Steamboat Lake

Published on June 14, 2016January 14, 2017 by Casey

If I could (afford to) live anywhere in the world, I’m pretty sure it would be Routt County, Colorado. Man that is God’s country, right there. I’m pretty sure Steamboat Lake is my happy place. It’s far removed from the hustle bustle of Steamboat Springs, and nestled in a picturesque river valley. We first discovered Steamboat Lake when we went camping there last year over Memorial Day weekend. As beautiful as it was, it was cold and wet. But then again, you can’t go camping in Colorado’s high country at the end of May and not expect either rain or snow. I am thankful that we had a camper with a heater for that trip. The few neighbors we had in tents froze out after struggling to get a fire going with damp wood. This year we returned during June and had beautifully sunny weather with daytime times in the 80s. It wouldn’t be camping in Colorado though without a little rain in the form of an afternoon storm. Luckily those that went through were short in duration.

This year we also had a new camper to take with! Much larger both is length and width, more luxuries, a full kitchen. Haha! No more roughing it! Not only did our site have electric hookups but it had a lovely view of the lake! An added bonus is that for one night, our trip overlapped with some friends, so we were able to let the kids romp around and enjoy a meal together. The own downside to the trip was the recent hatching of mayflies! Walking on the trail by the lake shore was akin to running away from tracker jackers in the Hunger Games. Granted, mayflies don’t bite but they sure are annoying! It probably also didn’t help that I also had a bag of dog poop in my hands!

We can’t wait to go back next year!

How can you not love this view?!

Some evening visitors near our campsite!

This kid was made for camping!

Camping Season Has Returned!

Published on June 1, 2016January 14, 2017 by Casey

My favorite time of year, camping season! For Colorado that starts Memorial Day weekend (unless you’re really hardcore and like to camp in snow caves — no thanks). But even that close to summer, we always expect snow when we camp that weekend. This year, we camped along Turquoise Lake, near Leadville, around 10,000-ft elevation. On the way up, it snowed. I think we ended up with about an inch of snow that first day, but then it melted. The campground where we stayed had a great system for keeping sites dry and creating small retention ponds for runoff. Logan loved “fishing” in the pond behind our site. He’s such a Colorado kid, that he was out there in shorts, despite the cold weather and snow on the ground. If you went to the lake at the right time of the day, the water was like glass, clearly reflecting the nearby mountain peaks. The campground was also tucked back into a copse of ponderosa trees. Very serene. This trip was also our inaugural camping vacation with the new camper! So much more luxurious than our little TrailManor!

Graduation Day!

Published on May 22, 2016 by Casey

I don’t remember a big fan fare when I graduated from kindergarten, but perhaps there was one. Friday, Logan graduated from kindergarten (although the school year doesn’t end until later this week). Where has the past school year gone? It feels like I just registered him for kindergarten and now he’s only a few short months away from the first grade!

For the graduation ceremony, Logan’s class put on a performance where they sang several songs (in English and Spanish) and then the classroom teacher presented each student with a certificate of kindergarten graduation. Logan was first, either because he was sitting first in his row or because of his last name. Not sure. Logan claims the certificates were distributed alphabetically.

After the ceremony, the school provided a lunch for all the graduating students and families. The weather was wonderful, so the luncheon was held outside. It was so much fun watching Logan and I am so grateful both Noah and I were able to take time off work to attend the event!

At home, we surprised Logan with a Congratulations Grad balloon and a GIANT grad cupcake!

Here are a few pictures from the celebration. You can see all the pictures from the event here.

The Keystone State

Published on April 18, 2016May 22, 2016 by Casey

Sadly, last month my Aunt Ruthanna passed away after a courageous battle against cancer. Although we are heartbroken that she is no longer with us on earth, we rejoice in the fact that she is no longer in pain and has rejoined her beloved husband in heaven.

To honor her in life and death, we traveled to Pennsylvania to attend the funeral and spend some time with relatives, some of which I haven’t seen in twenty years and others I just met for the first time! Although the funeral was a somber event, it was good to get out of town and show Logan some Pennsylvania sites.

But first, we had to meet Aunt Gretna at the airport!

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Some of the places we dragged him to included Gettysburg National Park:

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The Turkey Hill Experience (who doesn’t love unlimited ice cream?):

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and Amish Country:

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Cousins! A shot of three of the younger cousins in the family. Logan and the one on the left are only separated by a few months in age but are a generation apart. Logan and the cousin on the right are a few years apart in age but are from the same generation.

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A full selection of photos from the trip can be viewed here.

The family that shoots together…

Published on February 27, 2016 by Casey

It’s no secret that Noah and I enjoy shooting firearms. So, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that we enjoy shooting bows either. Logan is still a bit young for his own gun (don’t freak, we’ll start him with something small…like a .45 j/k), but he’s not too young to start learning to shoot with a bow. I was close to his age when I first used a longbow in Girl Scouts. Last year, Noah and I talked about how fun it would be to set up an archery range on our mountain property and had already started turning the mental wheels on making that happen this summer. Recently, Noah acquired a compound bow for hunting (he’s thinking about going for an archery tag in addition to rifle, although probably not this year), so I too acquired a new bow and Logan got one of his birthday presents early. We bought Logan’s beginner longbow last year on sale and have squirreled it away.

We took out the bows last weekend, as we finally had some decent weather, and went to a local archery range to test them out. Logan was so excited and really took to the sport. He’s only shooting from 5-10 yards, but for his second time ever, he managed to get one arrow to stick in the target! (First time Logan shot a bow was Labor Day weekend 2015.) Of course, neither Noah nor I took any photos last weekend. Whoops!

We did set-up a target in our backyard and marked off every five yards. I was looking forward to getting some target practice in today, but we didn’t get much accomplished before the wind make being outside less fun. However, we did take some pictures! I’ll be sure to take ones of the range on the mountain property when we make it out there this summer. For now, we’ll continue to freak out our neighbors…or venture to the local range.

Pop, goes the toe!

Published on February 16, 2016 by Casey

If you’re at all squeamish, you may want to skip this post.

Throughout my life, I’ve had my fair share of injuries (perhaps more than my share). Everything from concussions to sprains to broken bones to pinches nerves. You name it, I’ve probably experienced it. The one exception was a dislocation…until Friday past.

Somehow, whilst following Logan into the bathroom, I managed to catch the little toe on my left foot on the door jam and dislocate it. Not just a dislocation but also tear the ligament that supports the toe, since it got hyper-extended so much. Not only was I wearing socks throughout this ordeal, but I didn’t even realize I was walking that close to the wall! Perhaps I wasn’t fully awake, or maybe it was because I wasn’t yet wearing my glasses. Needless to say, pain was instant and when I was trying to figure out if it was broken, stubbed or dislocated, I managed to knock it off to the side again and really freak out Logan. Whoops! Magically, I remained calm and didn’t swear at all! I won’t post any pictures of my dislocated toe, it wasn’t that exciting to look at anyway. It didn’t stick straight out to the side, just looked twisted.

Did I mention this happened bright and early on the first day of my four-day-weekend? I really need to learn how to better enjoy a long weekend!

Back to the toe, Kaiser, couldn’t get me in until late Friday afternoon, so I got to hobble around to the vet, and the DMV before getting medical attention beyond my own first aid treatment. Thankfully, the toe popped back in on its own (“beautifully” according to my doctor), about an hour after the incident. I’m glad I didn’t have to sit through someone else wrangling it back into place. I have a high pain tolerance but I’m not a masochist!

The lovely people at Kaiser also fitted me with what I called the “fashionable flipper”. It’s a post-op shoe I get to wear for two weeks to ensure the ligament heals and my toe doesn’t get banged around.

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Hard to tell, but the “flipper” sticks out about three inches past the end of my toes. It provides quite the calf workout as my leg has to compensate for the lack of foot flex. Thankfully, my job is allowing me to continue to work with this apparatus, even though my injury is not work-related.

And in case you were wondering, I would chose the pain from a dislocated joint over a migraine.

2015 in Review

Published on December 28, 2015 by Casey

Why I suck at maintaining this blog. But honestly, it’s been a low priority behind work, raising a child, graduate school, volunteer work, etc. I love the idea of always being on top of this site, and in fact probably could squeeze it in as a brain break, if nothing else. So, instead of doing a bunch of posts about what happened in 2015, here’s an annual review. You can view pictures from 2105 at our share site here. If you need access, let me know.

January –

We rang in the new year whilst visiting family in California. I was sick and went to be around 10:00 p.m. Sleep trumped watching a ball drop three hours delayed. A few days later, we watched one of my high school friends get married. Yay, Becca!

February –

In February, my friend Jennie came to visit. We all enjoyed visiting a couple local ice festivals, eating fresh snow cones and watching Logan fit into a contortionist’s box.

March –

The big event this month was Logan turned five years old! The past years have just flown by! But five is such a fun age! Logan loves all things Marvel so we had a few friends over for an Avenger’s themed birthday party. The weather was great, always tricky for March in Colorado. Last year it snowed 9″ the day of his party. This year, is was sunny and in the 80s. Perfect pinata weather!

April –

For Easter we invited some friends over and continued our annual backyard egg hunt tradition. Thankfully the weather cooperated! I think it was around 70*.

May –

This month we went to a hot air balloon festival, celebrated Noah’s birthday and took Logan to his first cinema showing! Because Colorado, it snowed on Mother’s Day, which killed my plans for hiking or fishing. So, plan C was to take Logan to see Age of Ultron. He even dressed up as Thor for the event! Memorial Day weekend also officially kicks off camping season, so we headed up to Steamboat Lake for a much desired mountain getaway. The weather was not warm (30-50s), and it rained, sleeted or snowed each day. My are we thankful for our camper and the heater inside! Despite the weather we had a lot of fun!

June –

In June Logan started t-ball, we vacationed in Utah and I started horseback riding again. Logan really loves t-ball, even if he was the slowest runner and enjoyed playing in the dirt more than watching where the ball went. 🙂 We spent a few days in the beginning of June helping our friends settle into their new house, in Utah. Noah used his handyman skills to fix faucets, stoves, walls, etc. I used my painting skills to help transform their kitchen into a welcoming and cozy environment. We also happened to be in town during Pony Express Days, so the kids were able to have a lot of fun watching the parade and riding carnival rides at the fair.

July –

More camping! For the fourth of July weekend we camped at Rifle Gap. The best weather day was on the fourth. Logan enjoyed splashing in the lake, Hurricane enjoyed sniffing every bush and Noah and I enjoyed sitting in chairs, soaking up the sun, cool drink in hand, watching it all. We also finally did some camping at our mountain property (summer is a short month at 9300-ft). Always a nice getaway with beautiful views of the Mosquito Range. Noah and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary and as a gift to him, I gave him a new truck. Ha! Not really a gift, but it was purchased the day before our anniversary. The F350 Diesel is a big improvement over the Ram 1500 and needed to accommodate Noah’s large work trailer. I also moved into a new position at work, as a Behavior Technician. A nice step in the right direction toward my ultimate goal of becoming a BCBA.

August –

Our big event this month was our trip to Canada! We loaded up the camper and headed to Alberta. We spent a week traveling around the southern half of the province (and ventured into British Colombia one day). We stayed in Writing-on-Stone, Dinosaur, Calgary, Edmonton and Banff. Such a beautiful province and very friendly people, especially those from Manitoba. Logan has decided we should go to Manitoba for our next Canadian excursion. Also in August, Logan started kindergarten and we celebrated my birthday.

September –

Our final camping hurrah for the year. We went to Ridgeway with some friends and camped over the Labor Day weekend. Another trip we were glad for the camper. No one wants to cook outside in the rain. We did have some nice weather, about half of the trip, but not enough to get in any fishing. We just could not avoid rain this year camping. Even in Canada, it rained one day/night whilst we stayed in Banff. Also in September, Noah’s grandparents celebrated their 65th (!!) wedding anniversary! So we celebrated with them in a mini-family reunion.

October –

Noah missed Halloween this year due to elk hunting season. But before he left we made a trip to the pumpkin patch. Grandpa Mike came to Colorado to continue the tradition of hiking around the divide with Noah in search of the ever elusive elk, and he was able to help Logan carve a pumpkin before they had to leave. This year, Logan was going to dress up as Iron Man for Halloween, but he ended up with a stomach bug and missed trick-or-treating. Our wonderful neighbors, however, took up a collection of candy for him, as they went door-to-door.

November –

Grandma Diane came out to spend some time with Logan whilst the menfolk were hunting. They had a great time. We joined some friends for the Thanksgiving feast. This year we even had a white Thanksgiving! First time in the nine years I’ve lived in Colorado that it wasn’t in the 50s on Thanksgiving. Good thing Noah put the Christmas lights up on the house before the storm. We also chose that weekend to get our Christmas tree and Logan got to visit Santa. This month, Logan also had his first experience riding a horse, not tethered to a bar (i.e. pony ride).

December –

This month brought joys and heartaches. Noah’s grandpa passed away on the 10th, we attended his funeral the following week. On the 11th, Logan had his first surgery. Nothing major, he had to be put under general anesthesia to remove wax buildup inside his ears. We also had our first (and probably only) snow day of the year, where 10″ fell on the 15th (as I write this post nearly two weeks later, my yards are still covered in snow from that storm). We decided to stay home for the holidays. We enjoyed spending time with the extended family that visiting during the funeral events, friends at a Christmas party and we continued our traditions of riding the Georgetown Loop Christmas train and visiting the Denver Zoo for Zoo Lights. Christmas was a relaxed affair spent at home, enjoying watching Logan open gifts and awe over the fact Santa brought him exactly what he wanted. New Year’s will be much of the same, staying home and relaxing. No promises on whether or not Noah and I will stay awake until midnight.

Hope you all had a wonderful and enjoyable 2015 full of memories to last a lifetime. We look forward to all of the fun 2016 will bring!

Polishing those Pearly Whites

Published on March 28, 2014 by Casey

Logan had his first trip to the dentist this week. They call it a “happy visit” – a time to get used to all of the instruments, chair and get his teeth polished. They didn’t take xrays or add floride on this trip, we’ll do those on the next visit.

Logan was a little unsure at first, but the staff at the dental office is great with kids, made sure he was involved the entire step of the way and even allowed him to watch a show of his choice on Netflix!

Sniffing the bubblegum flavored toothpaste:

Getting his teeth cleaned:

Letting the dentist count his teeth:

The Big 0-4

Published on March 26, 2014March 28, 2014 by Casey

We officially have a four year old!

The birthday morning began by surprising Logan with streamers hanging from his bedroom doorway. He was a bit confused at first but quickly decided he LOVES them and thinks all of the doorways in the house should have streamers.

That was then followed by breakfast at a local airport, where patrons are able to watch flights land and take-off. And then another trip, on request, a visit to the Colorado Railroad Museum.

For a party, Logan only wanted to have the Fieglands over for pizza. I was not going to talk him into something more elaborate. I had it set up so the kids were able to decorate their own pizzas, which sadly no one photographed. I can tell you that Logan’s pizza was pretty much all cheese and bacon.

After dinner Joci was sure to help Logan open his gifts.

The party theme was monster trucks, and exemplified by his cake.

For days leading up to his birthday, Logan would give a count: four days until I’m four, three days until I’m four, etc. It was fun for him to actually be at an age where he was genuinely excited about his upcoming birthday. We’re excited to watch his personality continue to develop in this upcoming year.

Happy birthday, Logan!

Santa Train

Published on December 22, 2013March 28, 2014 by Casey

Last year we rode the Santa Train up in Georgetown after Christmas, this year we decided to go before. There was less snow on the ground this year, but that also meant it wasn’t as cold, either. Still, we were able to enjoy the lights, cookies & hot chocolate. Logan even got a bell, a la The Polar Express.

Believe it or not, this kid is excited to ride the train…just not excited to be the subject of a photograph.