Happy birthday to our baby girl! Linz is...39! Oh my!

We hoped to make it to California in time for Lindsey's birthday...and we made it a day early.

This was February 19...our baby girl turning 39!  THAT doesn't seem possible!

I made dinner for us...and a dessert, of course...to celebrate.

Benjamin doesn't look too thrilled here...

 This was earlier in the day...around lunch.  Papa and his boy were just hanging out eating some chips! 

 We took Sullivan for a stroll...and Baxter wouldn't leave his side while we walked.

I picked the boys up from school...always a favorite thing to do...and we discussed their mom turning 39 years old!

Look at Linz!  She loved Strawberry Shortcake, thus the shirt!  She also loved to read...which she still does.  I don't think she's still wild about Strawberry Shortcake...the doll!

As she's grown up and had her own children, she has taken after me with her love of taking pictures.

Sports has been a big part of her life...and now she passes that love onto her boys.  This was

back in 2014...playing soccer with her boys in our backyard.

 These two pictures...I just love!  I was at her home...and we were taking some 'family pictures'.  

This was also in 2014.  We were at Gabe's pool.  Lindsey has always been so careful in the sun.  She always has on a hat of some sort.  

That's my girl...it's just so strange to me to think of her being 39 years old!  The years are so short and they pass by so quickly.  I love you, Linz!
Happy #39!

February 18th at Lindsey's!

We made it to Lindsey's on the 18th.  It was later in the day...but we made it!

Sullivan and Baxter were happy to see each other...but not as happy as we were to see everyone!

Baxter spotted William's bird....

This grabbed my heart!  I just love this...Sullivan 

sitting on the front steps with his little car beside him.  

Yep, we were so happy to be here!

Traveling to California in mid-February

We took off on February 17th, heading to California!  We were hoping to be there by the 19th...and we arrived on the 18th!

 I think this was around Salt Lake City.  

 I love this picture...it makes me laugh.

You may notice Baxter's nose.  Well, he had been in my lap and I had hidden his brush until he was in my lap.  He was in need of a good brushing.  All was going well...and the minute he felt me let up, he quickly jumped in the back seat.  He got as far from me as he could.  I'd try to get him to come up front, but no, he moved as far as he could...

Baxter likes to see out the front...so he was over behind Ron looking out so he could see!

Nevada!  I definitely would not want to live in this state, but we still think it has it's own beauty, especially when there's snow on the mountains.

 Trying to stay as far from me as possible!

Oh Baxter!  You're hilarious!

February 15, 2020 at Staunton State Park

 We love hiking at Staunton.  It's Colorado's newest state park.

It's a bit of a drive to get there, but well worth it!

 As  you can see, there was quite a bit of snow.

 When I hike with my girlfriends, we just hike...occasionally stopping for a short time to have a bite...like a granola bar...or if it's a really long hike, we'll stop longer.

With Ron, no matter the distance, he likes to stop to have his lunch...a sandwich, some fruit, and some dessert.  

 Baxter is definitely a happy hiker!

Isn't it gorgeous?

February 14, 2020 hike at Castlewood Canyon

 On Valentine's Day, we decided to drive somewhere to hike.

I had heard about Castlewood Canyon, so we decided to check it out.

It was beautiful!

 As you can see from this picture, we are skirting the edge of a cliff.  It was further than we thought, but oh my, it was gorgeous!

 Lots of snow covered rocks...

 They must get a lot of wind here, because there were a lot of gnarly trees.

 You really can't tell, but we came down this trail, not the way the arrow is pointing.  It was STEEP!

It was ICY! 

 We ended up by this dam...a dam we didn't know was there.  I'm not sure where we messed up, but we were on a super muddy trail that I didn't know if I'd get up without falling.  Somewhere we lost the trail and ended up walking about a mile on the road to get back to our truck!

 We celebrated by finding a little local brewery.  Baxter could even go inside!

This was a great Valentine's Day!

A snowshoe adventure on January 10, 2020

 I don't usually write about my hiking adventures on the blog.  Probably because any pictures are on my phone and it's more effort to get them on the computer to blog.

I decided to post it today.  This was my first time to snowshoe...and I LOVED it!  It was a gorgeous day to begin with.  These are my closest hiking buddies!  From the left:  Jill, Yvonne, me, and Pam.

 Just look where we were!  So incredibly gorgeous!

 Here, we had snowshoed a little over 2 miles.  It was time for lunch.  The snow was so dry, we just brushed it off the log.  It wasn't wet at all.  So we sat there a good while and ate and just talked.  

Pam, me, Jill, and Yvonne

We have so much fun together!