Winter Wonderland and NO SCHOOL!!!

We had a snow day up here today!!! We called the neighbors and Sarah's Dad Nicholas to come up and enjoy a bit of snowshoeing and xc skiing. Good fun had by all!!!

We wanted to get a bit closer to the forest service road leading to the top of Seam rock but the roads were not all plowed yet.

This image is of the old burn area above Seam rock. New growth is on it's way.

Here is Nicholas charging down a hill that we prepped for speed

Here is me and Nikita

Sarah and Lily

The community plow

Palisade Mountain Scramble

Our neighbors Goran, Sarah, and Antonia went on a hike with us. We decided to hike Palisade Mountain since it is within a couple of miles from home. It was a gentle hike up until this point where we had to scramble to the top.


Nikita getting some camera time.

A view toward Loveland.

Shown here is the Big Thompson Canyon. We drive this road every morning to work.

Fargo Blizzard

So I know these pictures are not of CO and Mark and Sarah's beautiful home, but thought folks out that way might like to see what a real winter looks like :) This blizzard has shut everything down. In the last 5.5 years of working at North Dakota State University, we have never had a full "SNOW DAY" today we are closed. They are advising no travel even within the city limits. The mall has closed, as have many other businesses. Enjoy the views from my apartment. If I get daring, I might go outside and try to take some fun pictures!

View from my living room around 10 a.m. ...
(note: normally there is a nice little park area between me and the other apartment buildings)


View from my bedroom about an hour later...
(note: I live in town, surrounded by stores, apartments, homes, etc. You really can't see any of them)

and it's only suppose to get worse as the day goes on...

Motor Bike Ride in the National Forest

On the weekends we like to explore the many Forest Service trails and land behind our property.
My favorite way to do this is to hop on the bike and get lost.

The bike we have is two wheel drive. It can make it up almost anything as long as you can hang on to the bike.



This is a shot from way above the first picture. Loveland is in the background.

Longs peak and Rocky Mountain National Park

The Boys are Back!

The herd of bull elk were in the front yard last weekend. It has been unusually warm this winter up here so the herd has made its way to the grassy areas of the community.

They stuck around all morning to give us a show

Bobcat Ridge Fire!!!

Click on the images for very large versions of the thumbnails

Close up of the fire on the ridge beyond Spruce Mountain

This one shows the ridge line. It appears to be spreading with the high winds towards town and not us. This shot is facing north east.

This is a shot of the smoke above the city of Loveland

Bruemmer Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

SCSU Lily

Poor Lily does not have a choice on what she wears. This weekend when I was daddy daycare, she was a SCSU Huskie. Sarah is a CU Buff but does not have an outfit that fits yet. Kim gave us a NDSU outfit that also does not fit.

Buddy? and Nikita

Here is a shot of Nikita and Buddy (That's what I named him) We are not sure where he lives but he sure loves to visit Nikita. Nikita, as some of you know, is a sweet dog that loves people. Especially Lily!!! She does not always get along with other dogs. She LOVES Buddy!! I wish we knew where he lived so we could bring Nikita over to play. This weekend I am going to ride the motor bike around our large neighborhood to see if I can find his home.

One Board at a Time

I decided to go down the road to the local saw mill. This task should only take 30 minutes round trip but I usually get into a great conversation with the owner or his son. Yesterday was not different. Two hour round trip. We have many boards to install on our ceiling so I chose to only purchase 50 at a time. Here is round one.

Adding Some Color

When we first painted our walls this summer, our goal was to get a neutral color up and paint other colors later. Now it is later. We painted the wall behind Lily's room. Here it is!!

Hiking in our "backyard"

We took advantage of the first day of the year by hiking the many miles of forest service access roads in our area. The dogs and humans enjoyed getting some sun and avoiding the wind in the trees.

Basement Organized

We decided to clean up the basement. Since October, it was a disaster!!!!
Here are a few before and after pictures.

Stairs Finished

I finally finished the trim on the stairs. The next goal is to add a glass door at the top to match the other sides.

BATH TIME!!!!!!

Yea bath-time!!











Lily didn't like the bath much early on. She seems to enjoy it, well, at least tolerates it long enough for us to wash off the baby funk.






Nikita is watching Lily take a bath while waiting for her turn :)











It is amazing the development that happens over such a short period of time. Lily has figured out that her hands can be used to bring toys to her mouth and make noise. Here she is practicing her new skills by eating the duck.

Yummy, food I can actually eat! I can hold my bottle all by myself now!