Christmas Eve and Day

I know if I don't blog about what we did on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that I won't remember next year.........................

Let me start by saying it was quiet - VERY quiet!!  It was strange not having any gifts under the tree to open since we had already opened them - but I lit all the lights during the day to make it SEEM like Christmas and there were lots of texts flying back and forth between all the girls - 2 sets of whom were in Iowa for the holidays!

Glenn worked Christmas Eve morning but it was pretty chilly out so he was back in by early afternoon and we decided to do the 3:00 church service.  The service was awesome - our praise band is really good and the first song they played was LOUD and EXCELLENT and really got us in the spirit!!  They actually sounded like the Trans Siberian Orchestra playing Carol of the Bells - wow was I impressed!!!  It was a great service and afterwards we ate nachos at Fiesta Mexicana and then it was home to watch a movie!

Christmas Day dawned sunny for most of the day but cold!  I put a Butter Braid in the oven for breakfast which was delicious and we ended up watching a couple of Christmas movies.

Our friends John and Patti came over mid-afternoon for appetizers and drinks - we gave them a tour of the new house on the way to Cripple Creek where we ate the seafood buffet at the Wildwood!  We all literally stuffed ourselves with endless crab legs and shrimp and prime rib plus all the trimmings!  They even had peach crisp for dessert - yum!!

By the time we got back to our house, it had started snowing and it snowed on and off during the night - we sure didn't get the 8" they predicted but it was really pretty!!

Christmas 2014 is already gone - but the month of December memories will hold me till another year!

Christmas and Birthday With Nedelle!

Our second oldest grand child, Nedelle, lives in Iowa so it's not often we get to celebrate with her - and since her birthday is on the 23rd of Dec, it's pretty special when we get to see her for that too!

This year, her and her mom were out here in Colorado so they both came up on her birthday!  We had a nice dinner together and then it was on to the presents!!

 11 years old!!  WOW - she is growing up way too fast!!

They spent the night and then headed back to Co. Springs on Wed. morning - how fun to spend Christmas AND her birthday with her!!

Christmas Lights At Hudson Gardens

It just isn't Christmas time unless you drive around and look at some lights!  But since we already did Christmas here, we weren't going to be up in Denver to drive around.  Living Social arrived in my email though with discount tickets into Hudson Gardens in Denver and I thought that would be perfect!

Glenn decided to stay home this last weekend so I headed up to Jessi's (as she had purchased the tickets too) for the day and asked Kylan to use Glenn's ticket (Rayna had a volleyball commitment).  First though we headed to the Keppy's church to attend "Bethlehem", a really magical time with the church set up like Bethlehem would have been the night before Jesus birth!

There were Roman guards, camels, sheep, goats - upon entry into the church you registered just like the census was actually going on - and then there were different stations set up which included pottery, weaving, bead making, jewelry, spices, a bakery, wood maker and several stations for the kids to make things - it was amazing walking around and seeing all of this - everyone at the different stations were dressed in attire from those days and there was also a guitar player and singer walking around - in one part of the gathering area there was a live nativity!  I would love to attend something like this again!!

Then it was home for a quick bite to eat and off to the Hudson Gardens!!

WOW - the place was packed (what did I expect the last weekend before Christmas???) but we found a parking spot and since it was all outside, there was plenty of room to walk around!!

They had the cutest "candy" lit up so the boys pretended to lick it!

 It was 3/4 of a mile around the gardens and it was absolutely gorgeous!!

 They had cute places to take pictures!

 These are a few of the "dancing" trees - couldn't get them all in!!  They were set to music so went off and on to whatever tune was playing - so fun to watch!!

 A tunnel of lights.............

 My favorite - the purple tree!

 And this beautiful blue tree was out in the pond!

 While some of us stood in line to see Santa Claus, the rest of us took turns and walked around the pond - simply gorgeous!!

 And then it was FINALLY our turn to get in to see Santa - he was a great one and loved visiting with the kids!!

If you need a neat place to go around the Denver area around Christmas time, head to the Hudson Gardens - it is WELL WORTH the admission!!

House Update!!

When the trusses go up, the house REALLY starts looking like a home!!

Wednesday morning the crane arrived along with a crew of about 7 guys - part of the crew was the general one and the other part was the framing and truss crew!!  It started snowing about 10:00 but it was a light snow most of the day and the guys worked right through it!

First up was setting one of the large poles in the front of the house!

 And then it was onto the trusses!!

 I walked up to the property 3 different times to take photos and movies of it all - pretty exciting to watch that crane lift all those rafters up!

They finished up right at dark - 5:00 - and I was gone all day today so didn't get a chance to go up and see the finished product!! 

Winter Wonderland

Yes we awoke to a winter wonderland!!  There were already a couple of inches on the ground and it snowed the rest of the morning - it was gorgeous!!  I had put the egg/hash brown casserole in the crockpot before I went to bed so it was ready when we got up and we also served a sausage casserole.

Dash - the "elf on the shelf" - had come in Parker's suitcase so the girls had to check him out and see where he was on Sunday morning - naughty Dash had eaten Nana's candy!!!

 Even though it was snowing out, some of the kids along with Gary piled on their snow clothes and headed out to sled - it really wasn't deep enough for great sledding but they still had fun!!

 The Savages left mid-morning to head into Woodland Park to celebrate with Robby's mom and the rest of us got ready to head to Cripple Creek to see the production "Winter Wonderland" - aptly named I might add!!

The roads were slick so our 2 car caravan took it nice and slow on the way over!

 The production was fantastic - lots of singing and dancing and just good 'ole fun!!  Everyone enjoyed it!!

I forgot to step back a couple of rows and get a picture of the rest of them but they were there!!

Then it was back to the house so the guys could watch the Broncos game and the girls packed up to head home.  A great Christmas with the family - I'm always sad to see it end!!

Christmas 2014

What a beautiful day to celebrate Christmas!  The sun was out and the temps were in the mid 40's so it was a perfect day!

After breakfast with the Savages, the Keppys' arrived with 2 pans of homemade cinnamon rolls - yum yum!!!  The first pan was DELICIOUS!!!  After stuffing ourselves with rolls, we all walked up to the property so everyone could see the new house - they were all amazed at how much had gotten done!

Late morning Jaime and Kylan arrived and mid-afternoon Brad and Rayna arrived (Rayna had volleyball practice).  Now that the whole gang was here, it was time to start the festivities!!

I had decided we were going to let the kids open some of their presents in the afternoon so they could actually "play" with their items so the opening began!!

 The kids were all dressed in their cute pj's - a holiday tradition!!

 Parker was the MOST FUN to watch as he opened his gifts - he's 3 1/2 and was so excited to open each one - he was THRILLED with whatever he got!!  Here he had just opened a transformer!

 Kenzie and Aleah were happy with their "Frozen" dolls and played with them all afternoon!

 After the kids had opened a couple of gifts, they all went to play and the gals had their stocking exchange!

 When Rayna arrived, she had some catching up to do!!

 Each year I do either a book of pictures or a poster for each grand child - this year Aleah and Kenzie got books of their "Excellent Adventures" at Nana and Papa's last summer and the other 4 got posters.

 I gave the boys state quarter books to fill with a note that said they had access to our large, large money jar - so I set them up in Glenn's office to start sorting - Jaime decided she just had to help them and they were done in a little over an hour!!  Believe it or not, they both found every state except Kylan needed one more New Jersey quarter!!!  WOW !!!

Dinner was Italian this year - I had made manicotti and stuffed shells earlier in the week and froze it so with those and some garlic bread and Caesar salad, we had a fantastic meal!!

Then it was back for the rest of the presents!!

It was a great evening enjoying each other's company while opening presents - a little loud at times (did I say a LITTLE - I meant a LOT LOUD) !!  We all enjoyed jello cake later on and after putting the kids to bed, we weren't far behind!!  5 of the grand kids slept up in the loft with us - it was wall to wall kids which makes it a little tough getting up in the middle of the night to head to the bathroom!!

A couple of kids talked in their sleep but otherwise they did great - I can't say I got a lot of sleep that night (especially since Rayna's IPhone alarm went off at 5:00 am and I was the only one that woke up to try and find it to shut it off!!!) but I was fine and knew I could catch up on sleep the next night!!

When I got up around 3:00 to use the bathroom, I peeked outside and it was a winter wonderland!!  I knew it would be beautiful in the morning.........................

Electric Safari

Our Christmas celebration started Friday night with Jill, Robby, Aleah and Parker - we all met at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to see Electric Safari - Christmas at the zoo!  Robby's mom Bev and hubby Mike (along with Bev's friend and son) also met us there!

Fortunately the weather was very warm that day so it wasn't bad weather wise that evening - of course this was the year I remembered the "hand warmers" and we really didn't need them!  The lines were long to get in - I guess everybody else had the same idea as us because of the nice weather!

 Feeding the giraffes - those lettuce leaves don't last long!!

 The guys were all smiles as we walked around!

 The lights were amazing as usual - though Aleah was more interested in seeing the animals than the lights - and Parker saw kids with the light up toys and decided he HAD to have one of those night lights - luckily Grandma Bev saw to it that he got one!

 The moose was in full view but it was just too dark to take a picture so I had to settle for an electric one!

 Boxing with the kangaroos!

 One last parting shot before leaving the zoo!

We all stopped at Starbucks for some coffee before the journey back up the pass! And then it was off to bed to catch a good night's sleep before the next 2 sets of kids arrived!

Almost Ready For The Trusses!!

I see daily changes at the house - in fact since the weather has been so nice, I take a walk up on Brittany late morning and then stop to see the progress on the way back!  It's coming right along!!

This morning when I was up there, they were cutting out the shapes of the windows and doors - and next on the list is to get the load bearing wall up and the framing done on the first floor before the trusses go up!

I'll probably panic once they get the walls up, thinking the rooms will be too small!!  But I have to remember I have a full lower level below (and the new house will be 3200 sq ft compared to this house at 2600 sq ft!!)

A few changes have been made - now we're going to put some trapezoid windows up in the living room - we decreased the window size of 2 windows because the windows were just too large - and we may put a log beam across the length of the kitchen and living room!  Sometimes it's hard to imagine what it will look like and other times I can visualize exactly where the furniture will go!

Busy December Times

No matter how you look at it, December is always busy - full of activities - decorating - shopping - wrapping - baking - it never seems to end!  This year I had to be super organized since we are celebrating Christmas with the kids this weekend - AT OUR HOUSE!!!  The first time in 5 years!!

But I'll be ready - the decorating was done early - shopping and wrapping is all done - lists upon lists have been made and then thrown as the items get checked off - and after doing some cleaning and getting beds ready, I'll be set!

But in the meantime, yes, I've been busy!!  My friend Joleen arrived from Ks. on Friday and spent 4 nights at our home!  We both worked at The Thrift House on Friday - it was a very busy day and we were both exhausted when we came home - so tired in fact that the fish I was going to cook was put back in the freezer and we headed into Divide to eat fish and chips!

Saturday was the Home Holiday Tour - I almost always go with at least one if not two of our daughters but this year they were all coming down the next weekend so I went with Joleen and Jane - the homes were beautiful as usual and 2 of the places were homes that Glenn had put granite in so it's always fun to see the homeowner and visit with them!

We stopped for lunch at Wines of Colorado - always a fun time!!

Saturday night Joleen and I watched one of the many Hallmark Christmas movies that I had taped!!

Monday night was a fund raiser for the Kiwanis Club - a Christmas movie, pizza and wine at the local movie theater - and last night was a Christmas dinner for the 4-H Foundation gals so it was fun to catch up with them!!

Meanwhile, Glenn is working diligently on the house...............more updated pics tomorrow!!

Logs, Logs and MORE Logs!

It's beginning to look like a house!  After arriving home from Thanksgiving up in Denver we could see the progress that had been made!  But I walked up yesterday to take some more pictures and realized that even more logs had been put up so that's what I'm posting!!

I can finally stand in the living room and see the view!

 The logs on the garage will probably be finished up today!

 The room to the right is the master bedroom!

Saturday on the way home from Denver, we stopped at Home Depot and ordered 3 of our appliances for the kitchen - great Black Friday sales and it was nice to save $600!  Unfortunately the refrigerator I want was not on sale so will wait till next spring and hopefully it will go on sale then!