Colorado

Tornadoes

Published on by Casey

Yesterday we had some wild weather in Colorado. For about 8 hours we were under a tornado watch! Yes, even in Boulder County! For about 20 minutes, Northeast Boulder County was even under a tornado warning! A bit unnerving! I called Noah to see where he was (as he drives all over the county for his job) and told him to stay out of Longmont. He was in Superior (Southeast of Boulder) at the time. Although we only had sporadic rain showers, wind and small hail in the city of Boulder, a town in northern Colorado was not so lucky. Windsor, in Weld County (which is Northeast of Boulder County) was hit by what is being called an F-4 tornado. The estimates are that the tornado was a mile wide and was on the ground for 35 miles! I heard on the radio this morning that Weld County has more reported tornadoes than any other county in the country. The only difference is that the tornadoes in Weld rarely touch down, or they are usually small and don’t do any damage.

Last night when we came home from bible study we had a message on our machine from the Salvation Army. We were being called to go up to Windsor to help, mainly with feeding the workers. If you remember back, last year we signed up to be Emergency Disaster Volunteers (EDS). I called the guy back this morning and signed us up to help feed breakfast Sunday morning. It will be an early rise, as we have to be there by 6am, and Windsor is about 40 minutes away, without roadblocks to talk our way through (we do have SA IDs, so hopefully those will help!). This will be our first experience volunteering at a natural disaster event. Pray for the families affected by the tornadoes (there were actually two touchdowns) and for us that we may be a light (and helpful) to the people in Windsor.

Balloons, Sales, Sun and Superheroes

Published on by Casey

Saturday morning, our one day a week to sleep in, we got up before the sun (5:00am) to head over to the Erie Town Fair to watch over 30 hot air balloons take to the air at 6:00am. It was an amazing experience and a lot of fun! We took 150 pictures of the Balloon Launch and one video. The video is currently horizontal, but if I can ever figure out how to rotate it, I’ll repost it. The balloons were set-up right next to the hundreds of spectators. We had a balloon go up on either side of where we were standing! If you ever wanted to know how hot air balloons are prepared for flight, be sure to check out all the pictures and the video, which details the balloon directly to our right being filled with hot air.

After all the balloons were airborne we headed south from Erie to Westminster to spend the day with friends at their annual community garage sale. The weather could not have been better for spending time outside, about 80*! It was wonderful, so much sun that my arms are currently a nice shade of red. We didn’t bring much to sell but we did make $18 on what we sold and Noah bought a new set of golf clubs for $20. So, the next garage sale, Noah will sell his old ones…for at least $20.

After the garage sale, Noah went golfing with some of the guys then we went out to see Iron Man. Awesome awesome movie! If you want to be entertained for two hours, I highly recommend the film. When it comes out on DVD, it will be added to our collection. Up at 5:00am and to bed at 1:00am made for a very long but very fun day! Did I mention we only had 5 hours of sleep the night before and then 6 hours last night? I think I need a nap…

Softball Scores

Published on by Casey

Since we will be spending many of our summer evenings in the dirt, I have created a page to post all of our game scores.  You can check it out here.

Back into the Swing of Things

Published on by Casey

Last night was game 1 of 36 softball games (assuming we play every game on all three teams). This morning I am tired and sore…it’s going to take a game or two for my muscles to get used to being put into positions they do not experience in a normal day.

Last night’s game was the team our Sunday School class formed (of which the church would not help fund). Although we played very well, we had one inning that did us in when the opposing team earned 9 runs. We didn’t have any errors, the other team just liked to hit the ball over the heads of our outfielders. Final score, CDG Custom Homes 12, Boulder Path (us) 7. Not a slaughter and a good first game.

Tonight is USA Rugby’s first game (yes, ruggers play softball too…hopefully well). Noah and I will be at that game (unless of course the clear liquid falling from the sky causes a cancellation). Tomorrow night is Floorcrafters first game of the season but we were informed yesterday that we do not need to play this week. Next week however, I think we do.

Also, on an unrelated note. I think the fatigue is somewhat exacerbated by the fact we were awakened at 5am by thunder. Yup, spring is officially here folks.

When the Dodgers Come to Town

Published on by Casey

Last weekend the Dodgers had their first series of games against Colorado at Coors Field in Denver. Being the avid Dodgers fan I am, we had tickets for Saturday’s game. To make the game a bit more interesting we invited friends of ours that are about as big into the Rockies as I am into the Dodgers. What would have made the day even better than it was with LA’s win over the Rox of 12-7 would have been if I was able to meet Juan Pierre. Juan is the Dodgers starting left fielder who happens to be friends with one of the interns at my office. Unfortunately the timing wasn’t right so the meeting didn’t take place. But the Dodgers are out here again in July…so this time we will all plan ahead and I will get to meet Juan and maybe another Dodger or two. How exciting would that be? I think it would make my year! Until then, here’s a picture of Noah, Hannah, Josh and I at the stadium before the game started.

Oh, did I mention how great our seats were? We were in right field right next to the bullpen. One home run landed about 5 rows behind us and another about 1 1/2 rows in front. Gretna saw Noah on TV as he reached for the ball that landed in front.

This is how I know it’s going to snow…

Published on by Casey

I leave my ice scraper/snow brush in the car.  Normally if the forecast calls for snow I’ll bring the scraper in the office with me.  When I do so, nothing accumulates.  Today the forecast called for snow late (maybe since my office is next to the foothills “late” really means 2:00pm?) so I left the scraper in the car.  Of course, by doing so Murphy’s Law prevailed and now there is this white stuff (snow, ice, who knows what else) on my car that I am going to have to remove before I can go home.  Oh well, at least I had the foresight to bring gloves with me to work today.

I take it back

Published on by Casey

Looks like USA Rugby will have a softball team this summer…assuming we get everything turned it to the city tomorrow.

Hey batter batter batter…

Published on by Casey

Summer is just around the corner (despite the fact it might snow tomorrow), baseball season has already kicked off (despite the fact my Boys in Blue are currently out of first place) and that means it’s time for Slow-Pitch Softball! Last year Noah and I played on a team with a bunch of friends from church. This year I was recruited into managing said team…hopefully this year our church will foot the bill! Noah’s work decided they too are forming a team (in Longmont, our church team plays in Boulder), Noah and I were recruited onto that team. Now, one of my coworkers is going to shoot an email out to the staff about possibly forming a team, also in Boulder and in the same league as the church team. Not sure what I would do if my church & my office faced off. I think my allegiance would have to be with the church… However, the office team probably won’t pan out since all but about three staff members travel and rosters are due tomorrow! In any case, looks like we’ll be spending our summer evenings in the dirt, swatting mosquitoes, and hopefully not getting struck by lightning.

Just say no to puppy chow

Published on by Casey

Throughout the winter Noah and I have awakened at night to hear the howls and barks of a pack of coyotes.  The awakenings would occur anywhere from 11:30 to 3:00am, typically.  A few times I would actually drag myself out of bed in an attempt to scan the open space for signs of life.   Not once did I see anything roaming around, but then again, at 3am in the morning, I’m not likely to be willing to stay up for any significant amount of time or go downstairs and flip on a light switch.  Yet, we knew they were out there…somewhere.

Yesterday, Noah spoke with a neighbor across the street who confirmed the coyotes existence with an actual sighting.  Neighbor told Noah he got up one night around 3am and went to sit outside for a bit.  When he walked to the front of his house there was a coyote with a bunny in it’s mouth.  Seeing the neighbor, the coyote got spooked, dropped the bunny and ran off.  Noah was told that they have been venturing into the neighborhood to feast on the plentiful amounts of cute little cottontail bunnies.

Needless to say, Lava will not be allowed outside late at night…especially not to wonder the yard on her own.  And if it’s after dark, the backyard lights will be on (which we always turn on when she goes out at night anyway) and one of us will be out there with her…and by one of us, I mean Noah.