HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, THANKS RICHARD!

This was a praticularly hard birthday for me. Just saying the number brings back math class in my mind, where diarrhea was my constant friend......Going to the board and not being able to do the problem, you get the picture. So thank heavens Richard surprised me and took me to Steamboat Springs. It was absolutely beautiful, green, fresh mountain air and so many fun things to do. I really didn't concentrate on being older for one second and now I can pretend it just didn't happen.:)

As we are there, I am thinking this is the perfect place for our family reunion next year.......

A view of the ski runs from far away.....

People floating down the Yampa River. So much fun. You can put in all long this river and it actually flows all the way to Craig from Steamboat.

There is a rodeo on Friday and Saturday nights all through the summer season. It was beautiful sitting out in the cool mountain air and watching those crazy boys "cheat injury," one more time. I know Buddy will like this little stop.

I think he's saying to us, "Go ahead, make my day!"

The children's pee wee chase. See the little calf over by the wall with a red ribbon on his tail? The little boy in the middle of the picture, almost by himself, with a blue shirt and white cowboy hat, one the prize. We think someone coached him?

We rode the gondola up to the top of the mountain. It was so pretty. I am sure that Daddy would not be looking down. How about you Buddy? Once you get up this high, there are hiking trails and bike trails and a ton of people taking advantage of them. I would like to be in shape enough on my NEXT birthday to do it myself.

The botanical gardens. We were on the lookout for new groundcover :)
So these are just a few of the things you can do here. I got all of the information and am sending a packet to all of the family. There is an alpine slide, a beautiful little spot out in the middle of nowhere that has five hot pools. There is kayaking, atv's, motorcycles, golfing, hiking, biking, shows, and last but not least, shopping. So stay tuned all of you Messick's, we are going to have a party!!!!!