How time flies...I'm back

So, I admit I totally forgot about this blog for quite awhile. It's been a busy year, filled with fabulous times, and some hard times. But I'm back to start updating our lives on here again.

First, some catch up...

January of this year, Cheyenne fell out of remission from her lymphoma, and we started chemotherapy again, and only got a few months of remission, but not full remission. We started some rescue therapies, only to find the cancer was only halted for a week or two, before we had to go to other rescue drugs. During this time, her spirit was still the same Cheyenne, and she never really got sick from any of the drugs, and other than her large lymph nodes, was still Cheyenne.

Around the beginning of June, after the drugs stopped working, I made the difficult decision to stop all chemo on her, as the cancer had grown too strong to respond. Her last weeks were filled with lots of love, treats and naps in the sun.

She lost her battle with lymphoma on June 27th of this year, and I said goodbye to my first dog that I had ever had, my best four-legged friend. It was the hardest few days after, dealing with her loss. I miss her everyday, and even 4 months later, as I write this, it's hard to stop the tears.

In early June, I took a trip to Colorado to visit my dad, who lives in Golden. Brad stayed home, and I had some vacation days to use, so I thought I could use some time in the mountains, while spending time with my dad. We had a great time, and spent most of the time hiking, and visiting all sorts of places that I had never seen. This was my first time in Colorado during the summer, as we usually visit during winter. I fell in love with summertime in Colorado. This is my dad and I on top of Pikes Peak. Even though it was June, it was in the upper 30's at the top. I had many layers on!

This summer, I got to go to Colorado twice. Brad and I made the trip out to his parent's house in Crested Butte. We both had never been in the summer, and this was Brad's first time out in Colorado in the summer. He loved it as much as I did. We had a great time with his parents. We hiked around Crested Butte, and it was all so beautiful. I also dove into my love of photography, and got a photo lesson from a known photographer out in Crested Butte. He took me out for a half day, and taught me so many things. I love taking landscape and wildlife shots, and came home with almost 800 pictures. We also went horseback riding through the "Oh Be Joyful" valley, which is the prettiest valley I have ever seen.

On our way home, we stopped for a few days in Golden to hike with my dad. It has been a goal of mine to climb a Colorado "Fourteener" for a few years. (A fourteener is one of the peaks of Colorado that are above 14,000 ft.) We chose one that seemed relatively easy.

We met my friend Ashley who lives in Colorado, and we all climbed the peak.

The peak sits at 14,270 feet.

The trailhead starts at 11,280. Roundtrip, we hiked about 7.5 miles with a vertical elevation gain of about 3000 ft. It was hard, but we made it, and it was a feeling like no other at the top. We have now been bitten by the "fourteener" bug, and are already planning our next peak to climb.

The whole trip was wonderful, and we are planning on going back next year. This trip also inspired me to take my photography to another level, which is something I have always wanted to do. I have started a photography blog that will show some of my best shots, and my learning curve as I go. Stay tuned for when I reveal that blog!

Other than that, this sort of catches us up to today. My winter horse show season will be getting underway soon, and I am planning on going to some new places to show. At the end of last season, we were running our best times yet, so hopefully we can continue that trend through the winter. Stay tuned, I promise that I will keep this blog better updated! :)