Playing catch-up

I've been very slackish with postings lately... my apologies to all the Shae fans out there!

First, though, non-Shae photos. I've decided to make a photo gallery in our stairwell. It will be a work in progress over time, but this is the start.

For the moment, Shae's rocking pony is still our baby gate blocking the stairs -- she's not entirely comfortable with it quite yet (notice her eyeballing him from across the room), so he keeps her from climbing the stairs when she doesn't have assistance to do so.

...that scenario is soon to change, though.

What's better on a Sunday morning than reading on the sofa with Dad?!

...well a snack while reading is always nice...

...yum! (eew.)

Up close and personal.

Mom and Dad invited us to join them for a morning snowshoe trek through the foothills outside of Boulder. We ended up hiking rather than snowshoeing, but it wasn't any less fun!

Turkey and Telluride (Separately)

First: turkey. Clearly having a *wonderful* time playing at the playground. Clearly. :-/
Shae's new favorite place to lay down and chillax. Weirdo...

Hey, did you know you can see reflections in this thing? Cool!

Then: Telluride. My 24-hour trip turned into a 72-hour trip full of chaos and stress, but at the end of the day I was stranded in Telluride... so I guess things can always be worse. Here's looking down into the mountain village from the gondola -- please note the little plateau/mesa to the left of the gondola cables at the "end" of this picture... then note the little strip of asphalt on that little plateau/mesa... yeah, that's the airport. Terrifying!

Even on our 24-hour plan, we had always intended to ski the morning before we caught our 4:00 flight home. The conditions were pretty great -- a little overcast, but warm. ("Warm" being a relative term for skiers -- it was in the mid-30s.)

The clouds kept decending then lifting again, so some perspective of the mountains gets lost. This is looking down into Revelation Bowl -- the mountains beyond it are seriously incredible.

On day 3 (when I should have been safely home, enjoying quality time with my daughter), the sun came out and it was a perfect day. A brief discussion arose questioning whether we should just go ahead and make it a 4-day trip and have another ski day with **perfect** conditions... but ultimately the thought of our own beds and a change of clothes (I had only the one set of clothing that I wore on the flight out...) won. Beautiful, though.

From the plane window -- goodbye, Telluride! (You might have to take my word for this one, but the ski resort is directly off the tip of the airplane wing in this picture.)

Busy, busy, busy

Doing some outdoor playing in the afternoon sunshine.
Walk, walk, walk. Walk, walk, walk!

Man, walking up hills is really hard! Thanks for the assistance, Dad.

Thinking about things.

Sharing thoughts.

Really, Mom? Really?

Oh, okay. Yeah, I see your point.

Keeping up with Shae-on-the-go is no easy task!

Coolest toy (besides Zoey)? Rocks!

Mmmm... milk!

At the Stock Show. Gramps, the cows are thataway -- let's go!

No, seriously, Grams... the cows are over there!

Petting zoo! Surprisingly Shae was not even slightly afraid of all the critters in the area -- mostly, we think, because the goats are very similar in size and shape to Zoey...

Goat!

Feeding the goat -- just like feeding Zoey during dinnertime!

Llama!

Whoa. The critters are everywhere...

Yeah, Mama, the stock show was awesome. Thanks for taking me!

What happens when Shae eats mac 'n cheese, and then decides to run her hands through her hair. (Also proof that she actually does have hair.)

She's really going to be pleased about these shots in 10-15 years, isn't she?

Family photoshoot

Neither Jody or I completely love any of the family photos (although the first one is my favorite), but at least we can now say that we have one! Shae adamantly refused to smile for any of the photos taken of her, despite the loony photographer's best efforts. They're still adorable (bias!), but we'll have to chalk it up to story fodder for her later years.

Some solo kiddo shots. Such a stinker.

Alright, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.