Rocky Mt. National Park: hike with side comments on the Denver Zoo and the 'White Wonder'

A beautiful blue bird (blue jay?) that graced us with its presence as we left the park. This story will be told backwards.
A close up of the Elk herd we say as we left the park- at least 150 Elk were a part of the herd.
More Elk! Amazing animals with a call that sounds like a squeaking door or cat mewing.
This land is mighty beautiful!
John and I take a break... we have not hiked much these days, but are excited to get back into it!
We are pushing each other on a frozen lake... John wins this game as I am 1/2 his size. Force is in his favor on the near frictionless surface.
One happy hiker! :)
Paige is out playing on the ice-lake with us. We had the area to ourselves since it is not the tourist season and there is the hazard of falling into waist deep snow on the trail!

We also went to the Denver Zoo last week because it was FREE DAY! We went with some friends with small children and I think that is the best way to see Zoos (with kids!). The park was pretty crowded and it was a job just to keep everyone together (children have the ability to dart between peoples legs and move a hyper speeds). I was most interested in the Anteater.

We have said good bye to the White Wonder, she was a good car that served me well through 1/2 of undergrad and graduate school. I hope that her parts go to help charity and other people continue on their way. Now all that is left is to get 'mom car' registered in Colorado!

University of Colorado, Inner Varsity Fall Retreat

Here is a small window into the "Halloween Extravaganza!!!" at the CU IV Fall Retreat! There were costumes, there was pumpkin carving, there was ice cream... and a spontaneous dance party!

John going down the tubing slide! The snow was not quite slippery enough...

We went on a beautiful hike in the mountains around Colorado Springs!

The beautiful view from the top :)

We made it! SHINE!

What a wonderful, fun, relaxing weekend! I am so thankful and grateful to be able to have shared this weekend with the fellow inner varsity folks of the CU campus. I am also thankful to Mary Poplin for coming to speak with us and share her experiences with us. I am excited to be starting to read her book, Finding Calcutta.

John and I also got to see Teri this weekend! Hooray for a sister working so near (even if it is only for a day or two!).

The Elk near our home

A buck jumping over the fence between public space and private farm land (our neighbors).

We got a lot of snow and as the day turned to night it was pretty cold... but we were excited to see the Elk!

One of the bucks (there were at least 12) leading the does along.

The large herd all clustered together for warmth.

John, Truen, and I went to see the Elk last night. John has seen them while riding his bike home from work. There is a herd of over 100 Elk currently in the area, it is amazing to see them and hear them bugle! What beautiful (and very large) creatures. We have about a foot and a half of snow!

A 15 Year Old Dream Comes True

Lift off we fly away in a hot air ballloon!
John and Ruth... one year of marriage and he has already made some many of my dreams comes true!
Our shadow as we leave this earth...

Balloon and the mountains!

For the past 15 years I have wanted to fly in a hot air balloon, it was one of my life dreams you could say. Well that dream came true this morning when John surprised me with an anniversary gift to go on a hot air balloon ride! Wow! what fun... you can see so far! We saw the skyscrapers of Denver, the Rocky Mountains, even the faint ridges of Wyoming and the clouds over Kansas! It was a cool, clear, crisp morning with a slight breeze. Beautiful for ballooning! What a wonderful experience and a big heart bursting thank you to John, he makes so many of my dreams come true!

Romance in the aire

Yesterday was John and my 1st wedding anniversary! Wow! A year has gone by so quickly and a lot has happened and we feel so blessed! God is good! And I have the most wonderful husband- he is "totally awesome"!

The winter wonderland we hiked about a 40 minute drive from our home. No fall colors... but it felt like we were in Narnia!

Val in the midst of the winter-wonderland!

The bison from our neighbor's farm!

Valerie came to visit John and I in Colorado this past weekend. It was so much fun having her stay with us and she was a BIG HELP too! She milked goats, fed pigs, made grilled cheese, filled the milk order and we went on a winter-land hike! We also had an impromptu dinner, drum & song secession and a bible study on the trampoline! Good friends make life full of love and laughter. Besides dropping her off at the airport late and the surprise 4 inches of snow that morning it was a perfect visit!

The hand off to the last leg of the 50 mile race... I so desperately wanted to be done!
Running a race when you have not ran for a month... is painful.


These photos are from the Tussey Mt. Back 50 mile ultra/relay run. I was part of the Penn State Crop and Soil Science 7 person team, Unusual Suspects. We ran well 6th in our category with a time under 7 hours :)

I had a great visit out to PA, seeing family and friends and sharing my experience in Zambia with them. It was great to celebrate early birthdays with Dad and Stephen, see the PSCGers and UMCers! I have such wonderful memories and know such wonderful folks in PA! Love ya all so much!