Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!! (I know, I know ~ but better late then never!)

Ok, I know it has been forever since my last post. No excuses, but it has been busy!

It is Winter in Colorado!!

A recap of the past few months:

I went home for a few short days over Christmas and had a really nice trip! Christmas is such an awesome time of year and to spend it with the family and friends is always special.

After Christmas I flew back to Colorado with my brother and his family. We hung out at the house for a few days (we tried to go snowshoeing in Estes Park but it was WAY too cold!!) and then we headed up to beautiful Breckenridge for the New Year.

Emily and Alex making a snowman and snowpuppy in the backyard.

Emily and Alex sledding at the golf course near my house:

It was quite chilly in Breckenridge but we had a great time nonetheless! The mountains got tons of snow (I-70 was actually closed and we were just about to cancel the trip but then the road re-opened). It was slow going but we eventually made it! Our room was nice and cozy but you cannot beat watching the fireworks over the mountains on New Year's Eve from our nice, warm room!!

Alex and Emily of course rocked on skis!! It was tough keeping up with them at the end of the day :)

The day we skied was absolutely gorgeous! The views from the lifts were simply amazing and the town fun to explore. Can you tell who is who??

The day after Bryan, Michelle, Emily and Alex left, I finally found my dog! I have been looking for a dog since around Thanksgiving and I finally found the right match. Topper is a golden retriever mix (looks like she has a bit of German Sheppard and something else small?) and is about 1.5 years old.

Steph and Topper hanging at the house.

She was a bit abused (I don't think physically but she was starved and tied up in the back of someone's yard; she also does not like men!) but she is doing great. I just don't think she was exposed to much of anything ~ like stairs, other people, other dogs, cars, the outside...but she is such a sweetheart! She is getting better and better every day.

Now I just need to get her trail trained in time for the spring. She absolutely loves the snow ~ maybe I will take her on a short snowshoe hike before the winter's over.

Steph, Topper and Jack playing in the backyard.

The crew relaxing in the kitchen in the morning. Steph routinely gets pummeled by the dogs several times a day!

Don't worry, Lacy (my cat) still has the run of the house and is keeping Jack in order. They fight over the most popular spot in the house: on the top of the chair by the window.

Anyhow, I went down to pick her up on January 2nd and on January 4th Robyn, Steph (and their little dog, too!), Nana and Papa drove out. Robyn, Steph and Jack (the dog; well we think he is part cat and probably part rat...) moved out to Colorado and in with me!! Yeah!

We went snowshoeing in Estes Park one weekend in January which was a lot of fun! Robyn and Steph by the Charlie Brown Christmas tree :)

Steph running in the fresh powder.

Me and Steph posing...

I have had a full house for a bit but it is certainly nice having everyone out. Things have started settling down and the Colorado winter so far has definitely been manageable and very beautiful. The dogs are getting along well (although they certainly have their moments!) and Lacy (my cat) has handled all the ruckus well.

Steph and Robyn being silly when we pulled over to watch all the elk...

I really should carry my camera everywhere! Not only is it gorgeous, but Steph, Robyn and I (along with the dogs) were out walking around Golden Ponds and we saw a bald eagle flying supper close by ~ so Amazing!! I have seen about 4 or 5 eagles in past few weeks, mostly on my walks by the creek and down by the lake.

Just a pretty shot that Steph took in the park.

So January and February came and went. I spent some easy weekends taking Topper out to the lake or along the creek, but of course we there was a bit of exploration to be had!! We took the dogs down to Cherry Creek State Park last weekend which was beautiful (both the day and the park!).

This weekend, it was about 73F on Saturday and we went for a walk along the Poudre River trail in Fort Collins. Today it was about 35F and snowy! What a change in the weather ~ gotta love Colorado! Still, both days were B-E-A-UTIFUL!

I am scouting out good trails for dogs and also dusting off my campground book :)

Until next time: Happy Trails!

Happy Thanksgiving & Robyn and Steph come to visit!!


Wednesday, November 21st: Robyn and Stephanie came to visit!! I picked them up at the airport in the morning and we drove back to the house. It had snowed for the first time in Longmont the night before they arrived, and we sure enjoyed it (especially trying to throw snowballs at me)!


















Thursday, November 22nd: Happy Thanksgiving! We pretty much lounged around while the turkey was cookin' and played games.





Artwork by Stephanie Powell :)
















We also started a puzzle (a difficult Snoopy photomosaic!!) that took us until Saturday to finish the darn thing (but we did it!!). Steph's favorite piece: Thanksgiving Snoopy:



















Friday, November 23rd: We stopped by the store and picked up some sleds and headed into Estes Park. Although it was very cold, we sure had fun sledding!




















Steph's final run: The large rock got the better of the sled and I think of Steph!














We also saw a couple of coyotes eating some grub and of course, lots of elk!!

We walked around the town a bit and stopped to get some hot chocolate. Robyn and Stephanie pose by the river.












On the way out of the park, we saw this huge heard of elk! We watched them migrate through the meadow for awhile and then headed home. It was very cool to watch.

















Saturday and Sunday: We just kinda lounged around and relaxed. We went for a walk at the lake and drove around town and went to visit my godmother Patt.

















Winter in Colorado has sure been beautiful so far! Well, I'm off to try some snowshoeing and waxin' up my skiis! I sure had fun and until next time Powell People:

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!!!

Well, the end of the year is certainly a busy birthday time in the Powell family: Papa and Uncle B in September; Alex, Michelle and me in October; Stephanie in November and Robyn in December!! And throw all the holidays in and whew!!

I did manage to make it home for a very quick, action packed weekend at the end of October to visit with the family. After Alex and Nana picked me up from the airport on Friday (and after we went to lunch and then shopping!!):

We went to see Emily and her drill team perform on Friday night at the football game (Emily is the one on the right):

In this picture, Emily is in the middle row, the third one back. You Rocked!!

We saw Alex play a soccer game on Saturday (yeah goalie!!):

Alex showing off some nice dribbling skills (and nice pictures, Steph!):

We got to play with Stephanie's newest addition, Jack (isn't he just so cute!!):

And just some fun pictures of the kids at the soccer game:

We had a family dinner to celebrate the October Birthdays:

Alex being "surprised" at one of his presents :)

Always some good laughs around the table...

And then I jetted home on Sunday. Well, Robyn and Stephanie come out for a visit next week for Thanksgiving (gobble, gobble) and I can't wait to show them around town!! And so I can celebrate Steph's B-day (although belated, but we'll have a good time anyways! Nice job fasting by the way ~ that certainly is no easy task and sure takes lots of will power. Glad you had a good time with the family last weekend, too)

The weather so far has been fabulous, although we need to get some good snow in the mountains so I can go play!!

It's Fall in the Maroon Bells and Aspen!!

Saturday and Sunday, September 29-30th: I decided to take a road-trip out to Aspen. My main motive was to see the Maroon Bells, probably one of the most picturesque mountains around. I took I70 west through Vail and Glenwood Springs. It was raining all day Saturday so I didn't stop too much along the way although it was very pretty.



















I arrived in Aspen around lunchtime and had lunch in town. I walked around for about an hour or so, hoping that the rain would break and I can get to the Bells before the sun went down. Around 2pm I was in luck ~ the sun started peeking through the clouds and so I hopped on the bus to the Maroon Bells (which is required between 9am-5pm to help protect the environment).




















After about and hour or so at the lake, it started to rain again so I went back into town and checked into my hotel. The hotel was close enough to the main drag so I walked into town and had a lovely dinner. Made it back in time to watch the Rockies win.

The next morning I woke up relatively early and headed back to the Bells. I wanted to catch the sunrise over the peaks and I was not disappointed (although it was very cold)!! It was absolutely beautiful!!




















I've never seen so many photographers! The entire shore was covered with 'em: from large-formats to small digitals to huge lenses (it was also the first time I have seen the 8x11 large format camera in action ~ it was absolutely huge!!). All waiting for the $$ shot...



















Did I mention it was freezing!! The canyon stayed mostly shaded, even close to 10am when it warmed up to a whopping 27deg when I left. So much for hiking down the canyon. Oh well, next time. I did stop at many of the pull-outs on the way out of the canyon, and the yellow aspens were just amazing. Not much red, but lots and lots of yellow!




































This is looking in the opposite direction of the Maroon Bells...





















I took a nice, slow drive home over Independence Pass and up through Leadville.




















































Although it was a bit of a long haul, the Maroon Bells were definitely worth it! The fall foliage was very much around peak in this area and although there are many, many spots I wish to explore in the fall (fall is my favorite time of the year), I could come back and explore here year after year...