Black Friday

5:45am came all too quickly when you haven't had a good nights' sleep!!!  But Black Friday is tradition - has been for many, many years so I crawled out of bed and dressed and soon the 4 of us were off to Kohl's!!

It was actually VERY nice to shop at Kohl's without the jam packed aisles and the hours' wait to check out!!    And who can beat the Kohl's cash? So I bought what I could and we didn't stand in line for more than a few minutes!

Coffee was in order for me and Einsteins Bagels was close by so we headed there so I could enjoy my coffee on the way to the mall!  It was excellent!

Jill had FREE Disney points to buy gifts with so she was one excited lady!!  Jaime and I meandered up to Sears and Penneys to see what we could find with a stop for a pretzel along the way!  We all seemed to find what we were looking for so we headed out to the car and Jill decided to show me what she had bought at the Disney Store - and then she panicked - she only had ONE large sackful and she was supposed to have TWO!!

Her and Jessi mentally backtracked where they had been and Jessi seemed to remember that she was carrying 2 Disney bags but Jill wasn't sure!!  So Jill and Jaime headed back into the mall to see if she had left it at the Disney Store.

In the meantime, Jessi and I are standing outside the car as it's SO nice out and there's a lineup of cars in the aisle  as one lady was trying to back out and another lady was waiting to take her space!  But the lady backing out did NOT have enough room so she was just sitting there - oh my - the 2nd car in line was getting frustrated so I knew I needed to take action!!  SO I did - I made the 2nd lady in line back up some - then I told the first lady to back up - and by then the lady backing out had enough room to get out of that parking space and everybody was happy!!

AND SO WAS JILL!!! When Jill had checked out at the Disney Store, the person had NOT given her the 2nd bag at all!!  So it was waiting for her at the store - mission accomplished and everyone was good to go!!

One more stop at Gordmans and then we broke for lunch at Baja Fresh - excellent Mexican!!

We stopped again at Target since I forgot to pick up a DVD and we all made ANOTHER haul there!!  Then we were off to Southlands for our last couple of stops before we headed home!  We were all getting giggly by that time as we were all so tired!

By that time I was exhausted and needed a rest - so I headed to Jessi's basement, put some Vicks on my nose so I could breathe and relaxed for an hour - it was heavenly!!

Later that afternoon we all congregated back at Jaime's for Papa Murphys pizza, a movie for the kids, and some "phone instruction" time for me!!

Weary but happy, we all made it an early night for some sleep and I have to say, I DID sleep really well that night!!!  What a great Thanksgiving and shopping day!

Thanksgiving 2012

Happy Turkey Day!!  And what a wonderful weather day to celebrate it!  It's hard to believe that it's November and the days are still warm!

 

I had to read last years' blog to see what happened!!  And that's when I remembered that we didn't head to Denver on Wednesday night but waited till Thursday to miss all the horrible traffic!

 

So Thursday morning we headed to Denver - Glenn wanted to stop at a place in the Springs to get breakfast burritos but of course it wasn't open - not much was open in fact - but we did stop at Caribou to grab a coffee before heading to Jaime's place!

 

Jill, Robby and the kids had their Thanksgiving dinner with Bev, Robby's mom so we missed them at our table but they had a great time in Woodland Park!

 

I love this picture - Jaime and Jessi are doing the ham and turkey roll-ups, Rayna is squirting the celery with cheese and Evan is patiently waiting for me to take the picture so he can help me make the punch - now the question of the day is - WHY is the refrigerator door open? 

 

 

 Once again Brad smoked the turkey and then we put it in the oven for a couple more hours - it was delicious!!!  Our menu:  turkey, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, dressing, relish tray, corn pudding, fresh green bean casserole, Hawaiian sweet rolls, mandarin orange sherbet salad, punch, cranberries (Jessi made this from scratch with an old recipe I had and it was SO good!!) pumpkin pie and apple pie!  As usual, we all stuffed ourselves!!

 The kids wanted to sit by themselves - gosh, wasn't it just yesterday that they all needed help and couldn't sit by themselves and cried????  They're all growing up............

 We all enjoyed the place cards that Evan and Kenzie did!

 We even sang "Albuquerque Is A Turkey" several times during the day!!

 A big thanks to Jaime and Brad for hosting our Thanksgiving dinner - it was a relaxed, excellent meal and the guys helped clean up!

 I'm not sure where the afternoon went - but it went!!  With 3 Denver newspapers spread out on the dining room table, we sorted through ads and made our lists for Black Friday! 

Before we knew it, the Savages had arrived!  Aleah and Kenzie were excited to see each other and little Parker is just not so little anymore!!  (the battery died in my camera and can you believe it, the spare battery I had was dead too!!! So no pics of Parker!!)

Aleah spent the night with Kenzie so Glenn went to Jessi's house to stay with them and Evan spent the night with Kylan - cousin sleepovers - how fun!!!  And the girls?????  Of course - we went shopping!!!

We had decided to go to Target and then hit Walmart!!  And it was a great plan as for some reason, we assumed Target was already open and we could just go in and stand by the "specials" and wait for the 9:00 time!!!  But it wasn't to be - Target was NOT open and the line stretched for a long, long, long ways!!!  By this time it was chilly out - and since I'd had that bad head cold (and still had it) I opted to stay in Jaime's car with the heater on until the line started to move!!

Target was pretty much a chaotic mess!!!  The aisles were hard to get through - but the check out went VERY fast so that was a plus!!!  I think I'm getting too old for these late nights!!

Walmart was next but we were in and out pretty fast!!!  I got a nice start to my shopping but unfortunately did not sleep great so 5:45am came way too soon.........To be cont'd

Grandparents Day in Denver

No, you're not a month behind since we all know Grandparents Day is actually in October!!  But Rayna and Kylan's school decided to celebrate it in November (close to Thanksgiving) since they assumed maybe a few grandparents would be around for the holiday!!  And they were right!!

 

So I decided I had to attend the schools' special day and after I told Jessi that I was heading to Denver, she told me Kenzie was having a special Thanksgiving Day at her preschool and I could come to that too - fantastic - 2 schools in one day!!

 

I made it to Jessi's house in record time and since Evan goes to kindergarten in the afternoon, he was there at the house and very surprised to see me!!  Jessi and I headed to Caribou for a quick cup of coffee - we both branched out this time - me with a dark chocolate peppermint mocha and Jessi with a salted caramel mocha - they were both excellent!!!

 

Then we met Gary and Evan at the pre-school.  Boy was Kenzie surprised to see me as we hadn't told her I was coming - how special to see her face light up like that!!  The little ones had made their place mats and a turkey along with a cute necklace that they all wore - they enjoyed their little feast of muffins, mini quiches, carrots and mini pancakes!! 

 

 I must admit, Kenzie was the cutest one there!!!  She enjoyed showing me everything in the room and it was so fun to see where she spends her days at pre school!

 After a quick lunch at Jessi's house, I headed over to Peace With Christ Lutheran School for my time with Kylan and Rayna.  Kylan was just heading in from recess and once again, I got the sweetest smile when I yelled his name!!  It's these little moments in a grandparents' life that make grand kids so special!!

I registered up front and soon both kids came to claim me and we headed into chapel - they had a very nice program with both kids singing!!  I love Kylan's "hand in the pockets" when he sings.

 The next hour was divided into 3 sections and our first activity was exploring their classrooms - Kylan enjoyed showing me the tepee he had made and all the other fun things in his room!

 Then it was off to Rayna's room - she actually had to interview me with a series of questions and write down my answers!  I'm SURE she'll get an "A" on it!!

Next was Bingo and our final activity was getting our pictures taken and refreshments!  The photographer said we were the best looking bunch there!!

And all too soon, it was time to drop the kids off at home and head back home!  But only for a short time, as we head back up to Denver for Thanksgiving early Thursday morning!!

Thanks Kenzie, Kylan and Rayna for making my day VERY special!!

Out For Dinner..............

So I've been under the weather - since last Tuesday night!!  Felt a sore throat coming on and by Wednesday morning I could hardly swallow - thanks Glenn for giving me your upper respiratory sickness!!

The only GOOD part about being ill is that I knew when I went back to the office, it wouldn't be stacked high on my desk like it would have been at Farmers!  But I really have been suffering the past 5 days!  Sore throat went to a VERY runny nose, extreme sinus pressure and now the endless hacking of a cough........sigh........I do not like being sick - repeat, repeat, repeat!!

Friday morning I drove into town just to get a few basic items from the grocery store, collect the mail and do the payroll - I lasted about 2 hours before I headed back home to collapse on the couch.....let's see, how many books have I read????

I told Glenn I wanted to go out to eat Friday night - just into Divide at McGinty's as Friday night is fish night and they make the BEST fish ever!!!  I grabbed plenty of kleenex to take in with me and the wait wasn't long!  My fish arrived along with the steak fries and coleslaw and as soon as I took a bite, disappointment!!!  The fish wasn't very good at all - seemed to have no taste and I was thinking that they had changed their batter!!  No matter, I continued to eat and visit with Glenn and about 1/2 way through the meal, it hit me - I couldn't taste ANYTHING!!!  I couldn't tell if I was eating coleslaw or fries - all I could feel in my mouth was the texture!!!  No wonder the fish tasted funny!!

I decided to test my theory further - in the coleslaw was quite a large slice of onion (apparently it didn't make it through the grinder) so I put just that onion slice in my mouth and started chewing - nothing - no taste at all - just the crunchiness of the onion!!  Darn head cold anyway.........

Glenn was surprised when I didn't want dessert????  Now why would I want to pay $6.99 for a slice of dessert that I couldn't even taste???

Saturday I vowed I wasn't going to lay on the couch all day because it sure didn't seem like it was helping me any so I got ambitious - I got out the Christmas decorations!!  I turned on the music, carried my kleenex with me and decorated the house!!!  And today, Sunday, I put up the Christmas tree and decorated it and then proceeded to vacuum the entire house so it's all sparkling clean and beautifully decorated!!!

And now I'm back to sitting on the couch again with my companions - kleenex, vicks, chap stick, and ice water (although sometimes I do hot cider or coffee)!!  I MUST get better by tomorrow - after all it's Thanksgiving week which means a short work week and food to prepare!!  Go away head cold - I'm busy this week!!

Lifes' Experiences - You Gotta Love 'Em

There's no pictures to go with this post as I didn't think about throwing the camera in the car so you'll just have to picture this adventure in your mind!

Sunday - the kids have left - the house is back to normal and the laundry is done - and I'm thinking about getting some Christmas decorations out!  The phone rings - it's Glenn - already this doesn't sound good unless he's calling to say he's on his way home from hunting...............

Of course he's not - the starter went out of the truck - are you kidding me?????  He just put a new starter in that truck less than a year ago!!  But he's NOT kidding of course and he's way over at Sargents and it's 2:00pm with the sun on the downhill side..........sigh............

The only choice there is:  head into W. Pk to get a new starter and drive it over to him!  He's about 3 miles off the highway with the truck, camper and the trailer with the ATV (which is how he could call me - driving the ATV into Dotty's which is the ONLY thing in Sargents and it's a gas station/general store/campground/restaurant- and stand in one particular spot under a power booster) and they've had 6" of snow and it's darn cold out!!!

OK - he tells me we may have to spend the night in a cabin over there at Dotty's if he can't get the starter put on in the dark so I grab some cute pj's (what was I thinking????? - why didn't I pack long underwear???) and my makeup bag, along with a bag of Frito's and a few grapes and head into W. Pk!

I'm just pulling into Auto Zone when I happen to look over at the empty seat and there's no purse!!  NO WHAT??????  That's right - I forgot my purse!!! Panic city - I need money to pick up the part - I'm in a BIG hurry as I need to get over icy Monarch Pass before the sun sets - what to do, what to do!!!  I think about running to the ATM and getting cash - duh - my card is in my purse!!!

And then it hits me - petty cash at the office - ah hah!!!!  So I race over to the office and luckily, a client paid cash on Friday afternoon so I grabbed the envelope (along with Glenn's cell phone as he had mine for the weekend) and head over to the parts store!!!  Good thing that client paid as the bill was WAY over what my petty cash drawer held!!

So of course I had to stop back at the house to grab my purse and I was on my way!!  I did make good time, even though Monarch was snow packed and icy with snow falling as I was driving and I actually drove RIGHT to where Glenn was camping - in the 6" of snow I might add!!

Poor Glenn was all bundled up as now it's 10 degrees and the wind was blowing - he was SO thankful I had come!!!  I felt so sorry for him as he hooked up the new starter as I was sitting in my nice warm car with my headlights bumped up to his truck! But he got the starter on in record time!

We decided we had to spend the night - there was no way we were both going to drive over Monarch Pass on the ice at night!  So we pull over to Dotty's and Glenn goes in to book a cabin!  Here's the fantasy I concocted:  a cozy cute cabin where we could relax and watch TV all evening and a nice hot meal at the restaurant where we could tell each other about the last few days.

Here's the reality:  a REALLY cozy cabin with FOUR bunk beds, a small frig with a microwave on top and a built-in desk with a chair with just enough room to walk 2 steps into the cabin but NO BATHROOM - the bathrooms and showers were in the back of the general store, 50 yards away!  And the restaurant was already CLOSED!!!!  So much for my fantasy............

Did I forget to mention there is NO BEDDING in the cabins?  So Glenn got into the camper and we hauled out the 2 sleeping bags, 1 pillow and the sheet set and I made up the lower twin bed, thinking we sure needed to sleep together for body heat!!  There was NO heat turned on when we got into the cabin and with its' vaulted ceiling, it took quite a while to get warm!

We walked over to the general store to get a couple of drinks and I picked up a dark chocolate candy bar which I felt I really needed at that time!!!  Glenn cooked a couple of hot dogs in the microwave that he had left in the camper so with our Frito's, we had quite the fancy dinner - and yes, I ate my candy bar!

I just KNEW that I would have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night but the thought of actually walking outside over to the store was just TOO much so Glenn brought in a large bowl from the camper and that was to be the "chamber pot" during the night!!  (Luckily, neither one of us had to use it!)

Let's see - a trip over to the bathrooms to brush our teeth and wash my face with a paper towel and we were set for the night!!!  After our lovely meal, it was 7:30 - and since there was no TV and Glenn hadn't brought a book, he went to bed.  I crawled in too but HAD brought a book and there was ONE little lamp that I read by for an hour...............

Did we sleep well in that little twin bed with the lumpy mattress?  Of course not!!  BUT we were toasty warm and that's all that mattered!!

We woke up about 6:45 and it looked darn cold out - it was - 15 below - the car didn't even want to start!!  But we got both vehicles warmed up and were soon on our way home!  One thing I can sure say is that OUR bed felt HUGE after sharing that little twin bed!!  Life is sure an adventure with Glenn around!

The Keppys Come To Visit!

I was excited when Jessi told me they were coming down for a couple of nights since Evan didn't have school on Friday!  Glenn wasn't around as he was hunting and the grand kids sure missed him but we had a fun time anyway!

 

Jessi and Gary dropped the kids off at the office and they headed out to hike the Crags - the 3 of us headed to Burger King for lunch before heading out to our house!  Our first thing on the agenda was to pick up pine cones for kindling!!  The kids love to do this and even though it was pretty cool out and windy, we managed to fill a trash barrel and also a large black garbage bag!!

 

Their reward was the hot tub!!  As usual, they had a ball - I on the other hand had a heavy coat with the hood up trying to stay warm while I watched them!!

 

 

Next on the list was to make pine cone bird feeders!  We brought in a few cones and the kids frosted them with peanut butter!!  It was one messy job but they loved it!!  I did find that by heating the peanut butter up in the microwave first, it was much easier to spread!

 Then they rolled the peanut butter pine cones in the bird seed!  They were pretty excited to take 2 of them and hang them in the tree by the hot tub - the rest they took home.

 After Jessi and Gary returned home from hiking, we had a nice dinner and enjoyed some time relaxing in front of the fireplace.

 We woke to snow on Saturday morning!  It was rather nasty outside so we knew we'd be spending the day inside the house, but Jessi and I still decided to go out for coffee at Florissant!  It was delicious and it's always fun to just sit and talk without the kids around!

 The next project was to make place cards for Thanksgiving dinner - usually Rayna makes them but since she hadn't been down in a while, Evan and Kenzie did them!  Kenzie decided that just painting was more fun than the actual "project" and she made one beautiful painted paper plate!!

 But Evan did a great job!!  The little turkeys were made from his thumbprint for the body and then the feathers were from one of his other fingerprints!  Because I didn't have an ink pad, I bought a package of one of those foam paint brushes and some water colors - we put the paint on the foam part and used that as the "ink" pad.  Jessi finished up the turkeys by adding the little details and then Evan printed all the names on the other side - they turned out really cute!

We enjoyed watching it snow off and on all day and watching movies and relaxing!!  The 3 adults hit the hot tub Saturday night and the falling stars were in full force!!  Even though it was cold out - 10 degrees - the hot tub felt fantastic!!

All too soon, Sunday morning arrived and it was time for them to head back to Denver!!  What a fun weekend!!

Xamach Dos - Our Final Day

Vacation - it's down to the final day - let's head back to Tulum!!  First a stop in the town of Tulum for a few souvenirs - and then it's off down the bumpy road as we headed to Xamach Dos, a very small resort out in the middle of nowhere!!  We discovered this place the last time we were here and our hope is that we will actually stay here next year!!

 

After meeting Michelle, the owners' daughter who is running the resort (it was like old home week as she's from Manitou Springs, CO), the guys headed out to fish in that beautiful water!!

 

This place is pure relaxation - there is ABSOLUTELY nothing to do but read, fish and relax!!  The nearest town (Tulum) is a good 45 minutes away!  I'm sure these hammocks get plenty of use!

This is the eating area and the bar area - since there are only 5 cabanas to stay in, it doesn't make for a lot of people at one time!

The guys had brought our leftover fish from the other day for them to cook for our lunch but before the fish, they fixed us fresh cerviche - YUM!!!

What a view from the eating area!!

There is all kinds of driftwood around the bar area - the owner is quite talented and makes different items from things that have washed up on shore!

After lots of visiting and relaxation, we headed back to the condo to get ready for our final dinner - it was quite windy where we ate at and unfortunately our meal wasn't the greatest - but guess you can't have a great meal every night!

Although this isn't a great picture, (Glenn had the camera and didn't zoom in), I wanted to show you a picture of this raccoon looking animal which is called a coati mundi - it has a longer nose than a raccoon and a tail like a monkey but it's coloring is just like a raccoon - they're all over the place!

Saturday morning the owners of the condo stopped by a few minutes before we headed out and we finally got a picture of the 4 of us!!!

And then it was off to our respective airlines for our flights back home - we have some wonderful memories to take back home and already plans to head back next year!

Snorkeling With The Turtles

Mexico seemed to be in full bloom, even though it was November!! There was the most amazing smell that would drift our way at times and it smelled like vanilla!!  I'm not sure which flower it was but gosh, it sure did smell good!!

I love how this plant has climbed the tree and engulfed it!!

We got up early on Thursday - ate a quick bite and headed over to Yul Ha which was a 5 minute walk from the condo!!  It's a lagoon that does feed into the ocean at one end and you snorkel there!  The place was very jungle like on the paths and had the neatest sculptures - this is NOT one of them!!

Most of the sculptures looked like they were designed after the people in the movie Avatar!  Tall and thin and blue!!  And some were in very unique positions!!

We SO enjoyed snorkeling at the lagoon - we were there before all the "tourists" arrived and snorkeled for almost 2 hours - there were so many fish in such amazing colors - I can't decide if I liked the dark purple or the dark blue or the yellow ones!!  Our new snorkel gear worked great and with the tight seal I had on my face, I didn't have to worry about getting the water in my eyes!!  I didn't bring an underwater camera but Cindy did and I'm sure she got some great shots!

Tired but happy, we walked back to the condo and had a huge brunch before we drove to Akumal Bay - this is where the turtles hang out and we were hoping to see one!!

Our landlords had told us to snorkel out where the boats were as there was some grass in the water there and that's where they hang out!!  We snorkeled out and there were lots of fish but darn it, no turtles!  The current was pretty strong out by the reef and we soon tuckered out and headed back to shore, only to see Rene there shouting "Did you see the turtles?"    He told us exactly where to see them so Cindy and I headed back out and sure enough - WE FOUND THEM!!!  I saw 3 turtles - one huge one and 2 smaller ones - they were SO neat to see and you could swim right along side them!!  I felt like I was in the "Finding Nemo" movie!!!

Luckily Cindy had her underwater camera and took several pictures so at least I'll have one for my scrapbook!!!  What a neat experience!!

We were SO tired by the time we got back to shore and headed back to the condo for happy hour and showers before we headed back out for dinner at Esmeraldas - true Mayan food that was delicious!!

What a great day snorkeling!!!

Another Day In Paradise

 Looks good, doesn't it?  It's called "Dead Bread" and was made specifically for Day of the Dead which is today Nov. 1st!!  Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday but it's not like our Halloween, it's a day for them to remember and honor ones that have died - more like our Memorial Day!!  Anyway, the bread was delicious just eating it plain as it has sugar and cinnamon on top!!

Glenn and I got up earlier again so walked down to Turtle Bay Cafe to eat - Cindy and Rene showed up right afterwards and we all enjoyed a great breakfast!  The guys decided they wanted to head back towards the Tulum beach road and go fishing off the bridge - Cindy and I decided we wanted to just hang out at the condo and relax under the palm trees - it was heavenly!!

 The maid came to clean the condo, the owner of the condo stopped by AND a service guy came to try and fix the sliding screen door so we had all kinds of company!!!

Here's a pic of the non beach side of the condo - not sure how many are in this building but it's impressive looking from this side

 This is taken through the walkway and the condo we stayed in is to the right.

 They have a beautiful pool which we have yet to get into!!  It feels pretty cold compared to the ocean so I'm not sure if we'll get in or not!

 The guys got back about 6:00 and we had guac and chips ready for them!  They had a fun day fishing at the bridge and hanging out at Xamach's - a place Glenn and I discovered the last time we were in Tulum!!  It's an extremely small resort out in the middle of nowhere with a beach just like our Tulum beach - awesome and beautiful - someday we will stay there!!

It was rib night at Tequilville so we headed into town and had a great meal of ribs, potatoes and salad - along with pumpkin pie for dessert - yummy!!!

 

After a full meal, we all once again headed to bed with our books!!  We were supposed to go to a Halloween party at a bar/restaurant  - we had met the guy who owned it the night before and he insisted that we come, but after a full day of sun and relaxation, we were just too tired.......that's the nice thing about vacation - you can do what you want!!!!