Roma Rap

Hey all,
So I thought I would send you a link to a rap video we made f0r the Catholic Studies talent show back at St. Thomas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCTcltkqV0A

Finally Some Rome Pictures!

This is a picture from our beach trip last Sunday. It was absolutely gorgeous and in the 70s... although, the Italians definitely thought we were insane for going swimming this time of year, we had fun! :)
This is from Oct. 7th when our desire for hamburgers led us to the Hard Rock... and that guitar, which I sat under throughout dinner, belonged to Tom Petty! So Andrew, I celebrated your birthday in Rome by hanging out w/ Tom Petty's guitar and having an extremely expensive drink!
The view of Saint Peter's from our terrace!
Alyson and Laura doing homework on the terrace.
THE POPE IN HIS POPE MOBILE! (yes, i was this close to him!)

More of our awesome terrace!

Garden Drive Zoo

Kitten #1 and her mom

One of the cats whose name I always forget

Kingston the dumb puppy

Dante, who has a bit of a staring problem

Kitten #2

Monument Valley

One of the better parts of the drive.
The Jetta, starting to smell a little pungent on the inside but still running well
Cool rocks
Enterprising Indians
At long last, the mountains of northern AZ

Boulder to Phoenix

In the vicinity of Moab
Western Colorado

Getting into Utah

the Jetta in front of the Colorado River, Moab Canyon, Utah

Off to Phoenix.

Andrew set sail Wednesday at 7, heading to Phoenix through some beautiful and then not so beautiful country. He arrived safe and sound, ready for his next adventure. Can you believe that car made it?

Mt Bierstadt

The Sawtooth is above Andrew's head in this photo. Its the connector to Mt. Evans from Mt. Bierstadt. Mt. Evans, 14,264 feet, is the peak to the left of Andrew. This is on the next time list for sure. Want to bag both via the Sawtooth. Anyone in?

Mt. Bierstadt to the right of Andrew's melon. 14,060 feet.

When we knew we weren't going to make it much farther, we stopped to eat some fudge and take in the view.

Baron Von Cheese and Kikicheesmeister.

Attempt to hike Mt. Bierstadt.

We did some research on which 14er we could do relatively quickly since I had to get back to class at 4pm for a quiz. We read there was a bit of road construction on the pass but we didnt expect 4-5 stops at 20min each as well as the road being closed from 9-11 and then 1-3... The hike takes 4-5 hours so we weren't going to make it to the top this time. When we saw what they were doing to the road, it was amazing the road was even open.

Luckily I had a shirt Andrew could stretch on, since it was so cold he could have cut glass... you know what I mean.

New friend.

Must have been a lot more snow a couple weeks ago.

Afternoon hike to Isabelle Lake.

After a lazy day hanging out in Boulder, we decided to head up to Brainard Lake and do a quick hike. The light was just right, we saw maybe 3 people and the air was cool. Andrew said it reminded him of Glacier National Park and I would agree. Its beautiful up there, and its only a 45 min drive from my house. It is a busy place in the summer and on weekends, but on a Monday night, no problem!

Full moon on the drive back to town.

The moon was a true harvest moon: big on the horizon and golden yellow. Hard to photograph though...

Holy Mole!

After our fun and fast hike, we made Mole. It was so yummy, pretty easy and something Andrew and I want to make at our next Wachtel Family Adventure. Not real spicy, but we can change that. Chicken Mole Enchilada's.

Before

After

Matt spent a lot of the summer sanding off the paint and staining the kitchen cabinets. Looks so good!

Glorious Corn

The corn was knee high by the 4th of July which hasn't happened in my garden until this year. I think all the manure was great. I can see why corn is of the grass family. If you look at the picture of the beans/spinach below, the row behind is the row where the corn and squash are.

Where the spinach was in June is now beans

Knowing that the spinach wouldn't last much past early July and the beans start later, I thought this plan would be a good idea. We have a Mexican Bean Beetle problem, so Keira and I sewed together some material to keep the beetles out. It seems to be working since the beans are free of beetles even with a few holes in the gauze. It looks cool and its a great way for people to find my plot when I am in it. This row also has artichokes, calendula, and had Broccoli Raab and Pak Choi.

Tomatos, basil, and nasturtiums

This row has tomatoes trellised on concrete reinforcing mesh, with a row of basil and nasturtiums (which are edible flowers) on either side. The first photo is after I planted them in late May when I got home from my trip to Wisconsin. The other two pic's were taken on August 10th.