Who's Turning 2 Years Old???

Why, our little angel Mackenzie!! Her birthday isn't officially until Dec. 2nd but since we're all together for Thanksgiving, it's the best time to celebrate!!

Jessi served a brunch on Saturday morning so I was up to help her - I SHOULD have told her NOT to use the stone for the one pizza, but since she had the crust turned up all the way around, I really thought the liquid egg and milk would stay INSIDE the pizza - NOT! Oh, the burning smell of eggs on the oven bottom - good thing it was nice enough to open the windows and let the smoke out!!

Mackenzie loved opening her presents and looked so cute sitting on that big chair!! She would promptly push the other kids away if they got too close to her NEW toys!! It was cute!!

What a sweet picture of Jessi and Kenzie!!

Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of Kenzie and her cake so I'll have to borrow one of Jessi's shots when I scrapbook!! It's nice when there's 2 or 3 of us taking photos because that way we have a CHOICE!!

Happy Birthday Kenzie!!

Black Friday!

I must be getting old - the thought of getting up early for Black Friday held NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER for me!! 5:30 was the earliest I could manage - and even that seemed too early!!

Earlybirds Jaime and Jessi were shopping their little hearts out at 4:30am while I snuggled in bed and didn't give them a second thought!! But all too soon, the alarm went off and I was out the door to pick up Jill! We headed to Kohl's first as we knew the crowd would be gone since it was SO LATE - ha ha!! Met up with Jessi and Jaime there, compared notes, and soon were off to the mall to hit a few stores!

Jill and I split off after that and hit a few more stores before it was time to break for lunch at "On The Border". Yes, I did forget to mention that somewhere between all those stores, I did stop and get my coffee for the day...................

All in all, a very successful day shopping - most of the items I bought were on sale and really only have a couple more things to get!! I did 3 online orders on the computer Sunday afternoon and it's nice to be winding the shopping down!

We were all a little tired on Friday afternoon but rallied enough to have a nice dinner together and then I played Christmas bingo with the grandkids - we used M & M's for the markers and whoever won each game, got to eat an M & M - Mackenzie of course didn't understand the rules and even though Glenn was helping her, they kept running out of M & M's all the time - gee, I wonder why?

Aleah was in a great mood on Friday and I enjoyed spending some time with her - what a cutie!!

I hit the sack early Friday night - after all, there was still a birthday to celebrate on Saturday morning!!

Thanksgiving Day - 2010

We have SO MUCH to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Day - good health, beautiful homes, jobs, family, wonderful friends - we are truly BLESSED!!

Thanksgiving Day dawned bright and COLD but that was OK - we had great weather driving up the night before and slept at Jessi and Gary's house this trip!

Jessi and I made a quick run to Walgreen's in the morning to catch their 50% off toy sale - picked up some great bargains and then it was off to Jaime's!! Robby and Jill had arrived the night before too and it was fun seeing Aleah again - she looks so cute toddling around!!

The girls and I jumped into the dinner preparation, even getting Rayna in on the action!!

When Rayna had been at our house a couple of weekends before, I helped her make Thanksgiving place cards which were decorated with cute little stickers!! She had fun deciding where everyone would sit!

Of course the kids got their trays first and were so active, I cold hardly get a picture of them - there was lots of shoving of trays and we ended up putting Mackenzie at our big table so the boys had a little more room!

We were so glad to have Gary with us as he didn't have to go to work till later - his heaping plate kind of tells you our menu: Turkey and dressing, mashed potatos and gravy, crunchy coleslaw, corn pudding, fresh green bean casserole, sweet potatos, Hawaiian sweet rolls, relish tray, pumpkin and apple pie and strawberry tarts!! It was all delicious of course!

After the huge clean up - (it's amazing how many dishes you dirty!!) I decided to take a few of the kids out for a walk - we bundled up the kids and I pulled Aleah in the wagon down to the park and back! She loved it but I about froze as it was so windy out!!

Of course a big part of the afternoon was looking at the ads and planning our strategy for the next day!! Michael's was having a late afternoon/evening sale so we girls headed out to that and picked up a few things - mainly a new coffee table centerpiece for me!! I had broken my hurricane lamp this year (after having it for probably 30 years!!) so a new centerpiece was on the list!! I found the one I wanted, marked 1/2 price of course - and then had a 30% off your entire order so really got a good deal on it!! Our other bargain was a fat pack of 12 x 12 Christmas scrapbooking sheets - again with the same deal and since Jill and I split one, it was practically FREE!!!

And then it was BLACK FRIDAY!!!

The ATTEMPTED Christmas Card Picture!

Thanksgiving morning - we're all in our cute bib overalls -MOST of the kids are in good moods - time to take the Christmas card picture -yea, right..................

Let's see -Glenn looks half alive, Rayna and Mackenzie aren't even looking, Aleah is trying to crawl off my lap and Kylan is kissing Evan - NEXT........

Aleah is NOT happy on my lap - she cries, she screams - Glenn and I decide to cry right along with her at this point!! Rayna is totally bored - Mackenzie is getting a molar so her fingers are in her mouth and Evan and Kylan think this entire picture taking ordeal is hilarious!! NEXT......

We decided to switch backgrounds - maybe Aleah will like it better up here - hmmm, maybe not!! By the way, what in the heck are we all looking at???? (besides Rayna that is) - I have NO IDEA!! NEXT...........

And so the picture taking pretty much went like this for ALL of the pictures - but the question of the day is this: DID WE END UP WITH ONE TO USE ON THE CHRISTMAS CARD???? You'll just have to wait and see.................

Let There Be Light!

ANOTHER WORK WEEKEND???? That's right - but a FUN work weekend as I decorated for Christmas!! 7:00am on Saturday morning the decorating began - 4:00pm Sunday I was completely done (but of course a lot of other stuff was done in between times!!)!! The house looks absolutely amazing!!

I rearranged our small living room and with the couch now in front of the windows, the living room and dining room seem much bigger!! The "Travel Tree" is all decorated and once again as I hung each ornament, I reminisced about vacations!! I also had new ones to hang from Cozumel, Alaska and San Antonio!!

And while I was decorating on Saturday, Glenn decided to hang the lights in the dining room that we had purchased almost a year ago! We just can't seem to get enough light with that tall, tall ceiling so decided to suspend a couple of lights from the slanted ceiling in the dining room - not an easy process and I spent a lot of time HOLDING the ladder while Glenn climbed up and down I can't tell you how many times!! But the result is this:

We were excited for evening to come so we could tell if the lights really made any difference and they DO - the results are fantastic!! A big thank you to Glenn for getting that project done!! The one project that did NOT get done (as you can see in the picture) is the painting of the chimney pipe behind the hutch !!

Not only did Glenn get the lights hung, but he also climbed up that tall, tall ladder and washed my inside windows!! I did the lower ones, inside and out, but it was too windy to attempt the outside tall ones!! He also hung Christmas lights on the outside railing of our deck - we took a drive tonight after it got dark to check them out and they look festive from the road!

What a great feeling to know that the decorating is DONE so I can now concentrate on the Christmas cards, shopping, and baking!! After Thanksgiving, that is..............

Ah, Those Gorgeous Sunrises!!

You just can't beat these sunrises over the peak!!

Gordon Lightfoot - What A LEGEND!!

Another item crossed off my bucket list - last night was the awesome GORDON LIGHTFOOT concert!!!

I think he's one of those singers that you either love or just don't even know about! I first LOVED his song "If You Could Read My Mind" back in the early 70's - our high school had a swing choir and there were about 8 of us that sang in it - I played the guitar along with one other guy and a bass player - and we sang this song - many, many times!!

I grew to love his folk/ballad style songs and ended up with most of his cassettes, back in those days!! I've since ordered the old classics on CD's!!

Anyway, the concert was last night and good friends Karen and Joleen went with me - we were thankful the snow wasn't heavy but there was enough on the pass going down that we saw 2 accidents - one car was way over in the trees!! But we made it to C. Springs without any trouble, found a great parking spot almost right across from the Pikes Peak Center and walked around the block to a cute, contemporary bar/restaurant called "Nosh".

Monday night was not the usual menu but just the appetizer menu - all at 1/2 price - you can't beat that!! We ordered drinks and 4 appetizers to share and just had a great time eating, drinking and talking - definitely a great place on a Monday night to take some friends!! For dessert we ordered the "chocolate platter" and it was amazing!! The chocolate items were so rich that you had to have coffee to go with them!! YUM!!! And the great part about it - for the drinks, appetizers, coffee and dessert - a mere $33.00 to split amongst us!!

We had the usher take a quick photo of us before we went into the concert - not a great picture of me at all but the other gals look great!!

And then it was concert time!! We had front row balcony seats, dead center!! I was just so excited to see this guy walk out on the stage with his guitar - why I had NEVER been to one of his concerts when he was in his prime is beyond me - but he was great!! The guy will be 72 years old on Wed. and yes, he is old looking and couldn't begin to reach a lot of the high notes but the audience didn't care a bit - he just sang and sang and sang, one song right after the other!

Even though he had a drummer, bass, lead guitar and keyboard, they didn't back him up singing at all - it was just him and his music!! He kept switching between his 6 string and 12 string guitar so I got a kick out of using the binoculars and watching him actually play!! He's fantastic!!

I'm not sure how long he'll be able to keep up his concert schedule though - he was really short of air a lot of the time when he was singing(although that could have been due to the elevation) and let's face it - he's just getting old!!

I listened to his CD, all the way home - and know that I will NEVER grow tired of hearing his wonderful songs - thanks Gordon for ONE GREAT CONCERT!!!

A Rayna and Kylan Weekend!

Jaime and Brad decided they needed a night away from the kids so it was Nana and Papa to the rescue -they came down on Friday night and then headed Saturday morning to Mt. Princeton to soak in the hot springs!!

We bundled up the kids and went to the play park first thing!! Yes, it was VERY cold but the kids needed some fresh air and had a great time of course!! Rayna thought it got too warm and took off her coat for about a minute!

Kylan still takes naps which is kind of nice because then I can spend some quality time with Rayna - Jaime had brought down some fun crafts so we did a couple of them and then made place cards for our Thanksgiving table! Our evening consisted of watching 2 Christmas movies, homemade popcorn and TRYING to get a good night's sleep - which I didn't accomplish! I think that 3 year old little boy thought of everything he could to get his Nana out of her bed!! Luckily both him and Rayna were sleeping on a mattress at the foot of the bed but stilll............... kind of a short night for me!!

Glenn had spent the afternoon installing the new wood stove! It looks great and so far so good, it doesn't smoke like the old one at all!!! He had also picked up some deer food in town and both kids loved watching the deer come around to eat the food!

Sunday we bundled up the kids once again and went to cut wood!! The kids loved it - we stood back while Glenn would cut the tree and then we would all yell TIMBER!! Little Kylan loved carrying the wood and putting it all in a pile - the trees Glenn cut were smaller ones with pieces small enough that the kids could pick them up!

Rayna decided she needed to chop one of her own so Glenn found a really skinny one that she could just push over and pull up by the roots!!

More crafts on Sunday afternoon and Jaime and Brad returned, having had a great time soaking in the hot springs!! I was just a little envious - but wouldn't have given up our weekend with the grandkids for anything!!

And We're Ready For 2011 Camping!

We did get our camper picked up in Denver on Halloween weekend but I just hadn't taken any photos of it!! It was fun to repack it and find places for everything - not that I'll remember that by next spring anyway!!

The only other news that is worth mentioning is that I AM STILL SICK!! The upper respitory bug moved in right after the flu bug and it's really taking its' toll!! I'm too stubborn to stay home because really, all I do at work is sit at a desk anyway! I keep thinking each morning I wake up that it will be GONE but so far, it's still hanging around!!

We have snow in the forecast for this afternoon and evening to the tune of 3 to 5 inches - I guess we're past due for some accumulation so we'll wait and see if the weatherman is right!!

MAMMA MIA!

THE WEEKEND FINALLY ARRIVED - It was time to dress up and attend Mamma Mia at the Buell Theatre in downtown Denver!!

I drove up to Denver on Saturday morning to watch Jaime's kids during the day - Brad was hunting and Jaime had to work till 6:00 - Jill arrived along with Jessi and her kiddos and we all ate together before Jaime's babysitter arrived!

One quick pic before we go pick up Jaime at work!!

We dropped Jessi's kids off at her friends' house and with the Mamma Mia CD blaring, picked up Jaime and headed to nine mile station to catch the light rail to downtown - parking is non-existent downtown so this was the best way to get there!!

Jessi had ridden the light rail before so showed us the ropes as we purchased our round trip tickets and caught the right one!! This is a picture of Jaime and I on the light rail!!


It was fun walking the couple of blocks to the theater - everybody was milling around, some all dressed up, some not! It had been a LONG time since any of us girls had really dressesd up for a night out like this!

We grabbed one of the MANY women there to snap a picture of the 4 of us - actually, we figured the entire audience would be women and were surprised to see so many men there!! I think they enjoyed it though as much as we did!!

Our seats were in the 4th row of the balconey, dead center!! The seats were actually very good and although we were a ways from the stage, we could still see great and of course the music was fantastic!!

What an AWESOME performance!! The cast was fantastic and of course we were all out of our seats at the end, clapping and dancing - how can you NOT get into those songs????

It was fun comparing the musical cast to the movie cast of course - and now we're all excited to watch the movie once again!!!

Smiling but yawning, we headed back to the light rail where we snapped pics in front of the huge poster.............

What a great night the 4 of us had - now that we know the ropes to "Downtown Denver", we're anxious to have another GIRLS NIGHT OUT!!!

Not A Great Way To Start The Week!!!

Waking up at 2:00am and not being able to fall back asleep should have been a clue - but I REALLY did feel OK at that time. Fast forward to 4:30am and I'm in the bathroom, not having a fun time at all!!

The next 12 hours were horrible - racing to the bathroom every 10 minutes or so and before long, yelling at Glenn to get me a bowl to use also!! Now there's a pretty picture (NOT!) - sitting on the stool and vomiting at the same time!! I DO NOT do well at vomiting, especially when there is NOTHING left in your stomach!!

Soon the chills and fever came, along with a pounding headache which I could do NOTHING about! Me Oh My - I was SO GLAD when late afternoon hit and it all stopped!! (Except for the pounding headache!!)

Now any other time I would have been back at work the next day but not this time!! I was so weak, I could hardly climb a flight of stairs so Tuesday was stay at home day to recuperate!

The only redeeming factor in this horrible bout of stomach flu was that it didn't happen Sunday afternoon while I waited in the truck for 2 1/2 hours AND the fact that at least I won't be sick for our "girls night out" on Saturday night!!

Halloween Fun With The Grandkids!!

Glenn and I rarely get to be around the grandkids when it's Halloween time and I always miss seeing the kids in their outfits - but this year worked out perfect since Southlands Mall in Denver was having a special trick or treat walk on Saturday! A great time to put the kids in their costumes, get a little bit of candy and take some photos!!

I was sad when Jill called and said her and Aleah wouldn't be down on Saturday since Aleah was running a high temp and had been to the doctor - but Jill emailed me a couple of darling pictures so I could pretend she was there!!

Glenn and I left after work on Friday - we drove the truck since we were picking up the camper that weekend also - we locked my car in Glenn's shop and of course after doing that, realized his cell phone was in the shop AND the keys to the shop were in the pocket of his old jeans that he had changed out of! Not a great way to start the weekend!!

Glenn had an eye appt in the Springs and will soon be sporting new glasses!! And then it was off to Office Max to get some duplicate invoices printed up for the business!! So it was late before we finally got to Denver!

Sat. morning found us at Kohl's - of course, another great sale!!! Unfortunately the work pants I needed were NOT on sale but with the 20% percent off, ended up being cheaper than I expected!! The girls helped me pick out a new outfit for next weekend - my clothes tend to be about 10 years behind the current trend...................

After Caribou Coffee, we were off to look at an office site for Jessi - it's a great location and we were all excited about it and gave her some suggestions, if the place turns out to be the one she rents!!

And then, time to dress the kids for Southlands!!!

As usual, Papa was the only one that Kenzie would walk with - what a sight in that cute little unicorn outfit with her matching sunglasses!!!

It was an absolute zoo at Southlands - lots and lots of people and every imaginable costume!
But the kids had fun and that's all that counts!!

After trick or treating, we headed to Burger King where the kids had a ball playing in the play yard! And after breakfast at Jessi's the next morning, it was time to head out!!

With the camper on, we headed to Colorado Springs where Glenn had an appt. - I chose to sit in the truck WITHOUT a book to read as I had finished one at Jaime's house!! Jessi had given me a magazine to look at but after an hour, I had read it from front to back so ended up just sitting there for another and a half................

And then it was homeward bound where we tried unsuccessfully to get into Glenn's shop so I could get my car - little did I know that I wouldn't be needing it the next morning anyway.......

A New Look!!

A big thank you to Jessi for re-doing the background of my blog - I actually think I may be able to do it by myself now since she showed me step by step!! I guess we'll find in about a month when it's time to put Thanksgiving to rest and concentrate on Christmas!!