Bathing in Pollen

The prickly pear are in full bloom now and bees are having a pollen bathing frenzy! They literally swim in the flower... rolling, dipping, & diving into the pollen.

A Tasty Treat

We ran out of dog food today. This happens from time to time... and the dogs excitedly eat all our uneaten leftovers from the fridge. But since we are low on food too, their dinner was a tasty treat of peanut butter and rice. Yummm! Gunner looks calm in the photo below.. but don't let that deceive you. He is anxiously eyeing his 2nd helping of peanut butter goodness, while waiting for permission to eat.

Fishing the Salmon Fly Hatch

The salmon fly hatch of the Black Canyon is the biggest & most infamous hatch in Colorado... Experienced fishermen floating the river during the hatch can catch 50+ trout. Of course we just happened to be in the area at the start of the hatch and decided to check it out.

The sunset from our campsite.

Below is a picture of a salmon fly. They are 2-3in long and were EVERYWHERE!! I counted nearly 20 crawling on Ryan at once. I got used to them crawling up my legs, but from time to time one flew right into my face and I couldn't help but shreek!

Sadly, we were just a couple days too early and the trout weren't rising to eat the salmon flies yet. Ryan caught one small brown trout. It was well worth the hike to see the feeding frenzy on the shore. The garter snakes, skinks, & lizards were out in full force!

The Black Canyon

Another stop on our trip... the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.

Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde was located just 30 minutes from the wedding, so we decided to skip over and see it the next day. The cliff dwellings were unbelievable. Apparently the Native Americans who lived there climbed up foot holds from their cliff homes to the top of the mesa where they farmed. It was well worth the trip to see their amazing & unique homes.

Katie & Tim's Wedding

Ryan & I photographed our friends Katie & Tim's wedding last weekend in Dolores, CO. It was absolutely amazing!! It was located at a camp called Stone Mountain which was right on the Dolores River. We had such a great time! I will post photos here soon!

Uncle "Rye-ie"

It's official! Ollie called Ryan "Rye-ie"!! Sometimes Ollie starts listing all of the words he knows.. "truck, car, cheese, shoes.." and the list goes on. On our trip, he started listing his people.. mama, dada, Rye-ie, mama, mama. I am still lovingly refered to as "mama" as are all of the women in his life.. Nicole, Cindy, & I.

Camping in Telluride

Our good friends Katie & Tim got married last weekend in Dolores near the southeastern corner of Colorado. We decided to make a trip of it and left a couple days early with Josh, Nicole, Ollie, & Cindy. Our first stop was Telluride. We found the most amazing campsite... adjacent to Ralph Lauren's ranch, of course!
Ryan lounging on his beloved cot!

Drove into town and enjoyed a free concert - thanks to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. We saw a great band called Spring Creek.

New Camera Lens!

I just splurged on a new lens... for weddings of course! It is absolutely amazing and extremely versatile. It's a 17-70mm zoom, wide angle, wide aperature, macro lens... meaning it's excels in every area where a standard lens struggles. It's great for low light, high light, up close, far away, and everything in between. Let the fun begin!!

The Ranch in Bloom

The ranch is in full bloom! We've had an amazingly cool spring... and the flowers are just now starting to pop!

New Photography Website

After weeks of work, my new photography website is finally finished!! YEAH! Let me know what you guys think... http://www.katiejenkinsphotography.com/. Be sure to check out the new featured wedding "their story"... It's our most recent wedding in Estes Park. The church looks like something you would see in Switzerland! It's my favorite wedding to date.

Rattlesnake Season

Last summer, Josh & Ryan spent many laborious hours installing a rattlesnake fence to keep the snakes away from the house. Well, to our surprise Gunner discovered a trespasser INSIDE the fence today. Apparently a rabbit had a burrowed under the fence leaving a way in.

Wildflowers

We went down to the North Fork a couple days ago and I snapped some photos of wildflowers. Pictured below are a wild rose & penstemmon. Sadly, there aren't as many flowers this year.