O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

It was decorate the house weekend - after our Thanksgiving get together!! I ALWAYS look forward to decorating, even though it takes a LONG time and lots of carrying up and down the lower level steps!!


I decided to put my village houses in a different place this year!! I always agonized about putting them on top of the kitchen cabinets because it was SO MUCH WORK!!! I have to stand on a step ladder as Glenn doesn't want me standing on the granite counter tops!! And because I'm so short, the leaning over part to reach the tops is not fun!! Not only was there all the stuff to take down from there, but then putting all the village up there, along with trying to plug it all in - bottom line - it took me almost 2 hours each year to get it set up

So I made the decision last year that I was going to put it on top of the entertainment center in the lower level, which is where we spend most of our time anyway as the TV is down there!! It was a GREAT decision!! They look fantastic there and the setting up part was much easier!! I still had to set them on small boxes and because there are already cords up on top because of the lights in the entertainment center, I had to cut some side holes in the boxes so they would sit straight. But it was a far cry from putting them on top of the cabinets again!! Hooray for easier decorating!!

The MOST fun is always decorating my "travel" tree!!! And this year I had 4 new ornaments to add to the bunch - Las Vegas, Puerto Morales Mexico, Michigan and Belize!! Once again, I had the pleasure of reliving each vacation as I put each ornament on the tree!! I realized this Christmas that the tree is getting pretty full of ornaments as of course I have many, many others I put up - but Jessi told me you can NEVER have too many ornaments on a tree so I'll take her word for it!!

The house looks great and is all complete - and my evenings can be spent sipping apple cider in front of the fireplace and dreaming of future vacations and ornaments for the tree!!

Happy Birthday Mackenzie

BEFORE the birthday party............was our annual shopping day!!

I was wide awake by 5:45 am, ready to face the crowds and the traffic!! Jessi and I left the house by 6:45 and soon met Jaime and Jill for our day of shopping!!

It really wasn't too bad - I think all the die hards had went at midnight!! And there was only one door buster item that was completely sold out that I wanted so I didn't think that was bad at all!!

Break time was spent at Panera Bread and oh my, they had some great bagels there - although the coffee wasn't fantastic!! A hot out of the oven cinnamon-sugar pretzel hit the spot at the mall and Noodles and Company was our lunch destination!! To top off the day, it was gorgeous outside so we rarely wore out coats after it warmed up!! All in all, a great day of shopping and I made one huge dent in the list.........

Kenzie and Evan were excited to help decorate the cupcakes!

And before we knew it, all of the family arrived and Kenzie's party had started!! She liked her new boots that we got her and proudly modeled them for us!!

Remember that GREAT bargain I got at the Munchkin Market last spring??? Well, I wrapped up a large portion of it for Kenzie and she loved it!! Can you believe I still have 21 baggies of the pet shop left???? Guess what she's getting for Christmas??

After a great meal of chile and hot dogs, it was time for the cupcakes!! Kenzie of course had to wear her new dress and "wings" for the blowing out of the candles!! What a cutie!!

We were all a little tired after the celebration - in fact, after Jessi and I cleaned the kitchen, we sat down on the couch and looked at each other and started yawning - it was time to hit the sack!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Kenzie!!!

Turkey Day 2011

Thanksgiving Day dawned absolutely beautiful and the warmest one we've had in years!! I had decided a couple of days ago that instead of trying to fight the traffic on Wednesday night that we would just wait until Thursday morning to head up to Denver - and that was definitely the RIGHT decision as it made for a great drive with hardly any traffic!! In fact, I ended up driving since Glenn insisted that we stop by Burger King for a breakfast sandwich for him (I opted for cereal that morning!!)

As I was getting close to Jaime's turn-off I started thinking about coffee - Caribou Coffee - and wondering if it might be open............so I turned off a couple of exits early and headed over there to find it open!! I called both girls and got their coffee orders and we brought coffee to the crew -yum!!

Rayna was set up right inside the door with her "face painting" station!! Kylan was the first victim and he did look darn cute!!

Soon the Savage's and then the Keppy's arrived so it made for one big happy family!! Putting the finishing touches on our meal was quick and easy and because it was so nice outside, the kids could play outside which really helped the noise level!! Although when you get the 4 guys together, I think they can be louder than the kids!!

Robby had brought my new hard drive for my laptop and immediately set to work fixing my computer - HOORAY - he finished it in no time at all and I was good to go!! THANKS Robby - we all appreciate your skills!!

One NEW thing about this Thanksgiving - no more bibs - yes, the girls called me one day at work and they had made the decision that they were tired of bibs and ready for comfy pants - and I was OK with that - a little sad, but OK!! This tradition had been going on for many, many years - back in the days with we used to get together with Cindy and Rene for our Thanksgiving!! Many fond memories of those bibs but I guess it was time to say goodbye to them!!

Brad and Jaime cooked 2 turkeys - one in the oven and one in the smoker - and they both were excellent!!
Somehow I missed taking pictures of the family at the table - maybe I was actually eating this year instead of taking pictures???

We sent the kids and the guys to the park after lunch so we could clean up and it worked out great!! It was almost hot out when we strolled little Parker to the park for a while!!

The kids decided to watch a movie up on Jaime's bed since the guys were watching football and I caught this picture - do ya think they're a little interested in this movie or what???


Evan was next to get his face painted - and we were actually sitting on Jaime's deck which is off her bedroom on the 2nd floor, looking at ads.............

Parker slept through our meal which was nice for Jill - he's crawling all over now and despite wanting to be held by his mom all the time, he was still fun!!

I had decided I wanted pics of the boys and then the girls to use on my Christmas cards, along with a picture of Glenn and I!!! So we got them all lined up and I snapped away, knowing that most of them would not be too good, trying to get all 3 of them to sit still and smile!! I peeked at the pictures on the camera and was just sure I had a great one of them, but alas I was NOT happy with them - the best one of Evan and Parker had Kylan blurry - now how can that be???? This one turned out cute but the lighting is not great at all - I need some lessons from Amanda!!

Then it was the girls' turn - and again I thought I had a good one but I didn't - either Aleah was moving in 1/2 of them or I need to steady my hand!!

We did run out and do a little shopping - I always seem to find something at Walgreen's in the toy department!! Jessi and I headed to Michaels later on and no matter how many times I tell myself I do NOT need any more scrap booking things, I just can't help but buy more!! After all, it WAS on sale!!

Then it was off to Walmart for the 10:00pm start - there was nothing I really needed that was going to be put on sale at that time but of course I didn't want to be left out so I went!! It wasn't as bad as that one year Jill and I went but it was still VERY crowded and after I picked up a couple of things, I was ready to get out of there!!!

And then it was off to bed before our 6:00am alarm for Black Friday shopping!!

Denver Aquarium

I miss my laptop!! Not only do I have to share the main computer with Glenn but I also had to download my pictures on it too - which is something I haven't done for over a year and a half since I've used my laptop!! Thanksgiving can't come SOON enough so Robby can fix it!!

Our weekend was a Denver weekend to babysit kiddos!! Jaime and Brad are in Tx. and Jaime had originally asked me almost a year ago to come up and babysit for them while they were gone - that was when we THOUGHT Gary was going to retire at the end of August!! But since that didn't happen, I could only do the weekend - and Jessi has been a great fill in for me!!

So we came up after work on Friday and picked up Rayna and Kylan at Jessi's house and proceeded to take them to THEIR house for a couple of nights!! It sure was strange watching them without Jaime or Brad in the house!! We started a movie but Glenn and I were just too tired to watch much of it so we hit the sack!!

I was planning on sleeping in - WRONG - Kylan was up at 6:15 and came into the bedroom saying it was time to get up - I told him differently - and he crawled in bed with us but of course we didn't get any more sleep...............

Late morning we dropped Kylan back off at Jessi's so we could take Rayna to her volleyball game - how fun to see her play again - this time in a different league - and her team won 5 out of the 6 games they played - she's one great player!!

We had packed sandwiches in the car which was a good thing since we were all starving by then and met Jessi at her office for adjustments which were needed after I believe about 6 weeks since our last one!! And then we moved all the car seats into our car and headed to the aquarium!!

Luckily we had coupons to make the prices cheaper to get in because it IS expensive!! But I love to go there and someday just Glenn and I are going to go to really enjoy the exhibits!!

You would think with 3 adults and 4 kids we would have had an easier time keeping track of them but we failed..............Kylan got quite lost for a while and I was in a state of panic trying to find him!! But of course we did - and I tried to hang onto his hand for quite a while after that but you know kids............

Here's Rayna in the deep sea dive suit!!

She's the only one I could get to stand still long enough to take pictures!!

To be honest, not many of my pictures turned out great because it's kind of dark - but I love this picture!

Jessi took this "attempted" picture of us and the kids!!

Feeding the stingrays was interesting - after paying $2.68 for 3 sardines, (I had no idea that was what I was getting - I figured it would be a dry type of fish food!!) none of the kids actually fed them because it was kind of scary!! Oh well - at least we tried!!

They are cute, aren't they???

Now why didn't I get Rayna in this one???

I tried to do a "sibling" picture but Kenzie and Evan were just not going for it but I did capture Rayna and Kylan!!

We ended up getting their faces painted since a nice guy had some extra tickets!! I thought it would take a LONG time for that - try about a minute apiece!!! Face painting just isn't what it used to be!!

Also on those "free" passes from the guy were admission to the 4D show - since Kylan was too short to go in, Glenn and I took him and Kenzie to the car while Jessi, Rayna and Evan enjoyed the show!!

Getting to our next stop was not what I would call fun!!! The interstate was completely backed up but thanks to Jessi's phone, she found us another route - although it did take a LONG time and the kids were tired and hungry and absolutely DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! I think they thought Nana was pretty crabby too because I was!! Guess I'm just not used to the noise!!

We did finally make it to CiCi's Pizza and had fun eating lots of pizza and some fantastic cinnamon rolls!!! The kids pretended to play in the arcade while we relaxed!! And then it was homeward bound to finish our movie and hit the sack again!!

Kylan made it till 2:00AM and then came in saying he needed his humidifier filled as it was dry in his room!! I told him I was too tired to do that so to crawl in bed with us - big mistake - he coughed and coughed and coughed!! Glenn and I finally got up and gave him some cough syrup, filled his humidifier and put him back in his bed!! By that time I was WIDE AWAKE and laid there for a long time before finally getting to sleep.............

Sunday Jessi and Gary and the kids came over after church - Jessi and I escaped to Caribou Coffee for some much needed "alone" time and then it was back for lunch and to frost and decorate Thanksgiving cookies that Jessi had baked!! It was fun and they kids loved it!!

Now I'm getting geared up for Thanksgiving where we will head back up to Denver for 3 nights - I'm thinking I should take some ear plugs!!

A Filthy, Dirty Car

I washed my car on lunch hour - 42 degrees with winds blowing about 30 mph - it was like taking a shower at the same time I was washing the car. BRRRRR!!

But it was needed - my car was so dirty I couldn't get in and out of it without getting dirty - and with a Denver weekend coming up, I thought it might be nice to be able to see out of the windows.

After the car wash, I went to get the mail. When I walked back out of the post office I panicked - my car was gone! Until I realized that nice looking SILVER car in the parking lot was actually mine instead of the brown one I usually drive...........LOL....

Breakdown Weekend!!

As we all know, sometimes things happen in groups of 3! So I'm waiting today to see what will be next........

Saturday was another wood day - Glenn actually cut another load of wood and after he returned, we spent a couple of hours splitting and stacking - and actually FINISHED it all up on Sunday!! What a great job to be done!! But by Saturday afternoon I was stiff and sore again so went to turn up the hot tub - it was dead - no power at all. Glenn checked it out and sure enough, the circuit board was fried - time to order another one and they're sure not cheap!!

Sunday I turned on my laptop to find a message stating to immediately backup all files on my computer as my hard drive was about to go!! Yes, I was in panic mode - of course I called Robby who checked it out and said it was true!! Luckily, he helped me download what needed to be downloaded and will order me a new hard drive that he'll install over Thanksgiving for me - whew.............

Monday is not quite over yet...............

I Am Thankful............

for the beauty God has put on this earth!!

A winter sunrise in the mountains!

But My Name's On The Shipping Label.....

Jessi wrote a few blogs back about how she had ordered a photo canvas and when it arrived, it was someone elses' family on the canvas!! Almost the same thing happened to me........

I had ordered the family calendars that I do every year - they take a LONG time to do on the computer and I spend many hours choosing JUST the right pictures and making sure all the grand kids have an equal amount dedicated to THEM!!

SO I was excited when the yellow slip was in my box on Monday, meaning I had a package to pick up!! But my excitement turned to disappointment when I picked it up - it was NOT the right size!! So I panicked! The box size was similar to the photobooks that I sometimes order but I hadn't ordered one..........and my heart skipped a few beats, thinking that I had ordered the WRONG size of calendars!!

The return address on the box was Keepsy - and at that time, I didn't remember if Snapfish was usually on the return address or if they subbed it out to another company - imagine my surprise when I opened the box and saw that it WAS indeed a photo book with some strange name on the front!! I looked at the packing slip and the address where it was SUPPOSED to be shipped to and it was London, England!!!

At that time, I seriously began thinking that my calendars were not in this country!!

I emailed Keepsy the situation and immediately got a response back - they were SO sorry that it had happened and could I please destroy the book and the shipping label and if my calendars didn't arrive in a day or two, to contact Snapfish about the situation.

The good news: my calendars arrived yesterday!! And the even nicer news was another email from Keepsy, stating they were so appreciative of me letting them know what had happened that they were giving me free of charge, a picture calendar OR a photo book!! Unfortunately, their system can only accept pictures from Flicker or Facebook and I solely use Snapfish so probably won't be taking advantage of their offer - but it was sure nice of them to reward me!!

My Aching Back!

It's definitely a hot tub night!!! Both Glenn and I are a little stiff and sore from the days' activities!! While I went to church, Glenn went over to Martin and Joleen's to borrow their wood splitter - up to this point, Glenn would go outside each evening and split enough wood to get us by through the night. It was TIME to get the wood all split before winter sets in!!

Check out this pile that Glenn has split and I have stacked!! Now you'll understand why we're sore this evening..............

But we're not done yet..........I got to the point where I just couldn't bend down and lift any more wood up to stack so I had to stop - Glenn worked a little bit longer and then said it was time to watch the Broncos game anyway!! The piles to the right of the picture still have to be split and as you can see, I'm WAY behind on stacking!!

The rest will have to wait till next weekend - especially since it's 5:30 and it's already dark outside - any volunteers for next weekend???? Hot tub, here we come!!!

SNOW DAY!

Let me set the scene: snow falling outside, the gas fireplace flickering , a great cup of coffee in hand, a clean house and ME - just sitting there enjoying every second of it - I HAD A SNOW DAY!!

Glenn got up early and after checking the TV, yelled up that all the schools in the county were closed so to sleep a little longer - which I did!!

It was a winter wonderland outside and I hurridly dressed after I got up, not wanting to miss ANY time of my day off!! And since the weekend before was a work weekend, not only was the entire house clean from top to bottom, but the windows had all gotten washed too and the laundry was caught up - the day was MINE!!

As I sat there checking emails in front of the fire, I thought: is this what retirement is like? No obligations for the day, no committments, no WORK????? It was a GREAT feeling and for just that day, I DID feel like I was retired!

I worked on my Snapfish calendars to give the kids at Christmas, I finished reading a book, I simmered some apple cider, I scooped the decks and I scrapbooked!! It was indeed a day for ME and I look forward to more of those................