Gail & Kel Visit, Halloween and more...

Sorry for the delay in updates. We've been traveling a lot lately and getting ready for the holidays. So here is a briefing of what we have been up to in October and November.

Gail and Kelly came out to Colorado the weekend of October 24th. Tracy picked them up at the airport on Friday. We stopped for lunch and shopping in Denver at the 16th Street Mall and then at Buffalo Bills Grave. Friday night, Stan got home. Saturday we drove to Aspen for the day. We walked around the farmers market, ate lunch with Tracy and Stan's friends, Ken, Stacy, Phillip and Emily, visited the John Denver Memorial Park and then drove back to Dillon, by way of Independence Pass (a first for all of us). The temperature started dropping and the clouds were rolling in as we were leaving. Saturday night...a big snow storm hit Summit County. The storm continued through the night and into Sunday. That didn't stop Stan, Kel and Mark from shreddin' it up at ABasin, while Gail and Tracy watched patiently from the lodge. That afternoon Gail, Kel and Tracy hit the outlets!!

Monday was a day in Boulder, CO. While Kel visited the University of Colorado, Boulder Business School, Gail and Tracy met up with Terri for shopping and lunch. We then dropped Kel off at the airport and then headed back up to Dillon. Tuesday was spent shopping the outlets and walking around Breckenridge. Wednesday Gail and Terri dropped Tracy off at the airport.

Tracy flew home in October for the VT/BC game on Thursday night. It poured down rain throughout the game and though VT actually played pretty well during the 1st 3 quarters...they were able to lose it in the 4th in the last 4 minutes and #2 BC took over, got 2 TD's and won. Oh well.

Tracy and Stan then headed to Roanoke Friday to meet up with Lois, Lisa, Ashlynne, Morganne and Max. Saturday we went to a pumpkin farm to pick out pumpkins, visit the petting zoo and go on a hayride. Pictures are below.

Sunday we drove back to NOVA and met up with Tom, Gail, Marcy, Stuart, Lily, Maurice and Phyliss to carve pumpkins and celebrate Stuart's 32nd bday!!

Tracy headed back to Colorado on Monday. During the week, Tracy and Harriett took the dogs on a hike and ran into a tree climbing porcupine (pix below). Halloween brought ZERO trick or treaters to the house:( Even though we did have 2 huge bags of candy ready for them. Rumor has it, because it's a resort town...it's a little tough to trick or treat in the neighborhoods, so Frisco, Silverthorne and Breckenridge host town parties. The kids trick or treat at the businesses and then get to enjoy games, etc. I'll try and remember this next year...but for now...we are stuck eating all the candy...life is so tough.

Stan came into town for the weekend and we took Frisco on a nice hike in Wildernest. Started off the hike on dirt, then a little snow...then a whole lot of snow!

Tracy flew back the second weekend of November for the VT/FSU game in Blacksburg. The Hokies were able to finally pull out a WIN against those darn Seminoles!! Sunday night was dinner at Tom and Gail's, with Marcy, Lily and YG (we celebrated YG's bday!!).

Tracy flew back to Colorado on Monday to get the house in order for Thanksgiving week rentors.

Enjoy the pix!!

Kel & Gail at Buffalo Bills Grave.

Stan & Tracy on the way home from Aspen.

The tree climbing porcupine.


Stan & Max hanging out.

Ashlynne & Morganne working up the courage to pet the goats.

Stan & the itty bitty baby piggy.

Daddy pig.

HAAAYYride.

kinda look alike.

Tom, Marcy & her belly hard at work.

Stuart's work of art.

family portrait

What's to Come in April 2008

The big news in the Ward household is that Tracy is pregnant. We heard the heartbeat on Friday, Oct 5th (Stan was in town too), so it's 100% confirmed. Due date is April 18th!!

Other news...we're back in Colorado. The weather is turning, it's definitely Fall out here. The aspen trees have changed from green to yellow, the temp is dropping down to the 20's at night. It snowed Saturday night and all day Sunday. Abasin opened on Thursday. Stan went for a few runs on Sunday and Monday. There is supposed to be more snow this week too!

Our new hot tub was delivered successfully last week, so we're ready for lots of visitors, especially since Tracy cannot enjoy the tub until after the baby comes and Stan needs some snowboard/ski buddies.

Enjoy the pix...

Stan enjoying the new hot tub!!

Snowy Saturday.

Stan at Abasin on Monday.

The crowd at Abasin on Monday.

The one run open at Abasin.

View from Abasin.

Oktoberfest & Wedding Bells in Konstanz

We flew to Munich on Wednesday and arrived Thursday morning. We checked into the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Munich, passed out for a couple hours, then hit the town. Visiting old town Munich, Marienplatz, the famous tourist brewhouse, Hofbrauhaus and Augustinerkeller.

Friday we jumped on the Die Bahn (the train) and headed to Konstanz for Chrissy's wedding. Friday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at a Bavarian brewhouse serving, what else, meat, potatoes and beer. Chrissy and Andrew were kind enough to let us crash at their new apt right in the heart of Konstanz. We woke Saturday to the hustle and bustle of wedding preparation!!

The wedding was in a beautiful, old cathedral in the heart of Konstanz. The front of the church was filled with Chrissy and Andrew's friends and family...the back of the church was complete with curious tourists and locals. After the wedding, we celebrated with a German tradition of champagne in the garden, then walked to the reception, at a lakeside bed and breakfast. The food was great, there were more German traditions...each guest filled out a postcard with a "gift" to the bride and groom. The cards are then attached to a balloon and then all balloons are released, hoping to be found by someone and mailed back to the bride and groom. Usually 5-10% are returned...

Sunday morning we all woke a little late and headed to the bed and breakfast for a post wedding brunch. The we were back to Munich via Die Bahn. Monday, after trying to check out a closed Dachau (concentration camp), we toured Schloss Nymphenburg (Ludwig's summer playground built to honor the birth of his son), then headed to Oktoberfest. It a HUGE festival...14 brewhouse tents, food tents, beer gardens, and an amusement park. We hit up the log ride and the ferris wheel...yea, we're wild.

Tuesday was back to VA! Enjoy the pix...

Tracy and bride-to-be Chrissy in the church for rehearsal.

The newlyweds!

Lake Constance (the reception is just across the water all the way to the right)

Mirror image in a summer home located in Schloss Nymphenburg

Stan hanging out at the entrance of Oktoberfest.

Stan and 4000 of his closest friends.

View of Oktoberfest from the ferris wheel.

The entrance to the Lowenbrau tent.

We're in VA

OK...we're finally updating our blog!

We've been hanging in VA since Labor Day weekend. Tracy and Frisco drove to VA from CO and we've been keeping ourselves busy, Stan working, Tracy visiting with friends & fam and Frisco being completely flustered.

We headed down to Blacksburg for the first VT game vs ECU Labor Day weekend Saturday. We won. Sunday & Tuesday Stan had "gigs" in VA. The following weekend we flew down to Baton Rouge for the LSU game, which we won't discuss. This past weekend we went back down to Blacksburg to watch the Hokies beat Ohio. Then headed to Lake Gaston after the game to meet up with Tracy's parents, Marcy, Stuart & Lily, Lois and Stan's sister Lisa, Dave, Ashlynne, Morganne and Max. Lots of fun was had, even in the cooler weather.

Wednesday we leave for Germany for Tracy's friend, Chrissy's wedding and the start of Oktoberfest. Prost!

Enjoy the pix...

SML and the Dan Bradfords

Lily the gymnast

The LSU tailgate crew

Dave and Ashlynne seadooing

Ashlynne, Lily & Morganne

Hang on Lois!

Tom & Lily going FAST!

Stan & Morganne

Stan & Lily

Trees Glorious Trees

Our new trees were planted on Thursday!! We got 5 new trees to replace the 9 we had to have cut down because of the beetle kill. 3 in the front yard, 1 in the gravel driveway and 1 in the backyard. Hopefully in a couple years we won't be able to see our neighbors house...like the good ol days of last year.

What else? We went to Aspen (well really Basalt which is a suburb of Aspen) to celebrate our friend Ken & Stacy's wedding. They were married in Fiji on May 5th. The party was at their brand new home which they designed and built (Ken is an architect).

Monday we went on a bike ride start/finish from Frisco Marina. The trail was a skinny, dirt/rocky/rooted trail on the edge of Lake Dillon. At times, we were very close to sliding off the cliff...as you will see below.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the last few days of Summer!!

Limber Pine in the backyard.

Our friend's Geoff & Sarah's 6 month old, Kaelin, keeping Frisco entertained

Stan with the bride (Stacy)

Tracy with the bride
A new fun filled game...all you need is a grocery bag. Basically you have to bend over on 1 foot and pick up the bag in your mouth. As the game goes on, the bag gets torn, so it's shorter and shorter and you have to bend farther and farther.

Stan was good...Tracy, not so much

Mountain Bike Diva Tracy with Dillon in the background

Shredder Stan with Buffalo Mountain in the background

"Help me!!"

Crested Butte

Stan flew in Thursday for a long weekend of camping in Crested Butte. We picked up Kristi in Buena Vista on Friday drove through Crested Butte and Gothic (an old ghost town, turned biological laboratory town) to Emerald Lake on some very sketchy cliffhanging roads. We set up camp and waited by the fire pit, located lakeside, for the rest of the crew (Makis and Sarah). 10:30ish pm the other 2 arrived on foot with headlamps. They had gotten a flat about 10 min (walking) back and when the car was jacked up it decided to roll backwards and the jack broke. Stan and Makis walked back with our jack, fixed the tire and made it to the campsite within an hour. Needless to say, Sunday, on our way out of town, Makis and Sarah were amazed to find they had broken down right before the road narrows and drops straight down on one side. Pretty sketchy drive.

Stan woke early to try and catch some fish...and tried all day to no avail. After Stan & Tracy's famous camping eggs and sausage breakfast, we went kayaking and hiking. It then decided to rain on and off the rest of the evening. Not to worry, we did get our smores in. We headed back to Summit on Sunday.

Arrived in Dillon and noticed a few patches of snow on the ground. Winter already!!

Panaramic View of Emerald Lake.

Stan & Frisco up early trying to catch breakfast.

Kristi using Frisco as an ottoman.

Sarah & Stan kayak while Frisco gets ready to fly.

The famous Maroon Bells in the background.

The camping crew: Frisco, Kristi, Dallas, Stan, Sarah and Makis.

Panoramic view of our hike.