Go Nuggets!

So last Friday night we went to a Denver Nuggets basketball game! They played the New Jersey Nets, and the Nuggets won. I had never been to a NBA game before, so I was really excited.

Just a few pictures of the court and players from our seats.





We didn't take many pictures...the game was not that exciting...apparently college games are much more fun!

And on Sunday we drove up to Estes Park, which is a small town about 30 minutes north of Boulder. It's a really cute town, and we just drove around looking at some stores. They have a very cute year-round Christmas shop up there that I like. And we stumbled upon a local brewery that we just had to stop at for lunch and a little beer tasting. And of course Will got a logo glass!





The town is centered around this little lake, and we just took a few pictures of the area surrounding the lake. It really is beautiful up there.







So we're traveling again this weekend...this time to a state that boasts the country's first miniature golf course and is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the nation. Does anyone know where we're going?

COW!!!

So we are now finishing our segment on New Mexico. We wanted everyone to see the wonderful souvenior we brought back from NM. And we BOTH picked this one out...



We went hunting for cows in NM...just teasing, we bought it as is. We just thought it would be a neat keepsake from our trip down there.

On our drive back we stopped at Bandalier National Monument (which apparently is the most visited national monument in the US, we're still trying to figure out why) and took a walk around some old Indian dwellings. Here is us trying to stay warm...



Apparently the Indians used to build their homes (pueblos) up against the rocks, and there are some ruins left. The holes in the rocks are where they lived.





Will inside a pueblo...don't you just love how he blends right in with his clothing :)



Me climbing into a pueblo...



We also stopped at this church which is supposed to have holy dirt. Legend has it that many many years ago a farmer was praying on this dirt to God for crops and spotted a light in the dirt. He went over and found a cross in the dirt, and prayed. That year he was blessed with a good season of crops, and so built a church atop the spot where he found the cross. Many people heard this story and came to the church hoping to be healed. Apparently many people have come with crutches and left without them, able to walk; the church is lined with crutches, wheeelchairs, and pictures of people who have been healed by the dirt. It was really neat to see...we got a scoop of dirt to take home with us.
And actually...it's so crazy, but the day after we got the blessed dirt, our house in winston rented!



Just a picture of the beautiful sunset across New Mexico...



A view of the Rockies from the road...

More pictures of New Mexico...

Here is another picture from our train ride...apparently an artist built this house in the country to blend in with the surrounding rocks.



Here is an abandoned church we found on our train stop...



One tradition in NM is hanging dried chile peppers on their doors; we thought it looked neat.



On Sunday we took a 4 hour detour to drive through the mountains of NM, visit some small towns, and see some old pueblos. This is a picture of a swimming hole that a local group of Indians use in the summer.



These are some pictures of a volcano that collasped into itself millions of years ago...it's now just a huge hole.







This was another landmark we saw called Battleship Rock...it's named because it looks like part of a battleship...



More pictures to come later...

Where aliens roam...

So our big trip this past weekend was to New Mexico. We took off Friday night to Santa Fe, NM for the weekend. It was a very long and exhausting drive down, but definitly worth the trip. We got to Santa Fe very late Friday night, so we just went right to sleep.



And just in case anyone was confused about where we were living...



So we tried to do a whole lot of neat stuff: hot air balloon ride, plane ride over the mountain range, etc. Guess what, we werent able to do any of it. The balloon ride - it would have been -20 at 5000 feet. The plane ride - was booked up before we even got there. So we rode the train...



Will loved it. Al was a good sport.

We did get to see some of the countryside around Santa Fe which was great and we all know being on a train is one of the coolest things to do.







After the train trip, we took a walk around the downtown area. This first church reminded us a lot of European churches.





This next church was renowned for a staircase, originally made without any supports whatsoever. It was disappointing to find out that for safety reasons, the church added railings and supports to the walls.



We then stumbled upon an old Spanish mission, dating back to the 16th century.



Allison had fun ringing the bell at the mission too...



We had a great Saturday but the views on Sunday were something to write home about, or maybe just post to the blog later this week.

Beaver Creek & Brewery Tours

So as promised we have just a few pictures from skiing at Beaver Creek. It was such an incredible view from the top of the mountain. And we had a wonderful day for sking; it was sunny, no wind, and maybe a few degrees warmer than the past few days.

Will and me at the top of the slope...



David and Kelsey skiing...



Here is us with Will's parents and his cousin John and Lisa at dinner one night in Boulder.



Last Saturday, we made a trip to New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins, which is about an hour North of Boulder. I must say, they have the best beer in the world. Maybe not the world, but pretty good.





The brewery had an indoor slide......how cool is that...



The beermaster's prayer...



Outside the sign for New Belgium.



We also made a brief trip to the Budweiser facility and got to see the Clydesdales!





We had such a great time this past week. So many great things to see and do. Guess where we are going this weekend....aliens may be close by.....

Happy New Year!

It is no longer the year of Will and Allison and we are quite sad. So we decided to make some more koozies that say Will and Allison 2008, so our year will just keep on going...just teasing!

We hope everyone had a happy new year! We spent new years in Beaver Creek with Will's family. It was so beautiful up there, and extremely cold! We stayed in an incredible house...a mansion!



This house was probably the biggest house I've ever been in with 7 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms! We were so lucky to stay in such a beautiful house! And the view was amazing!



These were the slopes across from our house, but we didn't ski on those. We actually didn't ever see anyone sking on there!



So our first day we skied at Beaver Creek, and it was a challenge! It was snowing, we were under a wind advisory, and the temperature was probably around 10 degrees!
Will's brother and his girlfriend beat us out to the slopes, and skied all day. Will and I went out around 11 or so, and we only made it down the slope once! Haha, but it took us an hour to get down. Both of us are slow skiers (me especially), and the wind was just unbelievable. So by the time we got to the bottom, we were exhausted and frozen!
The next day, we did something different, we went snowmobiling! We left early in the morning, and it was about 3 degrees outside, and went up to 13,000 feet (Beaver Creek is around 9,000 feet elevation, and Boulder is around 5,000).
We got all geared up in our snow gear (which takes us about 20 minutes to get all our layers situated), and headed out to drive our snowmobiles. It was really neat! It's just like driving a waverunner (or so Will says, I didn't drive), and we were in a national park, so the views were breathtaking.

Will and I by the snowmobile...




David and Kelsey (Will's brother and girlfriend)...



Tom on his snowmobile (Will's dad)...



All of us in line following our leader...can you tell who is waving at the camera?



This was my last picture before I had to go back inside...we were on top of a mountain, so beautiful!



We were only out there for about an hour and half, maybe, before I had to go back in because I was so cold! Everyone else stayed out there for another hour and half, while I sat by the fire. It was so much fun, it was just so cold, and I was frozen for the rest of the day! I think I even went to bed cold...

New Years Eve we just hung around the house, ate lots of food, and played games. A very low-key new years eve, but fun and relaxing.
We went skiing one more time, on a beautiful day! We don't have pictures right now, but we'll put some up! And we came back to Boulder last night since Will had to work today. The temperature last night while we were driving home was -4 degrees...I've never seen that temp on my car, it was crazy!

Happy 2008!!!