Megan and Jay in Mountain Living!

Friend's of ours from Vail, Megan and Jay, made it into Mountain Living's "Top 20 under 40" article. Way to go guys! Here is the article:

When Megan Gilman and her husband, Jason Weingast, founded energy consulting company Active Energies in 2006, “there was a total lack of information available to consumers,” Gilman recalls. “Back then, we were telling people what they could do and why it as useful. Now we’re not selling the idea; people are coming to us.” What they’re coming for ranges from energy consulting to photovoltaic system design to help achieving LEED and ENERGY STAR certifications. “We’ll often partner with a design team to evaluate a project while it’s still on the boards so we can help owners make the right decisions the first time around,” says Gilman. While she acknowledges how perfectly timed her entrance into the marketplace was, Gilman emphasizes that her goal is not to win a race. “I’m excited to play a role in moving everyone forward,” she says. “It’s not about getting there before everyone else. It’s about making sure that everyone gets there.”

Their company does a lot of energy consulting and installing solar systems. If you or anybody you know is thinking of going solar, give them a call!


Megan Gilman
Active Energies, Inc.
Avon, Colorado
970-227-0272
www.activeenergies.com

Courtney Pig Roast 2009

While Betsy was at Ari's wedding shower and bachelorette party this weekend I stopped by Jeff and Tami's annual pig roast at their house in Evergreen Meadows. Its always a great party. Siba was way too excited to play with all the other dogs so I had to follow him around making sure he didn't knock anybody over. I had to leave before the finished carving up the pig though since I was meeting Trapper and Jared for the new Transformers movie!

No more muddy paws!

This morning while Betsy was attending Ari's wedding shower I decided to head down to Denver to the landscaping place to pick up pea gravel for Siba's dog run. The trailer hauled 2,500 lbs of rock no problem and the jeep did great too! Big improvement over the old jeep and trailer setup. Anyway, his dog run is on the north side of the house and that long firewood roof pours tons of water into the strip along the backside of the house. It basically turns into a swamp and every time he runs out there to do his business he tracks it all back into the house. So, I added about 4" deep of gravel. Should be great.

Columbine Season Again

With all of the rain we've had, the columbine's just burst into bloom our hillside next to our log porch. I counted 14 columbines in a a 3ft radius! Crazy that they are on the endangered species list for flowers in our state due to over picking (even though its illegal to pick one). The are my favorite flower, I can't imagine any flower more beautiful, so I just wanted to share them with you all!

Not your grandfather's lawn mower..... oh wait, yes it is!

Our lawn has actually gotten so tall its needed to be mowed twice. I have an old lawn boy mower from my parents, but it sat in storage for probably 15 years and I couldn't get it to start. Rather than spend $100 on a tune up, I decided to put the money towards a new mower. I decided to get a manual mower that just has a bunch of scissor blades that you push. It works pretty good, doesn't use messy gas and oil, doesn't need to be pull started or tuned up, and is great for the environment! It even has a bag to catch the clippings. I bought it at Lowes for $130. Not bad! Maybe you should consider switching over next time you need a new mower:)

I passed the Professional Engineer's Exam (PE)!!!!!

I was completely shocked today when I opened and email from the State Board and it contained a letter that informed me that I have passed the Professional Engineer's Exam! Woo hoo!!!!! I was fully expecting to fail again since I didn't study much (ok, I admit, I didnt' study at all!) But I tried my best at the test and I answered every question. I must be smarter than I thought!! ahhahha What all this means is that I'm a registered professional engineer in the state of Colorado and I can stamp engineering drawings. This is a big step in my career that I've been working on for the past 10 years. I took the Architectural Engineering exam because I had taken the Electrical Engineering exam previously and found that it covered mostly topics that I have no experience with such as circuit boards, digital logic, computer engineering etc... The architectural exam covered things that I had at least studied in school all those years ago, like structural, mechanical, building electrical systems, plumbing, construction management and engineering economics. What a relief that I never have to stress out about finding the time to study or what my employer will think if I don't have a PE. I'll be celebrating this weekend for sure!

DIY Electric Car

I read an article online the other day that was inspiring. It was a "regular Joe" who built his own electric car out of a Ford Escort. The CNN article linked to his personal website which details some of the steps he took to do it:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3155482

I think this is great! How fun would this be to do!? Lord knows I don't have time for a project of this mangnitude, but its fun to think about. Who knows, maybe someday I'll go for it!

Moab Spring 2009

This past weekend Betsy and I took two days off work for a much needed break. We drove the new jeep and trailer setup out to Moab thursday morning. Later that night, Trapper, Sam, Ariana, and Jared joined us. We spent the weekend mountain biking, offroading, sitting around the fire, ATV'ing, and checking out Arches National Park. We had an awesome time!

Weather was perfect... in the 80's with no rain. Jared shot the tail off a lizard with an airsoft gun, I ate a cactus, we scared the crap out of Trapper on Hell's Revenge trail, Ari did great mountain biking Klondike Bluffs, Betsy made us all feel lazy running every monring before we work up, and Sam cooked some great steaks. We'll be back next year!

Pictures of the Weekend HERE

Goodbye old friend.

Today I signed over the title to my 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport. I was sad to see my old friend go. I always thought I'd keep her forever, but recently I decided to buy a 4-door Wrangler to allow for a family and dog. They money from the sale will go into parts for Project Blue Bruin.

Here's a photo of the jeep the day I brought her home from the dealership in Boulder, CO in April of 2000. Shiny and new, tiny little tires.

Even without a lift, I had fun exploring new places offroad. Here's a picture from Moab.
When I moved back to Colorado, Betsy and I had a lot of mountain camping and offroad adventures in the Jeep. It never let me down. Here's a photo of the jeep at the top of Yankee Boy Basin near Telluride, CO.

After putting the lift on, I went and got my new 33" tires. I left the tire shop and headed straight for the hills to check it out!

Back in Moab, on Hell's Revenge trail.

A few days before my wedding my family took the jeep up Holy Cross trail near Vail. It did great!

Here is one of my closest calls. The trail collapsed sending the jeep teetering over the edge of a river gulley. The strap is there in a futile attempt to prevent rollover should the jeep have kept sliding. Thankfully, some nice guys from the Alamosa, CO jeep club came up and pulled me out!

Here's the jeep just a few weeks ago, all cleaned up and ready for a quick sale. I will miss her! More photos and specs here

Our Lawn is Growing!

Our tiny little blades of grass are starting to form a patchwork of green clumps. Its almost a lawn! Hopefully some more seeding this fall and next spring will fill it in. I think its doing pretty well considering we walk all over it and Siba shows no mercy running all over and tearing it up. All this rain has certainly helped.

Sunroom Storage Walls Done

I finally got another one of those projects checked off my list that have been camped out there for over 2 years! I totally enclosed the storage area under the sunroom to hide all the unsightly junk. The walls are just big swinging gates so you can get access to big stuff stored down there like lumber, extra stone veneer, cement mixer, lawn mower etc... Now I have a way to lock the stuff up too which is nice. I think it ties in nicely with the hot tub deck and gives the house a finished look.

Dance Recital Photography Days

For three nights in a row this week Betsy and I are photographing every dance number in the recital. That's hundred's of portraits and group shots... I'm exhausted! Tonight we had a moment of excitement when one of the 500watt light bulbs in the photo flood decided to blow up and shower molten glass all over the backdrop. Nobody was hurt and we got it cleaned up. The recital is in just a few short days and then Betsy and take some well deserved time to relax before summer classes start up.

Now what!?

Have you ever broken the end off of a lug nut trying to get it to loosen when changing your vehicle's wheels? I have some locking lug nuts and when I wrenched hard on it, the end sheared off the lug nut. How in the world are you supposed to get it off after that!? I tried locking pliers and anything else I could think of but it was no use. You just couldn't get a grip or any leverage.

Since the body of the lug nut is round, a regular hexagonal lug wrench does you no good!

Time to get creative! That's when I had the idea to weld a piece of scrap bar stock I had in the garage to then end of the lug nut. I welded on a lever handle and then used a cheater pipe, it twisted off no problem!

Sunroom Reinforcement

The last few big snows or times we've had a full table of people at the dining table, we've had catastrophe in the back of our mind... I was outside this winter and noticed that the black posts you see in the photo only contact a small 2" section of one 2x6 that is no more than a trim piece. The main beam and posts are the set further underneath, but that leaves a large amount of the sunroom's weight hanging out unsupported. So, I set some new posts and intalled a new header beam. I'll use the new framework to attach two huge gates which will be faced in cedar and stained to match the house to hind the clutter.

"Project Blue Bruin"

I started yet another blog this weekend! This one will follow my progress as I build up the new JK into a trail worthy offroad vehicle. For those interested you can read here.

Memorial Day Weekend

Today Betsy and I went to the garden center down in Denver and stocked up on flowers, plants, and vegetables for the garden. It poured on and off all day and Siba had great time getting filthy! We love the flowers we got for our pot you see in the background of the shot above.

Here's the garden after Betsy planted all the starter plants and put in the watering system:

Even Rubin came outside to join in the fun!

Jeep 4x4 Offroad Trailer Done!

The trailer is done! I've been building this in my garage over the winter. It started out as a beaten up rusted out old M416 Vietnam military trailer. Its been transformed into a rock-crawing camping trailer complete with 120V power, gas, water, hi-lift, lockable lid, solar charger, cargo rack, and bike rack. We can pull it to any camping spot, and then leave it behind to save our spot while we offroad, bike, or hike. No more jeep packed full of gear bouncing around and falling on Siba :)

Read my blog about buiding the trailer here: http://offroadtrailer.blogspot.com/

Big Blue Becomes Big Black

I had extra paint left over from painting my 4x4 trailer so I decided to spray a coat on the utility trailer. Looks a whole lot better! Still a piece of crap, but a little less offensive :)

Jackson Hole

Sunday night I flew out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for work. We finished our work early on Monday, so we had time to drive into Grand Teton National Park and go for a quick hike. There was a lot of snow on the trail but we made it up to a small lake with a great view. After the hike we spent the rest of the evening sitting on a deck by Jackson Lake drinking a few micro-brews. Not a bad day at work! Helps make up for all the overtime I've been putting in (okay, not really, but it was still nice). I'll be going back to Jackson in August to climb the Grand Teton (13,700ft). Its a technical climb and we'll have a few rope teams. Should be a fun time!

Pictures here

I finally did it!

Thanks to a nice check from Uncle Sam for our tax return, we were able to pay off the Honda Element, which cleared the way for our next car purchase: A 2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon (JK)!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been wanting one of these for years. My 2000 TJ has served me well, but in the end it will be too small. So rather than continue to build that one up for offroading (read spending lots of $'s) I decided to get a 4-door and start putting my money into something we can use long term. Coupled with the offroad trailer I've been building, we have the ultimate adventure setup! I'll be selling the TJ soon to help pay for parts for the new jeep. If you know anybody who's looking for a jeep let me know.

Annual April Storm Extravaganza!

Here's a shot from mid-way through the storm. We ended up with close to 4 feet I think. It is heavy wet cement like snow. It started snowing Thursday night and didn't quit until Saturday night. It seems like every April we get this storm. It usually just rains in Denver, but at 8200ft it snows.... and snows... and snows. After a few hours of the heavens opening up, the trees start bending and snapping under the weight. That's when the power goes out. This time it was out for about 2 days. With no power we have no heat, no water, no toilets, no nothing.... BUT, this year we had a generator! So, we were able to keep our fish alive and our food fresh in the fridge. We even hooked up the TV to watch a movie a few times - big improvement! Another huge improvement is our amazing Honda snow blower. It blasts through just about anything and keeps us from getting completely home bound. We did have to shovel the roof off 3 times... with a full 1-1/2 ft of snow each time. What a pain! But, thank God that none of our trees gave way when they were leaning precariously over our house. That's all we can ask for.

New Phones!

We bought new phones when we came home from our round the world trip 3 years ago. Yes... can you believe it, its been three years already!? Those phones are terribly outdated and the antenna in the phones was horrendous. SO.... we FINALLY bought new ones! And we went big.. no freebie phones that came with the plan. We both got an iphone! I've been playing with mine all day and am amazed at everything you can do. I'm already downloading apps and listening to music like a pro..hahah! Anyway, we also FINALLY get reception at our house! So, feel free to call on our cell numbers, they haven't changed. Or, send me an email if you like, I get that too!

Winter in April

The snow just keeps coming! We've had over a foot in the last 24 hours. Siba loves it! He's been waiting all winter for it. Here's a picture of him last night. Usually we all hang out together and watch tv at night, but Siba wanted to be outside. He stayed out there for a few hours just basking in the the falling snow :)

Demo Continues...

No more closet! I had to take drywall off the ceiling so I can add some new joists and studs where the new closet wall will be. I'm not a mold expert, but this looked like mold to me.

So when we moved onto the bathroom, we decided to take down the ceiling too. We were suspicious that humidity over time had been making mold behind the drywall, since there is no exhaust fan in the bathroom.

We thought the mold in the bedroom ceiling might have spread from the bathroom. When taking down the bathroom ceiling there was a huge amount of bark, leaves etc.. Not sure how all this got in there. We are now thinking that the old roof was really leaky or had some holes, hence the mold that appears to be all dried out.

On the left side of the picture of the bathroom celing you can see a joist covered in yellow fungus or mold... We'll be calling someone out soon. We are keeping our fingers crossed we don't have to take dow the ceilings in the entire second floor.

While we are under construction we have crammed ourselves and siba into the guest bedroom. Cozy :)

Sharing a closet.

Upstairs Demolition Begins - No turning back now!

We've FINALLY torn out that old nasty carpet!! We will be living out of the guest room for the next few months. This morning I demolished the old master closet. We'll be rebuilding it into a walk-in. Next I demo the bathroom... then we start the process of remodeling the whole upstairs. As usual it will be a ton of work, but worth we think. We just couldn't stand living with that carpet anymore.. Siba had pretty much turned it black.

Basement Insulation

Today I finished something that's been on my "to-do" list for over 2 years! I added 2" rigid insulation to the basement walls. During the coldest part of the winter we've had a problem with some pipes freezing and the washing machine freezing solid down in our basement. Hopefully this will help. It was a lot of work unloading all the materials I have stored out there, but it gave me an excuse to reorganize, and to make room for all of the barnwood I picked up in Kansas the other week.

Water Heater

Last week our water heater stopped working. The burner would no longer light. The tank was a 5 year tank that had lasted 13 years, so I decided not to push my luck and just replace the whole thing. While I was at it, I decided it would be a good time to remove all of the solar water plumbing that was put in when the house was built. The solar water panels were removed when the roof was re-shingled and I took out the fan-coil unit in the kitchen we moved in. So, the tanks and piping were just sitting there taking up space, complicating our plumbing for no reason. I managed to find a replacement that fit exactly in the old location, so no re-piping was necessary! A big thank you to my dad who came over saturday to help me move the old tanks out and the new one in!

Moratorium Lifted on Home Improvement Work!

After we finished the hot tub deck this fall I decided to take a break from home improvement projects. I've been focusing on my art and the offroad trailer project. Today I jumped back into home improvement since the only thing left on the trailer is to paint it, and I have to wait for 70 deg plus weather. So, today I tore out the tile, cement board, heater, toilet, baseboards, and towel bars in our 3/4 bath on the main floor. We plan to spruce things up a little. The grout in the old ceramic tiles was pretty bad and some tiles were cracked (not to mention ugly). After I got the toilet up I noticed the toilet flange is broken so I'll have to repair that. After this small project I'll move upstairs and gut our master closet and master bath.. that's going to take a lot work!

Free Barnwood, St. Francis, Kansas

This past Saturday I drove 4 hours out to the border of Colorado and Kansas. I had been corresponding with a nice woman selling barnwood on craigslist. The deal feel through, but she offered to let me come out to her farm and take as much as I could haul! One of the barn's on the property had collapsed in a storm. Unfortunately, the boards were really nailed on there and they were so old and weathered, they broke every time you tried to pry them off. So... she also had a stash up in her hay loft of the pictured barn that she wanted to get rid of. I spent the day loading that up and a dilapidated old picket fence she didn't want.

This place was in the middle of NOWHERE! 100 miles between gas stations... not a single chain restaurant along the way... Beautiful in a stark way.

I might be back, she knows of a farm full of abandoned machinery, trucks and tractors. I'd love to photograph them and maybe score some new art frames... For now, I'll be busy making frames with my new barnwood!

See pictures of the farm here

Big Blue Ready to Haul Junk!

I put my new trailer on its first junk hauling mission today. I dropped off the steel bumper at the metal recycler and got $6 in cash !!! Then I picked up some new plate steel for my offroad trailer. It hauled great! Only problem is I can't see anything out the passenger's side mirror since I have stubby jeep mirrors. Hopefully this trailer will hold up under the abuse unlike my last trailer which was all wood. I chopped the wheel wells out of this one to increase the payload capacity and then welded a metal frame to which I attached plywood to make taller sides. I added a tailgate which folds down like a pickup truck's. Then I wired new lights, and put on the trailer id tag and plates. If any of you need to move let me know so you can borrow it!

Mrs Big Kahuna Gets a Makeover

There is a resin bobble figurine epoxied to my dashboard in the Honda Civic (Big Kahuna)... she came with the car and I decided to leave her. However, the grass skirt completely disintegrated from sitting in the sun.... she was, err..., flashing me. So, I thought I'd just glue some grass from my field up front of my house to her to make a new one. I think it turned out pretty authentic looking! Well, I hadn't counted on how loud it would be every time she danced around! It had to go.

So, I looked around on the Internet and found a Barbie grass skirt for $2.50 with shipping. It Velcro's into place with no messy gluing. I just shortened it up a bit and she's as good as new!

Gallery Opening Huge Success!

Tons of people turned out last night for the Peanut Gallery's grand opening and we all had a great time. I got a lot of really positive feedback and it was a good start. Thanks to everywho who attended and supported me and the gallery as well. Hope to see you at future 1st Friday's!

More Pictures Here

All set for gallery opening!

Monday night I finished my last pieces of art. Last night I went to the gallery and got them installed and then helped Jasmine with some more finishing touches on the gallery space. Its looking great in there, I am so excited for Friday. I hope everyone can make it, its going to be a fun time. Wish me luck!

New Trailer - Big Blue

Since my old wooden trailer bit the dust last summer, I decided to replace it while its winter and prices are cheap! Here is my latest pile of work... a 1970's GMC pickup truck bed trailer. I bought it for the exorbitant price of $125. We'll see if I can get it titled... Jefferson county is a pain. I just need to hook up lights and put a tailgate on it before its ready to start haul'n.

Near Disaster - Frozen Culvert

This morning we woke up to a nasty surprise... an icy lake that formed in our front yard, ready to overflow its banks and flood our property. Successive freezes and thaws have created layers of ice with layers of water backing up upstream of our culvert. I'm not entirely sure exactly what all the factors leading up to this have been. I have been working on the problem all day and I think slow water flow on the downstream side of the culvert due to rocks piled at a small "falls" allowed the river to freeze solid. Ice backed up to the discharge side of the culvert and ice eventually encapsulated the end of the tube. So, it became plugged and when warm weather came over the last few days, water came down and backed up behind our bridge. I spent a half hour with the pick axe and hit water, the pressure of the river upstream is forcing water out the hole I dug and water levels have receeded. We are hoping for the best!

Thermal Camera Fun

We have an digital thermal camera at my office. Its really expensive so I brought it home rather than leaving it sit on my desk overnight. Here's a few pictures of Siba... I think he looks just like a Saint Bernard in the photo on the right.

It was -5degrees outside but I went out anyway to play. You can see how the heat leaks out the second level of our house much more than the first. Oddly, the basement also leaks heat even though its not heated. I guess with only cinder block walls and no insulation thats what you get. Look how much heat is going up and out the chimney! We don't even have a fire going. The picture on the left is of the new hot tub deck. I was excited to see the hot tub is a giant blue hole.... nearly no heat is escaping the deep insulation I packed in there! So, my idea worked and the hot tub is superinsulated. We got our first electric bill with the hot tub and I didn't notice a huge spike. Anyway, it was fun playing with that thing. With it being so cold, you could literally see your footprints in the snow fromt the residual heat left by your foot in the brief moment it touched the ground. Amazing.

Rack it and Pack it!

This Sunday I spent the day down at Ari and Jared's house in Arvada. They needed to reorganize their garage which was full of stuff, cancel their storage unit and move it all to the garage, plus park Jared's new A4 in the garage! So, Trapper, Jared and I hashed out our ideas and then got to work. We build a loft the car would park under, a second loft/rack above the garge door for a king size mattress, and shelves in the back for things that would need to be accessible. 5 hours later this is what we ended up with, and the car fits great! We had a fun time and then they treated us to a fantastic dinner in Morrison.

Brandon and Kristine set sights on Everest 2010

Please support my good friend's Brandon and Kristine in the ultimate endeavor! Every bit counts, go to their web page and donate a few bucks!!

http://www.brandonandkristine.org/

Direct link to donation page (http://brandonandkristine.org/Everest.html)

Kristine's Studio 54 30th Birthday Blowout

This past weekend we drove up to Vail for a night of 70's mayhem at Brandon and Kristine's place. Everyone was decked out in crazy outfits. We had a good time hanging out. Happy Birthday Kristine! The next morning we checked out the new luxurious Westin hotel in Avon where the new gondola takes you from Avon to Beaver Creek. We ate a fantastic breakfast with Emily and Luke then headed back down the hill. Fun times.

The Peanut Gallery... Coming Soon!

Betsy and I have gone over to the gallery to help with construction. Its looking great! I installed a custom light art light and hung one of my pieces yesterday to get a feel for how its going to look. I still have a lot of pieces to finish before the gallery opening, but its been going pretty well, I have some cool ones ready to go. Take a look at the gallery website for info on the grand opening party. Hope to see you there! http://the-peanut-gallery.com/

Chicago New Years & Betsy's Birthday Trip

Betsy turned 30 this year and we wanted to make sure it was a fun and memorable milestone. Previous years have been full of new years hang-overs, snow storms, burst plumbing pipes, etc etc... So, we planned a vacation to Chicago to see friends, family, a beautiful city, and a million and one things to do. The trip didn't start out that well, our original flight was canceled and our new flight was delayed 3 hours. BUT, we made it, even if it was 2:30am. We spent the first 3 days staying with Jon and Donielle who graciously offered up their tiny little city apartment. We had a great time - they gave us a driving tour of the entire city, we went to the conservatory, and ate at great restaurants, and had drinks on the 98th floor of the John Handcock Bldg. (see picture above). We also toured the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright's house.

For the second part of the trip, we rented a car and drove to Iowa to see my grandma for her birthday. Along the way, we stopped in Bloomingdale to see my old neighborhood that I grew up in. Everything looked pretty much the same. It was fun to see. We stayed in Clinton, IA with my grandma and had a nice birthday dinner and plenty of time to chat with my aunt and cousins.

When we came back to the city Betsy and I stayed at the Marriott downtown right on Michigan Avenue along the "Magnificent Mile" for the reminder of the trip. We spent days exploring the city, going to museums, eating out, shopping, and having a great time. Pictured above, we saw the new "bean" at millenium park.

New Years night was great! We started the night off hanging out at Jon's apartment, then took at cab to Vermillion, a spanish-indian fusion restaurant. We had a 7-course gourmet meal. After that we went to the brand new Trump Tower (3rd highest bldg in the US I think). The bar wasn't charging a cover so the whole city showed up! They weren't letting anybody in, so we went up to the 16th floor where the fancy restaurant is to see the view. Turns out there was a band and a small cocktail bar there, so we just stayed. Later we noticed access to the balcony wasn't being regulated, so we went out and discovered an ice bar sponsored by Grey Goose and we drank FREE drinks all night! It was cold, but the view was amazing. The local news crew was setup doing their new years brodcast from up there. We had a really fun night.

The last morning of our trip we headed to a really nice restaurant and met my cousin Lisa, her husband John, and their 4 kids for breakfast. It was really great seeing them. On the way there we noticed a HUGE helicopter lifting the spire into place on trump tower. Pretty amazing sight!

PICTURES of the trip HERE

How Low Can W Go!?

I just filled up my tank for $12.97. I went 375 miles on that! This is awesome! I just looked it up, this is the same price gas was in Denver in 1996!

Tele Ski Uneva Bowl, Vail Pass

Sunday Betsy and I went to Church with Ari and Jared to kick off their RCIA (Rite of Catholic Initiation ) and then we drove up to Vail Pass to meet a bunch of friends for some back country sking. We skinned up Uneva Bowl and then took some nice turns down :) Siba, being almost 110lbs now, was post holing it the whole way. Even on the way down it was a major effort. I felt bad for him.... he sat down a few times and it took some coaxing to keep him going. But, we all made it! Look here for Lee skiing and Siba running down. (Notice my TERRIBLE FORM... still learning to tele) . Betsy had her new camera with her that she got for Christmas. I gave it to her early since we are headed to Chicago between Christmas and New Years to celebrate her birthday!

Betsy's Photos

Brandon's Photos

Chistmas Tree Hunt Tradition Continues

This year we headed up to our friend's Kurt and Connie's property in Evergreen. We had some trouble getting all the cars up their steep long driveway, but we made it. They have a few acres and some stands of densly packed baby trees that need to be thinned out anyway. There were plenty of great trees to choose from. Back in town we stopped for a great breakfast. Its a fun tradition and when you live in Colorado, it couldn't be easier or cheaper. Hopefully some of you will join us next year!

Congratulations Joslyn and Craig!

Congratulations! The day before Thanksgiving Grayson Theodore Dehner was born at 3:45am. He was 7lbs 5.5oz. Betsy and I can't wait to meet him. What a wonderful way to start the holidays! You can see more pictures on here. Perhaps they will update their baby blog once things settle down.

Lee's PhotoArt to be shown in new gallery!

Betsy and I's friend Jazzmine is opening an art gallery! Its a cool industrial type space in the popular Art District on Santa Fe. She asked me to show my work there and I couldn't be more excited! I've got to get busy on some new pieces for the gallery when it opens. The area is overrun every first friday of the month from 6-9pm for "First Friday" and I know Jazz's gallery will be in full party mode - so I hope to see all of you there!

Friends Thanksgiving Get-together

Saturday Betsy and I drove to Tracy and Abbey's house in Longmont for our annual friends thanksgiving get-together. There was a ton of great food and drink, and as you can see, tons of kids! I can't imagine what it will be like in a few years when everyone is on round #2 of babies! It was great to see everyone and catch up.

Chief Mountain Hike

This morning we met Sam and Trapper in downtown Evergreen for breakfast, and then we drove up Squaw Pass Road towards Mt. Evans to do a hike. Siba was beside himself he was so excited to see snow on the ground! After some trouble locating the trailhead, we ended up parking at a picnic area and just following GPS up a ridge to the summit of the mountain, which was just over treeline at about 12,000ft. The view was beautiful of the whole front range covered in snow. It was really windy so we didn't stay long. After our hike we met my parents for pizza. It was a nice day!
Pictures Here

God keep my Grandfather in His arms.

My brother Ryan and I left work early Friday and drove 14 hours to Clinton, Iowa. We arrived at 3:30am and went straight to the hospital where we were able to spend a last few hours with my Grandpa, Pillip Hoffman. He was in fitful sleep fighting to take each breath as his lungs filled with ademic fluid a result of the cancer tumors attached to his liver. At about 8am the next morning, surrounded by his three children (Bob, Carol, and Jan) and his wife Mary Lou, he passed on froim this world. Phillip, who I am named after in my middle name, was a good honest man of God, and a wonderful grandfather. He left a legacy of a loving family behind. He had a long, active life. He was a lifelong member of Boy Scouts, received their highest honor. His funeral will be tuesday morning where we will honor and remember him and hand him over to the Lord. Anyone wishing to contribute to a memorial fund to honor his life can send a check to:

Prince of Peace Building Fund

Prince of Peace Parish

PO Box 578Clinton, Iowa 52733-0578

Pictures of the trip and Funeral HERE

Hot Tub Ready to Party!

It's done! Now scheduling appointments to come visit us and hot tub.... anyone? hahha.. should be nice this winter :) I filled the underside with blown cellulose insulation, cut my left in half, and finished the railings. So, as soon as our natural hot tub chemicals come in the mail, we are ready to fill 'er up! Pics here

Broncos Vs Dolphins Game

Sunday I went to the Broncos game at Mile High Stadium. Betsy's dad, Clark, won tickets and was very generous and gave them to me! I took my dad, Ryan and Jared came part way through. We had a great time even though the Broncos lost. Weather was amazing and the seats were fantastic.

Don't try this at home!

Well... Saturday I had a little accident. I was making the last cut on our hot tub deck project with a circular saw. If you are squeamish stop here :) I was sitting on the stairs cutting off the top of a post. I made the cut and when I took to saw off the post, I didn't realize that I let it get too close to my pant leg. Unfortunately, I have since inspected the saw and the blade guard does not work properly. So, the guard didn't come all the way down and the blade caught my pants. As you can guess, the saw cut through my pants and then my leg, like butter. I hardly felt anything happen, but my instinctual jerk kept it from going too too deep. Betsy wasn't home so I quickly ran around the house holding the cut with my palm, putting Siba in his kennel and rounding up a t-shirt which I cut and made into a tourniquet. I drove 45 minutes down the the closest hospital (Swedish) and sat in the waiting room for 1/2 hour. Good thing I hadn't lost too much blood, they didn't' even bother to see how I was doing! Anyway, once I got into the ER they did a good job. Turns out the cut was about 5 or 6 inches across, 1 inch deep, and over an 1inch wide at the exit side of the blade... Yikes. They were not sure stitches would be able to pull the gap together. The cleaned me up and gave me my options. I opted to try for the stitches even though it would be very tight since it minimizes chances of infection and heals faster. In the end I got 21 stitches and its going real well so far. Not too much pain, Advil is working fine :) 31 years and my first hospital visit. Not bad! For how much I work with power tools it was bound to happen. If you don't mind gore, you can check out the pictures. I snapped a crappy picture with my camera phone in the ER and then one tonight of my stitches. HERE

Run Your Car on Water! Ok, maybe not.

Perhaps you have seen the Youtube videos or the reports on various tv stations... people are experimenting with passing voltage through water which breaks the H2O molecule into HHO. So the idea is you stick a jar of water in your car's engine, hook it to your battery and pump the hydrogen gas it gives off into your engine to boost fuel economy. Sounds good! I researched the various options out there ranging from how-to books to kits you install. I found someone selling a pdf detailing construction of the most prevalent system out there: Water4gas.com for $7.95, so I said what the heck!? I mean, I already get 45 miles per gallon in the civic, imagine if I could get 60MPG! Here is what the system looks like installed:

Well, the system sounds great and you can read plenty of testimonies out there that say how many MPG's extra people are getting.... but I can't get it to work :( I'm bummed, this was a really exciting idea. Here is what it looks like in my car:

I've tried all variations of the system including the vaporizer:

That didn't change my MPG either. Darn! Here is a link to my mileage log. I was really hoping to get this working and report to all of you that we could get together on a weekend and install this in your car to save you a bunch of money, but I guess its just another hyped internet claim.

The NEW Kinetic Arts Open for Business!

What a weekend! With the help of students, our family, and our friends, we completely renovated the new studio space in one weekend! We painted it from top to bottom and I built a new waiting room complete with benches and cubby holes for kids boots and jackets. The new space is a huge improvement over the old one, we have at least 3 times a much space. There are two full studios witch huge floating dance floors. We added lots of new storage cabinets to keep everything tidy. Classes restart today and everyone is really excited. Congratulations Betsy, this will be a wonderful new chapter in your business's success story :) We are considering throwing an open house sometime soon and hope you can all attend!

Photos of Painting & Finished Studio Here

Tegan & Maisy Sleepover

Betsy's sister is in town and we had the kids over for a sleepover on Friday night. We had all kinds of fun playing video games, chasing the cat, playing dress-up, painting finger nails, and watching Shrek. Only one melt-down when it was bedtime and Maisy's favorite monkey was nowhere to be found! They are growing up so fast, it was fun spending some time with them.

Kinetic Arts Buys OSS Dance Company!

This has been in the works for a month now, but last Monday Betsy got the official contract signed to buy OSS Dance Co., the other dance studio in Evergreen! She is buying out her business and moving her studio into the new, much larger, space in 2 weeks. We are sub-leasing her current studio to a personal trainer and jazzercise. Kinetic Arts gains some more students and the potential to grow even more as the only stand-alone dance studio in town, so we are very excited. Congratulations Betsy, you are running your business like a pro! We are painting and preping the new space for move-in on the weekend of Oct. 18-19th for anyone interested. More info at www.kineticartsdance.com

Hot Tub Progress... A Race Against Snow

We made some progress on the hot tub deck this weekend. The footings and framing are up. Next I have to add the top decking & stair treads, then pack the underside with insulation, and put up cedar walls. Finally I will make a super insulated top to go over the hot tub so you can walk on it. Hopefully we don't get any big snow dumps that stop construction. We really want to get this to a point we can use it for the winter!

Restitution... Too Little Too Late!

I received this funny check in the mail last week. My initial reaction was that it might be one of those phony checks that when you cash you've inadvertently signed up for some rip-off subscription or account. So, I called the Boulder County Courthouse and got the story. This is a settlement check from a kid who vandalized my car! The check came 10 years later and for a whopping $23! hahahahh What a joke!

Hot Tub Works!

Well, I filled up the hot tub on top of its concrete perch last night. I temporarily wired it to our electric dryer circuit and fired it up. This morning I came out and we have hot water! Not bad for a $200 find on craigslist. Now its a race against the calendar to get a useable deck installed by winter. With only an hour of daylight after work these days its getting tough to get anything accomplished though. Hopefully I'll be able to knock it out over the next few weekends so we can have all of you up for winter soaks under the stars.

The vegetables of her labor...

Ok, so the garden didn't turn out like we hoped. But, Betsy did manage to grow three zucchinis! Amazingly the elk didn't get them. We are planning to start with starter plants instead of seeds next year. haha

Culvert is Done!

The culvert is done! We've been driving across it for a while now and its great, nice and wide, flat and it'll be easy to plow. This weekend I faced it in stone and capped it in flagstone. Today I placed all the boulders (not shown here) around the base. So its officially finished!

See more picture here

What to do? A Car Conundrum

It seems I'm always thinking about what vehicles we should be driving and what would work best for us and our varying needs. Econo cars for commuting, offroad capable jeeps for fun, AWD for the snow, space for Siba, space for future kids, MPG, etc etc... We thought we had it figured out, we were going to sell the Jeep TJ and buy a new JK 4-Door. But now I see this.... and electric Jeep JK! Sure would make driving to the trails easy on the wallet compared to a 14mpg hog. And supposedly the low end torque would be awesome for offroading. They are due out in 2010. What to do!? More info here.

Landscape Exterior Final Photos

Here are some before and after shots of the house now that the patio, flagstone, stone veneer, and log porches and decks are done. We love the way it turned out and can't wait for our grass to grow and complete the polished look.

Ari's 30th Birthday Bash

Thanks to everyone who came up to Conifer for Ari's low-key birthday. Lots of wine, food, and friends! We got to show off our mostly finished landscape project to everyone, and the bridge was completed just in time for people showing up :) We moved the hot-tub to its new pad with the guy's combined muscle and later we had an extreme game of bocce ball complete with river and road crossings. It was a beautiful fall evening and we're looking forard to hosting more parties next summer.

More Photos Here

Culvert/Bridge Is Open For Business!

Friday I stripped the forms and Saturday morning I installed steel cable ties to hold the walls in place.

Then I backfilled the whole thing with the loader. So, we can finally cross the river again to get to our garage! Next step is facing it all in stone veneer to match the house.

More Pictures Here

Concrete Chaos

Well, all I can say as things didn't go according to plan.... In retrospect we greatly underestimated the force of wet concrete. Our form walls were definitely not up to the challenge. The moment concrete hit the bottom of the forms things starting popping, bulging, warping, and breaking. Not good. For about 30 minutes Tony and I ran around with our heads cut off trying to pound in more stakes, install more kickers, lag bots etc.. anything we could think of to reinforce our wimpy walls. By some miracle they ended up not falling down and the concrete is curing as I write this. The end result won't be pretty, but it will be a wall. I'll have to find some way to smooth out the waves to put the stone veneer on. I think we dodged the bullet on this one!

Pictures here

Hot Tub Deck Project started...

Is this blog turning into a construction progress blog?? I don't think we ever write about anything else. I guess there isn't time for much else when you have this many projects going! I tore down the old back deck, it was rickety and not very useful, too small. I poured some concrete footings, a 9" thick pad, and then built up CMU filled with concrete. The new block will be the pad for the hot tub with will be recessed in the raised deck. The plan is to be able to open the back door and jump right in on those cold winter days.

Bridge Construction Underway

Betsy and I cannot even begin to thank Tony enough for his efforts, money and time helping us with our bridge project!  Thanks so much to Jared too for spending his Saturday to help! Saturday morning bright and early we got started by ripping the rest of the old beams out of the bridge.  Tony and I wrangled the huge heavy culvert into place (not without falling in the rive a few times..hahha) and then put a bunch of dirt over it to seal off the river.  

We went and rented a jumping jack (plate compactor) and packed it all down.  We only had time to finish the first form wall.  Sunday I finished the second one.  Now, we are set for the concrete truck and final back fill and grading.  Its amazing how much adding 4ft to the width makes a difference.  You'll be able to drive two cars across at once.  Hopefully this winter we'll avoid any more disasters on the ice!

More Pictures Here!

Tearing out the old bridge

This week I tackled trearing out our old bridge. I was surprised to find that much of the wood was quite rotten! From the top, everything looked solid. But just look at that beam in the lower right corner of the pictures, its nearly half gone from rot. Tony called last night and informed me that unfortunately, due to the DNC put the rock quaries put production on hold and are now backed up, so we may have to postpone the install of the culverts to another weekend. In the meantime we are parking in the front field and walking across on a board. We are certainly looking forward to having a nice wide bridge for the winter, so it will be worth the wait!

Fouts Wedding, Estes Park, CO

Congratulations to Matt and Amy! We all had a great time this weekend in Estes Park. The wedding was beautiful. I snapped this shot of them standing under the chuppah (traditional Jewish wedding element that symbolizes their love filled house). I couldn't believe how many people thanked me for building the chuupah, they even announced it during the ceremony! On sunday we went back to the hotel for breakfast with some tools to dismantle it but we found out that the hotel actually asked to keep it for future weddings! hahha.. I had fun making it and was just glad to get it to the wedding in one piece and it didn't fall down during the ceremony! A related story was that Saturday morning I was packing the car up to head to the wedding. I was loading the square part of the chuppah on the roof of the Honda and it started tipping. I didn't want it to fall on the ground and break, so I jumped off the ladder and held it from hitting the ground. I realized when I tried to get up that I couldn't move my head... we went to urgent care and they said I tore a muscle at the base of my scull. What a pain, I spent the whole wedding looking right and staring at people's feet because I couldn't move my head!! haha.. oh well, I was relieved to wake up Sunday an feel improvement. Looks like I'll heal quickly.

Move pictures of the weekend HERE

Google Sketchup Model of our House

I've been monkeying around with google sketchup. Its a nice tool to visualize your home improvement projects before you do them. I've been tossing around the idea of an addition on the back of our house to add and extra bathroom, bedroom and master walk-in closet. Probably won't happen due to the proximity of the property line, but its fun to play with.

To view the model in 3-D download sketchup viewer (this just allows you to look at the model and orbit around it in 3-D) Here

Then download the model of the house Here

Flagstone Finally Laid!

We finally have a patio! Its been a long time in the making.... starting way back a year and a half ago when we spontaneously tore down our deck one weekend. Now I just have to finish the log railings and get our grass growing. We hope to have a BBQ sometime this fall to enjoy our hard work with all of our friends and family.

Firewood Mount Everest!

I rented a log splitter yesterday after 12 grueling hours, this is the result. Our own personal Mt. Everest made of firewood! Hopefully it will last a very, very long time. I am so sore it hurts to sit... hahha...

The next challenge was to build a place to store all this wood. So, we built a new lean-to shed along the backside of the house today in the dog-run to keep it all dry. We don't get much sun and the unprotected wood back there just turns into moldy wood muck! I don't think the shed, although 24 feet long, will hold even half the wood I split. Guess we'll have to find somewhere else to stack it. Anybody want to buy some wood!?

PICTURES

Landscaping Project Progress

Our landscaping project is still making slow and steady progress although we haven't had a weekend in month to devote to it. Last week I installed this "floating" staircase... next come the log railings. Then we can finally get to installin the flagstone patio.

PICTURES

Mountain Pine Beetle and Wildfire

On my way home from work yesterday I snapped this picture of Green Mountain, totally on fire. It made me think about how those of us living in the mountains are constantly concerned about wildfire and the pine beetle infestation wiping out the forests we love. Once the beetles move through, they leave millions of acres of dead trees just waiting for the next lightning strike. It makes me sad since in my opinion its the result of not letting nature run its course and manage its forests naturally with small fires and small infestations. Maybe I don't understand forest management, but it seems to me we've artificially created an entire state of old, closely packed, stagnant forests. Now we may lose them all together.

M416 Jeep Trailer.... ANOTHER project!

On our way back from Colorado Springs this weekend, we made a stop in the town of Black Forest. I had been corresponding with a guy out there who had this M416 Military trailer. They were used in Vietnam to support ground troups. They are small, light, and tough. Perfect for 4-wheeling. They are sought after by offroaders and hard to find. I couldn't find one on ebay or craigslist within 1500 miles of Denver. So, I contacted the Military Vehicles Collectors of Colorado club. They put me in contact with one of their members who had one! That's not all this guy had, he had 10 acres of parts and pieces. He said they used to have a surplus store. He had huge garages full of projects... I think Betsy is scared that's what our house is destined to become...hahha. Well, I intend to build this trailer into a sweet offroad trailer this winter once our landscaping is done. Should look something like this, minus the overland tent on top.

The Healing Hand of God

This weekend Betsy and I went with my parents to Colorado Springs to attend a Catholic conference called The Healing Hand of God. Mainly, it was a series of speakers speaking on different subjects. We learned a lot and got to hear about subjects you don't get by going on Sunday's alone. We found it very interesting, so I think Betsy and I will be back next year. Its a free conference, let us know if you want to come with :) The painting above was on the screen behind the speakers all weekend, I particularly love the interpretation of Mary. She looks so beautiful and young.

Hoffman Friends Camping Trip 2008

Betsy and I took Friday off so we could drive up early and get a spot before the Denver hoards descended upon the mountains for the weekend. Along the way we stopped at the ghost town of Winfield.

We hadn't been to the area for at least 3 or 4 years when we last climbed Mt. Huron when we were training for Kilimanjaro. But we managed to find the spot we camped and luckily it was still open! So, we setup a tent and left the trailer behind and took off for an afternoon of 4-wheeling. The trail we found had a nice river crossing deep enough to almost come in the doors of the jeep, so that was fun! After we got back to camp everyone else started arriving. Chris and I collected firewood, and found a unique way to chop the wood into fire sized pieces since we didn't bring a chainsaw or axe.... We were amazed how strong a dead tree still is!

Saturday morning we woke up and realized Jared and Ari were sleeping in their tent, but Trapper and Sam were nowhere to be found. Turns out they had a LONG night driving up to camp and Trapper's little camper had some major problems getting up the 4x4 road. We felt terrible for them, but in the end they had a great attitude about it and I think the damage is all fixable. We got a late start and the weather was a bit ominous, but six of us decided to climb Mt. Huron. The hike was beautiful and wild flowers were everywhere. It smelled like walking into a flower shop on parts of the trail! Ari and Jared made it to the summit and did their 1st 14er.

That afternoon a few more of our friends showed up after climbing Culebra (14er). The group was pretty huge at this point and our camp was totally overrun with dogs. I think we counted 12 dogs at that point! It was a like a crazy dog park...

Sunday we stopped in Buena Vista for some lunch and looked back on a great weekend of good friends, adventures, and time away from "real life". Thanks to everyone for making it a fun time and see you next year in a new spot!

Lee's PICTURES

Steph & Adam's Pictures

Nate & Leanne's Pictures

4-Wheeling with the Vielehr's near Montezuma, CO

Nate and I planned a 4x4 trip near Montezuma, CO this past Saturday. Thursday night I went to switch my tires to my offroad setup and realized the key to my locking lug nuts was nowhere to be found! Hours of searching resulted in nothing except frustration. Friday morning I had to call the company in Canada and have a new key shipped FedEx overnight. It arrived at 11:30 am on Saturday... pretty much last minute before having to cancel the trip. We met Nate, Leanne, Riley and the dogs and drove over Loveland Pass to Keystone. From there its only 5 miles to the old mining town of Montezuma.

We ate lunch at 11,000ft at the town of Saint John, which is a ghost town mostly. After lunch we packed up and headed across the river. But... Nate's truck stalled out and wouldn't start again. I towed him back across the river and up the hill so we could try popping the clutch rolling downhill. The trick worked and our trip was saved once again. We wheeled up way above tree line. The trail was steep and rocky and the views were spectacular. After completing the Saint John's trail, we turned onto the second part of our route, but were quickly stopped by a huge snowfield the covered the trail. There was no way to cross, so we turned back and went down Deer Creek Trail to Montezuma. We didn't get to 4x4 over to US285 like we planned, but we still had a great time. We ate a nice dinner in Dillon and headed home exhausted.

Lee's Pictures

Nate's Pictures

A huge thank you to Kurt & Connie Bierken!

I spent all monring with Kurt Bierken (Betsy's mom's friends) at their evergreen mountaintop property loading firewood. Kurt maintains part of his land in "agricultural" status by harvesting firewood. We loaded up a huge dump trailer now we have firewood for at least a few winters - for free! THANK YOU Kurt & Connie!

Landscaping progress- slow but steady.

As you can see the log porch is totally done, except the railings which will be added after flagstone goes on the porch top. The stone veneer is in progress, but coming along pretty well. I am not totally thrilled with my masonry abilities, but it still looks a whole better than that old shabby deck! Next step is laying sand and then flagstone patio and walkways. After that, I have to build a staircase off the small deck with the logs you see laying in the foreground. Always plenty of work to do :)

Jeep Half Hard-top and Rack project done!

There are two things I've always wanted for my jeep: 1) a hard top "bikini top" that doesn't flap or leak between the door and roll bar like the canvas ones and 2) a safari rack that only covers the back half the jeep (leaving your sun and views open in front) and that allows the full hard top to be on or off all without having to drill any permanent holes in the jeep body panels. Now I have both things because I made them myself! I think there are a lot of other jeep owners out there who would love these as well. Let me know if anybody has an good steel and fiberglass fabrication contacts!

Siba's Reunion with his siblings at the Bark Park

We got a last minute call yesterday that one of Siba's half sisters was in town from out of state, so our breeder wanted to get the family together. Lucky for us, they decided to meet at the Bark Park in Conifer! We didn't have much time before Betsy had to leave for the airport for teacher training in Las Vegas, but it was a good time and fun to watch Siba with his 3 brothers and 1 sister that were there. His brothers Smokey and Dillon are on the left. Siba's far right (come on, you can't tell them apart!?) Siba had the most energy of the bunch, bouncing around playing, sprinting to and fro, barking and trying to hump the girl that was there and in heat. We go the hand full all right. But at least he posed nicely for the pictures!

Pictures

Black Hills Road Trip

I just got back from a whirlwind road-trip for work and my head is still spinning. The trip was precipitated by the need to investigate a defunct school’s electrical system in Hulett, Wyoming for my job. So, I decided to take advantage by driving my own car and seeing as much along the way there and back as possible. With nearly 1200 miles and 20 hours of driving, there were plenty of sites to see along the way!

Sunday morning I drove from Denver straight North up to Devil’s Tower National Monument. I arrived in late afternoon and was met by a coworker, Juan who flew. We hiked around the small park in a few hours and then I setup camp. I'd like to go back to climb the tower someday! A few hours later I was trying to sleep in the middle of the craziest thunderstorm I think I’ve ever camped through. My tent was collapsing in violent wind, being pummeled by hail, and filling up from the bottom with standing water. Fun.



The next morning I work up much earlier than I wanted to because it was so hot and humid I couldn’t sleep. I packed up and headed into Hulett and spent the day working by headlamp in a dark, dirty, creepy old school. Its been abandoned for over a year and there is no power or water.

At the end of the day I hit the road again and drove through Spearfish Canyon to Lead and Deadwood, South Dakota. They are true old western towns, started in the Gold Rush. They looked like lots of fun and I’d love to go back for a longer visit sometime.
I stayed the night in a hotel in Sturgis, the famous motorcycle rally town. It was a pretty boring run-down town really. Tuesday morning I started my slow journey home, making about 1000 stops along the way for photos, tourist attractions, national parks, and of course, a fireworks stand for the upcoming 4th of July. In the morning I drove through the Black Hills National Forest and arrived at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It was fun seeing this majestic tribute to our presidents again. I hadn’t been there since I was a kid and its funny how you remember things looking vs. how they actually do. Since I was there they’d added a huge granite colonnade, book store, gift shop, ampitheater etc..
I left the memorial and headed back into the windy roads of the Black Hills, passing some interesting tunnels, log bridges, and overlooks. Mid-afternoon I passed through Custer State Park and saw pseudo-wild herds of buffalo. One heard crossed the road with my car stuck in the middle! South of the park I entered another park: Wind Cave National Park. I stopped just long enough to catch a 1 hour tour which started and ended with an elevator ride down into the cave. The cave is the 4th longest in the world, and contains 90% of the world’s “box formations”.

Apparently I just hadn’t had enough sight seeing, so I stopped in Hot Springs, SD at the Mammoth Site. I basically ran around the building since my GPS was already telling me I’d be home at 11:30pm. In the 1970’s the town accidentally discovered what is now known as the most significant site of prehistoric Mammoths. There were many different types of Mammoths along with all sorts of other animals such as Saber Tooth Tiger and huge bears. Very interesting, and the site is still under excavation. A lady was there painstakingly scraping away clay when I was walking around.


I made it back to Colorado by nightfall and I was immediately struck by how insanely developed Colorado has become. After a few days of driving through rural Wyoming and South Dakota, it really hits home how congested Colorado has become. The moment you cross the border its non-stop traffic, construction, track homes, and strip malls. From Cheyenne to Pueblo, we’ve become one big city. Even the most rural sections have 10 times the population density of what I saw my entire road trip in WY and SD. Crazy. But it was a nice sight to see the mountains looming large in the distance again.

MAP of Entire Road Trip

MAP Closeup of Wyoming and South Dakota Black Hills Loop
(If the map is too small to read, Click "Tools" then "Internet Options" then "Advanced" Tab, then uncheck box called "Enable Automatic Image Resizing")

PHOTOS of the whole Trip

First ever Kinetic Arts recital is a hit!

Its been a few weeks, but I thought I'd share a few pictures from the Recital. Betsy did an incredible job and all of the parents and kids had a great time. The show turned out great. I tried to take a few pictures from up in the sound booth, but without being able to use a flash, it was tough. Nice job again Betsy, I am so proud of you!!

PICTURES HERE

Chris Hume Launches Kodo Kids!

I'm always surprised how many people I don't expect who are reading our blog. So, I wanted to make sure to do a shameless plug for my friend's new website! Take a look and I'm sure he'd love any comments or feedback. Chris is a trained designer and his new business is designing functional, fashionable, and unique spaces for kids. His work is always innovative and fun, check him out here http://www.kodokids.com/

Southwest Roadtrip 2008

First stop - San Luis Peak. We drove to the absolute middle of nowhere for this 14er, and it was absolutely beautiful! Only a class 1 climb, we thought it would be an easy first 14er of the season, but we were wrong! The climb was 12 miles long and we were beat by the time we got back. Siba was a trooper and we made the summit and were treated to an incredible view. You can see almost every mountain range in Colorado from up there.

After making stops in Pagosa Springs, Durango and Wolf Creek we made it to our first national park of the trip; Mesa Verde. These ruins left over from the Anasazi Indians are perched below rock overhangs on a high, dry mesa outside Durango. Its an often overlooked national park, but well worth the visit.

Next stop was the biggest hole on the planet, Grand Canyon National Park. This was Betsy's first visit and the main reason we took the trip. The canyon is absolutely incomprehensible in size; over 300 miles long and 1.5 miles deep. Its 28 miles from rim to rim. We quickly found out Siba is afraid of heights! We walked 7 miles along the rim trail and I don't think we ever got more than 100 yards without someone stopping us to ask about Siba. Now I know what it must be like to walk around in public as a celebrity! However, the successive days of hiking caught up to Siba and he was limping by the end of our walk. The next day he wouldn't walk at all. Quite worried, we drove to Flagstaff to find a vet. To our extreme relief, it turned out to be a deep blister under one of his pads. We got some meds and bandages and continued the trip.

After leaving Arizona, we headed down the famous Route 66 into New Mexico. After a few stops at a huge meteor crater and some old rusted out cars left from the 30's & 40's, we arrived at Petrified Forest National Park. In the Jurassic Period, this rain forest was flooded and huge amounts of sediment were deposited over the trees. Manganese and Iron minerals were absorbed into fallen trees and later crystallized, leaving stone trees!

Next we stopped in Santa Fe and Taos, NM. The are wonderful little towns with tons of history. We walked all around the downtowns looking at the architecture and the art galleries. It was a little too hot for Siba and his foot was still sore, but we still had a great time. I definitely recommend a weekend trip down there for you Denver folks. We will be going back to explore it some more when we get the chance.

Rather than taking the boring route back on I-25, we took the scenic byways all the way back home through the foothills. Between San Isabel and Florence, CO we came to the top of a hill and saw a crowd of bikers, cars, and people grilling. Curious, we pulled over to discover a huge stone castle rising out of the trees! You will definitely have to check out the pictures of this one, it was STRANGE! This guy, John Bishop, has supposedly built this thing by hand by himself. Its a whimsical, sketchy looking structure, and its HUGE. I climbed all the way to the top of both towers, and my hands were shaking, it is really, really high. No guard rails, broken welds, swaying staircases... yikes! Definitely worth a stop if you are ever in the area. This guy is a little nutty and he's got political messages and writings all over the place. Anyway, we finished up the trip by driving through Manitou Springs and then back roads back to Conifer. A lot of driving, but a lot of fun!

CHECK OUT PICTURES HERE!

Year Book Photos with your dog

Our church decided to do a photo directory of everyone in the parrish. They encouraged you to bring a family pet, so we did! It was super cheesy, like high school year book photos, but we got a free 8x10. Siba cooperated well, and the pictures turned out nice.

Pandora - If you love internet radio, check it out!

My friend Sean Timmons turned me onto this Internet radio site. I love it, so I thought I'd share it with all of you. There are no commercials which by itself is nice, but the best part is you set up your own personal stations, that "learn" what music you like and chooses new music to play based on over 400 distinct musical characteristics. So, you hear new music that you are statistically likely to enjoy. A fun tool to discover new tunes. http://pandora.com/

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

This was a pretty low-key weekend for Betsy and I. We drove up to Webster Pass area on Saturday and went for a hike. We didn't get too far before the trail was completely snowed under. Siba had a blast doing face plants trying to run through snow drifts. Really funny to watch! Sunday we worked on the landscaping project, cutting flagstone for the stairs and starting on the stone veneer. Nate & Leanne came over and we had a nice dinner and campfire out by our river. Monday it was rainy and foggy, we went and saw Iron Man. I thought it was a pretty cool movie! Today its back to the grind, but only 1 week until our vacation:) Road trip to Grand Canyon.

40mpg, no cup holders, and a hula dancer

I did a quick analysis with a spreadsheet (what, are you surpised?) and figured out with gas prices they way they are, I could pay for this car in 8 months. Not bad. So, meet the latest edition to our family of vehicles, a 1991 Honda Civic, complete with a Hawaiian hula dancer epoxied to the dashboard. Its old, dirty, and has lots of "little things" wrong with it, but it gets 40mpg and the engine and clutch seem solid, so I think its a winner. It also is about the size and height off the ground of a go-cart, so its actually tons of fun to drive!

Betsy's Veggie Garden

Betsy is starting a new hobby, so over the weekend we built this little log planter box in the field between our river and the road. We were surprised how cheap organic potters mix was. One trip with the trailer filled up the box, and then yesterday Betsy planted all of her seeds. We'll see what grows! Hopefully the deer and elk won't get 'em!

Our new log bridge

First off, a big thanks to my dad. We carried these 27ft long, 10" diameter logs down from my hill and we were sore for a week! Hopefully it was worth it because the bridge turned out great I think :) The two logs flank our septic line which crosses over the river from our basement to the septic field. Our neighbor already thanked me since she doesn't have to look at the ugly pipe anymore. We plan to build a vegetable garden in the sunny field on the other side of the river, and this handy little bridge should make for easy access.

More pictures

Honey, why is the septic tank overflowing?

Sunday night we returned home from a long weekend skiing on our hut trip. Betsy took a nice shower and later I heard a strange pump/water noise in the basement. I went down there to discover our septic tank overflowing into the overflow pit. The sump pump was furiously trying to pump the water back into the tank, only to have it overflow back out into the pit. Naturally, we assumed that either the grinder pump had failed and was no longer able to push the sewage out to our septic field, or the line was blocked. Not good. If the septic field becomes clogged it must be replaced, and can cost upwards of $20,000. Just calling a plumber to come out and look can cost hundreds. So, Tuesday night I came home from work and got my hands dirty. Ok, not dirty - poopy :( I took apart the whole septic tank and pump and discovered something that shocked me. It looked like a wound up rag jammed into the bottom of the pump motor. The next day I realized what it was.... the remnants of Siba's favorite toy, a rope with two knots on either end. SIBA !!!!!!!!!!!!! You dropped your rope toy in the toilet and almost caused global meltdown!!!!!!!!!! Don't worry, we won't put you up for adoptions.... this time. hahahha..

Eiseman Hut Trip

Early saturday Betsy and I carpooled up to Vail with Celeste & Nico. We took the Redsandstone Road route up to the hut. Dirt lasted about 200 yards and then it was time to skin! But before long I was experiencing boot agony again ( I need new boots) and Betsy's stomache was churning and she was super dizzy. So, we went slow and kept plugging away. After 7 miles we finally reached the hut. Everyone else had gotten there the night before and were out getting fresh tracks all day. We spent the night melting snow for water, making great meals, drinking, telling stories, and being crazy. Fun times. It was a really nice hut, with sleeping spots for nearly 20 people. The entire hut was basically under the snow, and going to the outhouse was like walking in a snow tunnel. The weather was outstanding, and we all got our fair share of sunburns. Sunday the ski out turned out to be fast and easy with the exception of the wind-blown cement at the top of the mountain by the hut. We stopped by the new Lionshead village in Vail and had some burrittos before heading down the hill. Thanks to everyone for a great weekend.

See pictures here!

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Sima Pi (Zeta Delta) 10 Year Anniversary

I can't believe its already been 10 years! A bunch of us met up in Boulder at the HUGE Sigma Pi Fraternity house for our 10 year reunion. We had a great time reminiscing about the good old days. The chapter seems to be doing well with over 100 members. Its hard to believe what it's grown to from its humble beginnings. It was funny to go in the house and see your picture hanging on the wall. After a tour of the house and some time enjoying the sunny day, we went to "The Sink" on the hill for pizza, wings and beer with some of the current active members. After that, all of us old guys went to another bar on the hill to hang out and talk about babies, dogs, our home improvement projects etc.. hahaha.. Thanks everyone for a great night. Looking forward to the 15 year!

Lumberjack Lee's New Porch

Finally, the log porch construction is finished. Now we just have to do flagstone and stone veneer walls. It was a big, but fun project. I logged the timber from up on our hill. There were several dead trees that I cut and dragged down, debarked, skinned with a drawknife, and then cut to size. This past weekend Betsy helped me finish off the roof with the tounge and groove pine ceiling underneath. Its snowed since then and our porch is nice and dry! Once its stained, we think it will add some nice mountain character to our home.

Nicoya's New Digs...

Well, Betsy finally said it was time for the old tank to go. So, I built the new one that's stained to match our wood floors. I think it turned out rather well! Nicoya likes (if I can guess what a snake "likes") since its longer and she can stretch out all the way now. I like it because it has a removable acrylic floor that I can simply take out and wash. Betsy likes it because it has storage underneath that holds all of her business files and office stuff. So, we're all happy with :) Come check it out next time you're over.

Nate's FJ60 Lift Kit Swap

I spent the weekend down at Nate's house in Denver helping him with a lift kit project. He found this red Toyota Landcruiser FJ60 that had been rolled offroading online and the guy brought it down from Wyoming. The truck had the suspension lift kit that Nate wanted for his "saggin wagon". So, we took the kit off the red truck, put it on his white one, and then put the worn out old suspension back on the red one. So, it was like doing two full lift kits in one weekend. Man, I am worn out! But it was a fun time. I'm hoping we can make a trip out to Moab to test out his new setup this spring!

PICTURES HERE

Vote for Sapphire!

Sapphire is famous! Hahaha.... Have you heard of the website "I Can Has Cheezburger" ? My friend paul sent me a link. People post cat pictures mainly and add stupid text message talk captions. Some of them are pretty funny. You can upload your own photos. So, I posted this picture of my old cat Sapphire. She was the best cat I've ever known, so go vote for her! When you are done voting, you can entertain yourself for a few hours laughing at pictures of cats doing silly things.

VOTE HERE

New Floor in the Office Finished

We love our new floor! Practically for the same price as laminate I found this 3/4" oak hardwood floor which I installed over the last few weeks. While we were at it, we painted, updated the lighting, and redid our baseboards. It feels like a totally different room.

Siba's Xrays Normal

One of the biggest worries when getting a purebred dog are the genetic problems they often time have. With Berners, hip and elbow displasia is a big concern. Our breeder took Siba's whole litter in for preliminary xrays yesterday. We were so happy to find out that he has developed normally with not signs of a problem in his joints!

New Years Telluride!

Betsy and I loaded up all our climbing, ski, and dog gear and made the 6.5 hour trek out to Telluride for New Years with our good friends Brandon and Kristine. We stayed at the Chalk's house downtown Telluride which is always fun since you can walk anywhere in town or to the Gondola. Saturday we took the dogs for a walk on the trail right out of town. As you can see in the pictures they had a great time in the snow. That evening we took the gondola up to Allred's for drinks. The view from here is INCREDIBLE, a must see for any Coloradoan at some point. Sunday we added two more the to group, Derek and Bridgette. The six of us drove to Ouray and went climbing in the ice park. There is a long shaded canyon right next to town where they pump water along pipes at the top of the cliffs and create a mile long waterfall ranging in height from 30ft to 300ft! We spent the day on the ice and then followed up with a hot springs dip and a great dinner in Ridgeway. Saturday it was below zero but we bundled up and went up on Telluride Mountain in 8" of new powder. Betsy and I both had fantastic days on our tele skis. We even hiked Bald Mountain for some fresh tracks. New Years eve night was a fun time - we stayed home and cooked a big meal, had too many drinks, and then went out for an hour before midnight. Countdown in the street and then stumble home :)

Lee's Pictures
Brandon's Pictures

Blossoms of Light

Christmas Eve, my family and I went to see the Blossoms of Light at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Our favorite tree was the 50ft blue spruce tree that was done completely in blue LED christmas lights. Earlier in the evening went to Symphony in Lights to see lights set to the transsiberian orchestra, just like the house that circulated all over the internet. They claim they hired the actual guy to do it. (See the youtube video of the house here ). We finished the night off with a midnight mass at our church. Christmas day was an overload of presents and food. Just the way Christmas should be.

PICTURES HERE

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!! We took this christmas photo a month ago before the snow started. We didn't get quite enough cards printed this year, so if we missed you, here's our chance to say Merry Christmas online :) We hope you have a time with friends and family. Stay warm and God Bless!

Kinetic Arts Winter Performance a Success!

I just wanted to say congratulations to Betsy. She had her first dance recital last night as the owner of the studio, and it went perfectly! All of the kids had a great time, the house was packed with friends and family, and the show went off without a hitch. There were two rounds of shows and we all had a great time watching what all of her students have learned over the course of the school year. If you're interested, I'm sure you are welcome at the big performance in May. It will be in a real auditorium with full costumes and stage sets. I'll be doing the photography. Anyway, congratulations again Betsy, you're a natural studio owner. Great job!

Christmas Tree Hunt '07

Last weekend my parents and Betsy and I took out Forest Service permit and headed out to the cutting area, south west of Buffalo Creek. Siba had a great time running around while we analyzed every tree branch by branch to find the *perfect* christmas tree. It was a beautiful day. After getting two trees we liked, we stopped at the local fire house where they had food and drink for sale. Siba was a huge hit... everyone was jostling for the opportunity to give him a pet and a treat (home made dog biscuits, hot dogs, water.. he as spoiled). We stopped in Pine at Zooka's, a fun little restaurant before returning home. Our tree fit perfect in our living room and we can't wait to get our new LED christmas lights in the mail so we can decorate our tree!

Air Force 30, Army 10

Saturday we carpooled down to Colorado Springs to the United States Air Force Academy for the big rivalry. We met Jason & Betsy, Kylene & Tony, Jason Merrit and Sarah and tailgated before the game. It was a beautiful day, and even got a little too sunny at times. We all left the game with raccoon eyes! The game started with precision parachuters and of course, a fly-by. We had great seats and although the game turned out to be very long, we had a fun time and the home team won the game.

PICTURES

Halloween

We had tickets to the Alice Exotic Ball downtown on saturday night, but after a 5 hour Rockies game we were tired and it was already almost over by the time we got back to our car. So... we went to a friend's Halloween party up in Conifer on sunday. Its was great seeing everybody's costumes and there were some funny/strange people there, including a guy dressed as a Dutch Boy, complete with bottle cap glasses and a lolly pop. He made us laugh all night doing strange dance moves around the living room.

Pictures HERE

2007 World Series: Game 3

Go Rockies! Ok, so they got swept. But, it was still really darn cool to go to the World Series! The stadium was PACKED, and people were decked out in Rockies gear, including us. Our seats were in the outfield upper deck, not great for watching the details of the game, but great for watching the pregame hoopla. The military unraveled the biggest flag I've ever seen on the field, Carrie Underwood sang the national anthem, and there was an F16 flyby and fireworks. The rockies gave up 6 runs in one inning and it seemed like all hope was lost until Matt Holliday hit a 3 run home run. That was exciting to watch. But in the end, horrible rockies pitching did them in and the Sox won the game, and then the series. I'm just glad I got to go. Thanks Nate and Leanne for your amazing luck in getting the tickets!

See Pictures HERE

These photos are too cool!

These photos are so amazing! I love tigers and I've never seen anything quite like this. Man does he look scary. From the original article:

"Most cats do not like getting wet - as anyone who has tried to bathe a moggie will know.
But as these pictures show, there's always the exception to the rule. For the cat in question is a large male white Bengal tiger called Odin. Six years old, and at the prime of his life, Odin lives at the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Zoo in Vallejo, near San Francisco. He is about 10ft long from nose to tail, and is an excellent swimmer. "

More cool photos of the tiger HERE

Video HERE

Siba the "Mountain Dog" - His 1st 14er!

Siba lived up to his name of Mountain Dog yesterday as he topped out at the summit of Mt Bierstad, one of Colorado's 14ers! I was a proud dad. This was a late season climb and there was a good cover of snow and ice. The last 1/4 mile of the climb was littered with coffee table sized boulders that you have to scramble over. The gaps between rocks were drifted with snow, making navigation tough for a young pup. He kept trying to climb from rock to snow, only to fall in up to his back in the drift. He was nervous and unsure, but with some treats and coaxing, he eventually prevailed.

It was a beautiful day and I had a great time climbing with my brother, my dad, Brandon, and Kristine. Thanks guys for a fun time.

PHOTOS
Brandon's Photos

A monumental day in my commute!

FINALLY, after more than a year, they have finished the North bound lanes of of 285 where it meets C470! We have two lanes again! I made it to work in 25 minutes instead of the usual 45! Last winter it was taking up to hours when it snowed.... so this comes just in time since the snow is already flying up at our house. What a great way to start my friday :)

Addicting time waster.... Google Image Labeler

Go HERE and sign in with your google account. I did this 20 or 30 times today for fun and ended up ranked 11th in today's rankings. Not bad! Have fun... don't get fired.

William Riley Vielehr is born!!

We are so happy for you Nate and Leanne, he is beautiful!! He is 21" long and 13-3/4" long and was born yesterday at 11:26am. The birth went quickly and pretty smoothly and Leanne is doing fantastic, just look how beautiful she looks with that motherly glow :) You can check out more about the baby on the Vielehr's website. Congratulations guys and we are excited to be a part of Riley's life.

Congratulations Sam & Trapper!

Betsy and I flew up to Seattle for the weekend, and it was a nice gettaway. We stayed with Nick and Kathy in West Seattle. They live a block from the water, so we went for a 2 hour walk on Friday afternoon as the sun was going down that ended in a view like the one above. The weather was absolutely perfect! Saturday it was drizzly but we went on the underground tour. It was really interesting. The wedding was Saturday evening at 6pm so we went home and took a nap first. After that, we headed into downtown. Congratulations Sam and Trapper!! Your wedding was a blast and the most extravagant I think we've been to! The next morning we had a quick brunch with the whole wedding party and then it was time to travel back home.

Bi-plane Birthday Surprise!

On Saturday Betsy surprised me with a WWII Bi-Plane ride! The best part was, I got to fly the plane the whole time except for takeoff and landing. The plane was incredibly agile, even the slightest movement of the joystick and the plane would rocket in that direction. We toured around metro Denver and I flew us right over Mile High Stadium. At only 6,500 ft of altitude, you have a great view. After sight seeing for 1/2 hour, we flew up near Longmont to an area approved for aerial aerobatics. I was briefed before the flight on how to do some maneuvers. I did some rolls and also a full loop! The G-forces were incredible, and proved too much for my motion sickness prone body. After filling up my air-sickness bag we headed back to the airport. Apparently I'm not cutout to be a stunt pilot :( But, it was an amazing experience and fun one to say "I've done that!"

After flying, we met a group of friends at a brewery and had lunch while watching the biggest upset in college football this weekend. It sure was nice to see CU win a big game again. Thanks Betsy, friends, and family for a great birthday surprise!

PICTURES

Crested Butte to Aspen

We have stuck pretty close to home this summer, so Betsy and I decided it was time for a little Colorado road trip. I devised a new packing scheme which I dubbed “Jeep PCS” for “Jeep Puppy Cargo System”… haha. It made traveling with Siba amazingly easier. He loves it! Friday we made it to Monarch Pass and camped on a forest road near the ski resort. Saturday morning we woke up bright and early with Siba and drove over the Old Monarch Pass trail and then on to Gunnison. We stopped and had some really good breakfast burritos in town.

After breakfast we headed into Crested Butte, our favorite place in Colorado, to walk around town, shop and have lunch. Then it was on to Kebler Pass to hopefully catch the huge aspen forest turning yellow. But, we were about a week or two early and only a few of the trees were turning. However, all of the different shades varying from lime green, to yellow, to orange were very beautiful. We managed to find an incredible camp spot in one of the older growth areas. The trees were HUGE. You can see in some of the pictures how tiny my jeep looks compared to the aspens. We set up camp, and then drove to Lost Lake for a 3 mile hike that passed by 3 lakes and a waterfall. Siba did great, he’s turning into a great hiking companion. We are hopeful he’ll be ready for 14ers next summer.

Sunday morning we drove back through Crested Butte, and then headed north on jeep trails. With step by step directions in my 4-wheeling books, we made our way to the summit of Pearl Pass, a notorious 4x4 pass that reaches nearly 13,000ft and is the only way to get to Aspen from Crested Butte, even though they are only separated by a few miles and a mountain range.

My jeep was up to the challenge and we made it without incident to the summit. However, we were in the middle of the clouds and there wasn’t much of a view. Guess we’ll have to do it again sometime! 6 miles later we were back on pavement and headed for Aspen. A quick stop at Johnny McGuire’s sandwhich shop and to air up the tires again, and we were off again. This time we headed over Independence Pass. Due to road construction, we were forced to stop at about 11,500ft at a traffic light. I found that rather funny. Finally we made it back to Buena Vista to complete our huge loop. Two hours later we were back home again, tired and sick of driving! But it was all worth it, we had a great weekend.

PICTURES

Quick Camping

Friday night we scrambled to put everything together and drove out US 285 to the Webster Pass area. Up a 4x4 trail there are bunch of great camping spots along the river. Kirk and Annie brought Luna and Sal and Siba had a great time running around getting dirty. It was a relaxing evening of hot dogs and smores :) Ari took this picture of Koben having a good time petting Siba. We all agreed next time it will have to be 2 days.

A Weekend with Dad

Betsy was in New York this weekend for dance teacher training. So, Siba had a weekend all alone with dad! He's such a good look'n boy, I had to take a few more puppy pictures. We went to our friends Jeff and Tami's annual pig roast together. Some people don't realize he's a puppy he's getting so big. 33.5lbs on wednesday when I weighed him. Here is a link to the pictures.

An uneasy pact: New brothers adapt to life in the Hoffman house.

Rubin is letting us know that he doesn't like this arrangement, but he's being amazingly tollerant of the intruder in his house. Today they even touched noses! Siba is doing great in his new home and we couldn't be happier with him. He's so well adjusted you'd think he had been here all along!

More Pictures of Siba

Siba finally comes home!

All of our patience and hard work paid off yesterday when we got to bring our new baby boy home from the breeder. Thanks for every body's input on the name, and after much deliberation we decided on Siba. Siba is a nepalese/Indian name, it was the name of our favorite mountain guide that took us around the Annapurna circuit. We've already fallen in love with this little guy, he's sweet, cuddly, obedient, smart, mellow and playful. What more could we ask?! We hope all of you will get to meet him very soon!

More Pictures

Kirk and Annie Youngman Tie the Knot!

PICTURES

What should we name our new puppy?

What should we name our new Bernese Mountain Dog Boy?
	Kibo (Pronounced "Key-bow")
	Mendoza
	Siba (Pronounced "See-ba")
Free polls from Pollhost.com

A completely new yard in 4.2 hours. Beats a pick-axe and shovel!

Last weekend I spent all of Saturday leveling our entire yard. It used to be multiple levels with log retaining walls. We are really excited about the finished product, our yard looks so much bigger! And we have a nice flat area to plant mountain grasses and wildflowers.

Introducing Emma Cari Jo Keeney!

Congratulations to Tracy and Abbey! It's baby fever with our group of friends but so far Betsy and I have managed keep our cool :) Maybe we'll be on round one when everyone else is on round two...

CONGRATULATIONS!! Denali Summit Success

I just got word from Brandon that he and Kristine and Jay are back in Anchorage, Alaska after a successful summit bid on Denali!!!!!!!!! This is the highest mountain in North America (20,320ft) and one of the coveted "7 Summits" (7 highest peaks on the seven continents). Many congratulations to you guys on a grueling, extreme climb. I'm so jealous and wish I could have been there too. Oh well, I'll save it for a climb in Nepal with you instead...

Colorado Columbine in our Yard!

This fine summer evening, as Betsy and I sat on our new front porch, we were stunned to look over on our hillside not more than 10ft away and see the Colorado state flower growing right there in our yard! What an incredibly beautiful flower. Out of everywhere around the world I've traveled and seen unique flowers and plants, I think this still has to be my favorite.

Kinetic Arts Dances Rodeo Parade

Betsy's students were a hit at the Evergreen Rodeo parade in their first ever public performance under the new studio. The crowed couldn't scream loud enough it seemed when we rolled by with music bumping. All the girls were troopers, dancing in the heat and out of breath the whole way through to the finish line! Gideeup cowgirls!

Funny Car Father's Day

My brother, Amanda and my Dad went to Bandimere Speedway yesterday for Father's Day. It was 92 degrees in the shade but we managed to survive until the final races late in the afternoon. They had everything from top fuel to stock camaros racing. We had a great time even though you had to wear earplugs and couldn't talk much :) It's pretty impressive watching a car go 1/4 mile in 5 seconds at over 260 miles per hour!

Mt. Belford Climb with Dad

My dad has been talking about doing a 14er with us for some time now. This weekend we finally got our chance. We drove up late saturday afternoon to Missouri Gulch trailhead about 15 miles north of Buena Vista. We pitched our tents in the dark but still managed to get a good nights sleep in. The next morning we hit the trail with my mom included. She was a trooper and hiked all the way to 11,000ft! Betsy, Dad, and I continued on and reached the summit of Mt Belford, the 3rd highest 14er just before noon. It was COLD and super windy, so we didn't stay long and decided to skip the traverse to Mt Oxford. But the view sure was incredible while it lasted. Most the high country is still 30% covered in snow, so it was a beautiful panorama. The climb was a breeze for my dad of course. We all wished the downhill portion could just be skipped however. Headaches and sore knees always seem to plague the descent. We got back to the car just ahead of the afternoon sprinkles to find my mom relaxing in the sun sewing a pair of moccasins for my dad :)

Click here to see pictures of the climb!

Betsy opens the doors to Kinetic Arts Dance Studio for summer!

After months of planning and worrying, the first day of class has finally come! We spent all last week painting, building shelves and benches, putting up mirrors, cleaning and organizing. All of the hard work has paid off and Betsy started summer classes with over 80 students strong! I'm so proud of her for seeing her dream through. This is an amazing achievement and I know she'll be very successful. To learn more about the studio go to www.kineticartsdance.com

Mt. Sopris Ski Trip 2007

Betsy and I met up with a bunch of friends this past weekend for a spring ascent of Mt. Sopris (12,950ft) near Carbondale, CO. We backpacked in with all of our winter camping gear on Saturday afternoon up to about 10,000 ft. We made camp on the frozen shores of Thomas Lake. Along with the help of a few others, I used my avalanche shovel to dig out a firepit and kitchen area complete with bench style snow seats. We all had a few too many drinks and the retired to our down filled tents. About 7am the next morning we all strapped our skin-clad skis on and slowly made our way up the huge basin. 4 of us made the summit skinning the whole way up and the rest of the group boot packed it up the snowfield to the top. We took a well deserved break at the summit to eat, talk and enjoy the view of Capitol Peak to the south. Then, it was time to ski! Jay and Mike were crazy enough to try some freestyle moves off the summit ridge's cornice. Betsy and I just watched in amazement and then clumsily made our way down the sticky snow on our telemark skis. We are still learning! After packing up camp and packing back out, the group made a stop in Carbondale for pizza and beer. It was a great weekend. You'll have to join us next year for the annual ascent!

See pictures of the trip HERE!

Lee spends a day in prison!

Yesterday I spent the entire day INSIDE the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in Canyon City, CO. My company is designing a fire alarm system for the entire prison and we had to tour the entire facility top to bottom with two unarmed guard escorts. We were inside the cell houses, cells, dining halls, laundry, etc.. right along side the inmates. This prison houses all levels including maximum security. I have to admit it was a little unnerving being locked inside a cell house with free roaming muscle bound, tattooed, shaved headed prisoners who are in there for murder, rape and who knows what else. This is the oldest prison in Colorado. It was built before we were even a state back in 1871. Prisoners quarried the rock out of the mountainside to build the original structures which are still in use. Crawling around in tunnels under the facility was quite an experience. The picture above shows an old gas chamber that was used for executions. These days they do lethal injection. We had the pleasure of touring the old execution facility and the morgue. Definitely one of the more memorable days I’ve spent as an electrical engineer.

Old McDonald had a farm....EIEIEIOOO!

And on that farm he had a....... TRACTOR!!! Well, hopefully our snow moving and landscaping probles are over now :) This is a Yanmar refurbished japanese 18hp subcompact mini tractor. Everyone will have to bring their kids over for tractor rides! You can't tell in this picture, but this thing is small, smaller than my VW GTI. Its a blast to drive and I already have half the yard torn up.

Back in the dark ages..

That's a picture of a 50ton car sized boulder that fell on Highway 285 yesterday blocking me from getting home from work. But that was just he beginning. It snowed over 30 inches at our house and of course we were completely stuck. We sold the snow plow 2 weeks ago in anticipation of getting a small tractor instead, but we don't have it yet. So, the snowplows plowed our driveway in and we can't use the driveway. All of the trees in the area are giving way under the tremendous weight of the water logged snow. One small tree snapped by our house, but my dad and I spent a good our climbing around on my roof with sticks trying to shake loose some snow on our 60ft blue spruce trees that are are leaning DANGEROUSLY far over our house. In my dad's words they are like "giant sentinals looming". Scary. To make matters worse, there is of course no power with all the trees falling on power lines. For us, no power means no heat, no lights, no well water pump, no sewage pump for flusing toilets, etc etc.. Our fish are all dead and my snake Nicoya is boarderline. That's the latest from our life, how are things going for you!?

No more deck!

This afternoon we tore our entire deck out! We reused the stairs as a temporary entrance to our new door. Its amazing how open our yard feels now. The deck was on its last leg anyway... wet and rotted. We are putting in a raised flagstone patio to replace it. It will allow us to be closer to the river and it won't need to be stained every year!

A new front door

Well, now we have two front doors! We added this new one this weekend since nobody can every find our front door that's on the "back" or "side" of our house. I'll be building a log portico later this summer to give our house a formal entrance.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Maybe this should be titled, "out with the expensive and unreliable, in with the economical and dependable"! After a good 4 years and 45,000 miles on our Audi A4, it threw in the towel needing more than $4000 in repairs. So, we sold it cheap and got something more....practical. With 26mpg and a reputation as one of the easiest and least expensive brand vehicles to own it might seem like our decision was all practicalilty, but this SUV actually offers us so much more. It has AWD for our mountain roads. It also has tons of interior space as well as foldup land cruiser style rear seats and vinyl floors for storing gear, kayaks, bikes, and pets to name a few. Its got a built in ipod plug and xm radio. So far, we love it! With a Honda vTEC engine, its quick and it drives like a nimble car, not some lumbering truck like a lot of the subcompact suv's we tested. Hopefully you'll get to check it out next time you see us - hopefully you'll get to see it "in action" on a camping trip or full of mountain bikes.

Lee's new car!

It's time for the jeep to finally retire to the garage where it can become the trail rig it wants to be deep down! Now that I've joined the commuting world, I decided to get a more practical, less gas guzzeling, highway car. This little VW GTI VR6 does the job and thensome! With a sport suspension and powerful V6 its more like a rocket on rails :) I love it!

New Jobs!

We haven't been keeping the blog up-to-date lately so I thought I'd let everyone know we've switched jobs. Lee is working at EMC Engineers in Lakewood and Betsy is only weeks away from taking over full ownership of the new Kinetic Arts Dance Studio! You can check out the new website at www.kineticartsdance.com

Alothough we still have a few feet of snow in our yard, we're certainly enjoying the warm spring temperature. Summer fun and activities are on the way and I'll be sure to update the blog with our adventures. Hope everyone is doing well. Till next time....

Making up for lost ground...

Well, some of the snow has finally melted over at my jobsite and we are making progress again. I've been learning some carpentry and helping build the house which can be a lot of fun, but is definitely hard work! I just finished putting up oak half log siding on the front peaked window area you see here in the picture. This house is using all reclaimed vintage barn wood and it's going to be quite unique and beautiful when it's all done. Take a look here fore more pictures.

Koben Connor Hume is born!

Introducing the newest member of our family of dearest friends, Koben Hume! He was born on January 30th weighing in at 7lbs 11oz and 20" long. Congratulations to Chris and Tara, we are all so happy for them. And who wouldn't be? They have one of the cutest babies we have ever seen :) Betsy and I were privileged to have been part of Koben's first 24 hours in this world. We look forward to many years of being pseudo Aunts and Uncles. Hearing the story of Tara's 18 hour labor was amazing, and put the fear of God into Betsy! Congratulations again guys, we are proud of you.

Snowed in.... AGAIN!

Yes, that's Betsy standing on our deck. It has snowed another few inches since this picture and the grand total is now over 4 feet of snow. It's hard to describe.... We started plowing yesterday thankfully. Some people waited until today and it's basically impossible for them to get out of their driveways. Our 'new' 1976 Jeep Wagoneer was barely up to the challenge when I awoke this morning to 18inches of fresh snow. But, after about 20 tries, I finally conquered our mountain (ie our driveway) and burst out onto the street. I tried helping ouf neighbor for a few hours, but it was just too much for our feable old plow. I guess 4ft of snow if probably too much for just about any plow on a sloped driveway. A family of deer thought our freshly plowed driveway looked like a nice place to get away from the snow too! They've been hanging out down by our creek (not that you can tell there is a creek there...) nibbling on dead leaves still clinging to the trees and bushes.

Take a look at the insanity HERE

Merry Christmas from the Haling Family!

A sneak preview of the Haling Family Christmas card. Merry Christmas everybody!

Ruby the Guiness Queen

What can we say, we don't have any kids yet.... so our pets are our children! Ruby is getting into the Christmas spirit as she jumps into this empty box of ornaments.

Finding the PERFECT Christmas Tree

Here's Betsy hauling in our *massive* 6ft christmas tree :) My parents and I spent a Sunday morning on a friend's property in south Conifer a few weeks ago. We went out in search of the perfect Christmas tree. Betsy and Lee opted for the more spindly type tree with room for dangling ornaments, while the Hoffman's chose a bushy lodgepole pine. We had a great time.
See Pictures HERE

GoodReam Wedding Photos are finally done!

Well, what can I say? It's been a really busy fall! I finally had the chance to go through the pictures from Nick and Kathy's wedding last night. Take a look.

This is the life!

Here is a picture (sorry, bad quality from my phone) of Ruby as she exists for about 23 of 24 hours a day..... I'm not kidding, she NEVER leaves her new cat bed! She is living it up being a house cat :) I thought she looked so cute that I snapped this picture of her sleeping.

Looking like a house...

A look at the house Lee's helping build at his job with Tomskin LLC. As you can see, the framers are putting the trusses up today. This is a beautiful 10,000 sf house in Evergreen, CO. The house will feature recycled barn wood, a rusted tin roof, hand-hewn beams, and many more rustic colorado details. I've already learned a lot working on this job and I'm excited to see the project progress.

105.9 "Exotic Ball" - Halloween Party

Well, I was supposed to be Ron Burgundy from Anchorman. Instead I got, "Are you Borat?" all night. Oh well! I tried. Betsy was Pocahontas. That's a really old dress that used to belong to her grandmother. We met at our friend's Ariana and Seth's place and then headed down to an Irish bar before going to the Ogden for the "ball". It was a fun night and there were lots of crazy (and daring) costumes. Take a look at the pictures, you'll see what I mean. Happy Halloween!

See Pictures HERE

It's not even Halloween yet!

Over 2 feet of snow in less than 12 hours - now that's a snowstorm! It's not even Halloween yet. I think we are in for quite a winter. For those of you who haven't been to our house, you have to drive over a narrow bridge over our creek, then drive up a dirt driveway up onto the road. The incline isn't huge, but with 2ft of snow it's trouble. I managed to get my jeep early in the morning, but we called it a "snowday" and stayed home. When I tried to get back out a few hours later (and at least another 8" of snow later), my tracks were ice under the snow. I almost ended up in the creek! With next to no traction and one side of the jeep off the road in a hole, I broke out the come-along and the hi-lift jack. After an hour of winching all I had was a broken cable. Finally I dug down to dirt and managed to drive back onto the road. But of course, the first thing that happened was I started sliding again.

I slid backwards and landed near sideways, wedged between the railings on our bridge. Betsy being a Minnesota girl, had the idea to put some rugs and blankets under the tires. This finally did the trick and I floored it for the top of the hill and broke through the wall at the top of the driveway from the plows. What a pain!

So much for Fall!

Well, so much for Autumn - it's been nothing but snow for us up here in Conifer. At least we are still pretending and keeping our pumpkins out.

Near Disaster on Lake Como Jeep Trail

In retrospect, one can always say, "That probably wasn't too smart..." I'd have to say that phrase applies here quite well! We were planning a great weekend of climbing in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountain range of southern Colorado. Just south of the Great Sand Dunes National Park stand 3 mammoth +14,000ft peaks: Blanca Peak, Ellingwood Peak, and Little Bear Peak. There were five of us on the trip and the plan was to drive the 400lbs of gear up to Lake Como at 11,700ft where we would make base camp. From there, we would climb the 3 peaks and then head back down on sunday. However, late starts on friday from our respective homes in denver, vail, and conifer meant a late start at trailhead too. By the time we reached about 9,000ft the trail was too rough for Brandon's tahoe. We bashed in his running boards and who knows what else underneath! So, we parked it and loaded up the jeep - just before sunset. Lee went ahead, through boulders, river crossings, 6" of snow and everything else you'd expect on a renowned 4x4 trail. But my luck soon ran out.

I was climbing a steep rocky section of the trail just after a river crossing. Everything was going as usual until my wet right front tire slipped off the side of a pointed rock I was intending to go over. I bounced to the right and landed in an unstable soft shoulder of the trail and it gave way. Before I knew what was happening, it was too late and I was off the trail. Before it slipped any more, I jumped out and hooked a tow strap from my front bumper to a bush on the uphill side of the trail. I ever-so delicately tried to back out and swing back onto the trail. Unfortunately, the trail only further crumbled under the weight of my jeep and our gear. I slid completely off the trail and as my right back tire lodged into a solid rock I felt the jeep lift up, pause for a brief moment in the air, and then gently rest back down again. WHEH! THAT WAS CLOSE! Knowing I was close tumbling into the rocky ravine, I jumped out and held my breath that the jeep wouldn't rollover.

After a few choice words and a few minutes of waiting, the guys on foot caught up. We assessed the situation and I knew there was no way I was getting out without help - help from at least 2 more 4x4's with winches. With the other four guys holding the side of the jeep to the ground, I carefully unpacked the packs from the jeep, praying with each bag that IT wasn't the one holding the jeep on the hillside. After a sight of relief, we made camp a 100 yards down the trail by the river.

Amazingly, we had cell phone service, so I called Betsy back home and she found Blanca Peak 4x4 Club in Alamosa, the town way down below us. She called Matt, the secretary of the club and he jumped into action. By morning, I received word that he and another member, Roy, were heading up to save me! At about 9:30am I heard the beautiful sound of two jeeps in low gear rumbling their way up the trail. After brief introductions we got right to work. We put one jeep uphill of mine, and one below it. Then winches were attached to the front and back of my jeep. We added one strap from my roll-bar to the only thing around, a big bush on the side of the hill. This, we hoped, would prevent the jeep from rolling once we started winching.

Lee got behind the wheel and the seat belt wouldn't work. This isn't the first time that's happened to me - they don't engage unless the jeep is on flat ground. Great design huh! Just when you need them most..... Anyway, the uphill jeep started pulling with all his might and I hit the gas. After a few minutes of tire screeching, flying rocks, bouncing and adrenaline - I was back on level ground! Counting my blessings, I packed up and headed back down - immediately! Next purchase - my own winch. That's the last time I go through that ordeal.

A big big thank you to Matt and Roy - the world is still a good place thanks to generous, kind people like you!

As a final note, I calculated the angle my jeep was perched at as about 35degrees. Depending on the size lift and tires you have the rollover angle of a wrangler is estimated to be about 40-45degrees. That was a close one!

See more pictures HERE!

The Inside of the House is Done!!!

Finally, after over two months of work, we finished our projects around the house. The main level has been transformed from a bright yellow and green tile monster to a mountain contemporary dream! Our bedroom turned out great, it's a cool, calm sanctuary. The garage is done too; it's a full out workshop for Lee's projects. We had everyone over to see our progress this past saturday for a dual celebration: house-warming and birthday party for Lee. If you couldn't make it, please feel free to drop in any time for a visit, we'd love to see you! I put together some "before and after" shots of the house, but it really doesn't do it any justice. You can't see how ugly it really was... Even the yellow walls still look yellow in the after pictures. They are actually a nice khaki color. Oh well! We had a ton of fun putting together our first home. Next comes the landscaping (well, next summer that is).

See Before and After pictues HERE!
or
HERE for full size photos

Thistle Tussle

One day Lee came home and realized that the thistles in the front 1/4 acre of our property along the road were all starting to seed.... then he realized that there were THOUSANDS of them! Wheh, what a job. Six straight hours of pulling later, he had an entire trailer full. You can't just cut them down I guess because the seeds will still plant themselves. So, you actually have to pull them out be the roots and get them off your property. Seeing an entire utility trailer overflowing full of nothing but thisltes is quite a sight!

Home Improvement Mania!

By now I can tell you what isle just about any building product is in at Home Depot.... We've been furiously working every spare hour on the new house, and we are getting close! We tore out the entire kitchen down to the floor to start things off a month ago. After making good progress on the new kitchen and painting the new house, we decided to move in. What an undertaking! We had things scattered in storage units, the Haling's house, my parents house, friends houses, etc.... But, everything is finally under one roof and it is starting to feel like home :) We took before pictures, and I'll be taking plenty of after pictures pretty soon. Then I'll post it all on the internet so everyone can check out our work. I think you'll agree that the house looks a lot better.

We've also aquired a new pet cat! Her name is Ruby. She was abondoned by a neighbor a few properties up the valley a few years ago when they moved. She's been an outdoor cat fending for herself since, but she still loves people! So, I installed a cat door into our detached garage/shop and she is in cat heaven! A nice blanket to lay on, cat food, no rain, and no more icy cold winters. She comes out to chase bugs and lay in the sun on the deck once and a while.. ahhaha..

We put a house under contract!

Only a few more weeks to go until our closing date! It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with a 2-car garage and workshop. The little deck you see here looks down on a small creek that runs through the property. It's located just 1 mile up Shadow Mtn. from Hwy 73 in Conifer, CO. We can't wait to move in and have everyone over to help us celebrate!

See a few more pictures HERE

The Evergreen Rodeo Parade

Finally, the time to show off the big guitar was at hand! We met at Jeff's Auto on Saturday morning to rig up the monster to Lee's jeep. After all of Clark's mechanic's, their families, and the Halings piled into the Jeff's Auto pickup and Lee's jeep, we found our place at #86 in line for the parade. After a few hours the show finally got on the road and we rolled along at steady 5mph through downtown Evergreen, basking in the shouts and cheers for our creation. Judging took place in front of the famous Little Bear, but the jury is still out on who will claim the best float prize. We had a fun time and it was a beautiful day! Now the guitar stands on display as advertising back at the shop. Drive by sometime and see it :)

PICTURES OF THE PARADE

Morrison Wedding Telluride

We spent the weekend in beautiful Telluride, CO for Betsy's friend Courtney's wedding. The setting was spectacular, at an old ranch that now sits on the side of the ski slopes. We had a great time and wish the couple all of the best for their future!

VIEW PHOTOS HERE!

Hard Rock Evergreen, CO

What a project this has turned into! After about a week of work, I finally put the finishing touches on my "Hard Rock Cafe-ish" 15 foot long guitar. I built the guitar from scratch out of wood for Jeff's Auto, my father-in-law's local auto repair shop. They wanted a float for the upcoming Evergreen Rodeo Parade, who's theme this year is "Rock'n Roll Rodeo". The guitar is modeled after an even bigger guitar - a 45 foot neon Gibson Les Paul guitar mounted to the side of the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel & Casino in none-other than Las Vegas, NV. You can see a picture of this, and my rendering of what it looks like mounted on a Ford Ranger in my picture album. This is how I started my design, by photoshopping the picture to scale.

The guitar turned out beautifully and I had plans to sell it to a guitar shop or music store after the parade. However, dissaster struck while transporting it to the auto shop. A HUGE gust of wind (crosswind) hit my while driving down evergreen parkway. The guitar base was actually screwed into the bed of the trailer, but the wind was too strong and it ripped it clean out! The guitar literally flew out of the trailer and landed upside down on the street. Amazingly, it withstood the huge impact and sustained mostly cosmetic damage. A lot of the curved side pieces were warpped and shattered, and the top of the bridge took a good hit. I've spent most of this morning fixing what I can. It will have to repainted in places after the parade. Hope you like it, I had a fun time building it!

SEE PICTURES HERE!

Lee's Memorial Day Weekend Adventure

On Friday morning we drove to Silverton, Colorado which is deep in the heart of the San Juan Mountains, about 5 hours from Denver. With my friends Jay and Brandon, I took the historic Silverton-Durango Narrow Gauge Railway from Silverton to a stop about an hour away, called Needleton. The train dropped us off with our heavy packs filled to the brim for the weekend. We hiked in 7 miles to a nice meadow just before treeline at about 11,200ft. Saturday morning we left our base camp early and first made the summit of Sunglight Peak (14,059ft). I was feeling DEAD tired - I am out of shape after 2 months of in activity back in the states! However, I trudged on, descending Sunlight back to the saddle a thousand feet below. Somehow I found the willpower to push myself up a huge snowfield and scrambled up another class 3 ridge to the summit of Windom Peak (14,187ft). Exhausted, we headed back down all the way to camp. I arrived to find a marmot digging through my pots and pans licking up crusted pasta sauce from last night's dinner! He ran off, and I began to notice a few other things out of order. We later discoverd the marmots had been more than busy while we were gone. The little buggers ransacked our whole camp! They ate Jay's brand new sandles, chewed up his new $130 Miox purifier trying to get to the salt, gave a nice "Abercrombie used but new look" to Lee's hat, ate the sutuffing out of Jay's backpack, and took some chunks out of brandon's climbing helmet! We were too tired to care too much and were quickly napping in the sun on our camp mats. However we soon awoke to a LICK on brandon's bare heel..... from.... a Marmot! These guys didn't give up!

The next morning we work up early again to conquer our third 14er of the weekend. We made good time and were at the bottom of the east face of Eolus Peak by mid-morning. We put on our harnesses, crampons, ice axes, ropes, etc.. and headed up the snowfield to the bottom of the East Couloir. This is a 600ft, 50deg pitch, narrow couloir that gets steeper the higher you go. Arms shaking I made it to the top in time to catch a few pictures of the guys coming up the ice wall below me. 5 mintues later were at the summit and our weekend goal was complete - three 14ers in two days!

The next morning we hiked back out the grueling 7 miles to Needleton and caught the train back to Silverton where we had a well-deserved buffet and some "Steam Engine Lager" beers.

PICTURES HERE

Encampment Wyoming Branding Tradition

This year the whole Haling family made the trip up to Encampment, Wyoming for the Irvine family's Half-diamond Horseshoe Ranch Branding celebration. This is supposed to be the last year of the event because old cowboy traditions are giving way to modern technology; the calf wrangling will be replaced with a hydraulic cow-tipping machine. Lee was asked by the Haling's to do a "professional" photo shoot of the weekend event as a gift to the Irivine's. They've been doing branding this way for over 35 years. Take a peek if you are interested to see how life on a ranch in Wyoming really is.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS