Courtney Visits

My sweet friend Courtney flew up from Austin to visit Tifah & I last week. The 3 of us grew-up together and have been close friends since middle school. It was so special to all be together again. We spent some time in Boulder and then Courtney came up to Fort Collins for a couple days. The greatest part about this trip was knowing that we will be together again in 3 months... Tifah & Reid are getting married!

A Visit to the Houston Zoo

On Monday, my mom and I made a special trip to the Houston Zoo. It was a trip down memory lane. Here I am in front of the Natural Encounters Exhibit where Ryan & I had our wedding reception.

We had such a great day! The highlight was the orangutans. The daddy orangutan covered his head with a purple blanket. Then the energetic little baby walked over and snatched the blanket and put it on his own head. The dad grabbed the baby and began to wrestle with him. It was really cute!

Katherine's Senior Portraits

I took my cousin Katherine's senior portraits on Sunday in Louise, TX. I had such a great time hanging out with her. I think the pictures turned out great! I really hope that she likes them. Here are some of my favorites...

After Katherine's photoshoot, Grandmama had everyone over for a feast of chicken and stirfry veggies!! It was wonderful to spend time with her and see her beautiful home!

Saving a Mountain Bluebird

This female mountain bluebird flew into our back window on Thursday evening. She was in bad shape with a bloody nose and obvious concussion. I brought her inside and quickly got on the internet to look up "caring for a bird with a concussion." Following the instructions, I put her in a small box with an old t-shirt and put her in a dark, quiet place. The source said that the bird should remain as still as possible to help drain the excess blood from the brain and releave the pressure. I didn't check on her until the following morning. I was dreading it because I honestly believed that she wouldn't make it through the night. But she was alive and doing much better. I fed her some sugar water and released a happy healthy bird that afternoon. I am still in disbelief!!! My first bird rescue success story.

Northern Flicker

The snow always brings unusual vistors. This is a Northern Flicker.

Colorado Blue Sky

We woke up to a blue sky this morning. The snow is beautiful. We received about 18 inches yesterday with snow drifts up to 3 feet.

Snow, snow, & more snow

We are getting much needed snow today. After an extremely dry winter, we welcome precipitation of any kind. We already have 8 inches of fresh snow and it's not letting up anytime soon.

Feathered Friends

Sunday was an amazing 75 degree sunny day... followed by a week of windy cold weather. But spring is on its way. The tulips are poking their leaves out and the birds are getting more active. Our favorite new feathered visitor is the Meadowlark (the yellow breasted bird pictured below). We hear the Meadowlark's melodious song frequently, but they rarely come up to the house. About 2 weeks ago I started putting corn on the ground for the birds. The scrub jays love it... and to my surprise so do the Meadowlarks. They come right up to the back door and sing to their hearts desire! A cute little robin stopped by to see what all of the commotion was about.

Samuel at 6 months

On Saturday, I took Samuel's 6 months portraits. He was such a trooper... especially considering that he has a cold this week. His smiles weren't as prolific as usual, but with Cherie's help we were able to get a couple sweet smirks.

Everything was going great... until Samuel discovered that he could eat the grass around him. There was no stopping him!

To view all of the photos, CLICK HERE.

Early Spring Fishing

The fishing is finally heating up as the weather slowly warms. I don't have quite as much time to fish this year because I'm actually selling real estate! But that makes the trips I do take twice as sweet. Here's a few pictures from the first outings of the year.

See what I mean, even on the way to the river I had to work! This is me installing a freshly minted Greyrock yardsign on of my listings which conveniently has river frontage. If I were to take 20 steps backward from where I'm standing in the picture below I would fall about 300 feet down a cliff into the river.

The Moose and I got caught in an un-forecasted spring snowstorm on our last fishing trip. It snowed 3 inches in about 15 minutes and then blue skies appeared.

The scenery in this spectacular canyon is almost enough to take your attention away from the fishing...
I said ALMOST!
The fish below and one of his friends followed a big streamer right up to the bank so I got a great visual, they swirled around the fly repeatedly, trying to decide if they wanted to eat it. Then one of them chomped and I got a little excited, set the hook too early and pulled it out of his mouth. I slammed it down in front of them once more and he ate again! This time I waited a bit longer and it was game on...
A pretty little rainbow
Gonna be a good year!