Unit 66 - Camping/Scouting Trip

We went camping last week in Unit 66, where Mike and his dad will elk hunt in October. The kids had a great time rock climbing, and trying to kill squirrels and chipmunks with the throwing sticks Daddy found for them. (I know - we're a bloodthirsty bunch:) We camped at over 10,000 feet, and on Wednesday night watched the Perseid Meteor Shower while cuddled up around the campfire. It was truly awe-inspiring!

Moose at Cottonwood

While Mike and our friend Lance were scouting for mountain goat, they ran across this bull moose - which is a very big one for Colorado. (For a better view, just click on the picture:)

Cottonwood Lake in Colorado

 

This is a beautiful photo of Cottonwood Lake near where we camped earlier this week. We took a 3 day jaunt over here so Mike could scout for mountain goat. It's about a 4 hour drive from our home.

On Top of the World!

Here are a few pictures that Mike took on one of his scouting excursions near Mt. Princeton. He was hiking at about 13,000+ feet in search of the elusive mountain goat that he plans to hunt in September. Mike says that a person feels very close to God up there.

 

 

 

Ghost Town - St. Elmo, CO

 

Feeding the Chipmunks

While on our camping/scouting trip, we took an afternoon and visited St.Elmo - a ghost town which used to be a silver and gold mining town. There are hundreds of chipmunks and many hummingbirds now inhabiting the town. Feeding the chipmunks was the highlight of the kids' trip!

 

 

 

 

Katie and Hunter at South Cottonwood Creek

 

NY Vacation - Boldt Castle

We were able to have a wonderful visit with my family and friends in Upstate NY for 10 days in June. Here are a few pictures of our day trip to the 1,000 Islands to see Boldt Castle. Boldt Castle was built around 1903 but was never quite completed - such a sad story. 77 years later restoration began on the never lived-in castle.

 

On our way to the 1,000 islands, we stopped to look at this neat osprey nest!

 

Here is a view of Boldt Castle from across the St. Lawrence River. We were waiting to board the ferry that would take us to the castle.

 

This building is called the "Playhouse". There is a bowling alley in the basement!

 

The kids (mine and my brother Greg's) posing on a rock with the clock tower in the background.

Picnicking at Beaver Reservoir

 

Our first family outing (in June) after I finally began to feel better. It was a long haul, but I'm back to relative normalcy. (My friends would question this:)

Ear Update

Just a quick update on my ear - Mike and I leave tomorrow for Denver for my pre-op visit. My surgery is scheduled for 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon. I'm not certain of all the details but do know that the surgeon will be removing scar tissue which is now closing off my ear canal; replacing my thickened eardrum with a skin graft; removing a (possible) clostiotoma from behind my eardrum; removing alot of extra bone that has grown in my middle ear; possibly replacing my stapes-incus prosthesis; and giving my middle ear a thorough cleaning. Hopefully everything is OK in my inner ear. He won't know for sure until he gets in there. I'm quite nervous about it all, as I don't do well with the pre-surgery routine. Usually I pass out or go into shock after getting the IV. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated:) Recovery time is about 3 weeks. My mom has been here for almost 2 weeks now helping out, and she will stay for another week following my surgery. What a blessing she has been!

Mike's Spring Turkey

 

 

 

After several truly grueling days of turkey hunting, Mike finally shot his turkey this morning. (I'll try to persuade him to write more details later on:) Congratulations to my husband! We had a delicious turkey stir-fry tonight for supper.

Happy Birthday Weekend

Hunter turned 5 years old on Saturday!

 

Hunter and Katie on Easter Sunday morning.

 

 

Katie hugging Daddy after she sees her birthday present:)

 

200 Inch Mule Deer Sheds

 

Finally, after several years of antler hunting, and many, many miles of hiking, I finally found a big set. Each antler scores 90 inches, with an inside spread of 20", making this a 200" buck! And I'm going to be buck hunting this unit this Fall:)

I Have Returned!

Sorry for the VERY long hiatus. I haven't actually been anywhere - except to Denver to the ear specialist and the hospital for a CT Scan. Other than that, I have been hidden away here in my home with an overwhelming case of dizziness. I haven't been able to drive anywhere by myself for 6-7 weeks. To say that this was getting really old would be a considerable understatement! (My husband quite agrees - he despises going to the store!) But I should have the results in the next day or so, and my Mom is coming to rescue me in 9 days - yeah! "Rescue" in the sense of helping clean my house, take care of my sorely neglected children, relieve my overworked husband, and give me some much needed adult, female companionship! (Sorry, Mom, but you did volunteer for the job:) Other than my physical ailments, the only other noteworthy excitement was Hunter's broken wrist. It was actually a buckle fracture that he obtained while doing an unsuccessful monkey impersonation - in other words, he fell off the top of the swingset! Never fear, he is already back to his primate practices - some people just never learn! I hope to give you a medical update soon. Until then...

Great Bumper Sticker:)

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today is our 8th anniversary - which is very hard to believe. My wonderful husband secretly arranged for someone to watch our kids, and took me to Outback Steakhouse for supper. It was a great date, and it has been a fantastic 8 years! I would definitely do it all over again;)

Goodbye, Dad

Calvin Floyd Zimmer, Jr. (July 13, 1946 - January 17, 2009), my father, died unexpectedly Saturday night of a massive heart attack. I haven't blogged about it sooner because I have been dealing with so many crazy emotions and thoughts. I still am actually, but thought it was about time - so here you have it. In my early years, Dad was a great father. I have many good memories of my early childhood. I remember him taking just me out to breakfast, and taking me rabbit hunting. I remember all our fun summers of camping and fishing. One time, he and another man, Gary Patraw, took me and Shelly (a friend) camping - no one else. Times like that made me feel special. He let me help him build our front porch.He played ball with me. He always seemed to like having me around. But Dad made some bad choices. He bought a tavern; he had affairs; he stole some things; he lied; he left. Dad started another family, and I have 2 half-sisters that I loved being with whenever I went to visit my father. Dad was a good father to them. He was there for them until the end. Dad never met my husband or children. I hadn't seen him since the summer before I got married - 8 1/2 years ago. I have no assurance that I will ever see him again, but I dearly hope so. I desparately hope that Dad had enough time to trust God as his Savior. We had talked about it many times - but my Dad had a hard time with forgiveness, mainly forgiving himself. I know that "God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." And I know that God is always faithful. So I hope that I will see my father again someday...but I don't know. And I hope that I never have to see another loved one die without knowing they have trusted in the Lord.

Kim's First Elk

 

 

I shot my first elk this evening. I had a late season cow tag (private land only) and permission to hunt on a couple of places close to home. I actually shot this cow less than 1 mile from our house. It was by far the easiest pack job that Mike has ever had to do on an elk (Wayne, eat your heart out:) Mike and Lance just winched onto the cow and dragged her on home with the 4-wheeler. We waited until we were at home to get pictures, as I shot her so close to dark. She was very big - Mike said she was bigger than some bulls he has shot. All the more meat for the freezer! Hunter was VERY excited. He said, "Mama, she's as big as a horse!":)

Ice Fishing

On Saturday, we went ice fishing up on Grand Mesa with our good friend, Lance. It was a beautiful day for it, and the fishing was fast and furious - just the way we like it! We caught our limit in 30-40 minutes, and boy were they ever good:)

 

 

 

 

Mr. Snowman!

 

It's sometimes difficult to build a snowman here because it is so dry that the snow does not pack well! So, everyday the kids go outside and try to make a snowball to see if it's a good snowman-making day! This day was:) So, here is our Colorado snowman. The poor guy has an underdeveloped nose - I only had baby carrots to work with!