Breckenridge

He slept the entire time we were there!

Family

Jaxon and Aunt Nina
Mom and Alena
Cassandra(sister), Jaxon, Alena, and Mom
He learned to make faces and loved doing it!

Jaxon & Uncle Michael

My sister could only stay in Frisco for the weekend because she had to go back to work, but we had the baby when she was gone. During the time Casey was gone, Jaxon got real use to being with Grandma, Nina, and Uncle Michael. Michael and Jaxon have had fun building forts, hiding from the bad witch (from snow White), and generally having fun being boys.
I just had to write about one of the many hilarious lines that Jaxon said today. Michael was messing with a straw and some pop, which seemed to fascinate Jaxon. Jaxon turned to me and said, "Nina, Michael be funny", and kept laughing. We have really enjoyed the time we have gotten to spend with him.

Frisco/Lake Dillon/Breckenridge

Staying in Frisco for the week at mom's condo. It has a wonderful view of Lake Dillon.

Frisco/Lake Dillon/Breckenridge

My Mommy is here!

I picked my mom up from the airport early this morning and she is staying with us for over a week.

My mom and I had afternoon tea at this cute little tea house and then she needed to rest.


On Friday, we wanted to take mom to Boulder. So here she is with Michael at The Med ( a great tapas place, and good sangria). They have such a cute outdoor patio area. After touring we enjoyed the Boulder Outdoor Cinema by watching a movie under the stars.

The Not-Camping/Camping Trip-Glenwood Springs

Tent that was slept in only for a few hours, before tear-down

Hanging Lake

Let me explain, Michael and I were going to do a huge camping/hiking extravaganza weekend with the hiking group that we have joined. We left out on Friday early so that we could possibly beat some of the traffic into the mountains and it was also a couple hour drive. Before we had left though, there had been talk that people were not going to be going out because there was going to be snow in the mountains. We went anyway. We ran into a bunch of rain and some sleet, but as soon as we got almost into Glenwood Springs, it was sunny and beautiful.
We got into the campground a little late, and struggled a bit to get the tent up before the sun went down but we had something that worked. The campground was in a beautiful part of Redstone along the Crystal River.
And then the craziness began.....we played some cards in the tent by lantern and started to go to sleep. We started to see lightening....now I don't know about you....but we have heard how dangerous lightening is in the mountains....and here we were in a tent. Michael thought it would be smarter to make it the rest of the night in the car just in case....it RAINED ALL NIGHT and it was sooooooo cold out. We did not sleep at all, every time the ran would let up a little, we would see the lightening then hear the very loud thunder. It would feel like morning had to be soon, and then I would look at the clock and not even an hour went by. The sunrise didn't come soon enough.
We made it through the night and hit a coffee shop as soon as we could. We were able to check email and discovered that the whole trip was cancelled due to how bad the snow was hitting the mountains and the group was not going to drive due to the many accidents and predictions for mudslides.
We could not travel back home due to the weather so explored town on our own and had a great time.

I have an Interview!

After almost three months of being unemployed, I have an interview tomorrow! I sent out my resume on Weds, the agency called me on Friday, and set up an interview on Monday. This has been my first telephone call in three months regarding the many, and I mean Many, resumes I have submitted. Wish me luck.

In other related updates, I have applied to the State of CO for my social work license and finally got confirmation that I can register to take the Social Work board/licensing exam. I have been struggling a bit trying to figure out the differences between Colorado and Michigan laws. They are very different as far as licensing. I had to take a jurisprudence exam and send that into the State along with a hefty fee to register the paperwork. Next step is to study my little heart out for this very lengthy and expensive exam. After all this, I will be a LSW and begin working on my post-graduate work. It takes approximately two years to become fully licensed as an clinical social worker. Aghhhhh...it continues. But it feels good to finally get to the next step.

14er Pictures

Trailhead: VERY early in the morning
This is the start of the trail with the peaks off in the distance

View of the hike to Torrey's Peak from Gray's. Michael climbed that!!! ( Do you see the snow? This was Sunday)

This is the view of Gray's Peak from Torrey's. I made it to the top of that. So awesome! (click on the picture, you can see the people on top)

Almost there! This is when Michael found me and provided the encouragement I needed to get there.
Michael on top of Torrey's Peak. The man from MI made it to the top and the people who have lived in CO their whole lives didn't even make...I am so proud of him!

Gray's & Torrey's Peak-Our 1st 14ers

A 14er: a summit that has an altitude over 14,000 feet
For more info:www.14ers.com

We started the day at 3AM. We needed to meet a carpool south of us by 4. Since the road to the trail head was insurmountable(by anything other than an SUV, hummer, or car with great clearance) we hitched a ride up the 3 miles in the back of a pick-up. Thank-goodness, because the trail was long enough, and we were exhausted. The hike looked so innocent from the beginning, but after 5 1/2-6 hours (about noon), I reached the summit of Gray's Peak(14,270'). I almost quit, after several times of being completely sick due to the altitude. But, the top looked sooo close and I knew that I would be kicking myself if I didn't make it. The group actually took off because I was convinced that I could not make it. After sitting for close to an hour, I regained my energy and started again on my own. As I almost reached the top, I saw Michael running down the peak to me. I burst out in tears. I was so happy that I could summit the peak with him. It was mentally and physically draining.

Michael on the other hand, was way ahead of the group because he is a fast-walker. By the time I saw him, he had already climbed Torrey's Peak(14,267'), took the saddle back down to cross over to Gray's and then walked back up with me.
It was an unbelievable experience.

Hiking Info:

Via Grays Peak Trail
Difficulty:	Class 1
Trailhead:	Grays Peak
Trailhead Elev.:	11,280 feet
Elevation Gain:	3,000 feet
Trip Length:	8 miles

Location:On the Continental Divide in the Front range. Interstate 70 is only 4 miles to the north. Grays Peak is the highest peak on the Continental Divide - in the United States.