The Elk near our home

A buck jumping over the fence between public space and private farm land (our neighbors).

We got a lot of snow and as the day turned to night it was pretty cold... but we were excited to see the Elk!

One of the bucks (there were at least 12) leading the does along.

The large herd all clustered together for warmth.

John, Truen, and I went to see the Elk last night. John has seen them while riding his bike home from work. There is a herd of over 100 Elk currently in the area, it is amazing to see them and hear them bugle! What beautiful (and very large) creatures. We have about a foot and a half of snow!

A 15 Year Old Dream Comes True

Lift off we fly away in a hot air ballloon!
John and Ruth... one year of marriage and he has already made some many of my dreams comes true!
Our shadow as we leave this earth...

Balloon and the mountains!

For the past 15 years I have wanted to fly in a hot air balloon, it was one of my life dreams you could say. Well that dream came true this morning when John surprised me with an anniversary gift to go on a hot air balloon ride! Wow! what fun... you can see so far! We saw the skyscrapers of Denver, the Rocky Mountains, even the faint ridges of Wyoming and the clouds over Kansas! It was a cool, clear, crisp morning with a slight breeze. Beautiful for ballooning! What a wonderful experience and a big heart bursting thank you to John, he makes so many of my dreams come true!

Romance in the aire

Yesterday was John and my 1st wedding anniversary! Wow! A year has gone by so quickly and a lot has happened and we feel so blessed! God is good! And I have the most wonderful husband- he is "totally awesome"!

The winter wonderland we hiked about a 40 minute drive from our home. No fall colors... but it felt like we were in Narnia!

Val in the midst of the winter-wonderland!

The bison from our neighbor's farm!

Valerie came to visit John and I in Colorado this past weekend. It was so much fun having her stay with us and she was a BIG HELP too! She milked goats, fed pigs, made grilled cheese, filled the milk order and we went on a winter-land hike! We also had an impromptu dinner, drum & song secession and a bible study on the trampoline! Good friends make life full of love and laughter. Besides dropping her off at the airport late and the surprise 4 inches of snow that morning it was a perfect visit!

The hand off to the last leg of the 50 mile race... I so desperately wanted to be done!
Running a race when you have not ran for a month... is painful.


These photos are from the Tussey Mt. Back 50 mile ultra/relay run. I was part of the Penn State Crop and Soil Science 7 person team, Unusual Suspects. We ran well 6th in our category with a time under 7 hours :)

I had a great visit out to PA, seeing family and friends and sharing my experience in Zambia with them. It was great to celebrate early birthdays with Dad and Stephen, see the PSCGers and UMCers! I have such wonderful memories and know such wonderful folks in PA! Love ya all so much!