rock climbing

Whilst Hamp and Sam had some mild backyard adventures of their own this weekend, Jason took the torch and ran, or rather climbed with it on a spectacular first-time adventure with some really good friends...

Glenwood Canyon - just a quick hour's drive south - is a great place for recreation: kayaking and rafting, biking and hiking and apparently, rock climbing!So Jason got his first taste of this fun outdoor pastime - and I think he liked it!

It was great that our friends - who are outdoor recreationalists extraordinaire! - were kind enough to let him tag along and learn the ropes (ha! pun intended!)...

Marty

and Kris:

They did three climbs of slightly varied difficulty -

- and it was a good day for climbing!

Indian summer

When you wake up to 37 degrees in the morning, but then the sun warms the day up to a nice, hot 90 degrees in the afternoon...

isn't that wonderful?!
Sam sure thinks so!

a busy weekend

Whoever said there's nothing to do in a small town, never lived here!Saturday had our whole family running around town in celebration of many things...

• the 7th annual Fall Festival and community day
• a joint 1-year and 2-year old birthday party at the park
• a 7-year old birthday party at the pool
• and a 30-year old birthday dinner party to top it all off!

(and we didn't even make it to the varsity football game in the afternoon!)

So we took Sunday off and played with friends, watched football, mowed the leaves in the yard (!) and watched more football. Some of us had more adventure this weekend than they could handle:
Have a great week!
and Happy Birthday to Wyatt, Tucker, Porter and Browning - thanks for making our weekend fun!!!

fun in the sun

Sam had a great play date with two of his favorite buddies last Friday - and thank goodness it was a warm September day because they got a hold of the waterhose to originally "wash" their clothes in the bucket, aka the washing machine...
... but when a waterhose, a warm day and three 3-year olds get together...... so the washing machine was eventually abandoned for more exciting adventures!

hunting

The latest adventure is brought to you by John, our good friend and avid hunter. He invited Jason to join him this past weekend to hunt elk. It is archery season so the hunt is a little more exciting... there is a lot of calling involved and in order to be successful you should be relatively close to the animal.

(I do not speak from experience... perhaps Jason should have written this!)
Anyway, the afternoon was apparently great for hiking, enjoying the outdoors and taking pictures... but not so good for getting close to an elk.
Despite not seeing any elk, there was some other wildlife out and about!

This bear paid a visit to John and his 11-year old son earlier in the weekend - a pretty neat adventure, indeed!

Friday night fun!

Six families, fifteen kids, lots of good food and wine, great space to run and play and great space to sit and visit, and best of all the perfect way to end a week/start a weekend!

THANKS Erik & Trina for hosting the evening!

the Classic

One of our favorite weekends... the Meeker Classic Sheepdog Trials!Always a great event, this year the whole family got out in the

beautiful weather to watch the trials...
... and of course, Hamp immediately found a friend to play with!

Meanwhile, Sam enjoyed all the treats available, including snowcones and ice cream!

different day

different treat

same silly smile!

The Classic has many great side features, including a petting zoo, artisan booths, plenty of great food and souveniers. One of our favorites parts is the art contest - artists from all over submit their work in hopes to be chosen as the poster for next year's event! There are always many beautiful pieces - and this year we found one espeically unique... and now it's hanging in Jason's new office! He won the silent auction for this piece, an acrylic painting by CO artist Larel Bahe.

Another of our favorite parts is the concert downtown! This year featured a great bluegrass band whose music was apparently good for flying around like an airplane: But really, the main event is what we all enjoy - the sheepdogs (border collies primarily) and the infamously ornery Meeker sheep doing their thing!

It's fascinating to see the skill that

these dogs and thier handlers use

and the bond they share!

"That'll do"