A little schizoid

No theme to this post, but lots of photos.

On our hike yesterday, we came across a large skeleton of some animal torso. Riley thought there might be something yummy left, but other, bigger animals had beat her to it.
Folks have been asking me if the Aspen leaves have been changing. Not so much on most of our hikes, though the local paper just featured a photo of changing leaves on a tree in town.

Fall is definitely in the air with temps about 40 degrees in the mornings then warming to temps in the 70s for the day. Still hiking in shorts and t-shirt for all you Southerners who think we are "cold" out here.

A rare break to snap a photo. We hardly ever take our camera on hikes, but when we do, it's nice to capture the moment.
Forgot to post some photos of our first party in the Purple Lillypad last week.

Beautiful evening with good friends.

Boomer's Birthday

Hard to believe that this little puppy is our 5 year-old Boom today.

Boomer started his birthday by taking an enormous dump in our basement. He's had an upset stomach on and off, and that's his new and unfortunate habit. After force feeding him an antibiotic, we all went on a hike where he did his typical, joyful frolicking. For Boomer, every day is his birthday.
Let's not forget about Big Sister Riley who showed him the ropes from Day 1.

And shared her favorite spot on the sofa.

Until he found his own spot "in" the sofa.

Boomer loves his life in Telluride. He hikes everyday.

And he likes to watch football with Jim.

But most of all, he's our Boom.

All year round

Somehow, we seem to be in heavy socializing mode all year long. That's not a complaint, just an observation. It used to be that our social activity here peaked in the summer time with both locals and our part-time Telluride friends. Then we started to notice a lot of activity in ski season. Now that we are full-time locals, it's just all year round. We seem to need breaks from time to time to re-charge our batteries.

Anyway, tomorrow night, we are (read "I am" cuz I do 95% of what needs to be done) hosting another dinner party. Having three local couples over to the Lillypad for a Mexican extravaganza. Appetizers are nothing fancy, just some chips and guacamole. Then I am making a mexican lasagna and some jalapeno cheddar cornbread for dinner (salad provided by one of our guests). My homemade Key Lime Pie is cooing in the frig I type this.

What a gift it is to have good friends over to break bread at in our home.

Don't Give Up on Me!

Geez it's been way too long for a new post, but ya know, I've been busy. Hosting family for a total of 3 weeks, hiking and socializing like a maniac and finally completing house projects, including the painting of our house.

The tourist traffic has been steady, folks snapping shots from their cars, getting out of their cars, many yelling (mostly positive) comments as they drive slowly by. As Jim says, we live inside of a grape.
In other news, the Bar Mitzvah event was enormously successful. We made a number of fabulous family memories, all as Jake went from boy to man.

Jake did a great job, and their Rabbi from ATL was amazing. The events began with the celebration of his 13th birthday.

Okay, so I had him pose before he blew out his canldes. He did some really big hikes with his dad and his Uncle Jim, another marker of his growth as a young man. Here he is hiking with Uncle Jim.

And finally, my money shot of my sweet niece and nephew.