As I sit here about to start a blog about our garden, I check the calendar to document the date.... September 29! I find it hard to believe that an entire month went by. I question where the time went. Well, here was our month in review.

David and I spent the first Friday of the month at Netgain. Crazy, I know. But we had a wonderful time with some of David's co-workers playing games. We found a new game that we absolutely LOVE: Pandemic. We ended up going out and getting the game from our local game shop on Saturday. We ended up bring the game over to the Killmer's on Sunday and I think its safe to say that they loved it too! The rest of the weekend was spent getting ready for a trip to Denver. I spent the majority of my Labor Day (aka our manic Monday) canning peppers... Wow is all I have to say! I canned 13 pints and 2 quarts. I can't believe that this is the second time canning peppers this summer. Our total canning has 16 pints, 4 quarts and 2 jelly jars so far. Our small garden is sure giving us a great bounty!

Tuesday was an early morning (our 3:20 am wake-up) and following a very rushed trip to the MSP airport, David and I arrived safely in Denver. David was sent to Denver for work to meet with a prospective client (for work flow analysis) and was able to schedule a tour through the Qwest building. Our days somehow were busy trying to get acquainted with the area and finding where David needed to be. Unfortunately, all of our directions that we had printed before we left were wrong! For some reason Google kept telling us to make U-Turns were the were not needed and sometimes illegal. We were able to do some tourist things on Friday. We took the tour of the US Mint in downtown Denver. It was fantastic but unfortunately we were unable to take any pictures due to their security. The process is quite interesting. We then headed to the Hammond's Candy factory. I hate to admit that I liked our second tour much better... I think the sugar may have tilted the scales. Plus the free samples! It was amazing to see the entire process as though you were watching it on television. Adding the fact that they have been using the same tools and recipes since they began, we were quite surprised.

We arrived back in Saint Cloud on Saturday and thanks to wonderful friends (who just knew that we would not feel like cooking) had dinner with the Killmers. Sunday was all about catching up on the household stuff that was put on hold while we were gone.

The weekend of the 19th brought a wedding on the range. Unfortunately, David changed his on call and wasn't able to leave Saint Cloud which meant that I headed north on my own, or rather with Nancy. She headed to our house after work on Friday and together we headed to the range for the Saturday wedding. It was a wonderful day... and a fun night. I became the DD while Nancy and Nikki turned into rockstars (or at least until Sunday morning came bringing nausea and headaches). 

We had another short week. Thursday we headed to Menomonie, WI. It is a traditional family vacation for the Haenke's (because it surrounds the racing weekend). David and I enjoyed hanging out with the family as well as getting to see the Richardson's. It's scary to think that the Haenke's and Richardson's Thursday dinner has been a tradition for us since we began heading there as a family ... 16 years ago. David and I took the weekend as a relaxing time and enjoyed the use of the hot tub!

But as the weekend ends and the last week of September begins, I admit that I am thankful we have a few free weekends coming up. So, here is to October. May it bring some lazy fall days or at least some time we get to spend at home!