Rocky Mountain Raptor Program

I have recently begun volunteering with the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program here in Fort Collins. Volunteering with RMRP is an amazing experience. The program specializes in rehabilitating injured birds and releasing them back to the wild. I am learning to feed and care for birds of prey. I am now learning to handle the birds, educate the public and tend to minor medical needs. Here are some pictures of birds, hope you enjoy! I am sure there will be many more pictures to share in the future.

Rough-legged Hawk

Peregrine Falcon

Great Horned Owl

Mexico Beach

We are so blessed to be able to go on so many fun trips. This last month we had the opportunity to go to Mexico Beach, Florida for a week. I have a lot of family in Florida, some who I haven't seen in quite some time. My parents decided to rent a beach house and invite some of the Georgia family down so we could all spend some time together. Our first night in Florida, John and I stayed with a friend of mine that I grew up with in Grand Junction. It was great to see her and to meet her husband. We had a great time with them and hope we will have the chance to do it again someday.

The next day we met my parents and brother in Fort Walton Beach and then it was off to Mexico Beach. We got to the beach house fairly late, so it was already dark outside. We could hear the surf, but we didn't know what kind of view we would have. When we woke up the next morning, we were all exited to look out the window and see a beautiful view of the Gulf of Mexico.

The beach was just across the street, so we went for walks almost everyday. We saw Dolphins jumping in the Gulf just about every morning. A highlight of the trip was sea kayaking in the bay near Cape San Blas. It is a beautiful area and the water is very shallow for a long way out, so we were able to see a lot of aquatic life. We found sea stars, horseshoe crabs and hermit crabs. We also saw stingrays and quite a few birds.

Apalachicola, FL has some of the best raw oysters in the world.

St. George Island

St. Joseph Peninsula State Park




Beautiful Sunsets

New Job

After months of job hunting, John finally has a new job! He will be working at Ayres Associates here in Fort Collins. John will continue as an entry level civil engineer, but will now be focusing on water resources. We are very excited about this new opportunity and we are glad to be staying in Fort Collins.

Red Mountain Pass

John and I began the new year with six wonderful days of skiing. Five of the six days were in the back country. The best part was beginning the year with a ski trip to Red Mountain Pass and skiing the beautiful San Juan mountains. On January third, we skied US Basin. The trail reaches an elevation of over 10,000 feet and requires climbing skins and avalanche gear. Skiing through the trees and first tracks are well worth the climbing. We had a great group of people on this trip. There were thirteen for most of the trip and one of the nights we had fifteen people! I can't imagine a better group of friends and family. The skiing was amazing!

A little blurry, but I think thats most of us.

Getting ready to go...

Earing our turns...

An absolutely beautiful day of skiing.

A quick look back...

We have enjoyed so many fun trips this last year. In 2006 we managed to pick up two new activities. After more than 15 years of alpine skiing, we (finally) made the switch to telemark skiing. Also, we each got our first road bike and are now addicted to cycling.

Here are some highlights of 2006:

In May John and I went to Florida for a week. We went to three different beaches, Pensacola beach, Navarre beach and Perdido Key. We saw stingrays and jellyfish, ate lots of wonderful seafood, spent time with family, beach combed and played in the waves.

Canyoneering in San Rafael Swell, UT and Canyonlands National Park, UT
We hiked Upper Chute canyon and Bluejohn Canyon. Bluejohn was incredible and took us about ten hours to hike. It was a technical canyon with a rappel and an accent which required ropes, there was also quite a bit of water in the canyon.

One week after Bluejohn canyon I went on an all girls trip to Zion National Park in June. My mother, aunt, two other women and I hiked the Virgin Narrows. The Virgin Narrows is a 16 mile hike down the Virgin River, it is considered one of the top five hikes in the world. The canyon walls reach 2000 feet in some areas and there are beautiful hanging gardens growing on the moist canyon walls. The hike took over twelve hours because the river was higher and faster than we had anticipated. We swam five times and most of the hike was in thigh deep water. We also stopped by Bryce National Park on our way home.

Climbing on "Wall Street" Moab, UT

Our Story

John and I have been married four years. After nine years of friendship, we finally began dating. After only six months of dating, John proposed and four months later we became husband and wife. Sharing our lives and interests has been wonderful. We love to spend time enjoying God's beautiful creation any way we can. Some favorite activities are telemark skiing, riding our road bikes, rock climbing and backpacking. We love to spend time outside together or with friends and family. We are truly blessed to be able to enjoy so many wonderful activities.

In November 2008, John and I found out that we are expecting our first child. We are so excited for this new step in life. We can't wait to meet our baby in August!

Check out some of the trips we have taken and things we have been up to. Enjoy the pictures and send us a comment sometime. God bless!