October Snow

You've all heard about it... Denver got hit with big snow. Well, here's what we endured...

When it was all done, we measured between 2 & 3 feet.

Michael was out every couple hours plowing the driveway so we could get out if/when we needed to.

But big snow means big fun! Maddox couldn't wait to get out and play... here he is all prepared (minus the coat) in his snow suit.

Do you think he was having fun?!


His hat (that Grammy made for him!) kept sliding down over his eyes, making it hard to see! But it did keep his little head warm!

Mason and Morgan had fun creating snow angels...

...and teaching Maddox how to do it as well!

Believe it or not, Morgan is in here somewhere. He stayed in there for a good long time, and he was amazed that he didn't get cold at all! That's what a good snow suit will do for you.

Maddox liked helping us shovel...

Even Abbey had a good time in the snow! She's hard to photograph because she's so fast, but if you can imagine, she hops around in the deep snow like a baby lamb! It's the cutest thing! Of course, she gets covered in snow "dingleberries", but she never seems to mind! She digs her face in the soft powder and gets a big mouthful of the yummy stuff... and she'll even chase after a snowball, searching frantically to find it so she can return it for another throw. City dog turned Mountain dog, that's for sure!

Alas, after all the fun, it is time to come in and warm up by the fire. Just look at those little rosy cheeks!

And when Mother Nature has given us all she has, we wake up to a glorious day of blue skies and sunshine! Notice Mason down in the corner (red coat).

We had a dazzling display of icicles!

And Maddox discovered what a true POPSICLE is! He enjoyed licking it...

Finally, here are some shots of the igloo that Mason and Morgan worked on! They piled up a huge mound of snow and then dug out a hollow space inside... it was big enough for Mason to get all the way in - almost! Of course, he couldn't turn around in there, but he sure had a good time making it!


So Happy Halloween to all of you... hopefully you won't have to traipse through snow to do your trick-or-treating like we will! But first, we've been invited to some good friends' house for a PIG ROAST this afternoon! (I bet they had to dig quite a bit to create the pit!)

Michele

Halloween

I thought you might want to see the boys' costumes this year... we didn't dress Maddox up yet, so I'll show him to you another day, but here is what Mason & Morgan came up with:

Yes, our little Mason is quite the nerd. :) He even won a contest for funniest costume at his Boy Scout Troop meeting on Monday night!

Morgan is our mad scientist...


Isn't Halloween fun?!

Michele

Jack-O-Lanterns...

It was a cold, snowy day here in Evergreen today... perfect weather for staying in and carving our pumpkins! ('course, we had to warm those pumpkins up by the fire first since they had been sitting outside on the front porch!) Mason and Morgan both have pumpkin carving contests through Scouts, so I was sure to let them each design their very own faces...


Morgan was having big fun...

And here's how they turned out... this first one is Mason's:

Here's Morgan's:

And here's my pumpkin:

Hee hee! Okay, here's mine:

I hope it stops snowing long enough for us to put these out on display!! Maybe we should've given them all shivering faces with goosebumps. Then they might look a little more natural out on our porch. :)

Michele

Old Dog... New Tricks

Turns out, you CAN teach them! Michael was determined, and by george, I think he's got it!



Now let's see if he can do it while juggling. :)

Michele

Autumn in the Mountains

When my parents were here, we took a drive up toward Mount Evans - we couldn't go all the way up because it was already closed. But we went as far as Echo Lake, and it was SO GORGEOUS... the Aspens were a beautiful golden color, and they surrounded us on all sides. At times, we even went through a golden canopy. I was driving and didn't take the time to snap any photos... but I wish I had.

Maddox and I took that same drive about 3 or 4 days later and because we had a couple days of wind, a lot of the leaves had already been blown off those beautiful trees. But I took some photos anyway, and learned a lesson or two about snapping photos at the very moment you see something beautiful. Because if you wait too long, the beauty fades! (hmmm, sounds about like life, doesn't it?!)

Anyway, let me take you on a drive up to Echo Lake...




And here we are at Echo Lake...


Now we'll continue on down toward one of my favorite towns, Idaho Springs, where you can see this charming water wheel.

Take notice of how the gentleman remained healthy. ;)

It was so cold this particular day, that the waterfall had icicles on it!

And one last shot on the way back home...

...oh, wait a minute... this IS home! This is my own front yard! :)

I'm so lucky.
Michele

An Elk...

...close up.

This was taken on September 8th, RIGHT outside my back door. He was eating the vegetation at the edge of our patio.

Michele

A Pile O' Boys

Michael snapped this one last night and I thought you should see...

That's what you call a pile o' boys! (good-lookin' ones, too!)

Michele

October 11th...

Since I just went back and showed you what August looked like, I feel the need to catch you up to date. This is what we woke up to on this glorious Sunday morning:



Beautiful, isn't it?

Michele

Larry & Dianne's Visit

I just realized that I never got some pictures posted of our wonderful visit with Larry & Dianne this summer! I do apologize! So, let's back up to August when they came...

Of course, we took them to Red Rocks...

And because they were here over Dianne's birthday, I made her some yummy pumpkin bread!

One evening, I caught Maddox with my iPhone. He's become quite the little iPhone pro...

...hmmmm, well, it looks like they ALL caught the bug...

We went on my favorite short hike on 3 Sisters.

If you look closely, you'll see Mason & Morgan up there at the peak. They love to climb the rocks...

As usual, Maddox pooped out, but Papaw Larry was happy to lend a "comfty" (as Maddox puts it) shoulder the rest of the way.

One of the highlights of their visit was our drive up Mount Evans... it's not far from our house and it's absolutely BREATHTAKING! This first shot is of the beautiful Echo Lake, which is at the base of Mt. Evans - the elevation here is around 10,000 feet.

After a long and treacherous drive... and I DO mean treacherous!! That road winds all over the place withOUT any railings... anyway, after our treacherous drive, we finally made it to the peak - 14,130 feet!

It was C-O-L-D and W-I-N-D-Y up there too!! We probably would've stayed and looked around longer, but we were all freezing!

The mountain goats were plentiful up there...


Look at this one below... he's saying, "gee, it sure is a long way down!"

And just to prove how high we were, here is the local warning sign:

On the way down, we stopped at Mount Goliath National Park, where you can see beautiful bristlecone pine trees - one of which is over 1500 years old!



This is the place where I took that gorgeous photo that I turned into a postcard:

It was a wonderful visit! I'm sorry I didn't share it with you sooner!! ...Dad & Dianne, y'all come back any time!

Michele