glass of wine. Then we walked a short distance on the Pearl Street mall, stopped in at the Pearl Street Pub for a few minutes and went home, where we vegged in front of the boob tube until Jimi saw that I could barely hold me eyes open and shoved me off to bed. Earlier, he gave me a dozen red roses, my very own pool cue, and a wonderful card that said it all. Other friends and family embellished me with happy birthdays, cards, and lil' gifts. I could not be blessed with better friends and family. Thanks to all for making my day special.

My parents and 2 great nieces, Brittany and Kristina, arrived from Nebraska on Thursday. Mom worked on the graduation cakes all day on Friday and then we did some shopping. Friday night we all went to the Moose Lodge for live music and pool. We had fun, but Brittany found her new love in the game. Saturday was the big day; we watched Jennifer take the stage at the football stadium where she officially graduated high school and handed her diploma. The afternoon was spent setting up for her open house party and from 3 until 7pm we chatted and greeted guests coming by to congratulate her. Her grandparents from Loveland and from Arizona also attended. It was a true success and a super day for Jenn!

Sunday we took a drive in the mountains stopping along the way, so the kids could climb on large rocks.Later, after supper, we walked around Golden Ponds in Longmont.

Monday we took all to the reservoir where we barbecued and took turns sailing around the lake. We had fun relaxing and enjoying our day. We were so tired from the busy weekend that we all turned in early Monday night.

Mom, Dad, Brittany, and Kristina left Tuesday morning, while I went off to work, and Jimi got back in to his routine at home. It was a fabulous weekend filled with various celebrations.

Allot happened this week from my birthday, family from out of town, Jennifer's graduation, and Memorial day. Next week will be all about working to complete month end for me and then the following week Jimi and I will enjoy a romantic week for two in Las Vegas, Nevada. We are so looking forward to it.

Happy Memorial Day!!
That's all for now.
Love Everybody,
Lorie & Jimi

Jenn did it!!!

Hello Everyone,

We had a fabulous week as we learned that Jennifer passed her on-line class and her transcripts would get to the school in time for graduation. I spent most of Friday and Saturday making invitations and finishing the touches of planning her party. We are proud and excited! Way to go Jenn!!

Rest of the week was much of the norm: work, cleaning house, projects, etc. We watched a few movies and played some pool too.

Jimi got a couple of freelance jobs and he continues to work on the house. The grass he planted in the back yard is coming in and looking good.

My email is very short this week, as Monday's are turning into very hectic days at work.

Anyhow, we have a super busy week coming up; therefore next week's email will be more interesting.

Lots of love,

Lorie & Jimi

Hooray for Matt!!

Dear Friends and Family,

I was swamped yesterday with work from both Crocs and Cencorp, which is why my email this week is late. Sometimes life just happens! :-)

The beginning of last week seemed to drag as I was excited for Jimi to come home. His flight was delayed an hour due to storms, but FINALLY I was able to pick him up. The smiles on our faces stretched from ear to ear and it wasn't long before our faces hurt. Lol!

I helped Jennifer study for her finals and Thursday evening Tammy and I went to a Bridal Showcase class in Westminster for ideas on making wedding invitations.

Crocs closed the corporate office doors on Friday having all employees report to the Parks and Rec Division in Boulder at 9am. Nearly 300  people volunteered by painting city park benches, picking up trash, pulling weeds and anything else we could find to do. At noon we walked over to the new store on Pearl Street to get a first hand peak (tour) before it's opening. Crocs had a delicious lunch catered for everyone and then sent all employees home for the rest of the day with pay. The new store is really awesome - it is three stories tall filled with shoes galore.

Finally on Friday night Jimi and I were able to spend some time together. We went to the Moose Lodge and played several games of pool; however, I was off again Saturday morning. Melody and I went to a card making class in Denver. We got some really neat ideas and enjoyed it very much.

Sunday morning Jimi and I went to Denver and waited at the sideline of mile marker 21 of a 26.2 mile marathon hoping to see and cheer Matt on as he ran by, but we never saw him, so we headed to the finish line to wait for him there. Matt did an incredible job finishing a 26.2 mile marathon in about six hours. We are so proud of him!

Matt and Jimi had their toes in the Gulf, the Caribbean, the Atlantic, and the swamp ~ all with in a few days. Jimi took some pictures and video footage of the Okefenokee Swamp. Here is the video: Okefenokee Swamp It seems pretty scary to be floating around in a little fishing boat surrounded by alligators. Jimi said he will take me there when we go to Florida. Exciting!

And I think it is official - I think we will be moving to Florida rather than California when the time comes. The water is calmer, warmer, and absolutely beautiful in the Gulf. We are looking around the Tampa ~ Fort Meyers area.

That's all for now.
Love Everybody,
Lorie & Jimi

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Hello Friends and Family,

The week without Jimi was different and at times lonely, but I managed. Of course it had its benefits too, like being able to spread out across the entire bed while sleeping. Lol- I got spoiled; however, not really worth the trade of him being away. 

I stayed busy by working extra hours, painting, drawing, and vegging. Friday night was a little lonely and I had really wished Jimi was home, so we could play pool. However, Saturday made up for it. I had the most incredible mother's day weekend ever! Jennifer wrote me a three page letter of how much I mean to her, we went shopping for most of the afternoon and that evening, and she took me to a mother-daughter dinner held by her church. We ate a three course meal with a choice of prime rib or pork roast. Entertainment included live music, skits, and poem readings. Sunday morning Jenn and I met my girlfriend, Melody and her daughters for breakfast. I then came home and spent the day doing everything I wanted to do. It was a fabulous weekend!

In Florida, Jimi and Matt are having an awesome time. They flew into Tampa, concentrated on marinas between Tampa and Fort Meyers finding incredibly valuable information for our future. During their journey they have walked, jogged, and laid on a lot of beaches, played some pool, rode jet skis in the ocean, snorkeled, and 'chatted' with marine life in the ocean. They spent a day or so in Miami, which Jimi said he did not care for, they drove down towards the Keys, and are now heading their way back North to catch their flights home on Wednesday.

I miss him and will be glad when he's home.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all moms!!!

Love everybody,

Lorie & Jimi

Jenn's Birthday

Dear Friends and Family,

Monday- Jimi took/stayed with our friend Juraj at the hospital for an outpatient procedure and than rather than fighting rush hour traffic back home, he went over to friend Brad's house for the evening. Jennifer and I had a quick mother daughter dinner and then she was off with her girlfriends for the night. She had another day of clinicals at the nursing home on Tuesday.

Tuesday evening Jimi and I took my girl friend, Vicki, to the Moose lodge for burgers and pool and then Jimi and I had catching up to do for our favorite shows. We watched our Monday night show (The Pacific) and our Tuesday night show (The Biggest Loser), which we had recorded.

I met my girlfriend Melody after work on Wednesday night. We visited for a couple of hours before heading home. Jimi and Matt worked on the back yard getting it ready for seed. Jimi spread the seed later in the week and set up an automatic sprinkler.

Saturday and Sunday were more of the latest norm: working around the house, pool at the Moose again, etc. I snapped a picture of Jimi as he was coming in the house from working on the front door. He really was A LOT dirtier than he looked. Ha-ha- Enjoy!

I painted my second (and probably my last) oil painting on Saturday. Though I know the areas I messed up, and I am not happy with it, I've decided I have to take the bad with the good and decided to share.

Sunday was Jennifer's 19th birthday. We took her to dinner Saturday night, friends threw her a party on Sunday, and Jimi and I took her car to Spartak's garage in Loveland to have her clutch fixed for her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENN!!!

I dropped Matt and Jimi off at the airport early this morning. They will check out all the marinas around the Gulf of Mexico. They will be gone about ten days.

That sums up our week. Hope all is well with you...more later.

Love everybody,

Lorie & Jimi

Slumber week

Hello all,

Not much happened this past week. It rained most of the week and Jimi could not finish the fence,  nor could he and Matt train for the marathon.

Miller began the week feeling under the weather, but bounced back and is now doing well. I felt under the weather for a few days and just laid around the house after work.

Jenn had two days of clinicals for her nursing class. It was quite an eye opener for her to work in a nursing home, but still she enjoyed the experience.

Jimi and I played pool a couple of nights, he worked on replacing the door on the front porch, and along with my being completely lazy, I managed to work on my family tree and do some painting lessons.

Jennifer had her senior prom on Saturday night. She looked amazing. Here are pictures for you.

Since we no linger have cable, Jimi hooked his computer up to the TV so we can watch television programs from a website called hulu. It's pretty cool and a lot less commercials.

I hit my 2 year anniversary date with Crocs and soon I will be hitting my 10 year anniversary date with Cencorp.

It was a mellow slumber week. While I hate feeling like I wasted an entire week I know that sometimes we need these kinds of weeks. That's all for now.

Love Everybody,
Lorie & Jimi

A lot of little things...

Dear Friends and Family,

Nothing big this week, but a lot of little things happening. Jimi continued to work on painting the fence; it has turned out to be quite a big job. He also spent time edging and weeding the front yard and I prepared the flower garden. The front yard looks really good.

Jennifer was at the dentist a couple more times last week. She had a semi-annual cleaning and a temporary crown. She is doing much better now that the root canal is done.

 Jimi's been actively studying navigational software. He's learned alot and is really enjoying the learning experience.

I went parent/teacher conferences at the high school Wednesday afternoon; Jenn is doing well in her classes. Afterwards, I attended a parent meeting for graduates in the school auditorium.

Jimi and I took Miller for a moonlight stroll in the middle of the week. It was a peaceful evening and all three of us enjoyed the serenity. We again played pool at the moose lodge on Tuesday and Friday nights, which seems to have become our default "get out of the house" activity.

Jimi is assisting our friend, Matt train for a 26 mile marathon he will run in May. He dropped Matt off in Boulder on Thursday and Matt ran back to Longmont. He ran 14.2 miles in about three hours. They will do more training this week.

I finished my first painting with acrylic paints. It was more difficult than I had imagined and though it is recognizable, I'm not so happy with the outcome and will probably keep it under wraps. Ha-ha

I also painted my first painting with oil paints. I look at it and critique it thinking of things that could make it better and then I tell myself- 'it's my first painting', which makes it perfect. I took a picture of it for you to see.

 Miller was feeling a bit under the weather over the weekend, so we stayed close to home. We are keeping a close eye on him and are hoping he will come out of it soon.

Daniel went to his Jr Prom this past weekend. Here are a couple of pictures for you.

Jennifer and I bowled the final games for her online class. She has completed her lessons and now must study for her final exam. As long as she passes this online bowling class, she will be able to graduate with her class. Don't be fooled - the written part of this class is somewhat difficult. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her.

All is well. Have a wonderful week!!

Love everybody,
Lorie & JImi