Green with Envy!

We've been working for awhile now on our front bedroom. And it just finally started looking like a newly renovated room.



After another coat and some touch-ups, the pink floral wallpaper and pink trim...(as seen peeking from below)...


...will be a childhood memory (for Lauchlin anyway) and a thing of the past. Next comes bead board and chair railing. We'll see how we do with that!
While Lauchlin slaved away at the first coat application...




Olivia just drank beer. Must be something about painting rooms green, huh Ned?!

We'll post before and afters next year (at this rate anyway) when the room is finished.

Until then, try not to be jealous of our brightly colored house as we taste the rainbow.

-- Post From My iPhone

Slippin' the Day Away!

Sean Murphy hosted the second annual adult Slip-N-Slide party on Saturday. It was so much fun to see some old friends from the Vicksburg Post and spend a beautiful day outside in the hot sun. It was a small, but dedicated group.

Olivia went face first...

Lauchlin did the same.


Elizabeth started out with a leap

but then got an extra push from Derek.

Stop, Collaborate, and Listen

Caroline's body has a brand new addition!



During a game at baby Felker's shower, we measured, and this belly is 11 toilet paper squares around!

The woman, the reporter, and the award-winner

No longer sharing the pain and self-pity of Susan Lucci, Lauchlin received a first place Mississippi Press Association award for this story on June 21st of this year.

Below: the "headshot" she submitted that landed her the job in the first place

Denver Zoo

Click here to view these pictures larger

Bathing Beauties

Now that everyone's travel schedule has calmed down, we've been able to spend some quality time with two very tan little nieces (they just returned from a beach trip).
Here is Ellen riding a rocking horse at Cracker Barrel. She cried when we finally were called to our table because she was having too much fun rocking!


May was full of stories since we hadn't seen her in so long!


-- Post From My iPhone

The Social Scene...

is not happenin' right now. Since we've been back, our pals have had other obligations (i.e., relatives visiting, THE PAGEANT, trips to the beach, dissertation defense, imminent motherhood). We've been watching movies and trying to lie low.

Anyway, here are some photos from the last porch night we had, the Saturday after MJ passed right before we left on our twelve-day trek across the U.S.

Griffin's smiling because we're about to play Catchphrase.

As you can tell, we were all overcome with grief, especially Liz (far left on the swing).

We switched to Coors Light in preparation for our mountain getaway.

Perhaps if we promise not to post any more pictures our friends will return.

First Birthday

Olivia's niece, Maria, turned one last week. Her brother has been sending us lots of pictures from Russia where he is, finally, with the rest of the family.

Uncle Gevorg went next door to apologize to the neighbors for making such noise.



This cake is the first sweet thing Maria has been allowed to eat...good choice!

If They Don't Have Your Brew...

Choose one of these! This "bar" b-q place in Denver had so many varieties of beer, we just got water. They had just as many dipping sauces for the fries! Ranch, of course, was the best! (Sorry for the blurry picture.)

You can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd

No corkscrew? No problem! We managed to open a botte of Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir with a pocket knife


-- Post From My iPhone


...and some needle-nose pliers.

We did not, however, try to skate with the longhorns.

Rocky Mountain High

We finally found the mountains, and John Denver wasn't kidding! They're breath-taking. We headed to Rocky Mountain State Park in Boulder for the day and took a "hike" in the car to an elevation of over 11,768 ft. above sea level where we saw snow and elk!








If you look closely, you can see two elk to the right of Lauchlin's head. They were mesmerizing!

Here are some more scenic views:










We even listened to John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" as we drove up the mountain.


-- Post From My iPhone

Mile High-lights

Olivia delighted in reading the latest copy of the nation's most reliable news source, "The Onion."


We discovered that the locals do not appreciate the way Ned Sperry parks.




Recycling here is, obviously, a big deal.
And a veggie plate isn't the greasy plate of goodness you get in Mississippi (I.e. Ajax)



But, it's good!

They also have a bar with a bowling alley.
We're thinking Vicksburg needs to tap into this market!


Now, we're spending our last day at the art show hoping these people buy art.


And why wouldn't they?!

Dog Days

Even the dogs in Denver are feeling patriotic! Afterall, it is only about 60 degrees. God bless America!
Happy Fourth of July to you all.


--Post From My iPhone

Animal Action

As previously mentioned, we spent all day Wednesday at the Denver Zoo. The animals were very much "on." We captured most of them being playful and - in some cases - quite amorous with one another. We'll have to share those shots later since they're on a different camera. The above picture is of an enormous tiger we watched pace just before dinner and then, later, watched him devour his raw meat and frozen blood - pretty intriguing!



The penguins seemed a little out of their element since it was in the 90s, but they were still adorable.

Olivia made friends with this lion as we were leaving:



-- Post From My iPhone

Tappin' the Rockies

We hit the road late on Sunday for Denver, Colorado, where we finally arrived
on Tuesday night.




We passed some windmills that reminded us
After more than eighteen hours of driving and countless tanks of gas, we're ready to see the sights of the city.
We were so happy to see these mountains in the background!
We'll have more to report in future blog posts...like our visit to the Denver Zoo and many more adventures!