Well, what a lovely surprise! Rudy bumped a personal trip up with our business trip and surprised me by taking us to Estes Park, CO. I had always heard that it is a lovely place to visit and everyone that had said it was right!!! The drive over was simply beautiful, as was the town. The air was so very clean breathing it in!!! Other than there being a lot of people, even in the off season, I could see the allure of the area, the climate, the views, the cool stuff to see and do. AND Rudy took me to stay at The Stanley Hotel, where Steven King stayed and dreamed up the book to write The Shining. We took the Shining Tour, which was fantastic. The gal leading the tour could not have been better. After the tour we walked down to the restaurant Chicken and Beer. It was fantastic. I had the best salad I have ever had in my life. Oh it was good! Then we hiked back up to the hotel and enjoyed hotel stories by the hotel storyteller in the wine bar. What a delightful evening!!! If you ever get a chance to visit The Stanley Hotel, do!

Oh I forgot to mention the Elk. These guys were just all hanging out at the local little league baseball park while the little leaguers were practicing just feet away. The elk didn’t care about them and the little leaguers didn’t care about the elk. Just common living here. But wow, it was neat!!! The heard crossed the street and stopped traffic.

Let me start out telling you about my husband. In addition to being a 25+ conference attended, as noted on the ribbon on his tag, he received an award… a big award. He was so nonchalant about it. I returned from my spouse’s tour, and he said he had gone to an awards lunch and he got an award. I was like, “what?” And he was like, “yeah, it’s no big deal.” I was like, “I didn’t know you were up for an award.” He was like, “Yeah, I wasn’t sure they would be awarding it to me.” He gave me the program. Rudy was one of 20 people who received an award out of 500+ engineers of energy companies best (I’m talking BP, Exxon, GE, etc people!!) in attendance that received an award. Turns out he’s chairman of a committee that after 10 years of work received a standardization. If you don’t understand all that, you are not alone. But, it’s a BIG DEAL!!! A REALLY BIG DEAL. Anyway, I made him take a picture of the program, as they mail the plaque to him. Rudy is one of the top minds in the electrical power cable industry in the world, if not the top. He is very humble. I am so happy and proud of the man that he is!!!

I took a Spouse tour at The Fort Restaurant on Monday. It was a replica of an original fort, but the replica was built in the 1960s, I believe was said. My favorite parts of the tour was the Remington Statue and the Prints by a guy I recognized, but now cannot remember. I also found amusing the photo of the live pet bear that would have drinks at the bar way back in the day. The Summit 8 was also held at this restaurant with some neat presidential photos. We also enjoyed the Pear Margaritas and homemade guacamole. It was delish and the weather was perfect looking out over the canyon.

The patio view at The Fort was lovely. On the way back to the hotel we drove by and saw the outside of the Red Rock Amphitheater, which was cool as I’ve watched many a concert there on the television.

Wow! Now this was a tour!!! The Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver, CO with afternoon tea. This is a wonderful tour and I highly recommend it. This hotel has their own historian which leads the tour. The architecture is quite amazing and very ahead of its time technologically speaking. In house (see in picture above) resides a pair of banners that were at the tops of poles leading Napoleon’s marches. They are his emblem made in paper mache and covered in gold, hence them lasting all these years, and they are the only ones in existence. Quite amazing, along with the entire hotel.

After the tea, I headed back to our hotel and enjoyed a Starbucks break on the overhead walkway between the two buildings of the hotel. It was a pleasure just taking a break and watching people go on about their lives on the street. I had a good trip and was thankful that Rudy brought me along for the ride.

Dean came home and we celebrated his 24th birthday!!! We love him so much and are so proud of him. He has the best stories of all the cool places he is going and all the interesting people he is meeting along the way. We just chilled while he was home and enjoyed catching up with him!!! The time has just flown by since he was born. Dean is a joy in our lives.

Well, we moved Daisy back to school to room with her favorite roomies – Dena, Bec, and Ash! She’s in her senior year majoring in Graphic Design. It’s been so good. We love her and miss her and are proud of Daisy!!! We know it will be an excellent year!

Agnes is a curious cat. She is fitting in wonderfully and now checks everything out in the house!

We had a great time during the week going to the county fair and seeing all the home economic exhibits and the animal exhibits. It’s our favorite part of the Union County Fair. So glad we took an hour out of the week to check out all the cute animals!

This skinny legged chicken was Rudy’s favorite animal we saw. I don’t think it would make a very good supper, but he was pretty spunky!

Friday night after I got off work real late, we hustled down to Shreveport to meet our friends Joey & Marsha to celebrate Joey’s birthday. We lost our money, but won a good time!

We hustled home Saturday morning and made it back to the Union County Fairgrounds for Rudy’s work picnic complete with 10 rounds of Bingo. I won as much as I did the night before…nothing…but a good time! I love BINGO and Rudy!!!

A Secret Last Minute Night away. It had gotten busy and crazy and so we just slipped out of town for one night to ourselves. And it was a good time! I won $400…don’t ask me how much I spent! Ha!

1. Cannot tell you how much I loved receiving these cool Spooky pens from my work friend. She knows me!!!
2. Chilling in the living room with some fall colors and candles. Fall is approaching with a bit of heat.
3. Agnes is getting accustomed to living in the house. She gives me Pink Panther feels.

A year or two ago we went down to Natchez, Mississippi and took a biscuit making class with Regina, The Biscuit Queen. We loved them so much that we make four batches at a time and put them in the freezer to use almost every morning. They are delicious. Rudy is really amazing at rolling out the biscuits, as his ALWAYS turn out fluffier and tastier than mine. But we do this together. It’s really always a fun night together, plus we get to reap the benefits.

Chef Regina Charboneau

Woo Pig Sooie!!! Labor Day weekend was a blast cheering on the hogs and visiting my mom. Oh and to win a game!!! A great start to a great season!!!

Our second home game was another win! Not just because the hogs won the game, but also because Daisy joined us up at Mamaw’s. Plus, we got to see Michelle and Saint. It was a good time all around. We stopped on the way at Wiederkher Weinkeller Restaurant and Winery, which is a family tradition. Also, at the end of the game, we got to watch the press conference and just happened to get to meet Coach Pitman and the athletic director. Coach Pitman was really nice. Another great weekend!

Our third home game was a welcome break from the heat, as it was a night game. We played again Missouri State with Petrino as coach. You could see the neck braces all in the audience. Well, we won, thank goodness, as we were staying at Mamaw’s and I didn’t think she’d let us back in the house if Petrino won. She is not a fan of him, and she loves her hogs. I also got to meet a former Razorback basketball player and he was super nice and let me take my picture with him. And we went to Pancho’s for supper in Goshen, our favorite restaurant when we are in town, as it’s so close to my mom’s house, is always good food and good service.

Wiederkher Weinkeller Restaurant

Arkansas Razorback Football

Pancho’s Restaurant