Alyssa and Brent were celebrating their anniversary, while Kate and I hung out with the kids for a few days. The highlight was the trip to the pumpkin patch where there was much mud to be had.

More pics of the kidos here.

While I was in California stuck in meetings all day and barely hanging out with the Pearcys, Molly flew out to Colorado for a visit.

When I got back later that week we went for a hike up McCullough for one last time (I think it’s like my seventh trip up the ‘ole gulch, but still a beautiful view).

Then the next morning we had a visitor in the driveway looking for some treats.

We then took Molly on an off-road adventure over Mosquito Pass.

And at the top of the pass there were some anxious snowboarders getting some early season practice in.

On the other side, in Leadville, we had a looong lunch, then headed for another short hike up Mayflower Gulch where we explored what was left of old Boston Mine.

The next day we woke up to Kate’s birthday, and Molly and I served her icecream in bed as requested by the birthday girl. We then packed up and drove to Colorado Springs to ride the Cog Rail Road to the top of Pike’s Peak (Kate has a thing for trains if you haven’t noticed).

Then sadly we trudged to Denver to drop Molly off at the airport. But since we’re leaving CO behind and moving back to Kansas City in a week, we’ll see her and the rest of the gang soon enough. Where did our year go?

See more pictures of time with our last visitor to our mountain retreat.

The whole Sawyer/Sweigart clan came to visit us in the mountains for a week. Despite the gloomy weather, we experiences several fun hikes full of wildflower covered meadows, rocky mountains, abandoned mines and raging waterfalls. Here’s some choice shots from the week:

We had a lot of fun exploring our mountain, but I think Maddox enjoyed it more than any of us. Alyssa posted a poem that he wrote, entitled “Mountain Friend“… it’s a must read.

And these are just the tip of the iceburg, so go see all the rest of the photos from our family vacation in the mountains.

Kate’s parents were kind enough to fly us to Kansas City last week for a little visit home. The week started with the boys and I having some quality Starcraft time on Sunday while Kate was doing Pilates with the girls.

I had to work all week while Kate was running around town, but we got to catch up with a lot of people in such a short amount of time.

Our trip coincided with Ava’s third birthday party, so Kate and I drove to Newton for a day of Tinkerbell fun.

We had a blast in Kansas besides the 100 degree heat and we’re looking forward to our move back. But in the meantime we’re cherishing our last two months in the mountains. (The entire Sawyer/Sweigart family are coming to visit us next week… we’re very much looking forward to that!)

Aunt Sarah had a master plan to landscape Grandma’s poor front yard, so Kate and I drove down to Colorado Springs for the weekend to pitch in. As you can see from the photo above, her grass was all but dead and the whole yard needed to be retrofitted for lower maintenance. For all of you ladies who used to live here and want to see the newly improved front yard, this is for you.

Aaron, who works for a excavation company, was able to bring in a skit loader to do all the hard stuff… such as removing the existing dead grass and reshaping the hill on the right side of the yard.

Here we are replacing the old timbers along the sidewalk with new ones.

Only the dirt remains.

Ben and Brady put in a decorative split rail fence which turned out well.

The girls installing the miles of edging. Here they’re framing out the pathway.

The sand has been laid along the pathway and the rest of the bunch is throwing in mulch while Aunt Sarah and I work on the stepping stones in the walkway. (we had to scavenge several stones from the property, hopefully Grandma won’t notice.)

The lovely ladies planting.

The finished pathway coming from side.

It was about to get dark, but this is the final look at the front yard. It looks even better in person.

The rest of our holiday weekend was spent camping with my uncle, aunt and some cousins. We met them in Westcliffe, CO then headed west into the Sangre De Cristo mountains. The trail to our camping spot was rugged an fun. So rugged in fact, that I ended up detaching my tail pipe from the muffler somewhere along the way.

Here, Brady and I are enjoying some chips and salsa.

The boys were fishing all day and needed a ride across the river.

The next day, the rest of the group wanted to try a little fishing, so Uncle Fred recommended we try Hermit Lake just up the range, one that he remembered visiting as a kid. Hermit Road, presented itself to be quite a rocky one… and about a mile in we found out that the lake was still a good 6 miles up the mountain. On the drive up, you could see the old Conquistador Ski Area, which prompted Brady and I to ponder purchasing our own plot of mountain and building a private ski area.

The road was getting rougher the higher we got, so we ended up stopping about half way and the boys fished the small stream.

Eventually though, Brady, Andrea, Kate and I started back up the road in search for the mysterious lake. At one point the bone jarring drive was too much, so we parked the car and hiked up about two miles until we found a small trail that led to Hermit Lake.

I ended up finding parts of a fishing pole lying around the area (Kate found half a rod, Brady found a hook and weight), so I was able to do a little angling of my own.

And finally on the trek down, I had to spot Brady on a couple tricky descents. (But judging by the picture, it doesn’t look so bad, but there were some rocks that could remove a transmission or two.)

Two days after our snowy hike, we headed to our summer vacation to Boulder to watch Kate’s cousin Cooper pole vault in the Big XII track tournament. It was a beautiful sunny day (too sunny, both of us got fried) and our first time visiting Boulder. We really enjoyed the town and hanging out with Uncle Rob, Aunt Cookie and Coop.

Coop didn’t have his best meet (but he is a freshman who’s hanging with the big boys), and I hope he doesn’t hate me too much, but here’s a video of one of his first attempts:

After the meet, Kate and I took the scenic route home, winding through a beautiful canyon following Boulder Creek where we came across a cool waterfall.

We stopped in Idaho Springs to have dinner at the semi-famous Beau Jo’s, a “mountain style” pizza place (most recently recommended by Uncle Rob). Food was good, but the thing that intrigued me the most was the old maps they had on the wall that detailed all of the mines nearby. It was staggering how may mine shafts there are around here… simply mind blowing. I’m looking forward to doing some more research on abandoned mines in the area.

We’re gearing up for our Great Pacific Northwest Road Trip this week with a planned departure on Friday… we’ll be gone for about 10 days, so we’ll be sure to take plenty of pics and post them when we get back.

Kate and I flew to California this past weekend 1) so I could help Eric tile the master bath and 2) attend meetings for work (as well as mount a projector in my spare time). It was nice to get away from the snow and hang out with the Pearcy’s, even if it was a little rainy in San Diego.

We got to hang out with cousins Andrea and Brady before we left last Friday and were present during their spontaneous Wii purchase. So Brady and I played Mario Cart into the night with people from around the world which was pretty interesting. Interesting in how much we suck at Mario Cart.

Kate’s family, along with our friends the Wonnells, came to visit this week. Rob Wonnell and I hit the slopes early on Saturday and had a great day of boarding with thin crowds (especially for a Sat during Spring Break) and a ton of snow.

After the initial “first-day-sickness” for Greg and Collette, the whole family hit the slopes on Monday while Rob and Sarah stayed home at did some snowshoeing.

Because the main house here was already rented out, we found another rental home just down the street… which was kinda nice for Kate and I, it felt more like a vacation.

Sadly, while Rob, Abby, Molly and I were out on our last day of skiing, the Wonnell’s van got a flat tire. The bummer was that when it was in the shop getting a new tire, the mechanic dropped it off the lift with the driver’s door still open, causing some slight damage to the bottom of the door. Could have been worse, but a pain none-the-less.

Oh, and when the girls and I were on the Independance chair lift on Peak 7 we saw a moose. Not something you see everyday.

Here’s some select photos from everyone on the trip… you can see the whole bunch here.

My (Joel’s) parents are in the Dominican Republic now with a few couples from their church. Catch up with them at drcouples2008.wordpress.com.