Frosty the Snowman

Ryan and I made a snowman the other day... my first snowman of all time! Shocking, isn't it! Poor Frosty was short lived. The very next morning his head fell off.

Christmas Trees

A couple weeks ago we went up to Red Feather Lakes to cut down Christmas trees with Jolly, Cherie, & Samuel. We had a great time romping around in the national forest looking for "the perfect tree." Charlie Brown trees are my favorite.

Visit from Brett & Brandi

Just before Thanksgiving Ryan's cousin, Brett and his wife Brandi came up to visit. We spend a couple days in the mountains and went skiing at Copper Mountain. It was great catching up with them. And... we just found out that they're expecting their first baby in June!!

Let it Snow!!

It's been snowing since we woke up this morning... and I love it! We've had a really warm fall this year and I've been aching for snow. We already have about 2in and the forecast projects that we could get as much as 9in in the next 36 hours. Our feathered friends are coming to the bird feeder in droves. We even got a second visit from our lone quail. We named him Herb.

Fall Fishing

December is finally here and I'm slowly warming up to the idea of winter. We're currently getting pummeled with snow and the rivers are finally freezing up after a warmer than average fall which has provided some great fishing. Here's a few pics of the last 2 months.

Jon and Brian dropping into the Platte canyon...
The Platte is simply beautiful.
These guys bidded us farewell as we left the Platte, this picture was taken at about 75 yards, that's as close as I was going to get!
The Poudre is not known for big fish but it produced 2 of the largest trout of my life this fall. Of course these pics don't do them justice but you can see the girth, this fish measured 23"
This fish measured 21"
They both ate this fly which probably imitates a minnow

A couple more Cutthroat/Rainbow hybrids taken on the Poudre
That's a wrap for 08 fishing. Hopefully I'll survive the winter!

Northern Bobwhite Quail

We had a new visitor to the ranch, a northern bobwhite quail. Shockingly enough, he came up to the bird feeder! He was beautiful!

Our Christmas Wreath

I made our Christmas wreath this afternoon... fresh cut juniper, wire, and a happy red ribbon. I love getting the house all decorated for the holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had everyone up to the ranch this year for Thanksgiving. Ryan smoked 2 turkeys and we had all of the fixins. In true "Mojo" style we fit everyone (11 adults & 2 youngsters) around one x-large table. It was a feast!

Check out my adorable nephews sporting their plaid flannel digs. Ollie talks about "baby Sam" all of the time. He was so excited to get to hold him. The next morning after Jolly, Cherie, & Sam left the ranch, Ollie went from room to room asking, "Where's baby Sam?" No doubt they will be causing trouble together for years to come.

Sam stylin' in his sweater

Little Sam is growing so fast! I went over to Jolly & Cherie's house to photograph him in the sweater I made him before he outgrows it. He is such a happy baby! He coo's & goo's at whomever will listen.

Fall Harvest

Ryan & I harvested our root veggies and they were absolutely delicious! Home grown beets are my absolute favorite. I roast and serve them with balsamic, shallots & feta. They taste like candy!

Trip to Kemah

Back in October, Ryan & I flew home to visit my family for an early Thanksgiving. We had so much fun catching up with everyone. Here are some pics from our sailing excursion. It was really great to see how my parents were doing dispite the recent Hurricane Ike invasion.

Our view

The fall colors at the ranch have been amazing this year!! The scrub brush has gone from yellow to orange and red... it's beautiful! And even though I'm not quite ready for the winter chill, I can't complain about our view. This is right out our sliding door.

Visit from Steve Bell

Last weekend, Ryan's good friend Stephen came up to visit from St. Louis. The ranch was "joke central" for 3 days. I honestly think that they speak their own language. Here are some pictures from their trip up the canyon to Longdraw Reservior. The final fish count... Stephen - 4, Ryan -3. It was "the best day ever."

Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park

We went up to Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park with Greg and Libby to enjoy the fall colors. We drove up Trailridge Road to take in all of the views and fed some chipmunks.

The boys fished for a bit while Libby & I relaxed.
On the way out we saw hundreds of elk. These below are the "outcast" males.

The dominant male in the center back is bugling to his harem of 50-75 ladies.