PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 8/31/11

So glad to have a good Mexican restaurant nearby. I went here with Daileen Loving for lunch and the food was good and company, even better. Nick and Andrew have been friends since their freshman year when they were low on the ladder for tennis...they worked their way up and up until a few weeks ago, they were both playing. Andrew decided not to play this year as he is hoping to go into golf management and has to get his handicap down. Anyways, his mom and I have been friends since then also and it was nice to be able to just sit down and chat for a while outside of a tennis match.

This building is where the first Highlands Ranch library was. Nick and I spent many hours in this place that was transformed into restaurant space (Dewey's) when the new, big library was built up near SAfeway. Now, it is Salsa Brava and I have to think it will be here to stay for a while. When I think of how life was when NIck and I would go every week for story hour, I can hardly imagine it has been 16 plus years. We would listen to story hour (and Chris joined us once he was born) and then head out to the non-fiction book area and get all the dinosaur books he could find. Many hours were spent browsing through those books and he knew every single kind of dino that ever walked the earth. Between that and trucks (ucks) and coloring, those were his early passions. It has been interesting and somewhat sad to think back on this while I write this post. So much has changed and gone on in Highlands Ranch...huge amount of buildings, grocery stores that you don't have to drive across County Line Road to get to and just a busier pace of life for us and the community. I will always reflect with tears and happy memories of those days spent with my little Nicky T and shortly after, Christopher and Zachary.

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 8/27/11

Way to go TRHS Boys Tennis. This weekend they came in 2nd or 3rd (depending how you look at it) in the Air Academy Invitational Tournament. Nick and Trevor won 3 out of 4 of their matches and figured out how to play together. When Coach Hanson was handing out the ribbons at the end, he specifically said that Nick was a "leader" and that word means as much to me (and hopefully, to him) as it means to be a good player (which he also said they were). I hope this season, for Nick, is fun, without drama, successful and just a good final summation of 4 years of tennis at TR. He has definitely worked hard, never given up and did his best and is an amazing player...much better than he should be for the time he has spent on the courts in lessons and off season play. I am very proud of him, but more than anything, he should be proud of himself as he is a class act on and off the court (I may have written this same thing in an earlier post, but it is true).

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 8/29/11

Outside our back window, there sat a Swainson's hawk surveying the wildlife situation, I am sure. There are lots of bunnies back there so I'm betting that was what he was watching for. I'm all for this guy going after the mice so if that is the case, I hope he caught something. It just fascinates me to see wildlife within our daily life. (at least most kind of wildlife not including mice, packrats or any other type of creepy rodent/bug/snake) Almost every day, I look up in the sky and see hawks flying around and often hear the coyotes howling at night. There are bunnies that find refuge in our trees and under our patio and butterflies that fly right in front of me. These are bits of life that I am so grateful to appreciate and enjoy ...right outside my window.

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 8/28/11

Dad had a book signing at "Mountain Books" on Saturday. I was down in the Springs with Nick so Todd, Chris and Zach headed up there with him and mom to be there. It was a small gathering (which you would expect in a mountain town) with Betty Long (talked about in the book) and her family and Norm Meyer as guests. I hated to have to miss it because this whole thing with dads book has just been pretty incredible...the entire process and I love to hear when there are more sales of books. This next week, Tattered Cover is going to start carrying the books and I will be the first on there to check it out (and I may have to buy a copy just to say I did :) ). Todd did a great job taking this photo...I had asked him to take one of him autographing the books and it is exactly what I wanted.

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 8/26/11

Fun photo of me and Heather...

Nick ran over for this photo right before he started his match..

Aidan and Andrew sitting on those hot bleachers. When Nick was playing, Aidan had his fingers crossed and said, "I'm crossing them for good luck...I'm going to cross them until Nick wins"

Cute Emma with her missing teeth...

Nick and his team played in the Air Academy Invitational tournament this weekend in Colorado Springs. Heather, Aidan, Emma and Andrew came to see him play in his first match and it was very special to have them come. I know it meant a lot to Nick and, me too. As a kid, it's nice to know that you've got family support in all you do. The match went into a tie breaker and the rain came so they had to finish that match the next morning, but Uncle Todd went over to the courts as soon as he could hoping to catch Nick playing. It didn't work out, but he did talk to him when Nick was at the hotel. It was nice to spend the evening at Todd and Heather's and hang out with my little brother. Their house is very comfortable to stay in and I even crashed out on their couch before Todd got back. We went out to get something to eat, took Shiner on a walk and watched tv. Just a nice relaxing, fun day all the way around. BTW...Nick and Trevor DID finish their tiebreaker on Saturday morning and WON! I think Aidan crossing his fingers the day before made the difference.

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 8/25/11

How much do I love this quilt? This is a treasure among all treasures. This was in the trunk that Grammama had in her garage and then my mom got it. Within it was this quilt created by my great great Grandmother Beeson. So many questions about it...where did the fabric come from, how long did it take her, who used it? To me, it is a piece of artwork passed on through generations. I'm wondering if she thought that her great great granddaughter would someday have this and be so glad to possess this treasure? Now, I want to find out more about Great Grandmother Beeson and make sure that she was the one who created this beautiful family heirloom.

PROJECT 365 PICTURE OF THE DAY 8/24/11

What a fun night last night to meet up with everyone at Celtic Tavern to see our Dreher cousins. Tami and I spent a lot of time with Jann and Elise during a couple of summers and I always look forward to seeing the Kansas Drehers when they come into town. It's special to be able to connect with relatives that you don't see often, but are important in your life now, and in the past. It is also a connection to Grandad Dell and his family. I know he would (and probably was) smiling seeing everyone together including us with our cousins, Spencer, Chris and Andrew. The only one we were missing was Todd :(. I am looking forward to spending time with him this weekend when I'm down in the Springs for Nick's tennis match.

When I was young, Jann and I were often told that we look alike...I always loved that and I still do. She's looking good and she was always extra special to me as she was like my older sister as a child and as I grew up.