First, our birds. We get a lot of birds at our feeders, and hummingbirds love our agastache in the back yard, so here are one downy woodpecker, three goldfinches and a regular finch, and two hummingbirds.
We went to several Denver-area attractions this year. First up: the Toys exhibit at the Colorado History Museum. This is a toy Vic fondly remembers:
We also went to the Cartier exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. It was amazing!
There was a great exhibit of Deborah Butterfield horse sculptures at the Denver Botanic Gardens. They look like wood, but they are made of bronze and then painted to look like wood. Very cool.
We also went to the Wild Animal Sanctuary (which is not really a Denver-based attraction, but it seemed to fit the theme of this section). You can't get in now without making a big donation, but when we went, it was still entry-fee based. Such a great organization!
And, as always, we went to the zoo this year. In addition to an awesome rhino who seemed to be daring Vic to take his picture, we saw a bunch of really neat Lego sculptures.
One of the advantages of living where we live (top of a hill, facing west) is that we can see a lot of cool stuff out our back window. Like this hot air balloon ...
... and this lightning ...
... but not this lunar eclipse, which was rising in the east:
Took our customary trip to Nebraska this year. I saw my Aunt Phyllis, I got to give my great niece and nephews their "baby" blankets (they were babies before I started crocheting, so they didn't get blankets when they were born), I saw a really cool preying mantis on my dad and stepmom's deck, and, of course, I got to see my dad.
Vic got to go to Rocky Mountain National Park this year, courtesy of his amazing sister Alice and her equally amazing husband Ed. The color was gorgeous, as were the elk and moose.
My Uncle Bob died this year, which was sad. But he lived such a good and full life. This is the display that was up at his funeral. It included some really complimentary letters that were really touching to read. I forgive the Vikings memorabilia.
I made a lot of things again this year. This is one of my favorites and the ribbon it won at the Boulder County Fair. (Yes, it's a champion ribbon. No, I'm not humble enough not to show you.)
After Vic's face plant, we made a helmet for him:
This is the stroller he uses to go to the grocery store. (It's a dog stroller, but Wags hated it.)
And this is Vic in good spirits at his June surgery, which totally usurped my birthday. ;-)
Finally, and you had to know this was coming, a bunch of pictures of Wags. Me giving her a bath after she probably rolled in poop. Her "helping" me block a shawl. Her imitating the dog of some friends of ours. Her in her favorite dog park in Nebraska. Her and me. Her and me again. Her and Vic. Her and Vic again. Her with a rope (one of her favorite toys). Her at the dog pool, which I think was the highlight of her year (and probably one of the highlights of her life). We loved her so much—and she loved us so much in return. Her life was kind of short, but it was full. Her loss is acute. We are still struggling with the sheer absence of her. But soon our tears will turn to smiles when we remember her. As my friend Shawn says, "Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened." That's what I'm trying to hold on to. :-)
See you next year!
