This is a picture of how narrow the road was. I am glad that I was not driving.
July 7, 2009
Alpine Tunnel
This is a picture of how narrow the road was. I am glad that I was not driving.
July 5, 2009
4th of July Crested Butte, Colorado
The parade is the most fun and starts at 11am. This parade features very untypical floats. You have the students from the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic parading down the street in "Skunk Cabbage" instead of clothes just to give you an idea. At the end block of Elk Avenue the parade turns into a huge water fight.
We really did not want to get wet but we did enjoy some of the water.
July 4, 2009
Where Oh Where Have I Been
Monday I spent the day in bed, Tuesday I made it to the couch, Wednesday I tried to go into work but came home after 2 hours and Thursday and I was finally able to go to work. Even child birth was easier than this because it was over in 24 hours. Thank heavens for daycare and being a working mom. There is no way I could have taken care of the girls if I was a stay at home mom.
Yesterday, I had the day off for July 4th and I arrange for Joe to have the day off as well for a late birthday present. The plan was to go to Crested Butte, enjoy a wonderful heart pumping hike, have lunch and then pick up the girls from daycare. We did all that but down played the hike since I am still recovering from being sick. We headed up to Crested Butte and origianlly wanted to hike Yule Pass where we went on our first date almost 12 years ago. We had heard some people saying that you cannot get up to Yule Pass yet due to too much snow. So instead we did Daisy Pass.
We drove north from Crested Butte and turned left onto Slate River Road, then we continued on Slate River Road for about 6 miles into the townsite of Pittsburgh. At this point we parked the car and got our feet really wet as we walked through Slate River (more of a large creek at this point). We headed up a beautiful jeep road with wildflowers everywhere. The dogs had a blast. It is was a nice, easy road with only a little incline. We also came across 2 beautiful, huge water falls. Check out this link to read about some guys kyaking the falls. From Daisy Pass Road we could look way up above us and see the Yule Pass trail. There really was a lot of snow still up there. We also saw a huge waterfall come down from the snow. I love being able to go up into the mountains and see where the creeks, streams and rivers start. We hiked about 45 minutes and then turned around and headed back. I wanted to keep going but I was worried that I would get too tired on the way back.
After the hike we headed back to Crested Butte and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Maxwell's. It was wonderful and relaxing. I feel like it was my birthday present as well as Joe's. I am sorry I don't have any picture to post because the hike was gogorus, but we forgot the camera, like always.
Learner's Bib Giveaway Winner
The winner is Bitsy of Mommy Tried It.
June 21, 2009
Free National Park Day
Joe is already talking about the next free weekend in July 18 and 19th about going down to Mesa Verde. I will have to remind his though how hot southern Colorado gets in July!
Overall we had a great Father's Day.
***Don't forget to check out my Learner's Bib Giveaway below***
June 11, 2009
Baggino Diaper Bag - Learner's Bib - GIVEAWAY
In March I signed up to review this diaper bag from Baggino:
This diaper bag is pretty cool because it takes the hassle out of finding what you need and the outside of the diaper bag turns into the changing pad. I can never find my changing pad in my diaper bag.They also sent me this awesome bib (which every mom and dad in the world needs):

Giveaway - Win one Learner's Bib from Baggino.com. Please take a minute to check out my review, the Baggino Website and Root and Sprout. In order to enter this giveaway please leave a comment related to the product, my review or root and sprout. Also don't leave a comment like "Enter Me" Love the bib," please add some depth.
You will receive extra votes by 1 - blogging about this giveaway on your site with a link back to my and also leave me a comment that you did so and/or 2 - becoming a follower of Colorado Mama.
This contest closes on June 26th and I will draw a name that weekend.
June 9, 2009
Frustrated
June 8, 2009
Why I Live in Gunnison, Colorado

Sorry this is not in better focus but I took this picture from inside. I was scared that is I opened the door to get a better picture I would scare them away. Also, one of our creeks is right below the deer and our two ducks who we like to call Fred and Ethel were hanging out in the stream.
June 5, 2009
Colorado Mama's Food Blog
Please take a minute to check it out: http://colorado-mama-foodblog.blogspot.com/
National Donut Day
June 2, 2009
Back to Running - Neuroma still there??
I did decided not to run today and I went swimming at our new rec center. The pool is brand new and I had fun swimming laps. I am going to try another 2 miles tomorrow and see how it goes.
June 1, 2009
Exhausted But Happy!
The kids had fun. We spent most of the morning outside playing in the sandbox, running around, and fishing. I then took the four older ones to a house that I said I would clean today. Again the kids were excellent. We came home from that errand and had lunch. After lunch we has quite time in front of the TV and then headed outside to play hide-n-seek and take a walk. Joe decided to put the babies in the bike trailer and ride them around the neighborhood. Then he had to route because all of the kids wanted a turn and while he rode as fast as he could they would run after him. Everyone got a workout in!
After they went home I still had to finish cleaning the house I was hired to clean, get ready for Monday morning and then do the books for Joe's office. Let's just say that I have not been this tired in a long time!
May 31, 2009
Roast Chicken Receipe
Put a little bit of water in the bottom on the pan (about 1/2 inch deep). Place the chicken in the pre-heated oven for about 2 hours. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach around 180. Remember to baste the chicken every 15 to 30 minutes.
Gravy:
Strain off all of the extra veggies pieces, fat, spices, etc... Place the remanding liquid into a sauce pan and add about 1 to 2 TBS of flour. Whisk this constantly until the mixture thickens and now you have a wonderful, yummy gravy. Serve brown rice or mashed potatoes along with your favorite veggie and now you have a wonderful meal.
May 27, 2009
What's For Breakfast?
The Oatmeal Crisp has 270 calories per serving (with a 1/2 cup of skim milk), 4 grams of fiber, 1 gram of soluble fiber, 20 grams of sugar, 5 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fat and .5 grams of saturated fat. When I bought this I must have been in a hurry because if I had noticed that it only had 4 grams of fiber in it I would have put it back. I must have been thinking "Oatmeal is good for you". That is one reason why it pays to leave the kids at home while you go grocery shopping and READ the labels.
This cereal has 200 calories per serving (with 1/2 cup of skim milk), 1.5 grams of fat, NO saturated fat, 13 grams of fiber, 3 grams of soluble fiber, only 6 grams of sugar and 5 grams of protein. This cereal is a much healthier cereal, with more fiber and less sugar and less calories. It is not as exciting and yummy as the Oatmeal Crisp but it is not boring either. I would choose this cereal again. The Fiber One has only 200 calories and it will keep me full from 6am to 10am.
There are many cereals that are just as healthy as the Fiber One. I normally like to buy the Kashi Cereals but they are a bit more than the Fiber One. The past few months I have been searching the cereal aisles for something that has a lot of fiber, is yummy and not too expensive.
What do you like to eat for breakfast?
May 24, 2009
Creamy Broccoli Soup with Cheddar and Chive Toast
Welcome to Sunday Cookin. On the weekends I like to spend the time researching recipes and coming up with something different and super yummy.
Recipe:
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
4 slices of bacon, chopped (We hardly ever cook with bacon so I used more!)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbls fresh thyme (I did not have any fresh time so I used rubbed thyme)
salt and pepper
Hot Sauce (I did not put this in.)
2 10 ounce boxes of frozen chopped broccoli (I used fresh broccoli - about 3 to 4 cups)
1 quart of chicken stock (I forgot about this until the last minute so I used water and about 1 cup of chicken stock
½ cup of heavy cream or half and half (I never use heavy cream due to calories and fat so I used 1/4 cup of whole milk and 1/4 cup of whole milk)
8 slices of baguette (I used whole wheat sandwich bread)
1/4 cup cup parsley
Zest and juice of one lemon (I used the juice only - I was lazy)
1 cup of shredded sharp Cheddar
3 tbls chopped fresh chives
Heat a large soup pan over medium heat and add the EVOO. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove the crispy bacon and let it drain on a paper towel. (I added bacon to the soup as well as the bread.) Add the onions, garlic and thyme to the pot and season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions are tender. Add the broccoli and heat thoroughly. Transfer the onions and broccoli to the food processor with ½ cup of chicken stock and puree until smooth. (I wanted a hearty soup with chucks so after everything was cooked I took a hand mixer and pureed it lightly.) Add the pureed mixture back to the pan and then add the remaining chicken stock and cream. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
While the soap is simmering, toast the bread slices until brown, sprinkle the cheese, bacon and parsley over each slice and return to the boiler or toaster oven until the cheese is melted.
To finish the soap add the lemon zest and juice and stir to combine.
May 23, 2009
Couch to 5K Running Program in 9 Weeks
My longest run for many years was the Gothic to Crested Butte race. It was a 1/3 marathon, about 8.75 miles. The first year I did that I trained for it, I ran the whole time and I finished. I was so proud of myself for doing that.
For many years I was stuck in that I was about an 11 minute mile (on a good day) runner. It was not until I started training for a marathon that I finally picked up the pace and miles. Now I can complete a 10 mile run and on my shorter runs I can keep my pace to 10 minute miles or less and I am still working on getting that pace even shorter.
The reason I am telling you this is that you too can become a runner. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE can run. (Unless your doctor told you no or you have horrible knees or something.) I would encourage everyone to give it a try and see if you like it. BUT do not give up after the first run, give it some time and eventually you too will find yourself enjoying the time outside, away from the kids, just you, mother nature and maybe some I-tunes.
Here is a Couch to 5K Running program I found that looks pretty good and was recommend by Active.com. This is from www.coolrunning.com.
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml
Pick out a 5K race that is about 9 to 10 weeks away, start training for it an then go do it.
Here are some other great sources for running.
www.active.com
www.runnersworld.com
May 22, 2009
Pictures of My Beautiful Daughters
Here is one reason I am glad we moved out of the old house and into our new old red house. The yard. The backyard at the white house was dirt and this is what happens when you give a 4 year old and a 1 year old a dirt back yard.

May 21, 2009
Running and Mountain Biking
This week my plan is to mountain bike, swim and focus on my weight workout. That reminds me - gotta go work on those abs!
May 20, 2009
Computer is Up - Back to Blogging
This is where I am blogging to you right now and this is my view from the computer.

This is the view from our bedroom, down the living room and into the kitchen. (Notice Skylar still sitting there. I told her to sit and stay and she did - for quite awhile.)
Here is Mikayla's room. She has a super big room so it is also the playroom.
Here are a couple pictures of parts of our yard.


May 19, 2009
Birthday Party, Moving, Biking and Fox Family
I have also been slacking in the exercise department as well. I have tried not to be too hard on myself because I have been packing, unpacking and cleaning which all burns a lot of calories. I was exhausted every night. I did head out for a 35 minute bike ride early this morning. It was great and I even saw a fox family with a very cute baby fox that was so tiny!
May 8, 2009
Win a Laptop and a Carrying Case
May 7, 2009
Recipes
Don’t get me wrong I enjoy cooking. I love watching Food TV, or going through recipe books and planning wonderful, healthy meals. On the weekends (especially if we are having friends over) I love to cook dinner.
That said I am going to start posting meals that I have made with pictures and share them with you on a weekly basis. Maybe (if I can get Joe to share his recipes with me) post his pictures and recipes from his meals as well. Since we are in the process of moving this week I have not had time to post the recipes that I had wanted to this week. Hopefully once we get settled in this weekend I will be able to post some wonderful dinners I have made lately.
May 2, 2009
Tomatoes
I have a large window in our living room that faces East and gets a ton of sun as well. The four tomato plants have doubled in size and yes that is a Poinsettia from Christmas in the picture as well. It loves that window too! Next year I won't have to buy a Poinsettia at Christmas time.
I cannot wait until these tomatoes plants are producing tomatoes. Once we move into the red house I plan on re-potting them into larger pots for hopefully that many more tomatoes. We will see.
When I wrote this blog entry about a week ago this is what my tomatoes plants looked like.

Now in less than a week this is what they look like!!!

May 1, 2009
The abs, the abs are so not the same.
Now that I am getting closer to my pre-baby weight I am really noticing that my stomach is not the same. It looked much better at this weight after I had only one baby than when I have had two. I don’t remember from before I got pregnant the first time – that was too long ago.
I guess I really gotta up my running (slowly and carefully – maybe through in more cardio with more mountain biking) and MORE ab work in order to get a flatter belly.
April 29, 2009
Frogs Croaking, Birds Chirping, Streams Trickling
In Gunnison there are ditches everywhere. These ditches carry water from the rivers to the ranchers hay fields for irrigation. (The Island where our Red House is located is created in part by these large ditches. In the City of Gunnison there are much smaller ditches (maybe 1 foot across and 1 foot deep versus 4 to 5 feet wide and 4 to 5 feet deep) running in your front or back yards parallel to the street. When the City turns the ditches on you can water your lawn from this water for free.
The reason I am telling you about our ditches is that this is time of year when they turn them on and some of them are flowing. The run I went on today is a trail that is only a few blocks from my house and I have never run it this time of the year. I had water flowing on both sides of the trail and I could hear the frogs croaking, birds chirping and the stream trickling. The sun was out it was warm and wonderful. I could not have asked for a better run.
April 28, 2009
Wanted: Good Long Run - No Pain
I tried taking the dogs for a walk this morning and after about 10 minutes my foot started getting sore and I had another 10 minute walk to get home. I am telling myself to take things easy for a few more days but I just want to run. As I drive around town I see people running all over and get jealous. Then I hear a favorite running song of mine on the radio and I just want to run.
The doctor told me to wait a week before I tried anything so on Wednesday I am going to go for a one mile run and see how it feels. Of course I will let you know. Until then I will go sit on my bum - oh yeah and do some physical therapy. Tomorrow I am going to do my normal weight workout.
April 27, 2009
Mikayla is Turning 4
She hardly rides it and says she has trouble peddling it.


As I was looking for the bike trailer above for Mikayla I found this for Lily:
I would love to have the bike setup with Mikayla on the back and Lily in the front. 
Also, I love Melissa and Doug products. They are high quality for a great price. I found this stamp set.
Or this puzzle. We have an undersea puzzle like this and love it.
I do have to decided very quickly what I am going to get for her birthday because it is next Thursday! Oh boy - what am I going to do.April 26, 2009
Books Books Books
I never really got into reading to Lily. I have tried but instead of sitting there and listening she would grab the book, turn the page, get fussy, etc... But lately that has all changed. I bring out a book to read to her and she starts to laugh because she gets so excited! Also, in the past when I get her up from a nap or in the morning she wants to cuddle, now she looks for her books for me to read. She won't me read for long but I am excited that she now looks for the books and she wants to read them.
April 24, 2009
Not Healthy
I was browsing the Internet the other day and came across this article with this picture. I was so disgusted. Not only does she look like her average daily calorie intake is oh about 100 calories a day but she looks like a perfect actress for a WW2 movie about the Jews in a concentration camp and to believe that she is Miss Australia. She needs to check into a health clinic and put on about 20 plus pounds! This is not the type of role model I want my daughter to see.April 23, 2009
Morton's Neuroma

It is very common in women because most women wear high heel and narrow shoes. That does not apply to me. I have a couple of pairs of shoes with maybe a 2 inch heal but only one pair is narrow. My shoes of choice are very comfortable, roomy and flat. It is the running that caused it. The doctor I saw this time is Gloria Beim. She wrote The Female Athlete's Body Book, she has been the team doctor for the US Cycling Team as well as the US Olympic Team. (She knows her stuff!)
Dr. Beims says I have two, one is where it is on the picture and a smaller one is developing on the other side of the same bone towards the outside of my foot. She knows I really want to run a marathon and get active as quick as possible so she is treating me aggressively. She gave me a cortisone shot today and I see the physical therapist tomorrow. She said to stop doing anything at that hurts (but I can still ride my bike to work since it is .75 of a mile each way). Dr. Beim said in about 1 week to try running a short distance and see how it feels. If it hurts, stop if it feels good then the next day try to go a little further.
Dr. Beim also said that I might need 2 or 3 shorts of the cortisone and the worse case scenario would be surgery to remove the nerve all together. For now I think I will hit the pool instead of the road and the trail - at least for the next week.
April 21, 2009
Red House



April 20, 2009
Wonderful Weekend





After the parade Elk Avenue stays closed and people can enjoy music, street games and great food. We had a blast and a super fun 4th of July.





