Cheesman Canyon in February

Having grandma in town offered Kate and I an opportunity to get out and enjoy the outdoors on a warm February day. Now fly fishing can be tough this time of year in Colorado. Most of the rivers within easy reach of Denver are iced over with the exception of the few tail waters here in the area. Even then most are only open for the first mile or two below the dam. The flows are at their winter low and the water is crystal clear. The only hatches of any consequence are midges and then they are only out for about 3 hours. Needles to say fishing was going to be tough. One of the places I have been wanting to take Kate to was Cheesman Canyon which is only about an hour form our house and offers a nice little hike in up the Gill trail, "fishable" water this time of year and some spectacular Colorado scenery. I say "fishable" because while yes one can go fish it... this is one of the most technical fisheries in the state. Close to Denver and known for big trout... it gets pounded relentlessly.











We decided we would try to fish a little but this was mostly going to be a hiking and photo day since we knew the fishing was going to be pretty tough - and it was. Fortunately we were able to get some great shots to share and we enjoyed an afternoon together taking our rods for a walk in a beautiful place. Here are some of the great pictures we were able to get! I hope you enjoy them!

Grandma is here!

As one can imagine, living 1300 miles from your first, and thus far, only granddaughter is tough especially when your granddaughter is as cute as little Ellie! So Grandma Smits packed it up and headed west for a long weekend with the princess.

















Now those of you who know Grandma Smits will not be surprised to find out that while she was in town she took a few pictures worth sharing - this particular sequence is hysterical! Now that Elizabeth is eating solid food (particularly finger foods), she and Gregario have a special bond and he is never very far away. Occasionally they put on quite a show... Fortunately this time Grandma was there to capture it all - i have a feeling these may be making a reappearance a ways down the road - say at her Rehearsal Dinner :-)

On the Move

Everyday has its new surprises! Now Ellie is crawling, pulling herself up and standing using anything and everything in reach, eating solids, and even sleeping through the night! It is absolutely incredible watching her grow and amazing how fast she is doing it!

photography fun

So as some of you may know, we decided to get a new digital SLR camera this year. If ever you wanted to find an artistic outlet that you could jump into and have rewarding results right off the bat without a significant investment in time and yet have the ability to spend a lifetime mastering... photography might be it. This being said, Kate and I have a lot to learn. When Elizabeth was born we hired an amazing photographer to come over and take some pictures of Elizabeth the day we brought her home (Here are some of the photos of Elizabeth on Traci's Blog) and after seeing her results we were sold. Of course you will see that we have some learning to do before we can measure up to Traci's talent but we are having a blast learning.
These pictures were taken by Kate who spent some time playing with the camera and Ellie while I was on a business trip. Great Job Kate!

Ellie was so cute when I was taking these pictures. As you can see, she LOVES her pacifier. However, she prefers to have one in her mouth and one in each hand if possible! When I put her to sleep in her crib, I strategically place at least four pacifiers around her head so that if she wakes up, there is always one available within arms reach. Elizabeth is also starting to crawl all over the place! She has not yet realized the power of getting around but if there is something that catches her eye, she is on the move to go get it!

Sporting Clays with a Corn Husker

One of the great things about Colorado is that on a Saturday in January one can head out and get a few hours of skiing in before the crowds clog up the lift lines and pack down the powder, and get back in time to shoot a round of sporting clays in the afternoon in just a long sleeve shirt! This of course assumes that you aren't married and don't have kids and have enough energy to get up early, drive into the mountains, get your skiing in, drive back, and then pack up all of your gear and head to the range. Since few, well actually none, of those assumptions apply to me you will understand why it took Kate and I the better part of the morning to get everything packed up, (including the dog) and carted over to Brighton Colorado just hang out with our friends Ben and Tiff and an opportunity for Ben and I to get one round of Clays in.
















Now Ben, a Nebraska Corn Husker, is rather interesting. This guy (30 years old) actually camped out in front of a Chik-fil-A restaurant for its grand opening on a January night here in Colorado for 52 free value meals. As I understand it, it got down to 5 degrees that night!

More on Chick-fil-A later....

We had a great time shooting - our scores won't be reported here to protect the innocent (the Corn Husker - don't tell him) but we had a great time none the less. Its just great being outdoors.

Here are a couple of interesting shots I got of the Corn Husker in action. In the first shot you can see the shell ejecting and the smoke coming out of the gun.



















This one you can still see the ejected shell a little further away now as well as the clay getting smoked - Nice Shot! The camera burst mode is fun stuff!




















So back to the Chick-fil-A....

Since Ben had 52 free value meals and we were in a hurry to get some range time in Ben decided we needed to stop for some get-n-go Chick-fil-A. Now I love Chick-fil-A just as much as any blue blooded american and at something like 900 calories in one chicken sandwich, fries and a Coke, who wouldn't. So after scarfing down my meal, a few hours shooting and hanging out with friends it was time to head home. After only about a mile down the road I knew something wasn't digesting well and asked Kate to drive the 35 minute drive home. I sat in the back with Ellie while Gregario rode shotgun. We were about 10 miles from home, Ellie was sound asleep and I was trying to sleep off my indigestion and thats when Kate heard two disturbing sounds in close succession. The first was me telling her to pull over NOW and the second was me projectile vomiting free Chick-fil-A all over the backseat. Apparently I scared the dog so much that he crawled under Kate's legs to hide while she was trying to bring the car to a stop on the side of the interstate. Unfortunately for the back seat it was about 30 seconds too late. You can imagine the rest from there...

Lesson: Think twice about a Corn Husker offering you free Chick-Fil-A

Catching Up

Here are some pictures that we have been meaning to post but as one can imagine we have had difficulty finding time to get them up. We hope you enjoy them!

Send us an e-mail if you would like a copy of the full size originals to print.

Chistmas Whirlwind

We decided to start a web page to keep you all up to date on our family events. We really hope that you have as much fun reading the stories as we are having creating the site. We had a wonderful Christmas this year in Traverse City Michigan and Palatine IL with our families but what a whirlwind trip as it was our first adventure, traveling with Elizabeth.

While it was exciting having Ellie's first Christmas, it was even more special for her to get to meet two of her three Great Grandparents.