RoddaPalooza

I am a volunteer for a nonprofit called Ethiopian Orphan Relief,
which was started by a group of parents who wanted to help the children
of Ethiopia.  EOR has just announced that its webstore is open for
business.  100% of the proceeds will benefit EOR's projects in Ethiopia
(including Children's Heaven, the center for the teenaged girls that we
are trying to raise $ for).  The goods that are available for puchase
on the website were all purchased in Ethiopia by adoptive parents, so
you can be confident that they are genuine and authentic.  The really
cool thing is that the products were all named for children who have
been adopted from Ethiopia,  most of whom we know.  I'm quite sure the
"Lidya" bib will be a top seller in no time.

There is all
sorts of stuff on for sale on the website - adult clothes, children's
clothes, jewelry, decor. So this year instead of buying crap from box
stores that don't know who you are and put every penny they make
towards their own bottom lines - buy from the EOR website.  You'll not
only be getting amazing gifts that you could not find anywhere else
(unless you happen to be going to the Addis Ababa merkato), but you'll
also be supporting a great cause.

Here's the link ethiopianorphanrelief.org.  Bookmark it and don't forget to shop online!!!

Beth just sent me this one from their visit and I couldn't resist posting it.  We're just so cute!  (Or at least Lidya & Mia are)

Well, my Mom busted us.  Yes it's true, Shawn downloaded the picture of the Maroon Bells from the internet.  But it's only because my picture didn't come out quite as nice.  It's because we were there later in the day and the lighting wasn't as good.  It doesn't mean that the mountains weren't as pretty as the other picture.  It was just harder to capture it on film.  The Maroon Bells are two 14er's and are the most photographed mountains in Colorado.  The were photographed by Ansel Adams in a famous photograph that can be seen here.

It was a beautiful site.  I also uploaded a few shots of Lid plus a nice picture of Shawn and her cousin Stacy who lives in DC.  It was really nice to see Stacy.  She's an awesome gal and we get to see her again next week when she's in town for the convention!

It seems as if every time I discover a new part of Colorado I'm reminded of a John Denver song, and this past weekend was no exception.  My cousin Stacey was in Aspen for a conference so we decided to drive down there to see her.  We hadn't been to Aspen yet, and though we've seen some pretty beautiful places in Colorado, Aspen is definitely the best.  Even setting aside the $40 million homes and fancy hotels, the town itself is really cute and has great restaurants and shopping, and the scenery is just beyond amazing. Getting to Aspen was a little dicey, as we had to drive through a blizzard on I-70 on Saturday morning (icy roads and all)...but it was well worth it.  If I have to live in a place where it snows in August in order to get to see this on the weekends, I'm happy to do it: