Going, Going, Gone.............

I was supposed to have really exciting SNOW pictures to share with you - unfortunately that's NOT the case!! Because all that snow really DID blow into Ks. and there just wasn't all that much around to take pictures of!! I STILL had Friday off though as the wind and blowing snow made the roads pretty hazardous and my wonderful boss said I could stay home!! It was my FIRST snow day of the entire winter!!!

It was pretty exciting to sleep in on a Friday and then when I got up, knowing my house was ALREADY clean so there wasn't a heck of a lot of things that I HAD to do!! So I did what I do best - I scrapbooked!! It was great sitting there in my chair, watching the snow blow around outside and knowing I was all warm and cozy inside the house!

The sun DID peek out about noon though - and being such a devoted employee, I did call my boss and ask him if he wanted me to go into work for the afternoon - he said no and I secretly smiled and shouted HOORAY!!!

Jaime and the kids made it down by early evening - the roads were pretty much cleared by then so it was safe to drive! And we spent a fun evening discussing and researching Disneyworld!! Jaime, Brad and the kids are heading there next Nov. for 7 nights and guess who they're taking along??? That's right - Glenn and I are joining them and we're just as excited as they are!!

Jaime and I met with my travel agent on Sat. morning to discuss all the details and questions - I think we were all on the phone with the Disney rep for at least an hour, trying to get different prices and packages! And after letting the rep know that Brad was retired military, we REALLY got a great deal!! Our plans were to book 2 regular rooms in the Moderate Resort category but because of the great discount, we're now booked in the brand new "Treehouses" at Saratoga Springs that have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a complete kitchen in them!! We're all pretty excited about that!!

Sunday found us at "Disney On Ice" in Colorado Springs - this year the theme was "Disneyland" - how perfect!! Rayna loved it of course - Kylan, not so much - maybe next year!!

After the performance, Jaime and the kids headed back to Denver and Glenn and I took in a movie - we don't go to the movies very often so I'm always very excited to go - so what a disappointment when I didn't enjoy the movie!! We saw Duplicity with Julia Roberts and Clive Owens - it was so confusing I had no idea what was even going on the first half hour - and it's probably the first show I ever thought about getting up and actually leaving because I almost fell asleep! My advice is - don't see it!!

Here's a cute picture of Kylan who was pretending the banana was a phone!! Grandkid pictures are better than snow pictures any day!!

SNOW DAY!! IT'S THE BLIZZARD OF 2009!

It's almost 2:00 and I am home!! Thankfully!! I said a LOT OF PRAYERS on the way home in this horrible blizzard!! Once again, I waited too long at work - it's really hard to tell how bad the wind is blowing when you're sitting in a cozy cabin working away!! But once you get out on the streets, oh my!!

But now I am safe and sound in my snug home, just planning all the things I get to do today and tomorrow while the blizzard is raging outside!! I already know I won't be going into work tomorrow - the storm is not expected to move out of the area until late morning and it will probably take most of the day to dig out!

The forecast for our area is anywhere between 10 to 20 inches - but the wind is blowing so bad, that I'm not sure if we'll even be able to tell how much we get! Doesn't really matter to me - we need the moisture and as long as Glenn and I are both home safe and sound, it can snow all it wants to!!

Hopefully I'll have some snow pictures to post tomorrow - but then again, maybe the wind will blow all the snow into Kansas and there won't be any!! Right!!

A Weekend To Myself!

I took the weekend off - I didn't do laundry - I didn't clean the house - I didn't visit the grandkids! I decided I needed a weekend for "me" to do whatever I wanted to do!

Friday after work found me at the movies, here in Woodland Park - Glenn had gone fishing for the afternoon/evening and I had wanted to see the movie "Taken" so I went - got my drink and the oh so ever good but fattening popcorn and thoroughly enjoyed the movie! It's certainly not one for kids though - I was on the edge of my seat for an hour!

Because I went to the 4:30 showing, I was home by 6:30 and was EXTREMELY EXCITED to find that our big screen TV had been fixed! Yes, our new TV that we bought just last October quit about 3 weeks ago, right in the middle of my favorite show! I won't go into all the hairy details of TRYING to get it fixed through our warranty with Sony - let's just say I will probably NEVER buy another Sony product again! I plopped myself down in the recliner and proceeded to catch up on my shows!

Sat. and Sun. found me spending a lot of time on the computer but even more time scrapbooking! I REALLY wanted to scrapbook more than I did, but on Sat., I found myself having a hard time relaxing - you know the feeling when you JUST sit down to do something you REALLY want to do, and then your mind starts thinking about all the things you SHOULD be doing so you just can't completely relax??? Yea, that was me!

But I redeemed myself on Sunday after church - I enjoyed every second of scrapbooking and didn't feel a bit guilty!

And now it's back to the normal work week - and yes, I have to go home tonight and do the laundry and start cleaning the house for company this weekend, but that's OK! The weekend was mine!!

Happy (Belated) Birthday Jaime!

I'm a day late wishing my first born a VERY Happy Birthday! But of course I called her - I didn't miss it entirely!!

Jaime Jo was my firstborn 31 years ago! WOW - she may feel old but how do you think that makes me feel??? When you have children, the "30's" seem SO far away, but in reality you just blink your eyes and the years have fast forwarded!

Being the firstborn has lots of perks - the FIRST to wear all the cute clothes, the FIRST to talk and walk and do all those cute baby things that new parents dote on, the FIRST to be spoiled, the FIRST to climb up on that schoolbus - you get the picture!

Jaime was born a dark-skinned, black-haired little girl - in fact, she looked like an Indian baby!! But her skin soon lightened up and her hair turned a lighter color! Jaime was always a very "strong-willed" child and I remember that just driving in the car from Missouri Valley (where we lived) up to Soldier (where the grandparents lived) was quite the ordeal! I guess she thought she needed to be entertained at ALL times!

But Jaime soon outgrew being that strong willed child when her 2 little sisters came along - then she started giving out the orders - SHE was the boss!

It's hard to believe that my firstborn has been married now for almost 8 years and has 2 children of her own! But she's worked hard - attending many years of school to get that Doctorate of Pharmacy degree - and has a wonderful job to show for it! She's made me SO very proud!

Happy Birthday Jaime - you're not only my firstborn, but one of my best friends!

Cute As A Button!

Isn't this picture just the most precious thing ever??? Of course I'm not partial to our granddaughters - they're just so cute! And fun to dress! And fun to play with! And fun to buy for!! OK, I'll stop or the little boys might get mad!!

Glenn and I had a wonderful weekend in Denver with the kids and grandkids! The weather was beautiful so Glenn got to do some fishing and I spent some real quality time with the grandkids!

Besides celebrating Rayna's 7th birthday, we went to the park a couple of times, did some shopping, and of course had some Caribou coffee!

Weekends are meant to be with family and it doesn't get much better than that!

This Is Dedicated To The One I Love

Happy 24th Anniversary to my amazing, wonderful husband! 24 years ago today we were saying our vows and pledging our love to one another!

We've had our ups and we've had our downs, as any marriage does! But what keeps our marriage alive is the word "fun"! Glenn has an amazing sense of humor, always telling a joke or a story, and he's one of those people who always sees the bright side of things!

We laugh a lot together - a whole lot!! And we LOVE to travel together! We may not drive the newest cars around or have stylish clothes to wear every year, but you can bet we don't miss our semi-annual vacations! Glenn has more Mexico stories to tell you than anyone I know!

And I never worry about having to buy something "new" because the old broke down - Glenn can fix it - be it the car, the washer, whatever............ He is extremely gifted when it comes down to common sense and using his hands!

Glenn is the perfect "Papa" to all of his grandkids! He's not afraid to get down on the floor and actually PLAY with them, nor is he afraid of looking stupid when he does silly things to make them laugh! If he's not fishing, hunting, or working on weekends, you can bet he's in Denver, spending quality time with the grandkids!

He puts up with my weekly lists of things for him to do, usually without a grudge! And since he knows I'll be happy when he completes the list, he makes a real effort to get it all done!

My amazing husband also did a fantastic job finishing the inside of our new log home! I never doubted that he could do it, I just had no idea it would turn out so beautiful!

I'm looking forward to the next 24 years with you Glenn - each day is a new adventure -and every day I love you more...................

Sometimes I Amaze Even Myself!!

I DID IT! I ACTUALLY DID IT!! I finished the books on the computer this last weekend!! I am SO EXCITED to be DONE with them and they'll be handed to the tax preparer tomorrow!!

Of course I had a little help, well, maybe a LOT of help!!! Jill came down for a couple of nights as she had a baby shower to attend so I asked her to sit with me at the computer and WATCH me, hoping she could give me some hints!! She did! It went a WHOLE lot faster after I took her advice! And she also showed me how to print out these awesome reports that have the whole year categorized, just like what I needed!! I was one happy camper!!

I really expected to be doing them night after night all this week - so I'm smiling a secret little smile tonight as I got to watch Dancing With The Stars instead of bookwork on the computer!

So thanks Jill for all your help!! I PROMISE not to wait till Feb. of NEXT year to start this years' books!!

Just For The Record...................

My sister Patty called me yesterday - she had been watching the Travel Channel (also one of MY favorite channels) of the "Top Ten Mexican Beach Resorts" - she hadn't caught the first part but when they were doing the recap towards the end, guess which resort held the #10 spot???? You're right - the Melia Cabo Real - the resort we just returned from a couple weeks ago!!

So Patty looked it up to see when it would be playing again and sure enough, it was coming on again Sunday at 1:00 - you can bet I watched it!! How exciting to see our resort on TV being named one of the top 10 in Mexico! CAN WE GO BACK?????

FINALLY - Snow on the Mountain!!

I was beginning to think we would NEVER get any more snow this winter! That changed Friday night when it started snowing like crazy - HOORAY!! And it also snowed off and on all day Saturday too!

Of course we had to measure in inches, not feet (as we sometimes do in March) but it was better than nothing!! With the warm weather though, it didn't stay long on the ground, only up on the peak!

I shot this picture on Sunday afternoon - the peak was beautiful from our deck and even though it was too cold and windy to sit out there, I knew that it wouldn't be long before I would be out there sunning myself and looking at this awesome view!!

Singin The "Tax Blues"

If there's no new blogs in the next couple weeks, you'll know why - it's time to get the tax stuff ready!

On our personal side, I'm organized! All the bills and pertinent papers are neatly organized in the accordian-file folder - all I needed to do was to pull them out, add up some figures and it's ready to go to the tax-preparer! DONE!

But the business side - oh my - that's another story! I decided last year it was time to stop "hand writing" out all the income and expenses - I actually didn't mind doing it that way and I actually kept up to date most of the time. Putting all those figures in neat little columns and then adding them up each quarter!

Somehow I convinced myself that it was time to get those books on the computer - Jessi said she knew how to use Quicken and my computer actually had the program already on it! So last Feb., ( we're talking a YEAR ago, not last week!) Jessi came down one weekend, taught me how to put the books online and I inputted Jan. and Feb.'s receipts and expenses. Guess what - when I looked at the computer a couple of nights ago, there was STILL only last Jan. and Feb. done on the computer!! Had it really been an entire year since I had done the books??? Gee, I guess so!

It was back to the drawing board as I had NO RECOLLECTION of how to do any of it!! I actually sat there looking at the computer for a solid 1/2 hour, panicking at the thought of having to do almost an entire year! But pretty soon reality kicked in and I knew if I put my mind to it, I could do it! So let's see, I think I made 4 entries that night!

I guess my weekend project is already written in stone! Wish me luck!

AGAIN?????

Wasn't it just 3 months ago that I was blogging about Rayna having her appendix taken out?? Well, that crazy little organ has struck again! And this time it was Jessi!

She called Friday morning saying she was not feeling well and may have to go to the ER! Jessi has a VERY high pain tolerance so when she says she is hurting, you KNOW she's hurting!

Sure enough she called late afternoon and was in the ER, awaiting results - and by 7:00 that evening she was diagnosed with appendicits and scheduled for emergency surgery that night!

I threw some clothes together and headed for Denver - went straight to the hospital to let Gary and baby Mackenzie go home since Gary had been up for work since 2:00am that morning and he was totally exhausted! I stayed with Jessi till they took her in for surgery about 10:30 that night and everything went just fine!

Little Evan stayed over at Jaime and Brad's that night and Mackenzie had to take her first bottle since Jessi couldn't nurse for at least 24 hours! Luckily, she took to the bottle just fine!

Jessi was able to come home late Sat. afternoon and was doing well! Jill came down from Ft. Collins that day and her and I helped with kids, laundry, cleaning and making up some meals for the freezer! It was a busy 2 days!! I took baby duty on Sat. night and had Mackenzie sleep with me so I could get up with her during the night for feedings - and by Sunday morning I once again remembered why new moms are SO TIRED!

We're so thankful Jessi is doing well and the surgery went off without a hitch! And we're also wondering who will be next?

Evan Turns 2!

I'm WAY behind again in blogging - life is getting in the way!

While we were on vacation, Evan turned 2! It seems like every time we take a vacation, we miss someone's birthday! OH well, we don't mind celebrating it after we get back

Jaime picked us up at the airport after our flight back into Denver and we all gathered at her house to celebrate Evan's birthday - dinner, presents and cake, all jam packed into an hour!

Getting a good picture of cute little Evan was just NOT going to happen that night but we did try! Happy Birthday Evan!