Turkey Day - 2

All the pictures just wouldn't fit in the first blog so here's some more!

PS - By the way, in the last set of pictures - that is NOT alcohol that Jessi and Jill are drinking out of the wine glasses - they were served sparkling cider!!

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving has already came and went - darn - why do the holidays fly by so fast?

I'm STILL enjoying this 4 day weekend - usually it's the only one of the year since we're always closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving - but because Christmas falls on a Thursday this year, we're going to be closed on Friday too so that means I'll have ANOTHER 4 1/2 day weekend! WOW!


Turkey Day was held at Jaime's house - we started this tradition a couple of years ago due to the following: 1) Jaime's house is centrally located for all of us to come to 2) Jaime and Brad's house is not only HUGE, but the kitchen is perfect for cooking up that big meal 3) Denver is a great place to shop the day after!

We have our usual big meal on Thursday and this year we thought we had to work around Gary's schedule but he actually made it to the house just in time to eat! Perfect timing! We do have two traditions on Thanksgiving: we all USUALLY wear bib overalls (this tradition started when we always used to spend T-giving with Cindy and Rene's family up in Longmont) and we always go shopping together the day after Thanksgiving! This year, not EVERYBODY wore bib overalls - of course it was MY fault for not reminding them a month in advance to go buy them as the little ones had outgrown them, as had a couple of the adults! The only one that had a good excuse was Jessi, being 9 months pregnant!

So we ate the day away, played many games of Mexican Train, did a LOT of shopping the day after, and spent a lot of quality time together! The guys watched game after game (at least it seemed like it!) of football and made deer jerky in Brad's smoker - it was great!

Our prayer before the meal included being thankful for all being together, all of us having jobs, nice homes with plenty of food to eat, and blessings on the two new babies that are arriving any day now and next spring!

Christmas Time's A Comin'

Gosh, the season is ALMOST upon us!! I know, I know, Thanksgiving comes FIRST!! And don't get me wrong - I LOVE Thanksgiving!! But since our BIG shopping day is the day after Turkey Day, one MUST get organized and get in the Christmas spirit early!

I feel like all I've done the past week is make lists - the Turkey Day menu and what I need to bring, the shopping list for the food, my Christmas list, a list of what I've ALREADY bought the kids and grandkids (which I would be SURE to forget if I didn't have it down on a list), a list of things to take to Jaime's for the Thanksgiving holiday, and the never-ending list of things to do at the house!

We knew it was going to be a work weekend once again - but this was one I really didn't mind! Saturday I stained the trim, door frames and doors in the lower level - one more major project to cross off that list! And then I cooked and froze 4 casseroles for Jessi and Gary to have when the new baby is born!

Friends Martin and Joleen came over late afternoon for dinner - they hadn't seen the completed basement yet and Martin really appreciated it as he had seen the basement at its' worst! We had a fun evening playing pool and eating manicotti for dinner - AND this yummy new recipe that I tried and loved! It's really easy to make - but beware - it's SUPER RICH!! Cut cheesecake type slices and have the coffee or milk handy!

Turtle Pumpkin Pie

1/4 cup plus 2 T. caramel ice cream topping, divided

1 Honey Maid graham cracker pie crust

1/2 cup plus 2 T. pecan pieces, divided

1 cup cold milk

2 pkg (3.4 oz) jello vanilla instant pudding

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. ground nutmeg

1 tub (8 oz) cool whip, thawed, divided

Pour 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust; sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans. Beat the milk, pudding mixes, pumpkin and spices with whisk until blended. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cools whip. Spread into crust. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Top with remaining cool whip, caramel topping and pecans just before serving!

And what exciting plans did I have for Sunday? I decorated the house for Christmas! Yes, it took me all day - yes, I loved every moment of it - yes, I had the Christmas music going on each level!

There was total joy in my eyes this year as I decorated! 1) The basement was finished so I could decorate the ENTIRE house, and 2) Getting to my 7 storage tubs of decorations was SO EASY!

In our old house, the only storage in the house was up in the attic with the pull-type down steps - there was NO WAY the huge tubs would fit up those steps easily. So all 8 tubs (I've downsized to 7 now - he he!) had to go under the house - way back in - and it's just a crawl space so you couldn't stand up - you literally had to be bent over and drag all 8 tubs across the gravel floor for quite a ways and then lift them out into the garage. It was a job that Glenn and I just hated!

Now I have a nice, large storage room in the lower level with wonderful shelves that Glenn has built - the room is large enough so he can set the tubs on the floor and I can unpack in there and take a basket load out at a time! It worked PERFECT yesterday and was just a joy to decorate!

We will wait and put the tree up after Thanksgiving - but it's nice knowing the decorating of the house is done, just in case the new little one decides to arrive RIGHT after Turkey Day!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I know I am TRULY BLESSED!

FRUSTRATION!

I consider myself healthy - I exericse 5 days a week, I eat pretty well, take my daily vitamin and calcium pills and my daily dose of Xango, and I don't usually stress a lot! So WHY oh WHY am I getting sick?

A month ago I had the cough, fever, etc. for almost 2 weeks - even missed a day of work because I couldn't talk! I FINALLY got past that and guess what, now it's the sore throat and cold that has found its' way into my body! Is this just a taste of what my entire winter is going to be like?

I'm sure no one else enjoys being sick either but I know a lot of people just don't take care of themselves - and that's NOT me! I STRIVE to stay healthy and well - I make it a point to get plenty of sleep and drink lots of water during the day and all those other things that one considers a "healthy lifestyle".

But I WILL get past this cold and sore throat - I'm determined to shake it as soon as possible because darn it, Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I DO NOT WANT TO BE SICK for it! And the new baby is due to arrive in the next 2 1/2 weeks and I DO NOT WANT TO BE SICK for that!!! Maybe if I just can't chanting I DO NOT WANT TO BE SICK, my body will hear it and believe it and I'll be well!! It's worth a shot I guess!!

The Flying Frosting

Jaime, Rayna, and Kylan came down for a night's stay this last weekend - she always brings yummy stuff to eat and this time she brought those oh so wonderful cinnamon rolls in a can - not the kind that go in a round pan all together - these were individual ones that you put on a cookie sheet and bake and then frost.

By 10:00 am on Sat. morning I was ready for the rolls - so I get the can out of the refrigerator and set in on the island, and started unpeeling the paper!! That's when it happened - the loud gunshot sound, something flying out of the can, and the recoil of the can hitting my stomach - OH, I yelled as that thing plowed into my stomach - I seriously thought for a moment that I had been shot!! Of course as soon as that thought popped into my mind, I immediately realized what had happened and knew it was JUST the can that had hit me - JUST THE CAN - but it hit me hard enough to leave a huge red spot on my stomach and it hurt for a long time!

Jaime came flying up from the basement as soon as she heard the explosion of the can and me moaning - I told her what had happened (as if she couldn't tell by now since there are biscuits lying all over the granite every which way) and said something went flying so we started looking. Sure enough, the frosting had flown! The lid was under the dining room table - and the frosting had landed on the padded bar stool - of course - frosting side down! But luckily the frosting was hard enough it didn't all fall out!

We laughed and laughed about my encounter with the cinnamon rolls. I usually don't have this type of problem but I guess since she had come from Denver up to the higher altitude, the poor rolls just couldn't handle the elevation!

By the way, the cinnamon rolls were excellent!!

Waking Up Isn't So Bad!

Now that daylight savings time is here, this is what I get up to each morning! Granted, the sky doesn't look like this EVERY morning but this past week has just been amazing!

My typical routine in the morning is to throw on my old clothes and do floor exercises for about 10 minutes, clog for about 15 minutes and then hula-hoop for about 5 minutes -so I get to watch the amazing sunrises as I'm doing my morning exercises! Today I just had to grab the camera and start shooting - the colors change quickly and by the time I'm done with my routine, the sunrise is a thing of the past!

Waking up at 5:45 every morning may not be on my Top Ten List of things I enjoy doing, but the sunrises over Pikes Peak make getting out of bed a WHOLE lot easier!

November in North Carolina!

Staying in the states isn't the norm for our annual fall vacation - we're usually headed to Mexico! Change isn't always good as we all know - but THIS change was great!

We decided a while back (since the economy around here isn't all that great and our bank accounts have been put to the test), that our trip this fall would be to visit our good friends Cindy and Rene' out in NC! And since neither of us had been to this beautiful state, it was a great choice! Bear in mind that the thought of having a place to stay and eat and using air miles to get there made the choice an easy one!

Although we didn't have the window seat this flight, it didn't prevent us from leaning over our neighbor and simply gazing out the window at the variety of colors that met us as we were flying low over Charlotte! WOW - I had forgotten about the colors of the hardwood trees- the reds and golds and oranges! Simply gorgeous! And we were both extremely surprised at how many trees there are in North Carolina - it's just forest upon forest

Cindy and Rene', daughter Cheryl and her son Brenner made us feel right at home! We're not JUST friends to them, we're family! And the time spent with them was wonderful! I'm not sure I moved out of the kitchen chair the first day we were there! Cindy and I had LOTS to catch up on!

Highlights of the trip included all the great food that Cindy fixed, a trip to the flea market, singing Karaoke for hours (and not having a voice the next day), a trip up to the Blue Ridge Mountains which run into the Smoky Mountains, talking for hours and hours, Glenn taking Brenner "hunting" with the BB gun, relaxing in their beautiful backyard and admiring the scenery around the area!

Thanks Cindy and Rene' for a wonderful time! We'll be looking forward to that next trip together!

Pumpkin Carving At Its Best!!

Exciting news! Jill called early on Sunday morning just as we sat down to breakfast! She had tried and tried to call us on Saturday night but the phone lines were all messed up and all she got was a busy signal!

Anyway, she told me she wanted me to go into the computer room and look at my email which would show a pumpkin that her and Robby had carved -I relunctantly went in, signed onto my email and told her the pumpkin looked really cute but I didn't have my glasses on so couldn't see what was carved. "Mom, go get your glasses, PLEASE" she said!! So I walked into the kitchen, put on my glasses and went back in and looked and THAT'S when the screaming started!! It was so totally unexpected to see that writing in the pumpkin and of course the tears were streaming down my face!!

Congratulations Jill and Robby! Papa and I are SO EXCITED about your news and eagerly await this next grandchild!! The end of June is Jill's due date and I'll keep everyone posted the next few months!

A SISTER Weekend!

I love to have a day off - especially when you get to spend it with someone special!

My sister Patty from Iowa flew in Thursday night for a long weekend stay! We picked her up in Denver and spent 3 wonderful days together! And no, we didn't run out of things to talk about - talk, talk, talk!! We did PLENTY of that!!

She enjoyed seeing our new house and I enjoyed all the wonderful compliments she gave us! Makes that last "work weekend" feel worth it!! It was fun to just hang out together and catch up on all those little stories of our families!

Saturday we headed to Co. Springs and enjoyed having tea at the castle! The weather was beautiful that day - in fact, it was nice all 3 days she was here (quite unusual seeing as it was Halloween - usually we have lousy weather for that!) The castle grounds were gorgeous with the falling leaves! And the tea and goodies were great! After that, we headed to the other side of town and saw "Mamma Mia"! 3rd time for me - just as good as the first time! And dinner was ate at Wines of Colorado - always a favorite!
Patty and I share a great love of music so the stereo got quite a workout over the 3 day period! We may not always listen to the same type of music, but we both love great dance music!

The weekend went way too fast of course and before we knew it, it was time to put her back on the plane to Iowa! We loved having you here Patty and hopefully Leonard can come next time! See you in Cabo in Februray!