Cross-country skiing girls' weekend

This past weekend I went on a girls' trip to a place near Encampment, Wyoming with my friend Dani, her mom, and her mom's friend. It was a lot of fun! The scenery was gorgeous and cross-country skiing wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but it was still a fantastic workout! We skied for a couple of hours at a place on the way, snowshoed when we got to the awesome bed and breakfast, and then skied on the way back the next day. It was a whirlwind, but it was really nice to get out and see part of this beautiful country. The first pic is a view from our room - stark difference from the Palm Springs view! The lady in the bottom picture in yellow is the owner of the B&B. She's 70 but kicked all of our butts showshoeing. More pictures are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/amy.e.richards.

Escape from snow

Last week I went to Palm Springs for a fuel cell conference. Check out the view from my hotel room!

T-Bone the Toyota 4-Runner

On Saturday, November 14, Travis and I went out to look for a new car. Old Avie (the Avalon) has seen better days and is acting a little too tired to get me through another Colorado winter. Travis did a great job researching and we had decided that a 4 wheel drive Toyota 4Runner was the best choice for us, our dog, and our hobbies. There were a few we had found online that looked like great cars for us, and we went to see our favorite first. Of course when we saw it and test drove it we were ready to buy it. Travis had given me a pep talk on the way to the dealership so I knew not to show that I liked it at all. I only pointed out the negatives. We went inside to talk money, which I left to Travis. Bargaining was so not a fun process, but Travis did a great job in talking the guy down! I'm glad it wasn't me; I would have been sweet talked into spending more. After a full day of bargaining, waiting, and signing, we drove off the lot with our 2006 4Runner! We initiated it the next day by taking our friends skiing with us to Copper Mountain (picture shown). It has since been appropriately named "T-Bone".

Wyatt and Arty's New Cousin

Our friends Dani and Jerad just got a Malamut puppy to add to their family. Here name is Ace, and she's adorable!! Last week Wyatt went over to play with her and her older brother Tucker. Ace was definitely not sure about this huge dog at first, but after awhile he got the picture and started playing a little more gentle with her. They're pals now.

Halloween!

This year we co-hosted a Halloween party with our good friends Berkeley, Jay, Dani, and Jerad. It was supposed to be at our house but was moved to Jay & Berkeley's due to the massive amount of sloppy snow in our backyard. We had a couple of rough weeks dealing with illnesses and traveling before that, too, so it was a blessing! Travis and I decided to be Dorothy and Scarecrow. The Dorothy costume was borrowed from my sister Lauren and Travis made his costume all by himself (with the exception of the hat, which I sewed). There were some great costumes at the party. A big group of our friends came as Muppets - with amazing costumes. We also had a couple of Oompa Loompas and Max and The Wild Thing. It was a very successful and fun night.

Snow days!

Last week a record-setting snowstorm for Denver in October dumped somewhere around a foot and a half in the metro area. It was crazy! Travis and I both had a day and a half off. Wyatt definitely enjoyed the extra play time.