Spooktacular Halloween Surprise

Well Reid and I are so happy to finally be able to share with everyone that we are expecting our first child in May! We have been keeping our little secret for a long 7ish weeks and have finally made it to the point where we can share our exciting news. So of course I drug Reid out to take some pictures to share the great news and here is what we came up with...

Baby J coming in May

 

My edited version to celebrate sharing the news on Halloween

The news came as a big surprise to us but that is exactly how we wanted it to happen. For me, it took a while to sink in that I was actually pregnant, but now that some time has gone by for the news to digest we are both very excited for the future and to meet our little one. For a funny side-story, if the date on the pumpkin (5/23/13) sounds familiar this happens to be our anniversary date. Hopefully Baby J decides to come a bit before so he/she doesn't have to share a birthday with mom and dad's anniversary.

Of course our parents were the first to know and living away from them we weren't exactly sure how to share the news. So Reid calls his mom (this will be her third grandchild) and just threw it into the conversation. "That is how you are going to tell me," was her reaction! I think she was looking for a little more creativity. As for my parents (their first grandchild) I asked if they had their grandparent names picked out yet. My dad was so shocked by the news that he called back about 30min later to tell me congrats and that the news finally sunk in. Like father like daughter I suppose because I took 4 pregnancy tests and still didn't believe it was really true. But as all good grandparents do, they have begun the spoiling of a grandchild and are getting him/her ready to be a future Wildcat!

Future Wildcat on board

Well I will leave you all with a final picture of our latest ultrasound. This was taken at 9 weeks and we could see the outline of a spine, the division of the brain hemisphere's and the little arms and legs starting to poke out. Baby J also decided to do some dancing for us which was very cute. Oh and for those of you that follow me on Pinterest, beware of the baby posts that will be added over the next few days. I've had many weeks to find and save good posts to be added at a later date.

9 week ultrasound image

Pumpkin Sunday

Well we had planned to set out to climb another one of Colorado's 14ers this weekend (Quandary) but the weather altered our plans. We decided that 25mile winds with 40+ gusts creating sub zero temperatures just wasn't our thing this weekend. Sure we have all the gear to go out, but living so close allows us to choose more favorable weather to climb in. So Quandary, you will wait!

Instead Saturday we met up with my sorority sister and watched K-State win another game!! So so proud of my alma mater and what they are doing this season. It truly is a dream come true. Sunday was what I called my "pumpkin" day as I made another pumpkin recipe and we carved our pumpkins that evening.

First up my Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate which I found on Pinterest (surprise)! I altered slightly (adding nutmeg instead of cloves) but it still tasted pretty good. And I have extra for the week ahead.

Pumpkin Pie White Hot Chocolate
Servings: 4

3 cups whole milk (I used almond milk)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (recipe calls for 1/8 teaspoon cloves)
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 ounces white hot chocolate (roughly chopped)

Heat the milk, pumpkin puree, spices and vanilla in sauce pan until it starts to simmer. Remove from head and add the chocolate, stirring until melted. Pour into mugs and enjoy!

Now on to our pumpkins. To no surprise one of us had to make a K-State pumpkin. That ended up being Reid which left me undecided and debating between an owl or a flower. I decided to be different (owls seem to be my go to) so found a sunflower. One minor flaw but it turned out pretty cute.

I would say these are our "ode to Kansas" pumpkins

 

Another Great Weekend To Be A Jennings

Well we had quite an eventful this past weekend. First and foremost a big congrats to K-State and the amazing season they are having. I am having so much fun following them.

Photo courtesy of a Facebook friend

Before the game Reid and I headed out to a pumpkin patch. We must have been very spoiled growing up in Kansas and having the Greenbluff area in Washington because I was looking forward to a place with a hayride, some apple cider, maybe some pumpkin donuts or apple pie but there is NO WHERE like that in Denver :( The only pumpkin patch I found that was open for more than a weekend was about 40min away from us. Seems all the good pumpkin patches are up north toward Ft Collins. It might be an trip we have to start making because I love going to the pumpkin patch. So we got our pumpkins and passed a Smashburger on the way back home. Apparently this place is suppose to rival In-and-Out Burger so we gave it a try and I'll admit it was pretty darn tasty.

Pumpkin patch in Thornton, CO

For the game we met a friend out at Earl's (which happens to be the same establisment as in Bellevue, WA and is one of my favorite places to go). We grabbed a few drinks and watched the first half then headed back over to our friend's place to cook some chicken fajitas for dinner (yum!) and finish the game.

Sunday we finally convinced our friend to come out hiking with us! We decided to hike Vasquez which is a peak we have seen on previously but never made it up. One thing different about this hike is there is no direct trail to the summit so we were finding our way through the woods until we got above treeline and could see our destination. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a great hike. Snyder even had his friend Banks along for the hike.

Snyder and Banks taking a break on our hike

Reid and I at the summit

Reid and his friend Chris who we finally got out on a hike

Date Night and Pumpkin Bars

Well we are very happy that Reid has passed the bar and for the past few weeks he has been busy working on a contract project. Unfortunately he was stuck in the office all weekend :( so Snyder and I had lots of together time.

Saturday night Reid and I went to Breckenridge to attend one of the North Face Speaker Series. This particular one was about Cory Richards who is best known for becomming "the first American to summit an 8000-meter peak in winter. (Pakistan's Gasherbrum II)" He has combined his love for climbing with a passion for photography and it was the perfect speaker for us to see. He talked about his life story and how he got to where he is today and along the way showcased his photography and videos from many climbs.

View of the river running through the heart of Breck

Reid and I took a walk around some shops before the speaker

I think the world was coming to an end on Sunday because I decided to bake something! If you know me, I'm not one to spend much time in the kitchen, let alone bake anything. But I have had the urge for a few days now and today decided to try something out. My treat was pumpkin bars, modified from the Better Homes and Garden, New Cookbook Bridal Edition. I haven't tasted them yet but they smelled heavenly when I pulled them out of the oven.

Pumpkin Bars

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmet
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 of a 15oz can of pumpkin
1/2 cup of plain yogurt (I learned after combining all my ingredients I had no oil)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)
**15 caramel squares

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Stir in eggs, pumpkin and yogurt  until combined. Mix in chocolate chips if desired. Spread into ungreased baking pan.

2. Bake 25-30 minutes (or until toothpick comes clean). Cool for two hours.

3. While baking, I melted the caramel squares with 2 teaspoons of water over low heat and poured over bars after cooked.

When Friends Come To Town (Part 2)

Last weekend we had a couple friend visit and for one of them it was their first time in Colorado! Downside is the weather took a turn for the worse and it was in the 30s all weekend long but we still have fun and they enjoyed their time here.

Friday night we went out to eat at the Tavern at the Uptown location and it was tasty! Saturday morning we went on a distillery tour at Stranhan's Distillery in downtown Denver. I've only been on brewery tours so it was interesting to see how whiskey was made. After the distillery tour we went home and watched the end of the Sunflower Showdown: K-State v KU. All I have to say is GO CATS! We showed those Jayhawks who owns football in Kansas!

Some of the whiskey barrels aging

Sunday we took our friends on a hike on Quandary outside Breckenridge. The sun finally came out that day but the temps were still a bit chilly. Once got hiking though, our friends were shedding their layers because they were working hard to hike up the mountain. Of course, I brought my camera (like I always do) and go to turn it on and realize the battery is in the charger. For once I was smart and charged the battery and forgot about it. So sorry, no pics to share from the hike :( Afterwards we went to eat at the Breckenridge Brewery and had a lovely view of the mountains.

View from our table at Breckenridge Brewery

Our friends enjoyed their time in Colorado and we hope next time they bring their adorable kid and we can take him to all the fun kid stuff around. But now on to some very exciting news....drum roll please...REID PASSED THE COLORADO BAR!! Big congrats to him and he is very relieved to get that good news. Now on to the fun part of hassling potential employers until he finds a job!!

We may have had some crummy weather last weekend but it sure did get nice again during the week. I'll leave you with a picture I took on my daily lunch walk with Snyder. Enjoy and Happy Fall!!

When Friends Come To Town (Part 1)

This past weekend we had a friend come to town and we packed it with lots of outdoor activities. I think he was thankful when we decided to just sit down and watch TV at times.

First up Reid took him on a 10ish mile bike ride on the trails behind our house. That evening we went out to downtown Denver and had some drinks and appetizers at Wynkoop Brewery. The next day we woke up early and headed down to Colorado Springs to hike up Pike's Peak (yes we walked and did not drive or ride the train). When we got to the top everyone was asking us, "Did you guys walk up? How long did it take? How did your dog do?" It was pretty funny. But the bonus of Pike's being such a popular mountain because you can drive or ride a train is they have a big gift shop with famous Pike's donuts!! YUM!!!

At the summit of Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs

 

Me with my donut

After our hike up Pike's Peak we headed back home and had a pretty relaxed evening. I think it's safe to say we all slept pretty good that night. The next day our friend decided he wanted to do a picnic outside. We ended up going to Mt Falcon Park which is in the Indian Hills just west of the town of Morrison.We ate lunch and then walked around some of the trails up there. You had great views of Denver and the mountains. Glad we found that spot so close to our house.

Hard to see because of the hazy sky but downtown Denver is in this shot at Mt Falcon

Reid ended up getting another contract assignment so he had to work on the last day our friend was in town. So after we dropped off Reid at work, we walked around downtown's 16th Street Mall. We found some pumpkin spice truffle's from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and some good Colorado souvenirs. All in all I think we showed our friend a good time in Colorado and it's always good to have company come visit.

Denver sign at the 16th Street Mall