Grams does Greece....Fritz and Estelle celebrate 60 years....and off to Salida

Hello family!!!

I wanted to post a quick note and some pictures from our "Grams does Greece" party last Thursday. My mom's sister (Nancy)and brother (Joe) and spouses (Jerry and Jeanine) joined us (Julie, Joe, Amber, Brig, Joe, Raquel, Fritz and Estelle, Amy and I) to see the pictures and hear some "travel stories" while we ate and drank the wonderful food and wine everyone brought to the party.
Grams and Amber in Greece

Another highlight of the evening was wishing Fritz and Estelle a happy 60th anniversery!!!

Fritz and Estelle......happy 60th anniversery!!!

The evening was filled with laughter and love and Amy and I feel so very blessed to have such a wonderful family. The only "downer" of the night was I forgot to take a single picture!!!!!!


The next day......Amy and I headed off to Salida for some great music, fishing, hiking, bike riding, and just plain old "hanging out" in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. We were also blessed by a couple of visitors over the weekend in Salida.....my old boss, Dr. Harbenbach (retired superintendent of the Aurora Public Schools) and our long time family friends the Duggins.

Dr. Hartenbach and I fishing at O'Haver Lake.
Amy cooking up a day's worth of fish!!!

me, Amy,

Nadia, Pete, Rosie, and Jim Duggins visiting us in Salida.

Love to everyone in our families!

Greg and Amy

PS--> alright Amber and Julie.....a trivia question from your childhood......

Can you tell me where the picture of me being attacked by a giant beetle

was taken?????

PSS--> Joe and Julie....thanks for posting the "Grams does Greece" slide show link on the avacado for others to see!!!

LA CANDELA

I wanted to remind everyone that our Multi-Talented Aunt Susie (Dog Whisperette, Florist, Paint Artist, Puppy Rescuer, Best Baker, Best Vegetarian Cook, etc, etc.) is also the Lead Female Vocalist and Manager of Lating Big Band, La Candela.

La Candela- meaning candle or flame, is the most passionate and entertaining Salsa band in Colorado. This sophisticated, accomplished eleven-piece band features Female and Male Lead Vocalists, a sabroso Rhythm Section, and the hottest of Horn Sections. La Candela’s song selection is Colorado audiences’ favorite and when playing for the toughest to please Latino crowds, the end of the night resounds with the chanting “Otra, otra, otra…” meaning Encore. Experience the fire and passion for yourself!

For booking information: Suzanne Morales- 303) 680-3999 susanamusic@comcast.net

Influences: Cuban and Puerto Rican Salsa

(8/9 of 11 band members)

You can also check out Suzanne Morales in myspace

We Love You Cuncu!

Baby Frogs

We have lived in Colorado for quite some time now and this is the first time that we have seen baby frogs jumping around. It has to be the incredible amount of rain that we have received this year. We hear the frog symphony evey night... I guess they got the job done as these two baby frogs were enjoying the sun on our driveway. They are pretty cute and we thought everyone would enjoy the pictures. Ribbitt... ribbitt!!!

Enjoy,

Joe & Raquel

Polly and Amber in Greece

Hello...

Had a great time at Greg and Amy's tonight reviewing the pictures of Polly and Amber's trip to Greece. Here is the link to the slideshow.. Looks like a great trip..

http://picasaweb.google.com/borgyjmorales/GramsInGreece02#slideshow/5360672463368199570

First Lunch grown at home (partially)!

Julie and I got to use the first of our garden bounty today for lunch. This is worth a posting becuase it is unprecedented for us! It's the first food we've ever grown and eaten ourselves and it was fun despite all the work.

The peppers were small, but very fresh.. Julie made these amazing cilantro bean patties the other night but we didn't get to use them (I hope she posts on dailyAvocadoFood).. We fired them up today with our farm share lettuce and snap peas, our home grown jalapeno and bell pepper-ette, some soup, some hummus julie made.. Yum!

With all the hail I hope this isn't the last of our farm share :( Thus far it has been abundant...

Fresh peppers picked 2 seconds before...

Served.. Total cost about $2.50 /person! Maybe this will motivate us to do it more often and eat less Anthony's pizza :)

Copy Cats!

Some freaks got a copyright on DailyAvocado!! I know this was not the case when we created our blog... the nerve of some people!

http://dailyavocado.ning.com/

I will always remember that Amber Reed is the true originator of the term. I don't care what the official books say..

Summer Time....and the living is easy...not always, but it's a classic song.

It's been a very busy July and some of the Family's activities of this Summer, so far include, but are not limited to: Three Birthdays, a 4th of July Weekend Motorcycle Ride, Sue's Volunteer Work, Joey and Julie's Fence Building and pictures of our house for the Richmond American Builder's Marketing Materials.....SO, without further ado............Las Noticias Del Mes de Julio!

We had 3 Family Birthdays in July: Grampie, John and Paul.

Happy Birthday, We love you!

Grampie, July 11

John, July 12 (with the brothers)

Pauly, July 15 (with Moma)
4th of July Weekend Ride:
On Saturday, July 5th, we decided to take a ride up north with John and Deb. We didn't want to fight holliday highway traffic, but wanted to do a worth while ride. Joe found a "Rider's Market" with the use of his latest toy: The I-phone. So we headed out and...Our first location, the "Riders Market" was....How Ju Say..... LAME., but we did find some very affordable riding gloves for MOI.

Hit the Road Jack.....we then headed out to Frederickson, up a bit further North. John and Deb had been looking for lighter weight riding jackets, and we thought the Harley Dealer would have them.

We were right..........check out the "Cunado" (brother In Law).... I think I like it.

This One for the Hot Riding Deb ? Oh Yeah!!!!!

Los Runway Models

A quick snack before heading home......it's getting cloudy out.

We better head back home


We also made a stop at The Rock, a restaurant close to John & Deb's house and had great chicken wings and nachos. YES, we forgot to take in the the camera. While at The Rock, we could literally see the clouds hovering over us in the patio of the restaurant, so we hurried home. John and Deb were 3 minutes from their house.....................BUT, the Storm got Joe and I. We got pellted by hail and sideways rain. It's good to ALWAYS carry your rain gear.

I never said rain gear was "Fashionable"


Susie's Volunteer Work: Sue works with an Organization called Colorado Fur Babies, which has agreements with High Kill Shelters in different parts of the country, and they give CFB a call before they put down dogs and cats (Sue takes in dogs) to let them save as many as humanly possible. The director makes arrangements to get them , and volunteers take them into their homes and care for them until they are adopted. CFB is a non- profit organization that is 100% No Kill. Animals are kept forever if need be. CFB has a local good hearted vet (he's a saint) who treats the pups for whatever is needed, shots, spaying/neutering (when they're old enough) at a discounted price. Sue has been working with Colorado Fur Babies since the beginning of May and she has already placed 20 perritos. We've always known that she's our Dog Whisperette, knows what she's doing, and her Perritos are always the best behaved at the Adoption Events. My Handy (Sister-In-Law) has a BIG Heart!

Here are Sue and Fat Boy, one of her latest babies:

La Casa De Los Tortolos (Love Birds):, One of Joey's many projects for this Summer was building a fence. he thought he needed some help with the last panels to put up. He asked if we'd like to come over on a Sunday, have Joe Sr. and Josh help him with the fence, and end up a "hard day's work" with a meal of roasted veggie sandwiches. SO, as we were getting in the car to leave for the Tortolos House , Joey called to say that somehow, the night before, he FINISHED the fence on his own, but to come down for the BBQ anyway. And we did!

The Fence, that we did NOT help build

La Jumie getting ready to prep the food.
She made the most incredibly fresh tasting spring rolls, with rice wrappers and julienne veggies galore! They were just heavenly. For Brunch/Dinner we had succulent, roasted veggie sandwiches..........Aaaahhhhh, the wonders of Summer.

Julie & Joe Sr. catching up............

Los Hermanos Chopping Veggies (Love those backs!)

Los Fresh Veggies....YUM!

Master Griller at Work



Hanging Out in Los Tortolos awesome patio

Richmond American Builder had our Home Specialist, Doyle, ask if we'd be willing to have some pictures taken of our home to use on some of their marketing materials. Here are some of those pictures.

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That's All Folks...............Hasta La Next Time..... Viva El Summer!

Goal Setting...

I'm not trying to turn the Avocado into a cycling blog, but I've had a lot going on in this area lately and it has given me a lot of growth mentally and physically.

Yesterday I raced in the Beaver Creek Xterra. An XTerra race is the "off road" mountain biking equivalent of an Ironman triathlon. The distances are not nearly as long (not even as long as a half Ironman) but the elevation gain and rough off-road terrain compensates for the difference.

Basically the Race is:
- 1 mile swim in Avon Resrvoir
- 15.5 mile off-road bike ride with a 3000 foot elevation gain and lots of rocks to climb
- 6 mile trail. I call this the "REAL" boulder bolder run with a 1300 foot elevation gain, lots or rocks in the trail. I say "REAL" buolder boulder becuase you are literally climbing huge boulders on part of the run. Absolutely brutal..

All I have to say is this... For the last 5 years I have been working relentlesly with constant "Baby Steps" to improve my physical condition. This initially began with a goal to lose weight for our wedding (I weighed 240 lbs when I proposed to Julie compared to 190 today). I have kept constant goals (Lose 30 lbs, ride 6 miles loop under 40 minutes, lose 10 more lbs, Reduce LDL Cholesterol, reduce blood pressure, 20 mile trail non stop, Keep up with super fast downhill mountain bike guys in Santa Cruz mountains, Keep up with a group of expert Columbian Cyclists in San Jose on training rides, Enter a race, do the "Sea Otter Classic" race, learn nutrition/hydration to ride really long without cramping muscles or fatigue, do a half ironman, ride 100 miles etc.. etc.....

I've constantly worked these goals, reaching levels of fitness I'd never have thought. I can do things I'd have laughed about with sarcasm 5 years ago and I've learned to embrace activities I thought I had no interest in.. With all of this work I'm entitled to show up and kick some butt at a local event. Nobody cranks it harder than me! ...... Uh...... Not this event....

The XTerra showed me that there are a LOT of people who are WAY ahead of me.. While it was humbling and somewhat demoralizing, I'm glad I did it becuase it shows me that the goals and learning can keep going and motivation is NEVER a rare comodity... It shows me how much more I can do and never to show up unprepared...

When I look at these athletes I see that there is a real difference between saying "I could do that IF (I wanted to, I had time, I didn't have kids to take care of etc... ) and actually getting out there and making it real... These people Saturday were the real deal and they whooped my butt! I'm not talking about Lance Armstrong or Carlos Sastre. I'm talking about a guy who lives right here in Englewood.. I girl from Littleton, my friend Kerry from vail (a type 1 diabetic diagnosed at age 11), a 13 year old boy or a 50 year old woman I barely caught on the run and even my own Fraternity buddy that I invited to Mountain bike for his first time ever. People you'd see every day. Or people you've known, but maybe you didn't know everything about them! These people rock and they will haunt and inspire my rides in the upcoming year...

So with that said... Here's some shots of the day...

Warming up for the swim

Lining up for the shotgun start. While we were standing there the guy next to me was having trouble with his footing becuase there were large rocks in the water. I moved over to allow him space and it coincidentaly ended up being a college fraternity brother of mine Brian "Edward Beer Cans" Corff.. We exchanged a couple quick words before the gun went off..

Total mayhem. Kicked in the face, grabbed from behind no visibility, huge handfuls of water scopped into your mouth by other swimers as you try to breath. Brutal.. I wonder if you ever get used to this. Makes it really hard to get in the groove.

2 laps around avon lake - man I was dizzy.. Hard to do this stuff at 8000 feet Elevation!


While you are running to the bike you struggle to strip off the wetsuit. That huge hill in the background was our next destination on the bike.. Thought 8000 feet swim was bad? How about a 3000 foot climb on the bike to follow?

For some reason I was really light-headed after the swim. I almost passed out getting my bike gear on. I think swimming in gereral pulls a lot of blood to your head due to being in a laid out position in the water.
Ok.. Did I forget anything essential? Food, water, socks, shoes, gloves, glasses, helmet, bike wetsuit laid out so it won't get destroyed.. Think I got it..

Boarding the Yeti 575.. My bike is so sweet.. Look at that beaut!
Coming down the ski slopes at Beaver Creek towards the end of the bike. This venue was good for spectators! Here is my family cheering me on! Sorry I made you wait so long guys.. This one is a killer...


Fast downhill takes a toll on your legs.. Trying to find the perfect balance of keeping fast speed while keeping my legs from cramping up for the run ahead of me...

Transition 2: Bike To Run.. Did I forget anything? new glasses without sweat, sun-blocking hat, shoes, food, slam a gatorade in 3 seconds, race number on.. I think I'm good to go..

yes that is a ski lift and yes we are running -UP- a ski run...



Julie patiently waiting at the finish..

Josh and Dad..


Finally.. After a 1300 foot climb on the run.. I'm done!

"One of the hardest things I've done Josh!"

Thanks for supporting me family! Making me PBJ for the run transition, waking up at 5 AM for drive to vail, taking photos, cheering super loud and patiently waiting for the newby XTerra guy... Packing up and heading home with my best friend ;)

My race was really a lot slower than I expected but I'm still glad I got out there and did it.. Not every event can be my best one and now I have a frame of reference! Maybe save that for next year with some re-calibrated goals!