Suzy

My parents had to put their dog, Suzy, to sleep today.  She was just over 17 years old.

I remember playing with her as a puppy.  She liked to play tug of war with her rope while moving back and forth.  If you put your hand on the ground as a tummy-tickling obstacle, she'd jump over your hand while still holding the rope in her mouth! 

Suzy loved people.  I've never met a dog that felt as comfortable sitting with people as she did.  She also trusted she wouldn't be dropped, which allowed me to do Circle of Life jokes with her whenever I saw her!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from over the years:

Suzy in the kitchen (her favorite place!)

Me, Suzy, and Emy

Holding Tasha and Suzy at the dog grooming place

Jackson and Suzy at Christmas

Suzy after waking up from a nap

Suzy and Emy from Christmas 2012

Bye Suz.

Colorado Springs

On Saturday, May 4th, I drove down to Colorado Springs to visit Terri and Mike for the day.  We went to the Cave of the Winds, west of the city.

The cave was located up the side of a mountain, which gave us a good view of the town of Manitou Springs:

Emy

I got the sad news over the weekend that my parents had to put their dog, Emy, to sleep.  Emy was so named because they got her when they were visiting Atlanta for my graduation from Emory.  Here are some of my favorite pictures of her:

We went on many long walks with Emy.  She always liked it when I sprinted for home, even though she had no problems keeping up!  She also helped my train for the Bolder Boulder when I ran it a few years ago.  She was diagnosed with cancer last August, but luckily I was able to see her over Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Bye Emser!

The last two months

It's been awhile since my last blog!

Back in July (when it was still hot), this bunny seemed content lying in the shade:

In August, Terri came to visit.  We spent some time up at Horsetooth Reservoir.

The water level was so low, the boat ramp didn't even reach all the way to the water!

On August 25th, the USA Pro Challenge came to Boulder.  That's the bike race I volunteered for last year.  This year, Harald and I first went up to Peak to Peak highway to watch the race go by.

Then we drove down Left Hand Canyon and watched the race up Lee Hill.  We barely made it on TV.  Watch closely as they go from the leader graphic back to live action -- that's me in the white shirt, and Harald in the orange hat!

Here is a freeze frame from my TV:

I was busy taking what turned out to be a lousy picture:

But I was ready for the peloton as they came by!

On Labor Day, Harald, Tara, and I went for a hike to Arapahoe Pass.  This is Caribou Lake as you look down from the pass:

Unlike the last time I was there, this time there was no snow, so we were able to hike over to the pass in the middle left of the above picture.  From there, we could see some mountains to the west.

Zooming in and examining Google Earth, I discovered that the two tallest peaks on the horizon were Mt. Powell and Eagles Nest, two mountains north of Vail.

Heading back to Arapahoe Pass, we had a nice view of Apache (left) and Navajo (right) peaks:

Parents' Visit

My parents visited me over the Columbus Day weekend. They were in Albuquerque for the hot air balloon festival, and stopped by Boulder on their way home.

Now I'll try to show pictures from both my phone and my camera (the iPhone picture doesn't size properly, so you have to click on it to see the whole thing). My Dad and I went golfing on Monday:

Here's my Mom, working on her computer:


She kicked off my Halloween decorations by buying me this funny little pumpkin!

Jackson

I got the sad news yesterday that Terri's dog, Jackson, died after being hit by a car. He ran away from my sister's apartment the previous day when some maintenance personnel accidentally let him escape while my sister was at work.

I saw Jackson mostly on Skype the last few years, but his ears would always perk up every time my sister would mention "Uncle Jeff". Here are some of my favorite Jackson pictures from the times I spent with him.

This one I blogged about before, when my family was visiting me. Some of the dogs were washed at a do-it-yourself place in Longmont.





Here I am playing with Jackson around Christmas 2008:





Terri took this really nice picture of him:



Your Uncle Jeff is going to miss you!

A fun week!

First, a picture of the nearly full moon rising from a week ago.


On Monday, Terri came to visit me. She had an interview Tuesday morning (fingers crossed!). Tuesday night, she and her friend Angie joined Tara and me at trivia.


Thursday night, Terri, Angie, and I went to the Nuggets-Celtics game. Before the game, we compared our wingspans to that of Chris Andersen:



Here we are sitting in the stands:


And here is Chris Andersen at the free throw line:


It was an exciting game. The "new look" Nuggets beat the Celtics!

Friday, I went out to a birthday lunch with my coworkers. Terri was able to join me before heading off to the airport.

Saturday, I went for coffee in downtown Louisville with Sara and Rich. I took pictures of wildlife on my walk home:



Saturday evening, I went over to Harald's for Wurstfest, where we ground, stuffed, then grilled our own sausages. It also served as a birthday party, for which Tara made a delicious cake (chocolate stout cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate/peanut butter ganache drizzle). I took home the leftover cake, and had a piece (OK, two) tonight!

Highlights From Terri's Camera

A kiwi in Franz Joseph:


Great white herons:


A flying spoonbill:


My Dad took this picture of Terri and me luging in Queenstown:


The yellow-eyed penguin at Curio Bay:


Close-up:


The family at the Florence Hill lookout:


Yellow-eyed penguins swimming ashore at Roaring Bay:


The baby blue penguin at Pilot Beach:


The family along the Tunnel Beach walk (it was windy that day!):


And finally, an albatross:


Thanks Terri!