Getting ready for Christmas

Here are some pictures of Juneau & Yukon by our Christmas Tree. Chris had to trick them with food to get them in front of the tree :-)

First Half of our Hunting Trip Oct. 2009

Time to go hunting! We picked a spot near Livermore, CO to try out our first hunting trip in Colorado together, Rachel's first hunting trip ever. We got out there Saturday afternoon got set up then went on short hike to check out the area. Sunday morning we headed out around 5:30am for our first hunt. About 2 hours into our hike we spotted some deer, 4 or 5, but they were all doe and we had buck tags. A few hours later we saw some wild turkey, no tags for, then we got within about 15 yards of another group of deer. Once again they were all doe. After hiking for 5 hours we decided to head back to camp, we knew it was at least another 3 hour hike. On Monday we were pretty exhausted so slept in and headed out about 11am. We decided we would hike up a mountain to see what we could find. No animals up there, just lots of bear scat and beautiful views. Then it was time to go down, steep and rocky, but worth it for the views. We found an area that we could tell the deer bed in; decided to check it out on Tuesday morning. Tuesday we got up early and headed out to the hill overlooking the area we scouted. Very cold morning, but then finally we saw movement. About 10 deer in total. We couldn't get a great view to see if there were any bucks, so we followed them a bit. Rachel couldn't tell if there was a buck for sure up there, so wasn't comfortable taking the shot. Chris though, being the pro he is, could tell and was comfortable taking the shot. We hiked up the hill to find him then had to field dress and load him in our sled. Now a 3 mile hike up and down hills back to camp, exhausting. Rachel was to head back with the dogs and to the meat processor. Chris would stay back and scout out a couple more places for the rest of our hunting trip. We still have another buck tag, bear tag, and elk tag. See slide show below for all the pictures of the first half of the trip.

Kayaking Lake Dillon 09/06/09

The other weekend we found a great deal on two used kayaks, so drove to Rifle and picked them up. They are 17ft Sea Kayaks. The couple that had them before packed up three weeks of food/gear and went on a trip in Alaska. We decided taking them to Lake Dillon before it got too cold would be the way to go. It was a blast! We had some rain so we cut the kayaking down to about 3 hours instead of an all day trip. Needed to get back to the pups anyways. Our guess is that they were doing what you see below when we were gone :)

House Painting

We finally painted the house! Thank goodness my boss was kind enough to loan us his paint sprayer; this reduced the time significantly. We just have some trim work to finish and then it will be all done. Here are some before and after pictures.

BEFORE

AFTER

Park & River Trips

The last few weekends we have taken the dogs to the river for a swim or the park. Juneau & Yukon love it. Hope you enjoy the photos.

CFD July 18-19, 2009

Over the weekend we headed to Cheyenne, Wyoming for Frontier Days. Saturday morning we checked into the campsite and then headed to the Rodeo. It was great bull riding, steer roping, steer wrestling, barrel riding, the works. We got lucky and the weather was wonderful for an outdoor rodeo. After the rodeo we had a few hours before the big event, GEORGE STRAIT! So we went on a long walk to the mall, since I (Rachel) gave the wrong directions, the walk was a about 45 minutes longer. We had enough time to walk the mall and eat then back to CFD. George Strait was amazing! There were 22,400 people at the show. Sunday morning we headed back for a second day of rodeo. On Sunday there were some injuries that made you clinch your teeth as you watched. Those cowboys are brave; hope everyone is ok.

July 11 & 12, 2009

Cat decided to fly in town from Houston to visit us for the weekend. A short trip, but a wonderful one. On Saturday morning we head out towards Breckenridge to do some camping. We set up camp then headed out for a hike. About a hour into the hike we got an afternoon rain shower that sent us back to camp. We spent the rest of the evening playing games, target shooting, exploring the area around our campsite, and relaxing by the campfire catching up. Sunday we packed up and headed out to Loveland Pass for a hike, but unfortunately the weather wasn't cooperating with us. So did some shopping and headed back to the house. Here are some pictures from the trip. Cat was the photographer, so of course there are no pictures of her. I think she did this on purpose :-)

New Tent Test Weekend April 2009

We finally purchased a wall tent and it was time to test it out. So we headed out to Arapahoe National Forest area near Silverthorne/Dillon. We set up the tent and headed out for hikes with Juneau. Saturday was a wonderful day with temperatures in the high 60s. This was Juneau's first trip away from the house and she seemed to love it. On Saturday night we got the wood stove going to keep us toasty. We woke up in the middle of the night to some rain, Chris got more wood then back to sleep. On Sunday morning we woke up to snow. Juneau had never seen snow and was very excited. Something cold and wet to play in. Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

Meet Juneau & Yukon

JUNEAU (ABOVE)

After many months of debating what type of dog to get we decided on the Alaskan Malamute. We went to the breeders to pick out our new puppy. Her name would be Juneau, a grey and white malamute. Weeks later we got to pick her up to bring her home. After a few weeks of having her we realized she would need a playmate, so back to the breeders. They had more litters coming soon and we were able to pick up a baby boy out of a litter born two months after Juneau was. His name is Yukon and is a black and white malamute. They get along wonderfully and are getting bigger and bigger by the minute. The question is how big will they get. Current predictions are Juneau max size between 85-100lbs and Yukon between 100-125lbs. You never know with Yukon though; he could end up with more of a giant gene and become 150lbs. Only time will tell. Here are pictures of our incredibly cute puppies.

YUKON (BELOW)

Roosevelt National Forest Trips

Here are some pictures from earlier in the year when we did some hiking and targeting shooting at Roosevelt National Forest near Pinewood Springs. The first time we went up there it was just the two of us and we spent the day exploring the area. A few weeks later we convinced our friends Dawn, Joel, and Dawn's son Dillon to come along. We went for a short walk and then set up for some target shooting. They then headed out to other obligations and we went on a couple hour hike. This area is absolutely beautiful.

Wedding

Our wedding was on October 11th, 2008. It was suppose to be an outdoor wedding at Lory State Park, but the weather had something else in mind. With temperatures in the 40s and rain we had to move the wedding back to our house. The wedding dress got covered in mud, but Pam (mum) and Zona came to the rescue and got my dress all cleaned up before the ceremony. Attendees were Pam&Bruce Marsden, Tarri Roberts & Dave, Chad&Steph&Collin Wilson, Catherine Holmes (performed the ceremony), Brian, Zona Brown and Pat. Thank you for all of you who came to share this important day with us.