Tucker Smith

Welcome to the family Tucker!!

• Named after Tuckerman Ravine on Mt. Washington in N.H.
  
• 2 months old (DOB ~ 12/23/10)
• Mountain Dog mix (we think Swiss Mountain Dog - shorter hair, but will still be big)
• We got him from the Colorado Puppy Rescue on Saturday. He was found with an abandoned litter in a culvert in New Mexico.

He is very calm and already going to the bathroom outside the majority of the time. Only a few #1 incidents inside so far and he recognizes when we say it's wrong. We are looking forward to taking him hiking and camping with us this summer!

Honeymoon - Costa Rica Style

Pura Vida!

Costa Ricans, or Ticos as they call themselves, use this term to describe their lifestyle. It translates to Pure Life. We spent 12 days in Costa Rica for our honeymoon and enjoyed the Pure Life as much as we could.

It was an amazing trip with adventure and relaxation all wrapped into one. We saw quite a bit of the country from the dirty capital city of San Jose, to the pristine rainforest on the banks of the Pacuare River, the cool cloudforests of Monteverde to the amazing palm lined beaches of Manuel Antonio, and the volcanic hillsides in La Fortuna to the hippie/surf town of Jaco.

Our approximate route, counter clockwise from San Jose.
(Dashed line is airplane on last day)

Destination360 Costa Rica Map

Our adventures took us in a raft through class 4 rapids, hiking through rainforest trails, zipping across valleys on a thin wire, soaking in volcanic hot springs, rappelling down 150' waterfalls, drinking natural farmers coffee with a third generation fair trade coffee farmer, sunbathing and swimming at Costa Rica's #1 rated beach, and seeing a plethora of animals indigenous to the country on a nature tour ... just to name a few!

We also took a few photos to document our trip and help us remember it for a lifetime. We'd like to share these photos with you. So sit back and enjoy Costa Rica from our point of view. There are about 1,000 photos (sorted down from more than 1,500!) broken into four sections, so take your time, swing back by and view them when you can. If you have any questions about what you see, or how to enjoy Costa Rica if you interested in visiting, please drop us a line or shoot us an email and we'd be happy to share all the info we have with you. You'll have the time of your life if you get the opportunity to visit this country.

Pura Vida!!


Photos can be viewed at the following links:

Costa Rica Part I

Costa Rica Part II

Costa Rica Part III

Costa Rica Part IV


Slideshows of photos can be seen below,
or in full screen at the links above.

Costa Rica Part II


Costa Rica Part II


Costa Rica Part III

Costa Rica Part IV

We shot a few random short videos during the trip.
You can view them here:

Wedding Photos Gallery Open!

All of our wedding photos have been posted!

Along with the three blog postings by Melissa Beck, our photographer, there is now a place where you can see all the photos taken on that special day.


First off, thanks to everyone for your kind comments on the blog postings. Through the "Share the Love" contest that Melissa Beck had for us on her blog, we got a free leather bound coffee table album. Not only did we hit the top tier of 60 comments to get the free album, we got a total of 78 comments about her awesome photos.

You can view the blog posts at the following links:
Post #1
Post #2
Post #3

All of the photos from the wedding day are split up into seven galleries and can be viewed here:
http://melissabeckphotography.smugmug.com/Weddings/Melissa-and-Jason
Password:
18Sept2010

Do you want some of these images for yourself?
You may purchase any of the images you see in these galleries. Plus, through November 13th, you can get 20% OFF your order by entering the 18Sept2010 promo code at checkout!

There are quite a few images in these galleries, so take your time and enjoy them when you can.

Thanks to Melissa Beck for your talents, capturing our day and making us feel so comfortable in front of the lens. Also, a big huge thanks again to everyone who made our wedding weekend so spectacular. It would not have been as fun as it was without all of you!


If you, or anyone you know, are interested in Melissa Beck's photography services (We highly recommend her!), you can find more info about her on her website located here: www.melissabeckphotography.com

Indian Brown Ale

Our first all grain brew at the new house! We decided to take a clone recipe of the Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale and add some spices to it and create a Winter Warmer that will be great to drink between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The morning started off on the wrong foot when the new burner would not fire up. That extended our time about an hour or so, but we finally got it lit and it worked like a charm for the rest of the brew.

OG= 1.075
FG= 1.010
ABV = 6.9%

Ingredients:
10.75 lbs Pilsner malt
15.2 oz flaked maize
10.9 oz amber malt
10.8 oz crystal malt
6.5 oz coffee malt
2.2 oz roasted barley
6 oz brown sugar
0.72 oz Warrior hops
1.2 oz Golding hops
1.33 oz Liberty hops
0.25 oz Golding hops (dry hop)
0.25 oz Liberty hops (dry hop)
British Ale yeast

We had another snafu after our mash, sparge and boil. As we attempted to work the hot wort through the counter flow chiller to cool it down and make a hospitable environment for the yeast, the height of the boil kettle was too low and the pressure of the wort was not enough to get all the way through the counter flow chiller. We could have raised the level of the boil kettle, but that is easier said than done with a boiling hot keg full of boling wort! So, I had to run to the store to grab a few bags of ice. We got the temp down using the ice and cold water running through a cooler, although at a much slower pace thus adding on about another hour or so to the brew time. Then pitched the yeast. It is now happily bubbling away in the spare room downstairs, just waiting for us to keg it and enjoy in a few weeks!!

Halloween Fun

1. Pumpkin carving at our house on Friday evening with the peeps.
2. Belated birthday dinner at the West end in Boulder for Melissa.
3. Costumes.
4. Hanging with the crazies in Boulder ... even more fun when they are all dressed up!

See photos from Halloween HERE

York Fall Wedding

Carah and Tom were getting married in York, ME. I headed out from Denver late on Thursday evening while Melissa had already left from Chicago (where she was for work) earlier in the evening. We met at Logan around 5:30 a.m. on Friday and headed north towards York. On the way we stopped in Newburyport to watch the sunrise on a very chilly morning, I think it was 75 back in Denver! Our arrival at the York Harbor Inn was a bit premature, 7:30 a.m., check in was not till 2. So we drove to the Cape Neddick "Nubble" Lighthouse and slept in the car for a few hours, trying to catch up on missed sleep from the long travels the night before.


Mom, Mark and Eric joined us for a late breakfast. It was great to see them again, even if we had just a month before in Colorado. Friday evening was a blast with a small rehearsal dinner at the Inn and then meeting up with everyone else at the bar later in the night. Saturday was filled with wedding events including the ceremony at a small church in York and then the reception at the York Harbor Reading Room. The food was amazing, with a raw bar, sushi and pasta and carving stations. They had a great band that played through the night keeping everyone dancing and having a blast!

Sunday started with a delicious brunch at the Inn, the bloody's are a must try if your ever there. We then said our goodbyes and headed South to Portsmouth. We were meeting up with Nate, Vanessa, JP and Calvin as well as Eric and Paige at Flatbread for a light lunch. After some intriguing conversation we headed out again and met up with Celeste and Derek to watch the Pats game at a bar in Boston. We watched the first half, then headed back to their house where Celeste had prepared a roasted chicken dinner for us all to enjoy.


Finally we headed into Beverly to Colleen and Paul's house to catch some z's before our Monday morning flight back to Denver. Thanks for the place to crash, the car for the weekend and the drive to the airport Colleen.

A busy, but fun long weekend!

Check out photos from the weekend HERE

Wedding Photos Part II are here!

More wedding photos have been posted. Check them out HERE in Melissa Beck's second Blog posting.

"Share the Love" –
With her blog postings, she offers a "Share the Love" comment contest. Each comment made on her blog about the photos, us, the wedding day/events or about her talent gives us a point. The more points we get the more credits we earn towards products like prints and photo albums. So let us know what you think of the photos by commenting at the end of her blog. (One comment per person please.)

She will be uploading one more posting, so check back for more!

Enjoy!!

http://www.melissabeckphotography.com/blog/melissa-jason-bride-and-groom-part-two/