A Snowy Day

Ryan's Handmade Gifts

I have the greatest husband ever! There are two pieces of furniture that I've been wanting for years... and new coffee table and a china cabinet to display my "pretties." For my birthday Ryan made me a steel top coffee table. It is beautiful! And then for Christmas he made me a china cabinet buffet. All of the wood is refurbished from an old barn and the cabinet doors are antique windows. I love them!

New Year's Day

On New Year's Day, we had our families up to the ranch to celebrate and play games. It was a great day... We watched the Rose Parade, ate Cindy's famous Chex Mix, and Samuel rolled over for the first time! We also took a walk around the ranch and Ollie (and Josh) fed carrots our neighborhood horses.

Wild Turkey at the Ranch

Believe it or not, on Christmas day we spotted a flock of 12-13 wild turkey at the ranch. We couldn't get close enough to get any close-up photos... but this will give you the basic idea. Soon after we saw them, they retreated back up the mountain.

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!