F cubed = Friends, Family & Food

We were in UT over Labor Day weekend to visit all the fam!  We hiked Lake Mary - and it was great to get out of the 97 degree heat into the cool Mountain air.  Matt's "pouring one for his homies" (Jon & Kaylene who are in TX) in the photo - just in case it was unclear.  It was wonderful to catch up and spend time with all of the grandparents and as always learn a little more about each of them!  We of course loved hearing Patrick play every instrument in the house as well!  Thanks for a fun time!

Our cute niece Lauren who does a sweet elbow dance, but doesn't really like Matt.  What do you do? 

Shocking - another booty shot of Matt.  

The only thing that grabs the attention of grown men - video games.  We had a sweet fun filled evening with Whitney and Keela and their men Brian and Matt (plays guitar hero on expert setting) playing rock band and eating.   I don't get to see my Broncos friends twice a week any more (so sad), but at least we are still getting together.  

Longtime homies; Grant  Mitchell and cute girlfriend Rachel (check out her sweet photos at www.rachelthurston.com) were in town a coupla weeks ago.  We were lucky enough to partake of the World's greatest fries together, and a whole lotta sushi.  

Lean, mean and green

So a while ago, Candice and I were reading Outdoor magazine and discovered an article about the top ten adventures a person should experience in the continental US. Listed in the article, were many adrenaline inducing experiences but only one that got us really excited, you guessed it...female bodybuilding. Unfortunately, Candice hates fake tanners, so we went with our second favorite- alligator wrestling class. Luckily, the school/gator farm is located in Southern Colorado. A few hours drive from our crib and we were greeted by the american version of crocodile dundee, we were kinda pissed that he wasn't packing a huge knife but his outfit seemed promising .






After signing our lives away, we were thrown to the gators-literally. Dundee explains that they will try to bite you and to be quick and grab a tail, then explosively subdue the head with both hands-if you hesitate you may lose a finger or worse. A scout master in a previous class lost a finger. Luckily the gators you start grappling with are small, less than three feet head to tail. After you get that down you start in shallow water and wrestle larger gators. After a while, you're sparring with big gators in waist-deep, murky water. I wasn't wearing shoes and as I would walk through the gator infested swamp I would accidently step on the beasts. You could feel them moving all around you. I like to think that I can handle a lot but I was seriously freaked out at times. I forgot to mention that the gator farm is so non-corporate. Yeah, you sign a waiver but apart from that it's so mom and pop in both a great and terrfying way. Great, that you can interact with such amazing animals but bad in the fact homeboy instructor will just take off for a while and leave you with a million man-eating dragons hissing at you like a bunch of barnyard banshees. At the very end we had to use a rope to pull in "Fluffy,"the 700lb gator who lives in his own lake. It was like trying to reel in a blue whale with a fishing rod, so tiring. Finally, we got him in and we got to grab his jaws and play a bit. He was so mellow it wasn't as scary as the smaller more agile gators that try and bite you-and they can if you're not focused and speedy. Killer instinct is a must for any gator wrastler. We didn't record too much but I did throw a couple of clips together. Enjoy.





If I look tired here it's because I was. Gators are so strong that I was pulled into the water after I had thought that I had wrapped the big lizard up. As a result, my shins and feet were shredded



It really was a rad time had by all. According to Dundee guy, it's the only school for gator wrastlin' in the country. I highly recommend the class. One bonus is that while you pin/subdue the animal, dundee is able to medically treat them for any bites, missing limbs or diseases they may have-so everyone can feel warm and fuzzy about the whole operation.

dah dah duh dah duh I'm lovin' it

This gets me hungry every time

Santa Fe...Are you there?

The girls trip to Santa Fe was awesome!! We take a girls getaway every 2 years to different locations, and they consist of shopping, fine dining, spa treatments, laughter, the Kevin Bacon game, and a cultural event. This year we stayed in an adobe house, walking distance from the downtown plaza. My birthday was on Saturday - and I blew out candles at more than one restaurant! We saw the Marriage of Figaro at the Santa Fe Opera and loved every minute of it! Thanks for a great time!!

Doris and Joni at Geronimo's

Pedicures - the answer to life's worries

The guacamole was divine

Happy Birthday to me! and Joni (we celebrated her May birthday, because she was sick in May and we weren't able to - more dessert is always worth it)

We are family

My mom, dad, and brother Patrick came into town this weekend - and we had a killer time!

It consisted of delicious food, transportation museum,  delicious food, games, gym, delicious food, Denver Botanic Gardens, delicious food, movies, games, church, delicious food at Mickey and Doris', wii, birthday presents, illustional biskets (IB), delicious food, closed museums, swanky bowling, and none other than more delicious food - a good time was had by all!

Bowling-we suck

Enjoying our homemade goodness

'NAM

Energy crisis answered

This ferocious contraption is a snowplow hooked onto the front of a steam train.

They don't make 'em like they used to.

Feelin' high on the 4th of July

I pretty much caught the only fish on my boat, not to brag or anything.

Cowboy hootnany (sp?) with my brother Jeff and his family. Sweet western music was dished out by what appeared to be real cowboys in a non-broke back mountain sorta way.

Rockies game, kind of a boring sport but anything live is cool. I'm just always looking for someone to rush the mound.

Our beautiful niece Avery




Rocking the ropes course!

Candice playin' with our cute niece Sophie

Not your average cartoon

Matt and I watched a well done, interesting movie called Persepolis last night about an Iranian girl and the tumultuous times she lives through.  It deals with some pretty heavy themes for an animated movie - but does so in a really clever way!  The animation is really creative.   

For those of you who are strong supporters of "freedom fries", be forewarned that it was done by our amis de francais.  

If you haven't seen it yet add it to the netflix list.