Foster puppy

When we returned from Minnesota we got a call from the Humane Society saying they had a 4 week old puppy that needed a foster home for about 3 weeks. We named him Henry but only had him for a short time because he became sick and we had to take him back for care.

Annual Trip to Minnesota

We just got back from our fun-filled trip to Minnesota. We head up there every year to see family and friends and eat our way through all of the great restaurants in Minneapolis. See pics below for some highlights of our trip.

Jameson enjoyed the rides (and climbing) with Uncle Bill.

We rented a pontoon boat with Chris's family and spent the day out on Lake Minnetonka. The cousins had a blast swimming and playing in the water.

Beautiful Stillwater, MN! Jameson and I went to visit a college friend and her kids in Stillwater. It's been years since I've been there and I forgot how beautiful it is. We enjoyed a historic tour by trolley and climbed some of there many staircases in the downtown area.

The house we rented this year was across the street from Minnehaha Creek and the house came with tubes. What a gorgeous float and a relief from the heat and humidity.

Arches

We also hit Moab and Arches National Park on the way home. We did not have our bikes with us but will definitely return to the area with bikes in tow. We loved Moab!

Grand Canyon

We took a different way home to Colorado (from Arizona) this time. We enjoyed the views at the Grand Canyon. This was a first visit for Chris and Jameson. See pics below.

We think we'll be in Colorado most of the summer except for a few road trips to places other than Arizona. We made great progress on the house but we're still not quite finished. It's definitely feeling like home to us. We practically spent the first half of 2011 there!

This is actually not the Grand Canyon but on the Navajo Reservation east of the Canyon.

No it doesn't drop 4000 feet behind him :)

Pic by Jameson

Jameson in a tree

I just had to add this picture. This is Jameson in my favorite kind of tree here in Arizona, a Palo Verde. It has green bark!

Jameson's birthday in Arizona

Jameson had a birthday party here in Arizona before we head back to Colorado. All the kids brought their Nerf guns and they fired darts for 4 hours straight. Jameson didn't even want to stop for cupcakes or gifts!

Bobcat for breakfast

Our bobcat friend made an appearance again this morning while we were sitting at the breakfast table. Chris got a good picture of him enjoying the morning sun before disappearing into the brush.

Some progress

We've made some progress on the house. The master bedroom tiling is almost done. The painting in the master bedroom and bath are done. Jameson's room is next. We removed the wallpaper and the carpet already. We need to paint and tile and we'll have two livable bedrooms. His bathroom is next in line after that. The wallpaper is down so we just need to paint.
Jameson and I are living in the house now (Chris is in Colorado for the week). We're sleeping on mattresses and we have the patio furniture in the living room!

Master bedroom tiling in progress.

Kitchen cabinets are done!

More pictures to come!

Snow in the desert

We woke up this morning to snow!

More from Arizona

Chris's leg after running in the desert, although Melinda runs in the desert and doesn't have any scars...
Catalina Mountain sunset

Desert sunset

We've been working on getting our new house ready to move in on March 1st. Right now it's just a huge mess! We're losing the peach walls, the wallpaper, the blue carpet, the list goes on. Less than 2 weeks to go, the push is on!

Master bedroom

Cabinet doors

Wallpaper removal

Kitchen chaos

We're having a solar heater installed for the pool after we move in. Chris tried jumping in the pool the other day, he doesn't recommend it.

Adventures from Tucson

We're loving Tucson! It seems impossible that we've been here over a month already. We've been doing lots of hiking, tennis, and pool time.

I, Melinda, am not very good at remembering the camera so I don't have any pictures of Jameson and I indoor skydiving. We went with our homeschooling group and had a great time.
I also don't have pictures of the animals we've spotted around Tucson. We've seen a bobcat, javelinas, coyotes, and a roadrunner.

We found a house and close the beginning of February (see pic below of the backyard).

Jameson is busy with his new Arizona buddies. Chris is loving mountain biking and we both are excited about trail running. And tennis seems to be the new family sport.

Melinda

The pool and mountains in our backyard

Air and Space Museum with Uncle Bill

Hiking in Ventana Canyon

Hiking at Finger Rock

Jameson in the pool

Happy Holidays 2010

We are enjoying the holiday pictures and greetings that arrive every day in the mail and are offering this blog as our update on a great 2010.

Many of our adventures this year took place on road trips. Chris had some meetings in the San Diego area earlier this year so we hopped in the car and made a little tour of the Southwest. We spent a couple days in Madrid, New Mexico with a buddy Jameson met on the beach in Mexico a couple years ago. Jameson and Maya had a blast climbing boulder-covered hills and high-stepping through cactus clusters. We then spent a week in Tucson and loved it (more on that later). After business concluded in San Diego we made a stop at LegoLand and then took in Joshua Tree National Park before making our way back home.

Montrose Pools, Tucson AZ

Jameson loves the road and also enjoys getting back to his friends in the neighborhood. Highlights of their shenanigans this year include a bungee jumping experience the kids invented using life vests and bungee cords and launching themselves from tree branches in the front yard. The kids also became very fond of our spare garbage container. One day they decided they wanted to "swim" in it and later it became a stage for an up and coming rock band. Most of August was spent with this swimming pool / concert activity.


Jameson remains an avid outdoor kid and has logged several long bike rides with the family. Speaking of bikes, Jameson and Chris took apart an old 3-speed and a kids bike this summer and changed things up during reconstruction. Turning is a little tricky but by all accounts it's a cool ride.
Jameson still adores Legos. In addition to our trip to LegoLand, Jameson had a Lego Engineer at his birthday party. The guy showed up with boxes of Legos and Power Functions. For hours the kids designed and built battery-powered track machines and battled each other.

Melinda had a great year too. When we decide to hit the road and transform a business trip into fun for the whole family, she's our cruise director. We love that Melinda is an expert on the "Journey". For example, Chris had some work in Pennsylvania and along the way we spent a couple of days on the beach near Michigan City, raced a train on our bikes in Ohio (and won!), and experienced snowless tubing at a ski resort in Virginia. Another trip to meetings in North Carolina included mountain biking in Kansas (it's true...Kansas!), Frisbee golf in Tupelo Mississippi, and a Renaissance Festival in Kansas City, Missouri. That last trip included Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando. We are all fans of Harry Potter so visiting Harry Potter World was a thrill. The Pumpkin Juice is actually pretty good!

This Frisbee golf course on a ridge outside of Tupelo was ablaze with Fall colors.
This bike path in Little Rock is the longest pedestrian bridge in the US. It's built atop a dam and spans the Arkansas River. It's called the Big Dam Bridge. :)

With Hogwarts Castle in the background, Jameson casts

a spell on himself with his new Harry Potter wand.

Riding in a big Dr. Seuss fish is serious business.

Melinda continues to run all aspects of finance and administration for our business. She's also a weaver from way back and was thrilled to receive a loom hand-crafted by her father this year. We always knew Melinda was creative and the loom is drawing out even more of our artist.

The family business had a spectacular 2010. Chris's book, "Managing the Core" launched multiple consulting projects for our business and the book is now required reading for many in the industry. Chris is a regular guest-lecturer at the University of Colorado and, if we ever decide to come off the road for a year, he's been offered the chance to teach business part-time. Chris continues to run and ride bike on whatever trail he can find.

We're all looking forward to wintering in Arizona this year. We mentioned the brief stay in Tucson as part of an early-year road trip and we liked it so much we decided to hang out down there and experience a warmer winter.

We wish you the best this holiday season. Celebrate and then have a wonderful 2011!

Chris, Melinda and Jameson (I'll drop a few more photos below just for fun)

We met Jameson's buddy Evan at Disney World.

This is how we look on the road.

This is how we look after a long roady!