Catching up over the past two months.

Home sweet home on the prairie of Colorado.  Judging from the condition of the lawn it looks as though its taking part in a forest reclamation project!  Sawyer's bedroom is top right, and my sister inlaw Carolyn is staying in the room next to him on the left.

Ahh, the beautiful backyard that is the canvas for my imagination.  Notice the exceptional workmanship of the fence.  The fence separates the capitalists dogs from the communist chickens.  Top left-master bath.  Top center- master bedroom.  Top right- loft that overlooks living area.  Bottom left- kitchen.  Bottom center- dining room.  Bottom right-living room with red couches and t.v.

View from front entryway.  Stairs on right that go up to loft and three bedrooms.  Fireplace separates front room from living room.  Doorway in center leads to downstairs bathroom and walk-in closet with "secret door" to crawl space.

Living Room

Sawyer getting ready to pull all his toys out.

Sawyer's first camping trip to the Rocky Mountains.

What a cute little guy.  Evidently Beaver Creek has some excellent trout fishing.  We however came up empty.  Now that I'm 28, my hands aren't quite as fast as they used to be.

Jagger, keeping an eye out for any bears that might decide to wander into our campsite.

The simple pleasures of doing absolutely nothing outdoors, aside from working on your sun burn.

We decided to go for a walk as a family to see what we could see.

Ah memories, he was just learning how to pull himself up on things back then.

I thought that I would take a quick snapshot of this homeless camp we came across down by the river.

This was an unauthorized photo of Tyler Buckley York's wife.

The big ol' Papa Bear and his cub.

I know that Sawyer is my son, because we both have the same great sense of style.  Even when we are in the middle of the forest where we won't run into a single soul, we still want to look good.  So be it, we're high maintinance.

No one, I mean no one, plays a dog dish with a plastic spoon like my son.

Upon returning home, Sawyer decided to tell me "thankyou" for the camping trip by immediately pooping all over my arm.  Cheryl was insistant on getting a picture of this episode, so I waited patiently covered in fecal matter as she ransacked the house in search of the camera.

Cheryl returning the favor and getting a picture of me as I slept.

I don't look like I'm happy to have been woken up.

Its probably because Tom Jacobson and I have just returned home from a three day back country hiking trip.  Easily oneof the most physically challenging undertakings of my life.  That is the last time I look at google earth and say, "Hey that looks like it would be a nice place to go hiking."

Sawyer is a really well behaved child.  When he isn't busy making a mess and destroying personal property, he eats people's shoes.

What kid doesn't like Kix?

Cheryl left the dining room for a minute while Sawyer was eating in his high chair, only to return and find that Houdini Jr. had riggled his way out, and was quite well pleased with himself.

Our niece Marge (left) and her friend holding our ducklings the day after we got them.

Our chickens were pretty darn ugly for awhile.  We'll just call it their akward phase.

Sawyer is about as much help in the garden as the ducks, but that will change in a few years.

Sawyer and I learning that carrot seeds are quite small.  Its more like planting grains of sand.

Maybe the cucumbers never grew because I let Sawyer plant them.

I have to hand it to him, he was a good little helper.

Who knows? Maybe one day he'll get paid to put on the Red Sox uniform.  Until then, Auntie will just have to keep him outfitted as he grows!

And Sawyer can't understand why our ducks always run when he comes near.

A Mother's Day picture.

At the Denver zoo for my birthday.  I'm attempting to feed a parrot, but evidently I wasn't the first person to feed him today.  He didn't want any part of my cup of nectar.

I'm so tired of feeling like I have to teach people how to act in public.  Let me go on record as saying, "It is not ok to pee on the elephants when you go to the zoo."  I know, it was a dumb joke.

Cheryl and I have found that if we allow Sawyer to forage and supplement his daily food intake it really helps out with the monthly food bill.

Our little man has four upper teeth that have come down at the same time.  Is it wrong that I think it looks a little disgusting?  I could never do what Cheryl does for work.  She recently had to do x rays on a guy that severed his entire leg during a skydiving accident.

The excitement of chasing squirrels.

You tell me, was he pumped to be at a Red Sox game on my birthday or what!

If babies grew as fast as ducks, I would miss Sawyer's first steps, his first day of kindergarten, and high school graduation, if I went out of town for a week.

Here comes trouble!