Anna’s Winter Soldiers Cheerleading team (she is in the middle of the middle row)

We are in the thick of cheerleading season. Since our last update, Anna and Marcy have been to Palm Springs and Houston for cheerleading competitions, where Anna’s team, Winter Soldiers, did very well. In fact, they should have won the Houston competition, called NCA, and the biggest cheerleading competition of the season, but for some weird judging decisions. They ended up coming in third, after hitting zero both days and leading after day one. Anna was bitterly disappointed, but accepted the loss gracefully.

Marcy and Anna at NCA in Houston, all smiles at the end of day one

Marcy’s long-time friend Elizabeth lives in Houston, and she came along to support Anna all day, and to catch up with Marcy. They hadn’t seen each other in many years.

Catching up with Elizabeth in Houston

Last weekend was a special one for Anna. She has been filling in at practice for the level 6 teams, Black Ice and Lady Suns, and Lady Suns had a competition in California where they were short. So, they asked Anna if she would fill in, and we knew this meant a lot to her, so we said yes. So, I decided to go to Anaheim with her, as Marcy had just been to Houston two weekends before.

Lady Suns in Anaheim (Anna is again in the middle of the middle row)

This weekend, Anna would get to perform three times, as there was an additional performance on Friday night. Anna did really well and quickly gelled with the team. While Lady Suns were not able to “hit zero” on any of the days, they looked good, and the level 6 stunting was so fun to watch. Anna more than held her own.

Anna with three of her best cheerleading friends

At cheerleading weekends there is not much downtime as you are supposed to watch all your sister teams compete, but we were able to take some time on Saturday night and head down to the beach. We had dinner in Huntington Beach and walked along the pier there. It was a little chilly, but great to smell the salt air again.

On the pier at Huntington Beach just after sunset

Finally, Jude started a new job this week. He has decided to take a semester off from school and get a real job. He is a trainee at Halliburton and will be working in the oilfields either in Colorado or possibly North Dakota. But first comes two weeks of training that he is doing at their Fort Lupton offices.

Jude with his new car, a 2011 Toyota Rav4

Jude has decided to take this semester off at CU. He is burned out on study and he wants to earn some money. He has a job lined up at Halliburton in Fort Luption (about a 45-minute drive), that he starts on Feb 16. To do that job, he is going to need a car.

So, we fronted him the money, and we bought a 2011 Toyota Rav4 this week. He is going to pay us back half the cost when he starts getting a regular paycheck. He loves the car. It really doesn’t feel like it is 15 years old and it only has 108,000 miles. We took it for a spin down to Colorado Springs this weekend for Anna’s cheer competition and it did really well on the highway.

Anna’s team, Winter Soldiers, performing at Spirit Sports in Colorado Springs

We are in the thick of cheer competition season and Anna’s team was performing at Spirit Sports in Colorado Springs. They did well, “hitting zero” today with a strong routine after a solid performance yesterday that saw them make just one mistake. The coaches are still not satisfied but they will get to do it again soon, as the next competition is this coming weekend.

KODAK Digital St

Fondue and snacks, our traditional Xmas Eve dinner

We had a wonderful Christmas in Denver. We had our traditional fondue meal on Christmas Eve and watched Love Actually, one of our favorite Christmas movies. It was unseasonably warm on Christmas Day, so after our Christmas lunch at Little India’s, we went for a walk and then watched the Broncos game.

The next day, Boxing Day, we drove to Iowa in a rented SUV – since we only have two electric cars now. It was a long day, but we arrived at Marcy’s parents’ house just before 9pm. And like she does every year, Baba had baked birthday cakes for Jude and Anna, of their age.

Their birthday cakes from Baba

In Iowa, there was plenty of great food and wine, as always, and we watched a ton of football, Premier League soccer, and played games; Code Names and Hitster were popular this time. The weather was also reasonably nice for Iowa, so we also did some walks and a couple of runs. There was a day of bowling and then, of course, the big New Year’s celebration. Because Ella and Chloe were traveling to China on December 29, we had the kids all do their Christmas crackers on December 28.

The five kids firing off their Christmas crackers to celebrate the New Year.

On the actual New Year’s Eve, we had a lovely smörgåsbord of delicious snacks and some celebratory wine and beer as well. And we dragged out an old game of Trivial Pursuit, a game many of us had not played in decades, or in the kids’ case, ever.

Enjoying some Shirley Temples on New Year’s Eve

We drove home on New Year’s Day and then Marcy and I were back at work on January 2nd. This weekend was another incredibly warm one, both days were sunny and in the mid-60s. So, Jude and I went for a hike this morning on Green Mountain, taking advantage of the great weather.

Hiking in early January with shorts and a tshirt

Celebrating Marcy’s birthday at Tavernetta

On Monday, we celebrated Marcy’s birthday. She took the day off work and booked herself into the Four Seasons spa for a massage (a present from last birthday). And then we all came downtown to meet her for lunch at Tavernetta, a restaurant she had really been wanting to try.

The food was not as good as expected, although I really liked my meal. Afterwards, we wandered along the 16th Street Mall and had some ice cream. That night, Marcy wanted to relax at home.

With her favorite kids on her birthday

This weekend was the start of competition season for Anna. The weekend before Christmas is always Champs, the competition at the Gaylord Resort, which Anna missed last year because of our trip to Australia. This year, with her Winter Soldiers team, Anna was not going ot miss it.

With her teammates Ava and Spencer before the first competition

The first night of competition, they looked great but didn’t “hit zero” because of a fall near the end of the routine. Tonight, they did fantastic. No mistakes whatsoever, so they hit zero and had one of the best scores of the day, leading to a victory. Anna was over the moon.

Marcy, the cheer mom again

The Winter Soldiers routine

A chocolate birthday cake for Jude

Today, Jude turned 19.

He arrived home from college for Thanksgiving break on Thursday night, while I was still out of town. And he was good enough to pick me up at the airport late morning on Friday. It was so great to see him, it had been over a month.

It has been a pretty chill weekend. Jude wanted to make shrimp tacos last night and today, he decided that we would have home-cooked steaks. So, we went to Rugby Scott, our local butcher that gets their meat direct from their farms, and Jude chose some rib eyes and filets. Marcy cooked up some carrots and chard and we had a delicious dinner.

Today, Jude wanted to watch soccer and football. We had Arsenal playing Spurs this morning, a game the Gunners dominated, which was a wonderful birthday present for Jude. The Broncos were off on a bye week but Jude watched some of the other NFL games on today. We went downtown for the Chriskindlmarket, which was on the campus where Anna goes to school at Community College of Denver (they share a campus with UC Denver and Metro State University).

After dinner, we did gifts and Jude loved the watch that Marcy chose for him.

With his new birthday watch

Arriving in Times Square for the first time

I have been going to New York several times a year for over a decade. Anna often asked to go on one of these trips, because she loves New York. Marcy took her there a year ago for her 16th birthday and the stars aligned for Anna to come along on my latest trip and do some college visits.

Visiting the Lincoln Center campus of Fordham University

On Wednesday, we visited Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus (in the North Bronx) and NYU. Anna loved Fordham and surprisingly disliked NYU. Fordham has a beautiful campus, is a smaller school but has great international programs, including a campus in London and Madrid.

Walking back from NYU, we came across a bizarre wedding, and we got cake!

As we walked back from NYU we came across this scene with dozens of people crowding around taking photos. It was Kevin from The Office, and he was officiating a wedding of a Ramp employee. It was all very strange, and we just happened to sit down in the right spot and the wedding party came really close to us. And they gave out cake.

The Book of Mormon on Broadway is about to start

On Thursday, I had to work and Anna spent some time in exploring the city by herself, that she just loved. We did one more college tour that day, at John Jay, which Anna also didn’t like. Both NYU and John Jay were high on her list before this visit but they have both been ruled out now – that is why you do college visits. That night, we got tickets to the Book of Mormon musical. It was fantastic.

Walking through Central Park

Friday, was the day I took completely off. We started walking to Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus. Then we walked through Central Park and took the tram/gondola over to Roosevelt Island in the East River. I had never been and it was a wonderful change of pace from the bustle of Manhattan. Lots more walking including a stop by the Arconia (the building in Only Murders in the Building) and then dinner on a rooftop restaurant near the Empire State Building.

Dinner at A to Z on the Fifth Rooftop on our last night

It was over too quickly, and we were up bright and early on Saturday morning for our flight home. Then, we were home for barely 30 minutes before we drove down to Colorado Springs for our annual Air Force Falcons football game – the tickets were bought before we knew we were going to NYC. It was a fun game, but there was a bitterly cold wind blowing into the stadium, so we left a little early.

Cheering on the Air Force Falcons

Today, I was back down in Colorado Springs for the annual Manitou Incline hike. Jude came home Saturday night, and Marcy, he, and I drove down this morning to tackle it. It was perfect conditions and we all made it up there, although no one broke any records this time.

At the top of the Incline

The busy weekend culminated in a crazy Broncos game where they came from 18 points behind with six minutes left to beat the Giants.

Birthday breakfast at Snooze downtown

Anna turned 17 on Tuesday. And given it was a school day and a workday as a cheer coach, Anna had a full schedule. So, we decided to go out for breakfast. Jude came home on Monday night, so he could join us, and then he caught the bus back after breakfast to CU for classes.

With her birthday cheesecake

As she did last year, Anna requested a cheesecake for her birthday cake, and Marcy made a delicious one. It may have been the best cheesecake I had ever tasted.

Last weekend was homecoming but Anna was not all that into it this year. But she did get dressed up and went for photos at the lake with everyone but her favorite photo was the one Marcy took on our front step.

Anna in her homecoming outfit

Last night, Marcy and I went to see Paul McCartney at Coors Field in Denver. He was amazing, one of the best shows I have ever seen. At 83 years old, he looked fit and still played a solid 2 1/2 hour show. It was so great to hear many of the old Beatles hits as well as Wings.

Paul McCartney at Coors Field

Off to college he goes

It has been a big week. We had been building up to this day all summer. On Tuesday, we drove Jude to college in Boulder. He is officially a freshman living in the Farrand Hall dorm at CU. It was a bittersweet day. We still find it hard to believe that the boy we had nurtured all this time is now a young man, starting a new stage of his adult life.

In his new dorm with Anna

One of the good things about having Jude so close is that we are able to visit quite easily. He said he wanted his bike and a few other items so when Marcy and I had a Ridhwan meeting in Boulder we suggested we grab some dinner and deliver his items to him. It was good to see him, even thought it had only been five days.

He is adjusting to college life and enjoying it so far. He was very tired when we saw him today, having stayed up “very late” on Saturday night and he didn’t get up until 11am. His classes are going well, he is enjoying all the freshman activities and meeting new people, as well as hanging out with some of his friends from South. He likes his new roommate which is good.

Anna goes off to school as a junior

Of course, this week wasn’t all about Jude. Anna started her junior year at South. Although she is only taking one class at South High School this semester, her other classes are all college classes at the Community College of Denver where she is working towards her associates degree in criminology.

Jude and I on the summit of Mt Lincoln at 8:30am

Jude and I started doing 14ers when he was eight years old, so this year marks the eleventh annual hike. We decided to do the famed DeCaLiBron hike. It is called that because you summit Mt Democrat, Cameron, Lincoln and Bross all in one loop hike.

While that sounds incredibly challenging, it is actually one of the easier 14er hikes. This is because you start above 12,000 feet in elevation and the hike itself is only 7.5 miles long, as the 14ers are all close together.

This trailhead is hard to get to in a regular car and since we no longer have the Explorer, we decided to rent an SUV on Turo. This way we could drive to the trailhead on Friday night and then we could sleep in the car and be on the trail early on Saturday.

We hit the trail just after 6am and we made our first summit, Mt Bross, before 7:30am. It was an easy hike over to Mt Lincoln, an even easier hike up Mt Cameron but Mt Democrat was challenging. The last half mile is steep and very rocky. Then we got to the summit around 10:15am, it started raining, which soon turned to snow. Needless to say, we did not linger at the summit.

It had just started snowing on the summit of Mt Democrat

By the time we got back to the main loop trail the sun was out and it was warmer. We made it back to the car before noon and we both tired but in good shape.

Setting out from Herman Gulch on Friday night

Last weekend Marcy and I went on our annual backpacking, and what a trip it was. I had been planning this trip all year and thought I had figured out a good blend of uncrowded trails, beautiful scenery and reasonable challenge.

I nailed the first two, but the last one I misjudged completely. This hike was brutally tough, the most difficult we have ever done.

On Friday night the Uber dropped us off at Herman Gulch trailhead just before 6pm. We had done this hike many times before, it isone of Marcy’s favorite hikes, and we were at our campsite at Herman Lake by 7:45pm.

We had Herman Lake to ourselves but by 8am it was already getting crowded with morning hikers. We hit the trail on what I expected would be our hardest day, I just didn’t know how hard it would be.

Following the Continental Divide trail along the ridgeline with great views

We followed the Continental Divide trail all morning and into the early afternoon before we left it for the summit push to Mount Nystrom. Here, the trail was hard to find, and the going was slower than usual. Plus it was really windy. By this stage it was already past three o’clock and we were already behind schedule.

The next part I knew would be challenging as we were hiking above treeline with no marked trail. What I didn’t know was when we got down to the trail below treeline, it would be just as sparse and difficult to find. It got to 5:30pm and we had a decision to make. Do we camp in this beautiful valley or push to our final destination still several miles away. We decided to push on.

A moose enjoying an evening paddle in Saint Louis Lake

The hike up Saint Louis Peak was brutal. We couldn’t find the trail and the mountain was about a 40% incline. We finally got up and over by 6:30pm but there was still 4+ miles to go. Needless to say those miles were not done quickly, as I was completely spent, so we finally made it to Saint Louis Lake just after 8:30pm, when it was nearly dark. As we were setting up camp, we noticed a moose paddling in the water of the lake.

The next day was challenging in a different way. We were doing fine until the final three miles. There the trail just ended, despite the map telling us it was there. We went searching for the trail but couldn’t find it. So, we fjorded the river twice as we tried to make our way to our campsite, way behind schedule again. We made it to a beautiful campsite on the river by just after 8pm.

Enjoying time in the sun after a cold night

We hoped the final day would be smooth with no surprises but that was not to be. Again the trail disappeared despite what the map said, and again we had to fjord the river. The hike up the backside of Ptarmigan Peak was challenging and by this stage I was completely worn out. So, it was slow going. We decided not to summit but do the bypass which ended up being just as long, or so it felt. We had a little rain but nothing too bad and we finally hooked up with the main trail again.

We made it! An exhausted Peter & Marcy at the Ptarmigan Peak trailhead

By the time we got to the trailhead it was after 6pm, and once again we were a couple of hours behind schedule. We were exhausted but glad to be done. An Uber back to Keystone and then dinner at Chimayo and we were home by about 8:30pm. The kids were very happy to see us after their longest time minding the house and pets.

It was a long and challenging trip and next year we decided to make it easier on ourselves. No more 18-mile days, we are thinking 10-12 miles a day, and include a “rest” day where we keep our tent up and just go for a day hike.

I already have some ideas and will start planning soon.