Claire's a cutie!

recent photo shoot

pumpkin patch

Last week we took the girls to our local pumpkin patch. It was a gorgeous Colorado fall day, with plenty of sunshine and gorgeous mountain views. As soon as we arrived, the hunt was on with HUNDREDS of pumpkins to choose from.

This was yesterday. The same is happening now. I think we're starting a pretty good afternoon routine. :)

sitting up

Well, not really. Claire is not sitting up yet, although her upper body is getting stronger. But we were able to prop her up in Elise's camping chair for a few minutes, just to give her a little taste of what's to come. :)

Crested Butte, CO

Another weekend in the mountains, another chance to explore. This time our destination was Crested Butte, a small ski town about two hours from Buena Vista. To get there we traveled over Cottonwood Pass. Once we crossed the Continental Divide the road was a winding dirt road with spectacular views:



About halfway to Crested Butte we reached the Taylor Park Resevoir. Beautiful, but chilly...

And this is Crested Butte...

We've had a wonderful "vacation rotation." Now there's only a few days left until we return to Grand Junction and life gets busy again. No more mountain adventures for awhile. But it will be good to get settled in our house again and reconnect with the friends and family there that we have been missing. Looking forward to home...

Buena Vista, Colorado

This is Buena Vista:

We've been spoiled to have 4 weeks here (3 down, 1 to go).


This is the Arkansas River that cuts through town.

This photo was taken the same day, about 4,000ft higher than in town near Cottonwood Pass. It's been beautiful here but a bit cold. Poor Toby hasn't been able to hike any 14-ers because of the snow. But... we can't complain. It's really been a vacation month for us. Then it's back to reality on Friday...

catch of the day

More proof that Cottonwood Lake in Chaffee county Colorado is a great place to quickly catch dinner...

Andrea's 32nd Birthday

I woke up on my birthday and found two of the sweetest gifts a person could ask for... my beautiful daughters. :)

Then my incredible husband made us an incredible breakfast...
with lots of bacon. :)


In the afternoon I took my girls on a date to Mothers Bistro to enjoy games
and coffee, of course. :)



After dinner we got to Elise's favorite part of the day...

homemade cheesecake. :)

I love sharing family celebrations with Toby and the girls.

I am so thankful. I feel filled to the brim with love... (and stuffed from all that bacon and cheesecake!).

Arkansas River continued...

on the banks of the Arkansas

Together again: The girls and I made the drive back to Buena Vista on Friday to be with Toby for the last two weeks of his rural medicine rotation. With the weekend free we made plans to enjoy a relaxing weekend together. It's been lovely...

First a lingering breakfast at a sweet local place called Mothers Bistro: Elise loved the apple studel;

Claire loved napping on a cozy bench (and notice she's wearing her first pair of jeans). :)

my super cuddly girl


Then we spent the afternoon playing, fishing and napping on the banks of the Arkansas River:

(FYI mom and dad... this stretch of river is known as some of the best in the world for white-water kayaking. You would LOVE to see this place.)