Where Are We??

Well, Bob and I headed to Colorado for Christmas this year. We packed our Nissan Xterra and started the 870 mile trek. Because of the weather we headed up the backside of the Rocky Mountains. The "back way" is a bit more confusing and challenging with numerous turns and roads that you can miss. Well, Bob and I were having such a good time that we took a wrong turn and ended up driving 20 miles in the wrong direction. I don't know why it took us so long to figure it out, but we started to notice that our 4 lane highway skinnied down to a two lane highway and all of a sudden we were in this little mountain town called Velarde. Definitely not in Kansas anymore! So once Bob and I giggled about our lack of navigating we got turned around and headed in the right direction. We had to go through a small little podunk town in order to get to the right highway and we couldn't help but take pictures.





As you can see, Rocky didn't mind too much. He got more room than we did and spent all of the time hovered over the console. He just slept and slept. He is such a good traveller! He just loves being with Bob and I even if it means 16 hours in the car.


We made it to Colorado after driving in the snow for 6 hours. That was a treat. Our little Xterra did really well without snow tires or 4 wheel drive, but it is definitely an Arizona highway mobile!! The day after we arrived it snowed all day! Talk about a white Christmas. Bob and I braved the cold and the snow to go running up at altitude.






Bob is working towards a marathon and what better training than 12 degrees, 8000 foot elevation and uphill running. Yeah, everyone thought we were a little crazy, but we made it 3 miles together. Talk about training. Rocky and Oreo came with us and they had a blast. They both jumped through the 2 feet of snow on the side of the road and ran circles around us. Such a good time. We decided to stay in all day and eat Christmas goodies and play games. Thank you Traci for teaching us Five Crowns. That was a hit!! We played and ate and played and ate. AHHHHHH CHRISTMAS!!!

On Christmas Eve, Mom and I went out for a long Snow Shoe in the fresh snow. What a blast. We trekked through boatloads of snow behind our house and had Oreo, Skittles and Rocky with us. Rocky looked like the abominable snowman and had a blast leaping through the snow.








Mom always carries treats with her and Rocky learned really quickly that she was the best one to hang around. Such fun and what a workout!!! I was even able to find a perfect tree to put the camera on a timer so that I could get mom and I together. Love you Mom!

Once we got home my cousins Derek and Chase and their wives Stacie and Beth all came up.



Once everyone got up to Mom and Dad's we all headed over to a party in the neighborhood. We went over to this beautiful log cabin that overlooked the City of Denver. Absolutely breathtaking. O to live in the Mountains. Mom and I took our guitars and played Christmas carols for everyone. I haven't played guitar in a while and my fingers were so sore. So to soothe the pain I drank more wine! It was wonderful! We had such a great time and the food at the party was awesome! Bob and I were giggling because the owners had an outside bonfire going and Bob and I could not imagine sitting outside for any period of time even if there was a fire available.
It was so cold!!!!!





After the party we all headed home and watched" White Christmas"! Such a perfect Christmas Eve movie. All of my cousins stayed up with us so that we could have Christmas together. More about that later.

We've crossed over!

Yes we have officially become a MAC family. This year I told Bob that I wanted to get a family computer that we could keep all of our photos on. See, Bob has a work laptop right now and of course we have our big PC. Since Bob is home a lot he is usually the one who downloads all of our photos. Well, he puts some of them on his laptop and some of them on the PC. Needless to say when I need pictures they are usually never in the same place. Like this year, I went to create our Christmas Card and one picture was on the PC and one was on the laptop. I know, I know, it is not that big of a deal, but when you are in a time crunch it is super frustrating. So Bob and I bought each other a MAC Book this year. We love it! It is different than a PC and has a completely different operating system. As you can see, I am not a MAC yet!


Traci's friends, Tara and Josh, were visiting all the way from Australia this past week. We spent quite a bit of time with them and did our best to give them a taste of Western Culture. While Josh was here he really wanted to do something western, so Traci, Caleb, Joan, Loren, Parker and I took them to "The Hitching Post" out in Apache Junction. Now, let me set the scene, Apache Junction is like walking back into the old west, plenty of cowboy boots, hats and holsters. There are loads of old buildings and cowboy hideaways. The Hitching Post is like the local cowboy bar. From the moment you walk in you feel a bit like you are walking into an old saloon, minus the big screen! They have a live band, bar and plenty of Yeehaw! Bob and I do not own one piece of Western wear, so we came in our leather jackets and Valley fashion. We were the first ones at the bar and boy did we get a once over as we walked through the place. Once everyone got there we just sat around, got some drinks, ate some food and just had a grand ole time!


Here is a cute picture of me, Traci, Gwen (Traci's other visiting friend) and Tara. Such great women, we had a lot of laughs!


The bar had barrels with old metal seats as chairs. I think Josh was a little nervous to sit on one himself so Bob offered to check it out first. Josh saw a photo opportunity and here it is!


The Cowboy Bar was an awesome experience.




The next morning we all decided to go hiking in the Superstition Mountains. The goal was to do a 3-4 hour hike, you know, get some exercise and see the scenery.





The hike was absolutely beautiful! Sometimes when you live in the desert, you forget how beautiful the mountains and formations can be. We also saw a baby tarantula. Yeah! I couldn't believe it. Who would have known that there were tarantulas in AZ.






The hike turned out to be a trek and a half. There is a 3500 foot elevation change in the 6 mile one way hike. Needless to say, Bob and I didn't finish the trek. After two and a half hours, we headed down the mountain. Rocky came with us and he was such a trooper. He lead all of us up the mountain and practically raced down. Of course, when he got home, he crashed! Tara and Josh got a great taste of AZ culture and plenty of exercise!