Outdoor Fun

It's officially spring! Spring in Colorado is fantastic because it's the one time of year when we can participate in both winter and summer activities. Up in the high country there's four to seven feet of snow on the ground, while down here everything is dry and I'm wearing flip-flops. Over the last few weeks we've continued our weekend ski trips, but we also went on our first hike of the season. Whatever the activity, I'm happy as long as I get some mountain time.

I haven't posted much about skiing recently because there's not much new to report, and ski pictures all start to look the same after a while. But we've still been getting up as often as we can, and Matt's gone even more than me (he's addicted). Over the last month, we've hit Eldora, Keystone, and Breck. And Matt added Vail and night skiing at Keystone to his list when he went up with some of the guys. I'm slowly improving. And while it's taking me much longer than most people to learn this whole skiing thing, I'm proud to say that I've finally done a blue run!

About to go down my first blue at Eldora.

Of course, the couple of blues that I've done were really easy, but they were still blues! Matt also made vast improvements this year: he did his first double black a couple of weekends ago. I think he's crazy, but as long as he's safe, I can't complain!

Skiing at Keystone and Breck.

Last weekend we headed up to the foothills above Boulder for the first hiking of the season.

Pretty. Dry and dead, but still pretty.

We met Rachel, Keva, and Rachel's friend for the short trek. Even though things are still pretty brown, it was nice to get up in the mountains without donning my snowpants. And the trails are much less busy this time of year.

Walking and enjoying the serenity.

The hike made me really ready for more warm weather. We still hope to get out and ski a couple more times, but I'm really ready for hiking, camping, and barbecues. Bring on spring!

Mawwiage: Salem's Wedding, Part 2

Mawwiage is what bwings us togethaa today. (Best. Movie. Ever.)

Anyway, Salem and George are officially mawwied!

After their fancy wedding ceremony was over, it was party time. My favorite time.

Wedding reception. Dancing, toasting (with beer - awesome), cake, and lots of family fun!

Salem and George decided that they wanted their wedding to be an intimate, family gathering - but they still wanted to party with all of their friends. So they had a nice quiet ceremony and small reception (with lots of delicious mini-desserts) on Friday night, and a big crazy catered party with a band on Saturday. It was the best of both worlds!

Wedding party. Dancing while my dad's band plays. The kids LOVED the band! And cake! Everyone loves cake!

Decorated for a party. (I forgot to take pictures until the end of the night, so the hall looks really empty. It was much fuller earlier!)

While Salem and George didn't want any gifts, it was inevitable that some people would want to get them something anyway. My favorite gift was this one:

Yup. It's a plastic ball-and-chain toy - labeled with "wooden exercise toy." Fail.

Anyway, it was a nice wedding weekend. At the end of Saturday night, Salem and George surprised the kids with a limo ride home! I had to snap pictures and give the happy family a proper send-off!

Limos are cool!

And now they're married and happily starting continuing their lives together! Yay!

Love and Baking: Salem's Wedding, Part 1

Oh, little blog. You are so neglected. Life just goes too fast sometimes. But I'm sure you're all used to my belated posts by now, so I'll just carry on.

A few weeks ago, my eldest sister got married! George and his sons have been a part of our family for a while now, but it was nice to make it all official. And it was lots of fun to celebrate their now-completed family.

Of course, Salem first had to enjoy her last few days of "freedom" with a bachelorette party!

Dinner at Armida's, karaoke, and Just Dance 2. Good times!

Girl time is certainly important, but the main event was the wedding itself.

Getting ready for the ceremony.

We were very sad that my grandparents were unable to attend because my grandmother had a health scare just before the wedding. Luckily, Matt got into techie mode and set to work making sure they could see the ceremony. He ended up streaming live on the internet so that Grandma and Grandpa could watch from the hospital. It was great for other extended family members to watch, too! And I'm happy to say that Grandma is doing better.

Overall, it was a beautiful ceremony that was especially cool because it was the joining of a whole family. If only the baby hadn't whined the entire time. Oh, well. I guess it's to be expected of a two-year-old.

The awesome videographer, the little wedding-disruptor and me, and a beautiful wedding - complete with group hug!

After the wedding, we had parties galore! I mentioned in previous posts that I was "catering" (using the term loosely there) the dessert reception. I spent a lot of time practicing and perfecting recipes, and I had grand ideas of how the whole thing would turn out. I had visions of perfect sweets and pictures worthy of the blogs and websites that I often spend hours salivating over. Of course, I didn't realize how difficult it is to remember to take pictures of the baking process while stressing about getting everything done by a deadline. And good food photography also requires a good camera, a decent editing software (and ability), and great natural light in the kitchen. I don't really have those things. But maybe I will someday.

Anyway, I hope to do a post with my mediocre pictures of the baking, along with recipe details. That is, if anyone will be interested in reading it. But for now, here's the final product!

Sugar free cheesecakes with raspberry drizzle; chocolate amaretto balls rolled in cocoa, powdered sugar, chopped almonds, and sugar crystals; raspberry lemon bars; and mini cheesecakes topped with sweet sour cream topping, brown sugar raspberry sauce, and chocolate caramel drizzle. Not pictured: sea salt caramels.

The whole dessert table.

I feel pretty good about the way it all turned out. It was a lot of work (more than two solid days of cooking), but I think things were pretty tasty.

Of course, it was a wedding, so my desserts had to share the spotlight with the wedding cake. I would have been bitter about sharing my moment (not really), if the cake wasn't so awesome!

Beautiful! And yummy, too!

The cake was made by my aunt, and it had so many great details. Salem and George met through music, and it's a major part of their lives, so that was the theme of the cake. And there were models of every family member - including the pets!

The music was the theme from the Brady bunch, and Ellen even included a model of Gypsy, the dog that is still a part of the family in spirit. Plus, the happy couple at the top of the cake.

The reception continued with all the fun events usually found at a reception. And there was also a big party the following night to celebrate. But I'll have to post about those later (soon, I hope!).

I'll leave you with a final look at the happy family, finally complete!

Love. Awesome.