Rachel's Visit

My good friend from Oregon, Rachel, was able to come for a visit this past week. Lori and I drove down to DIA to pick Rachel up last Wednesday. We were planning some girl time in Fort Collins on the way back, but I got a phone call from Sam that he was in the ER with food stuck in his throat and needed surgery to remove it. Needless to say I bee-lined it up to Laramie as quick as I safely could. After the surgeon came in and talked with Sam, he came back and said that there was another surgery to be done before Sam so we'd have to wait a bit. Sam was pretty uncomfortable, but managing, so Rachel, Lori, and I headed down to the cafeteria for a quick dinner. While eating, Sam called me and said that the food dislodged on its own and he could go home! God is always at work in our lives- I'm glad that other surgery had Sam wait a little longer! Sam still has to have a esophageal stretching procedure done at some point, but at least not in the ER.
Sam headed north to a friend's grandparent's ranch in Guernsy to try his hand at hunting for the first time. The weather was supposed to be a bit on the cold side with some snow flurries on Saturday. on Thursday, Rachel, Lori, and I headed out for some autumn sightseeing on the scenic loop through the Snowy Mountains. We stopped for lunch at the Bear Tree Cafe in Centennial (yum!) and then headed up the highway, stopping a few times along the way to enjoy the scenery. We saw quite a few deer and even a couple of wild turkeys on the other side of the mountains and Rachel got some good pictures. We wound our way through the hills and took a break in Woods Landing to load up on some snacks for the rest of the drive and arrived home in the late afternoon.

"I'll stay in here where its warm, Mama"

Rachel loves the fall colors- too bad the trees had already lost some of their leaves.

We passed by some ambling angus on our trek up a side road. The mamas were a little leery of us.

Chilly snowscape
Lori wasn't too sure of the snow or her footing on the icy path, but she humored me for a quick snapshot.

On Friday evening the weather took on an ominous shade, and soon we had a decent little blizzard. The next morning we had our own winter wonderland in our yard and the nearby park.
Sam said they had quite a bit of snow at the ranch as well. He didn't come across any bucks on Friday, and they weren't allowed to hunt does in that area (which, of course, he saw plenty of). He called be Saturday afternoon to see how things were going, and he patiently visited with me about the bathroom project Rachel and I were busy on. We wound up the conversation and before we said good by I casually asked if he got a deer- Yep! He shot a buck that morning and would be bringing it home to hang in our garage the next day. It will be great to have venison this winter. Mmm... stew, chili, roast... I think I need to eat lunch soon!

Sam's first hunter's picture :)

Rachel and I had a great weekend together and spent time relaxing, catching up, playing the Indiana Jones Lego Playstation game, working on the bathroom wall cabinet, and chasing Lori.
On Monday we all loaded up in the Honda and headed to Cheyenne to go shopping. The drive wasn't too bad until we got to the other side of the summit and we descended into the thick blanket of fog covering Cheyenne. The fog cleared and we had a pleasant trip home.
Rachel, Lori, and I headed out at 4:00am on Tuesday morning in order to get Rachel to the airport by 6:30am. The mountains between here and Fort Collins were really foggy, but the Lord protected us and got us safely to Denver. It's always hard to say goodbye, but I love the times I get to spend with my family and friends.

Lori was trying so hard to put on my shoes backwards- I turned them around and she was quite pleased!

It's been a looong time since I've done any flower arranging. I picked up a few things from Hobby Lobby on Monday and here's the result!