Finishing Touches

It's really amazing how much the varnish is changing the look of the wood. Beautiful!

Little Music Man

Daddy-Son Outing

I've been a little behind on a big project, so my amazing hubby took the day off today and spent it with Camden while I worked. They had lots of fun at the nature and science museum!

Really excited about the bears.

Pushing buttons that result in loud grunting noises -- what fun!

In the atrium, receiving a message in his baby-secret-police ear piece.

Trent said he kept racing back to the space exhibit. Aw, we have such a cute little nerd.

Thanks for the time today honey! You're my hero. ;) And I'm glad you guys had a good time!

Ain't she a beaut?!

Almost ready for hardware and finishing.

Denver Botanic Gardens

Our friends, Kristie & Ethan, Alicia & Nathan.



It was fun to watch the artists and photographers throughout the gardens.

Kristie & Ethan just moved here. We like them. They are fun.




CAMDEN!!!

What a neat-looking greenhouse!



Humid inside the greenhouse! Felt more like FL than CO!

Hot, sweaty, and sooooo cute!


Can anyone say D.T. (as in, BYU campus)???! Actually, they've torn down all those dorms now. That makes me feel old.



This path felt funny on our feet. It was made of slippery river-stones turned on their ends.



Alicia & Naters through the moon arch.



Peek-a-boo!

Doesn't it look like someone used lipstick to kiss a heart-shape on this flower? The detail in Heavenly Father's creations often astounds me.

Cam was pretty excited about the grapes. And he even managed to swipe one when I wasn't looking, but I caught him before he ate it!



I was struck by the simplicity of this beautiful brass sculpture reflecting the sunlight and the peaceful space around it. (This one's totally for you, Nora. I never stopped to notice things like this before!)

Some (further) assembly required

We're gettin' there...

He loves me

The other day, I heard Trent using the pressure washer on the patio after changing the oil in the Vespa. When I went outside, this is what I found.

Wells Fargo

At times people have asked why I work for Wells Fargo and have chosen to stay with them over the years. Today is a prime example of why. I was in a Colorado Senior Leadership Conference and we started off the day by hearing from our Colorado Regional President about how things were going across the state so far this year. His report was all positive and he talked about how we stand out among the financial institutions of the nation as a company that is doing things the right way. Shortly after his opening comments we received news that our stock had risen $5 or over 20%. The crowd was so energized. The rest of the day was spent talking about how we can make the customer experience in our branches better and how we can continue to be one of America's great companies. By the end of the day we had received news that Wells Fargo had lead the financial stocks to one of the strongest gains in decades and that our stock had risen 33%. It is these experiences today that inspired me to write this post and the quotes from various articles were published today as a result of Wells Fargo's performance.
In an industry that has been hit hard by the credit crisis, today, Wells Fargo stood above the rest and took it's place as one of America's greatest companies. I have long been impressed by the ethics of the company I work for. I learned early on in my career that we would not lend when others would and at times I would have customers walk out my doors because I worked for a company that chose a higher standard of how to do business. As you can see from the quotes below the analysts, columnists and others recognized today what those of us that work for Wells Fargo have known all along.
I am grateful to call myself an employee of this great company. I have had offers from other banks including Wachovia and today I am thankful yet again that the Lord has blessed me and my family with the insight that staying with Wells Fargo was going to lead us in the direction we needed to go. In a time of uncertainty I am thankful that we have the ability to be led and guided in matters such as where we live, who we work for, and what influences we will allow into our home. Money is not always the answer. As I had entertained offers from other institutions that may have resulted in more money then, I would not have had the security that I have today. I don't write on our blog often and this is not the typical entry that we have on our family blog but I felt strongly that I needed to share what Wells Fargo truly represents.

"Wells Fargo results were commendable when contrasted against the deteriorating macroeconomic and credit conditions," wrote David Hendler, an analyst at CreditSights Inc.

Andrew Marquardt, a senior vice president and analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller, echoed Tororian's comments, believing that Wells Fargo is likely to be an exception this quarter. "We believe [the] results reflect ability to manage through [the] tough environment, flight to quality status among customers, and balance sheet strength," he writes in a note. "In [an] environment where capital is king, we believe [Wells Fargo] stands out in terms of level and generation capacity."

"Not all banks are on the verge of bankruptcy. This is a major victory for the banking business, and these guys need to be held up as the 'poster child' of present and future banking activities," said Kevin Giddis, managing director at Morgan Keegan & Co., about Wells Fargo.

"Walkie-day"

The bears tagged along on our walk today. When I uploaded this picture (which I took with my iPhone! not bad!), I just melted. He is such a ray of sunshine in my life. I adore him.

The Garden!

Our garden is going bananas! (Well, not really. We live in the wrong climate for bananas. Although, as Trent points out, it sure would save us money! Our crazy little monkey sure eats a lot of them ... umm ... I digress.)

It's been a great year so far. We planted in May, and we're already enjoying a bounteous harvest.

Here's a shot from the 4th of July, about a week ago.

And here's a shot from today!

I've already posted about the corn.

We've got lots of green beans.



And zucchini. Yum.