New Year's on the Western Slope

In 1988, my parents and good family friends bought this cabin together outside of Estes Park. It's rustic--no running water, an outhouse out back, really just one big room with a lean-to kitchen, an enclosed porch, and a loft. Since 1988 when we stuffed the cracks in the walls with newspaper for insulation, we've spent a LOT of Thanksgivings up there. Then all of the younger generation got married, had kids, and it just got a lot more complicated. Well this year we braved it again and had Thanksgiving at the Cabin. There were 15 people in that little cabin over Thanksgiving weekend. Fortunately there was some rotation so we weren't all staying there at once, and it turned out really well. Owen is generally a TERRIBLE sleeper when we travel, so I had been worried about the cramped quarters for about a month before going, but it was fun! He miraculously slept pretty well (could it be he's getting older?), and we had a great time. :) Here's all of the Keller half of the gathering.


I don't remember what we were making here. Brownies, maybe? Anyway, I let Owen lick the bowl for the first time, and he LOVED it.... as you can see from the evidence!

Here are a few pictures of fun playing in the back yard with the no-longer-raked-into-a-pile leaves. I love how the second picture makes it look like there's a ceiling of leaves over his head (we were throwing them on each other, much to Owen's delight.)




Ok, blogger is incredibly slow tonight, so I'll have to leave the update back in November. Check back soon for Christmas and New Years pictures!