Baby Birds

Can you see the mama bird feeding her babies?

Our tree that the birds call home.



Mama bird holding the worms for her babies.

Meet our newest neighbors :) Dan and I started out on a walk towards the park when we heard a weird car alarm sound. The sound wasn't a car alarm...it was 3 baby birdies waiting in anticipation for their dinner! They honestly sounded like a car alarm going off! We have seen the mama bird over the past month diggin up worms in our front yard, now we know where their going. It was quite a sight to see that mama bird feeding her babies. I tried to catch it on camera, but she was too quick and I was hardly inconspicuous! This sweet black and orange bird built quite a nest that is located in our big tree in the front yard.

Cute lil' beak in the air :)

One of the baby birds.

All 3 birdies :)

Keystone, CO

Holy moly, where have the past few months gone...2009 has been a blur already! We have been enjoying an unseasonable warm past few weeks. In Parker, there isn't a hint of snow anywhere. Today, it was in the 60's-low 70's. Those temperature are definitely NOT representative of Keystone, CO where we went on Saturday. Keystone is one of the many ski resorts here in CO. Since I don't ski, Dan had planned the day around some ski time for him, while I read at the "Summit House" and then we went tubing for the first time together. This was quite an experience. It was freezing cold whipping down those slopes on inner tubes but the adrenaline and excitement warmed ya right up! We had a blast. You pay by the hour so time is of the essence. As soon as Dan and I hit the bottom of the run we were off as fast as we could to the "people mover" that took us back up to the top. Screams, music and laughter filled the air as everyone descended down the snowy hills.

The view from the base of the mountain.








The wonderful closed gondolas that keep you nice and warm on your ride up to the top.

Our view from our warm gondola on the ride up to the top of the mountain.

Dan's skiing pose :)

Dan skiing down the mountain (I shot this from above in the gondola).

The ginormous tubing slopes in the background with Dan waving in the forground.

The awesome "people mover" that took us from the bottom of the run back to the top.

Michelle taking a little break before the next run down the tubing slopes.

Dan taking his turn twisting down the slope.

Michelle doing her twist down the slope.

Two at a time twisting down the slope...ridiculously fun!

Family pics after the snow fall

A White Thanksgiving

Dan and I cozying up for the camera

All of this snow is from one night!

Doesn't this tree look a little asymmetrical?



Let it snow!

Mom, Dad and Grandma York ventured out to Denver to spend Thanksgiving with us. We had such a great time while they were here. One of my favorite moments was watching the snow fall from the giant window at the restaurant the day after Thanksgiving. Mom wanted to see it snow so bad, and she got her wish. Light flurries fluttered down from the sky about an hour into dinner, then it began to really snow. It was quite an adventure to wheel poor Grandma to the car with snow everywhere! I loved when my Mom gathered up a big snowball and launched it at Dan's windshield...classic. It really felt like a family holiday this year at our house. Dan made the turkey (Mom and Grandma weren't too sure about his methods...but how amazing was the turkey?) and Mom and I prepared the rest. Our little kitchen was full of food, people and Jack :). So I have one question for my parents: when are you guys moving out here?

Fresh new paint!

The finished product!

The fabulous prep work...and Dan waving at the camera.

The test patch on the garage and more prep work.

My handsome husband holding our new favorite smoothie!

Glowing eyes in the window!

Better shot of the new garage lights. Not the best angle of the house. Although it's small (about 1200 sq ft), it's not that small :)

Here are the before and after pics of the house. We love having a nice neutral palate as opposed to the blue house with maroon doors...yuck. We (ahem...Dan) installed garage accent lights and a new porch light as well. Small details make a big impact! Dan has done an amazing job being a "handyman". He has installed lights inside and outside the garage, built shelves in the garage, built a stand for our front loading washer and dryer (they wanted an extra $100+ dollars for a stupid pedestal), and bought and installed new doors in the house (thank you craigslist!) just to name a few. This house has come along way since we moved in 11 months ago. A big thank you to my wonderful husband for making this OUR home.

Jack Hofer

For those of you who haven't met Jack yet, here he is! Jack isn't your ordinary, run-of-the-mill cat. As you will hear in the video below, he demands attention and verbalizes his thoughts :) Dan and I have had so much fun with this crazy cat. He is truly a part of our family. He greets us when we get home, he cuddles with us when we watch TV and he can provide endless entertainment with his acrobatic jumps trying to get his toy. Below are some of our favorite shots of Jack.

Jack's "post". He looks out the door every single time we open it. He usually meows for his buddy PJ (our neighbor's orange tabby) who will come to the door and taunt him because Jack is "allergic" to the outdoors. He has to stay inside.

This is one of our favorite shots of Jack staring out into the snow-filled backyard last winter.

What?

"I'm watching you"

This video is more of an audio piece. When we lived in the apartment, Jack would greet Michelle every evening with this "song". You will see Michelle open the bedroom door, open the "Jack Barrier"; aka a large cardborad box (we had to put something in front of our bedroom door because Jack would scratch and meow when we went to bed) and hear Jack's greeting. This is hilarious!

More RMNP pics...sorry I'm still learning how to do this :)

Glacier Gorge trail bridge

This is the same bridge that is overlooking the view from above...beautiful

This is one of RMNP's year round residents, the Elk.