GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. -- Bruce Shugart stepped outside on the upper deck of his home near Glenwood Springs over the weekend and saw something below that he's never seen before, a mountain lion.

He called his wife, Jan, to come outside and look. Jan told 7NEWS she not only saw the mother mountain lion, but also two cubs nearby.

Jan said she's seen mountain lions before; typically at night when the dog barks and she looks outside. But she's never seen three of them together as she did that Sunday morning.

"They were absolutely beautiful, you could see their eyes. There were three together just hanging out in our yard," Jan said.

The trio came into their courtyard, right outside the Shugart's dining room and peered through the patio door inside the house. The mountain lions sauntered around the garage for awhile and after about 3 to 5 minutes, they went up the trail behind the Shugart's home. The same trail Jan and her husband walk three times a week.

Jan called her neighbors to warn them to be careful on the trail and to keep pets inside.

The Shugarts live about 4 miles out of Glenwood Springs, near the Sunlight Ski Area. They've lived in the area about 30 years.

"You see the signs, but you don't actually see the mountain lions," she said.

She called this a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"They're beautiful animals, but I'm glad I was inside," Jan said.

The Shugarts estimate the mother to be about 120 pounds, and they think the cubs were about 80 to 85 pounds each.

According to the Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Garfield County residents have seen their share of mountain lions in the area this year. The Division of Wildlife shot and killed a 2-year-old male mountain lion north of New Castle on Aug. 28, after the animal killed a horse and stashed the carcass for later feeding.

Another man shot and killed a mountain lion just west of that area, on Aug. 5, after the animal approached the man and his wife who were out walking in the evening.

"It's been a fairly active summer for mountain lions," DOW spokesman Randy Hampton told the Independent. "We've probably had 15 or more calls about mountain lions this year over previous years."

He said there's no specific reason for the increased number of sightings, other than expansion and urban sprawl.

"There is nothing that causes it as with bears. Like last year we had forage failures with the bears and we definitely had a very strong bear activity," Hampton told the newspaper. "This year we're just seeing more mountain lions. There is nothing to tie it to directly, there is just more people and when there are more people out there you are going to see more lions."