My Birthday

My birthday was very delightful! My two very favorite college roomates came to visit along with Natalie. We had lots of fun hiking, skiing, visiting the "big city" (Glenwood Springs, pop 9000). They also decorated the whole apartment with Luau stuff and we made decoupage mugs. Very original. For my birthday party, we made veggie corn dogs, tater tots, green beans, brownies, and daquiris. There was just enough snow that it was pleasent. All in all, a wonderful weekend of fun!

Christmas

Christmas very wonderful even though Grant had to work on Christmas Day. We decorated a tree with our roommate and her friend. I made a star out of a cereal box, toilet paper roll, and foil. Grant and I made some stockings out a free blanket he got. We went snowshoeing and opened presents on Christmas Eve.

First Two Weeks in Eagle

Things are going well here. It has been warm, snowy, and clear and cold. My job is going pretty well. I am starting to get the hang of dealing with little people, some of which are completely crazy. Getting off at 12:30ish on Wednesday is nice because we can go hiking. So far we have been to Sylvan Lake State Park which was at least knee deep snow where we took all the dogs for a fun little time. The following weekend we went back to explore a cave and see an underground stream, which was great. We will definitely have to go back when Kylie comes. This weekend we did part of the Ute Trail and Hanging Lake Trail. We should go back to Hanging Lake when all the parents come. It was incredibly beautiful. It seems as though all the people in this valley are married with kids, so finding other friends is going slowly. Well I must be off to work now. Enjoy the photos.

The First Days in Eagle

We moved in on to our place on Friday.  Amazingly all of our crap fits in here.  The apartment is extremely nice.  The Eagle River is about 20 feet away.  Two dogs and two rats live here.  We found a new bank and began learning where things are located.  On Saturday we went camping with a friend on the Colorado River where there are some warm springs within hiking distance.  It was not too cold yet.  On Sunday, we relaxed, grocery shopped, and I got ready to start my new job tomorrow.

Yosemite and the trip to Eagle

We started our trip to Eagle when I flew into San Francisco where Grant was waiting.  On Saturday we drove to Yosemite.  We went for a hike in a grove of Giant Sequoias and then drove down to Tunnel Ridge for a nice view of the valley.  The next day we hiked up Vernal and Nevada Falls.  It was quite tiring.  Then we drove to Glacier Point for another nice view.  We also walked around in the Valley and went to a few exhibits.  We saw a mother and cub black bear walking around from the shuttle.  On the was out, we stopped and hiked to Soda Springs and near a lake.  We left through the Tioga Pass into Nevada.  It was very beautiful and not as scary as I thought it would be.  We went to Cedar City, UT and met some friends from RedCliff.  After two nights of hanging out with them, we left for Colorado.  We got to Eagle, but our roomate wasn't home, so we spent the night with some friends.

My Trip Home

I flew back to Austin to see the family.  The entire family came in on Sunday for a Thanksgiving/Christmas meal with everyone.  I got to ride around on Pistol several times which was very fun.  I also saw Kylie's gymnastics and choir concert.  We also went shopping for some new teaching clothes.

The Final Week at the Farm

We wrapped up our work at the farm this week.  We thought for sure that we would be picking and husking corn all week, but we ended up pickings and husking tens of thousands of tomatillos.  We got all the cars packed up before I left on the 18th.  They are extremely full.