Who's Turning 40?

It's certainly not one of these darling girls!!  But they sure dressed for the occasion - do you suppose their moms planned this? 

Is it one of these???  Wrong again....all 3 of them are creeping up that 30's ladder but they're still quite a ways away!!!!

So it must be none other than Brad who is celebrating his 40th birthday!!

Jaime threw one heck of a party on Saturday night and the entire family was there in full force!!  We ate - we drank - we laughed - and we had cake!!!  What a fun night!!!  Even Rayna and friend Kealy were goofy as ever!!

But to back up things a bit, I have to tell you that we made a new purchase on Friday night before we headed to Denver - after sleeping in a waterbed for 37 years, I decided I was ready for a regular bed!!  So we stopped at Denver Mattress in the Springs first and bought a bed!!  I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait to have Glenn pick it up so we can sleep on it!  But first that means buying a set of sheets, an electric blanket and a new comforter - MORE SHOPPING!!!

Sat. morning I had my last laser appointment in Denver - thanks again to Jaime for giving me that wonderful b'day gift - no more unsightly hair on my upper lip!!

After some shoe shopping with Jessi and a little help for Jaime on the party, Saturday night arrived and the party was on!!!

But there was to be little sleep because Sunday morning we were out the door by 7:30 to head to Rayna's volleyball tournament!!  It was great to see her play and I wished I would have snapped a picture of her but I didn't.............

And then we left the tournament early to head to the boys' basketball game!!  We all laughed and giggled watching them play - little 5 year old boys are fun to watch - some of them got the basketball and would forget to dribble so they would just run with the ball - and most of them aren't sure of the rules yet!!

I'm glad we got to see them play as their season is pretty short and we probably won't get to see another one!!

You would think after this busy, busy weekend we would head home but oh no, one more stop!!!  We have never been to the new IKEA store in Denver so after the game we headed there with Gary, Jessi and the kids - WOW -  Glenn and I were both amazed at the size of the store and everything in it!!  What a cool place!!  We picked up a few small items and then ended the day with cinnamon rolls which smell SO GOOD that you just have to eat one!! 

It sure seemed like a long drive home...........and I'm sure tomorrow will come way too early!!!

A Journey Up North

 

56 degrees in Ft. Collins - wow -  not too bad for January!!  It was nice enough for the kids to play outside and to go to the park on Saturday - that was fun!!

We headed up early Friday afternoon for a weekend of grand kids and ice fishing for Glenn!  It was fun to beat Jill home from work and I got some one on one time with the little ones while Robby ran some errands and Glenn headed to the lake!

Jill made a great dinner of BBQ pulled pork sandwiches and we spent the evening watching TV after the kiddos were in bed!

I forgot to turn down the volume on my phone when I set the alarm for Glenn - 5:00am came blasting out Grenade - luckily I got to roll over and go back to sleep while Glenn and Robby headed out to ice fish and didn't return till 7:30 that night - they had a great time and caught a few fish!

Jill and I enjoyed the day together - shoe shopping was first on the agenda and I found a cute pair but they didn't have it in my size - they'll be shipped next week!!  We headed to Panera Bread next for smoothies and bagels - yum - and then stopped at a park on the way home so the kids could run around for a while!

 

The kids love to help Jill cook in the kitchen - check out their cute aprons!!

The kids were mighty glad to see Glenn when he got in from ice fishing!  After bedtime for the little ones, we watched one of my all time favorite movies, The Italian Job!!!  They just don't make 'em like that anymore...........

Glenn got up early again to go ice fishing on Sunday - Aleah was up early and promptly came to the basement where I was sleeping and announced "I have all my things Nana" (blanket, pillow, and Jill's IPhone) - she crawled up in bed with me and proceeded to play a game on the IPhone until I was ready to get up - Jill has trained her well!!

Sunday was girls day!!  Jill and I left the house about 10 and headed to a new bakery where we shared a bagel and I had a peppermint mocha - delicious!!  After getting candy bars and water, we headed to the movie theatre and saw "Silver Linings Playbook" - I see it's up for several Oscar awards!!  I RARELY have seen many movies that make that list but at least I can say I've seen one of them now!  The movie was good - probably not great - and dealt with mental issues!!  I did enjoy the fact that Jennifer Lawrence from The Hunger Games played in it and she dad a wonderful job!!

Then it was off to Kohl's where I found a new cute tank top for Mexico and then to Jill's gently used clothes store - I ALWAYS seem to find something there and this time was no exception!!  A cute pair of long shorts and 4 more tops for spring!!  All in all, a total of $56.00 spent for the 6 items - not too bad!!

And then it was time to head back home.................

The drive wasn't bad at all - but what we found when we got home made neither of us happy - frozen water pipes...........one of the heat tapes had quit working..............so guess what our project is for tonight after work???????? (Good thing I had showered that morning and washed my hair!!)

Thanks Jill and Robby for a fun weekend!!

Cold Days = MORE CHOCOLATE!

 What's this that was delivered by overnight Fed Ex today?  Who sent me this box?  Of COURSE there's a story behind it............

Before Christmas, I received an email from Living Social (where I tend to buy a lot of things 1/2 price or more) stating that because I was such a good client, they were giving me $20.00 to spend on a special!!  Great!  But I only had about 3 weeks before the coupon expired so I knew I'd have to find something quickly!!  I waited and waited and NOTHING caught my eye - I didn't need boxing lessons or my furnace cleaned or my nails done...............And then 2 days before it was going to expire, Shari's Berries popped up!

It was a place to order GOURMET chocolate covered strawberries!!  Right down my alley!!  SO I checked out the website and was dumbfounded at the prices - regular price of 12 chocolate covered strawberries was $40.00!!!!  CAN YOU IMAGINE PAYING THAT?????  But that particular one was on sale 1/2 price for $20.00 - that sounded more like it and I knew I would just have to pay a few dollars for shipping and handling!

So I fill it all out online and then get to the final page where the shipping charge is - you guessed it - $12.97 to ship them (of course at the time I didn't think about the box being shipped overnight as it's fresh food!!!)  But what the heck - I figured I deserved them and even wrote a little card to myself to enjoy them - ha ha!!

They arrived today - in a large well packaged box - with ice packs on them to keep them cold - actually I think they were almost frozen because of our extremely cold weather!!  Take a peek at them!

Have I tried one?  ABSOLUTELY - one of the dark chocolate ones - and it was delicious!!!  And I plan on eating at least one more today since the brochure said to eat them in the next 48 hours - let's see, 12 divided by 4 days equals 3 a day - although I SUPPOSE I'll have to allow Glenn to eat a couple of them...........Boy, do I feel special!!!!!

Random Thoughts on a Minus 20 Degree Sunday

It's cold - let me say that again - IT'S COLD!!!  DARN COLD!   Minus 20 when we got up at 7:30 so who knows what it was during the night????  When I left for church at 9:00am it was STILL 11 below........Now it's 5:30 and it's a balmy zero out - dinner WILL be served in the lower level where it's nice and cozy!!

And then there was the Broncos game yesterday.........sigh........I don't normally watch football but DID sit down and watch the game while I started swedish weaving - and they basically had the game won until the last 32 seconds..................double overtime but they couldn't pull it out - and here we all thought they had a great chance of going to the Super Bowl!

Christmas is down and put away!!  Usually it's such a chore to do it but for some strange reason this year I actually didn't mind putting it away and re-decorating the house!  It might have been because I had already cleaned the storage area where all the tubs go and re-arranged so they were easier to get to AND also the fact that I didn't put everything up AND because I actually sent a box to Goodwill this year.

Our weekend was spent at home -  that's right - AT HOME - shocking I know!!  But since Christmas had to get taken down, no plans were made so that could be accomplished!  And since the next 5 weekends have plans, I needed a relaxation day!!  So I spent the afternoon on the couch in front of the fireplace, huddled under a blanket (reading) with coffee and then M & M's and then caramel popcorn to keep me company - so much for watching what I eat this weekend!

The buzzer is going off so it must be time for pizza!  And hopefully the football games are DONE for the day!

A Babysitting Weekend

Blogger, I am NOT happy with you!  I am a simple person who only knows ONE way to blog and when you change and delete part of that, I am lost!  Jessi suggested I post pictures through the HTML part so that's what I did - and look at the results below!!  ALL of my pictures are hooked together and I have no idea how to get them apart............PLEASE go back to your original way of posting pictures!!

 

And now I just discovered that I can't write BELOW the pictures - irritation is mounting - frustration is rampant!!

 

OK - so all of my text will be above the pictures now!!

 

Jessi and Gary flew to Las Vegas for a 3 nights stay and I was more than happy to drive up and babysit - as it turns out, Jaime needed me too!!  And it was one whirlwind weekend!

 

THE SCHEDULE

 

Saturday - Arrive at Jaime's where Evan and Kenzie were at since they had been dropped off earlier - (NOTE:  I did stop in advance and get Caribou Coffee!!!)  Glenn arrives mid-afternoon (he had driven up separately to go ice fishing) - Jaime and I leave for my second to the last laser treatment.  Jaime and Rayna then head to Ft. Collins to spend the night with Jill since Rayna's volleyball tournament is in Windsor and they have to be there VERY early.  I stay at Jaime's with Kylan, Evan and Kenzie.

 

Sunday - Glenn goes ice fishing - the 3 kids and I head to Jessi's house after breakfast for a change of scenery - then it's off to their first basketball practice for the 2 boys - evaluation day to see what skills they have and what team they should be placed on - Kenzie and I end up moving around the gym to watch them carrying 4 coats, 3 water bottles, a purse and pom poms.  It was crazy fun watching the boys try to shoot baskets and dribble!  An exhausting hour for me!!  Then it's back to Jaime's for rest time (especially me).  Jaime keeps texting me that the tournament is lasting longer than normal and to keep feeding the kids snacks - we are to meet at CiCi's pizza for dinner that night!

 

I'm on the computer and hear this strange sound and I'm thinking that Kenzie is choking to death and I don't know CPR - I rush out of the office and see Cica (the cat) puking all over the wood floor - lovely - I didn't sign up for cleaning up cat puke but of course I do it!  Then I discover that Ebby, one of the dogs, is nowhere to be found - we search the house, the yard and I'm in a panic - but find Ebby in the garage who had went in through the dog run and since the dog door was open, she was just hanging out (luckily the bag of trash was still in one piece!!!).  I decide to go ahead and get the dogs fed late afternoon and now Aspen, the other dog, is missing!!!  What is this - Hide and Seek?????  Once again I search the house and the yard and of course guess where Apsen is:  the same place as Ebby was - in the garage through the dog gate that I HAD NOT thought to shut, but this time the trash bag is ALL OVER THE GARAGE!!  Ok - am I babysitting animals or kids here????  Of course I pick up the trash and wonder what the dog has eaten since he won't eat any of his dinner - maybe because I yelled at him????

 

Jaime FINALLY calls and it's time to head to CiCi's Pizza - only by this time I am crabby and tired and the kids are full of snacks.............Jaime is tired from sitting at the game all day and Rayna is depressed because her team didn't do that well - not one of our best times to eat pizza!!!

 

Monday - Jaime has to be at the pharmacy at 6:00am for inventory so we all stay there again that night and I have to get all 4 kids up and ready and out the door by 7:45 to drop Rayna and Kylan off at school - how did I EVER do it when our girls were little????  But I managed and they weren't late!!  After that, we headed to Jessi's house to FINALLY stay there!!  I cleaned some of Jessi's house for her and then it was time to take Evan to school - getting kids in and out of car seats and boosters is definitely for the YOUNGER set!!!

 

Then it was back to Jaime's to pick her up and head to Kohl's for a few minutes - yogurt was next on the list - YUMMY!!!!  After Kenzie and I arrived back at their house, I actually sat down and read while Kenzie rested - and then a friend brought Evan home from school and we had a nice relaxing evening!!

 

Tuesday - After sitting in Jessi's WONDERFUL massage chair the night before, I was all rested up and took Kenzie to pre-school and then dropped Evan off at Jaime's so I could head back to work!!  I think I'm STILL catching up from the whirlwind weekend!!  But it was great to be able to help out both girls!!

 

 

Happy New Year - 2013

WHAT:  New Year's Eve Party with Martin and Joleen

 

WHEN:  Sunday, Dec. 30 for 2 nights

 

WHERE:  Deer Valley Ranch, Buena Vista, CO

 

TIME:  2:00 check in time (so the guys can watch the Broncos game)

 

DIRECTIONS:  Drive to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs and the ranch is located a mile or so past it

 

COST:  $115.00 per night plus tax for the cabin - included is 4 passes to the Hot Springs

 

What a bargain - What a cabin - What a view!!!!

 

The 4 of us checked into our cabin - OURAY - and were more than surprised at how cute the cabin was!!  Because we booked late, we weren't able to book the "deluxe" cabin so just had a regular cabin and we ended up liking it better than the deluxe one!!

There were lots of windows by the table and because it snowed several times, it was beautiful just watching the landscape change as the snow piled up!!

We used the fireplace ALL the time - there was  plenty of wood right outside the slider doors and boy did that heat feel good!!

Our view - doesn't get much better than that!!

The guys headed down to the Mt Princeton bar so they could watch the Broncos game with beers in hand!!  There are no TV's in the cabins but there is a large lodge where there is a tv you could watch!  Joleen and I spent the afternoon relaxing in front of the fireplace with a glass of wine and me, a book in hand!!!  I LOVED it!!!

Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner that night - we brought all our own food and drink so we didn't have to get out if we didn't want to!!  Between all the games I brought and great IPOD music, we had a wonderful time that evening!!!

Our bedroom had a fireplace in it!!  Plenty of space and updated bathrooms for a cabin that was built in the 50's - not a complaint at all about the cabin!!   These deer strolled by on Monday morning!

The cabin is kind of built into a side hill so the view out our bedroom window was almost at ground height and I caught this deer checking me out!!

Glenn cooked us a great breakfast and then we headed down to Mt. Princeton - these hot springs are wonderful and they've done a lot of work around them the last few years!  We crawled down the rocks into the stream below and lounged in the hot river for a LONG time - SO RELAXING!!!  After a dip in the actual hot swimming pool, it was back to the cabin to relax...........

The guys napped in preparation for the LONG night ahead - we told them we all needed to stay up till midnight but it seems to get harder and harder each year!!!  Joleen brought lasagna, bread and salad for our evening meal and after walking over to the lodge and watching some tv, we came back to the cabin for games!!  I'm not sure what Glenn is looking at???

We made it till midnight - but just barely!!!  Our game of Phase 10 lasted till 11:45 and by that time, we decided we could make it another 15 minutes!!  It seems so unclimatic at 12:00 to say Happy New Year - give a hug and a kiss and then head to bed!!  Oh well............

One funny story - I have a 3 drawer plastic storage unit in my closet that is full of "extra" supplies and in the bottom drawer I keep extra bottles of lotion, shampoo, makeup stuff, etc.  I decided I needed a full bottle of lotion to take with us so grabbed one to put in the bag!  The first time I used it I couldn't believe how sticky it felt!  I just kept rubbing it in and then it seemed to be OK - after a couple of times using it, I decided maybe the oils in the lotion had come to the top and it needed to be shaken up a little bit (it was a vanilla scented bottle from Avon) - so I shook it up a little bit and it still didn't seem any less sticky.  And then I figured maybe it was old - who knows how long it had been in the bottom drawer - so I grabbed it to try and find a date and guess what - it wasn't lotion at all - it was shampoo........oh my..............

One final parting shot (taken during the evening and snowy time) - what a great time we had and what a wonderful place to stay!!  I want to go back in the spring or fall and stay a few days - if you're ever in the area, stop by and check it out - I think you'll love it as much as we did!!