Delaney's First Horseback Adventure & Meredith's First Pack Trip

It's been a long time coming, but we finally got the whole family out on horseback. Delaney seemed to enjoy herself, although the steady rhythm of a walking horse put her down for the count and she missed a lot of sightseeing. Jennifer did her best to steer while keeping the bouncing baby from bouncing too much, and we managed to get through a few rough spots off the beaten path. Delaney has been signing horse for awhile now, and now she's got it down.

Meredith is a brave five year-old, and she continues to learn the ropes (literally) when it comes to horse riding and now horse packing. Unfortunately we didn't see any moose during our recon in the southern Gunnison Basin, but we did get to watch a bull elk come to the creek near our camp at the end of the day. Lucky for us the wind was blowing, which kept the hummingbird-sized mosquitos away, and we had a pretty uneventful trip. We had planned to spend two nights, but Meredith decided she wanted to get home and see her family. Hopefully we'll get out a few more times before the snow falls...

Spring Hiking in the Gunnison Country

Some April & May Extras

So many pictures-

If it would ever stop raining, snowing, and blowing, we'd take some more!

Happy Mother's Day Mommy & Happy "Due Date" Delaney

We had a nice Mother's Day weekend in Gunnison. Not only did we spend some time with all of the special mothers in our lives, but we also celebrated a belated birthday for Ms. Delaney. In a pre-NICU world, Delaney was due on May 8th. Of course her birthday ended up being January 27th, and since we were still trying to maintain our quarantine in January we weren't able to have folks come to her party. It worked out well- nice weather and a lot of family and friends. Delaney is one special Mother's Day gift.

March of Dimes Walk for Babies in Grand Junction

Over the weekend we attended our first NICU reunion and March of Dimes fundraiser. The weather was a little grim, but we had a nice time visiting with the doctors and nurses that we now call friends. One of the highlights of the event was seeing Delaney's former roommate, Witten (high-five pic). Delaney's dad was proud of her; she did her best to snub the little boy, which we hope will be a life-long tradition. She also finally got to meet (yet another potential "boyfriend") Gulliver... he lives in Crested Butte and unfortunately did his time at the St. Mary's NICU prior to Delaney's stay but is thriving just as much as our little one (thank goodness).

Thanks to the Garmany family for hosting us, and we're already looking forward to next years trip. In one of the pictures you'll see Jennifer talking to Channel 11 news. She made it onto the news, and now thinks she's Angelina Jolie. In all seriousness, it was a very important even for a lot of people and it was nice to see it get some notoriety. If you're looking for a charity to donate to, we recommend the March of Dimes. We really didn't know much about them prior to our "event", but they can take credit for helping Delaney survive her prematurity.