Mackenzie Turns 7

Friday evening we headed back over to Jaime's to enjoy a few more leftovers and to celebrate Kenzie's birthday!  She loved opening her gifts and sure enjoyed getting a couple of sketch pads and colored pencils from us - she LOVES to draw and write stories!!

 Hopefully when we come up for Christmas, I'll get to take Kenzie to a movie with popcorn, also part of her gift!

 Jaime made an awesome dessert - it was a caramel sweet dip that you dipped apples into and it was delicious!!!

Happy early Birthday Kenzie!!

Pre Black Friday - Black Friday

Our usual activity on Thanksgiving afternoon is to finish up the Christmas lists, look through all the ads and make our lists for that night and the next day!  This year was a little different as we 3 girls sat with our computers on the table, looked through the ads and did ONLINE SHOPPING!!!

There was no way any of us were going out that night as it was a sheet of ice out there and darn cold!!  So some naps were taken and pie was eaten and we poured over the ads!!

And the kids?  Kenzie was lost without Aleah so spent a lot of time on the IPAD.

 The boys also were on their electronics and had a fun day playing together.

 And Gwyn was her usual cute self all day long and made us smile!

 The guys watched football most of the afternoon and we were glued to our computers and lists all afternoon!

It seemed a little strange not to be going out shopping that night but I always did think the stores should NOT be open on Thanksgiving night.

We made plans to head out in the morning but Evan's eye was swollen shut and he wasn't feeling good at all.  So Jessi headed to Urgent Care with him while Jaime and I headed to the mall on some icy roads!!  I didn't really have much left to shop for but Jaime needed to go to the Disney Store and that's always fun!!

Jessi got some medication for Evan and we all knew that it would help him!!  Jaime and I picked up Jessi and we headed back out to do some more shopping!  We just went to a few stores, had a great lunch at 5 Guys and then called it a day!!  Jaime was feeling pretty tough with a bad cold coming on so she headed to bed for a while.

Not our typical Black Friday day - but I sure enjoyed shopping online vs. braving the stores!

Turkey Day!!

Thanksgiving Day 2015  - surely it was a day to remember as the weather was NOT good and we were missing part of our family - Jill, Robby and the kids headed to Austin, TX to be with Robby's brothers' family...............and we missed them all day long!!

The weather - yuck - COLD and ICY and SNOWY and just downright miserable.  We were all thankful to be safe inside Jaime's house, nice and warm!!

Glenn and I were certainly glad we had driven up the night before - the roads were still good then although we did hit freezing rain outside of Denver and it only got worse as the night wore on!

I'll start the pictures off with the youngest member of our family - the cutest turkey ever!!

 First on the agenda was making the place cards and filling them with M and M's (note - it is almost impossible to find the FALL packages of M and M's - we had to resort to Christmas M and M's once again.....................) Evan actually was there helping but somehow didn't make it in the picture!  Rayna took charge of this project and she kept the kids entertained for a little while at least!

 Our awesome mashed potato person - Gary!!  He did an excellent job!!

 Brad was in charge of the turkey again - we only had to do one this year since we were short 4 people and Brad grilled it on his new grill!!  It cooked a whole lot faster than he thought it would so was actually done by mid-morning but that was OK - gave us incentive to hurry dinner along so we could eat a little earlier!! (note - the turkey looks burnt but it wasn't - coloring was just from the grill - the inside was nice and juicy!)

 Our baker Jessi actually got up that morning and made homemade crescent rolls - as usual, they were awesome!!  (along with the pies the day before)

 Jessi took this opportunity to PHOTO BOMB the kids' picture!!  But at least she looks cute!!  The 3 kids sat in the small dining area while the adults took over the main dining room table!  Evan had woke up with a sore looking eye so put hot compresses on it during the day.

 Seems like the only time I take "couple" pictures is at Thanksgiving - it's not too often I remember to take them otherwise!!

 Little Gwyn sat at the table with us and she had sweet potatoes!

 Our Thanksgiving menu consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn pudding, sweet potatoes, relish tray, punch, crescent rolls, oj jello salad (fresh green beans were on the menu but after cooking them, we decided they were BAD and promptly dumped them!!  take no chances on Thanksgiving Day!!) with apple and pumpkin pie - it was all delicious!!!

Clean up didn't even seem too bad this year either!  And I'll have you know, I think this was the FIRST turkey in many many years that I didn't have to PICK CLEAN the turkey!!  I told everyone I was loading the dishwasher this year and that's just what I did!!

I'll leave you with a picture of the OLDEST member of our family - the biggest turkey of all - ha ha!!

Answers To Thanksgiving Trivia

So did you know all those Thanksgiving Trivia answers?  I have to admit, I sure didn't know that many of them.  Here are the answers!!

1)  Christopher Jones
2)  Puritans
3)  True
4)  1924
5)  1621
6)  Harry Truman
7)  Felix the Cat
8)  102
9)  66 days
10)  Wine
11)  Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears

Hope your Thanksgiving Day was wonderful!

Thanksgiving Trivia

Happy Turkey Day!  A day to spend with family - eat lots of great food - play with the kids or grand kids - make your shopping list for Black Friday - eat some more great food - call the relatives - take a nap - and eat even MORE great food!!  Yes, we all stuff ourselves at Thanksgiving and I sometimes even think the leftovers are better than the actual meal!

I've got some great Thanksgiving Trivia for you - and the answers will be in tomorrows' post!!

1)  What is the name of the Captain of the Mayflower?
2)  What is the original name of pilgrims?
3)  Indian corn only should be used as decorations and not for cooking?  T or F
4)  What year did the first Macy's Thanksgiving Parade start?
5)  What year was the first Thanksgiving?
6)  Who was the first President to pardon a Turkey?
7)  Name the first balloon in the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?
8)  How many pilgrims came over on the Mayflower?
9)  How long did it take the pilgrims to come from England to the United States?
10)  What was the Mayflower originally designed to carry?
11)  What football team was the first Thanksgiving Day game in 1934?

So how smart ARE you?

Grandparents Day In Denver

Tuesday was Grandparents Day in Denver at Rayna and Kylan's school!  Glenn needed to work on the house so I made the journey up! 

I stopped at Jaime's house first for a quick bite of lunch and then headed to the school.  They had a very nice program for the first part of the afternoon and both kids sang.  They sang one of my favorite Thanksgiving songs, Give Thanks!

Then it was off to the photo booth for our picture!  Kylan sat on the piano bench and then promptly fell off as he thought there was a back to the bench! 

 Next we headed to Rayna's room and I visited with a couple of her teachers.

 And then it was off to Kylan's room - this is where they can have quiet time and read books!

It was a nice afternoon and we all headed back to their house for games and dinner!  I spent the night but did get up quite early and headed to Jessi's for an adjustment and coffee before I headed back to Florissant.................. but not for long as Glenn and I ended up driving BACK up to Denver that night - the roads were going to get bad and we didn't want to take the chance of driving on horrible roads Thanksgiving morning!  Good thing too as we hit freezing rain about 1/2 hour outside of Denver!  It was nice to get to Jessi's and know the drive was behind us!

Does She Or Doesn't She?

I don't - color my hair that is!  And after I got my hair cut this last week, I REALLY noticed the gray in my hair................and it makes me wonder if my hair will be a pretty gray or an ugly gray!  I guess time will tell!

I've always had a lighter spot in my hair right in front - and of course that's where the gray really shows up!  But hey, I'm a grandma and I'm SUPPOSED to have gray hair, right???  Along with wrinkles and varicose veins and brown spotted hands and flabby skin!!  Should I continue???  Nah - I am what I am!  That's what growing old is all about!!

An Ode To Me

My mind is blank, there's nothing to write.
Oh how could I've gotten myself in this blight!!

I think I was challenged to a blog a day,
But sometimes there isn't a thing to say.

No news to write, no gossip to spread.
I might as well just head to bed.

What a dilemma I'm starting to panic
Maybe I better go watch "The Titanic"

7 days to go - oh dear I'm a wreck!
Guess I could give up and say "What the heck!!"

But I never back down from a challenge you see
I'll persevere on so Jessi can't beat me!!!!!!

AH - RELAXATION!!

We've both been waiting impatiently to get the new hot tub set up on the new deck!!  The guys did get it up there on Friday and Glenn filled it up!  After reading and re-reading the manual, I FINALLY figured out how to program it - it sure was a lot different than our old hot tub! 

It heated right up and today WAS THE DAY to try it out!!  Because it's been so windy in the evenings, we decided to try it during the day and that was the right decision!  It was even halfway warm today so mid-afternoon we crawled in, under the bright sunny skies!!  IT WAS HEAVENLY!!!

We have both missed soaking in the hot tub since our old one was taken out last April!  Our new one is a lot smaller - and should be a lot less money to run since it doesn't hold as much water!  It's basically a 4 seater as long as the 4 people just sit and put their legs in the middle!  But it's perfect for the 2 of us as we can both lounge!

Boy did that hot tub feel good on our weary bones!!  We checked out the light, the waterfall, and of course all the jets that sure felt good on our backs!  After about 45 minutes we were both feeling like prunes so had to get out!  But it's sure nice knowing that it's ready for use, even though we have to drive up to the new house to use it!!

MockingJay II

We took a much needed break from the house and headed into town mid afternoon to see a movie - of course first we had to stop at Foxworth for building materials - the NEVER ENDING things to build a house!!

And then we were off to see MockingJay II!!  I love our little theater because it ALWAYS has the new releases so we really don't have to head to Co Springs unless we want to see a movie on the BIG screen!  The screens at our theater aren't the huge ones but they work just fine and it's sure a lot closer!

So was the movie amazing?  No - it wasn't amazing - but it was good!!

I think that after waiting so long to see the final episode of these books, that it was just a little disappointing to me....................  I loved Hunger Games and Catching Fire but the last 2 movies just weren't up to par with the first two!  I also believe they could have easily just did one part of MockingJay instead of putting it into 2 parts!  There were several areas in the movie where it seemed to move a little too slow!

But it does make me anxious to go back and re-read all 3 books - which of course are MORE fun to read after you've seen the movies since you can put places and faces to what you're reading!

We ended the evening with dinner at The Smokehouse - so all in all, a great day!!

The Cabinets Have Arrived!

It was VERY exciting to have the cabinets delivered on Monday - BEFORE the snowstorm!!  They turned out beautiful and the guys have been busy installing them the past couple of days!  I think I will have more cabinets than I've ever had before!! 

The cabinets are hickory and the different grains and colors are beautiful!

Each day brings us a little bit closer toward that ultimate goal of moving in!  Next on the list will be the granite - gosh, know anybody that does great granite work???  ha ha

Snowy Day Decorating

One of the BEST things to do on a cold, snowy day is to make a cup of great coffee and decorate the house for Christmas!!  Yes, it's a little early for me but not much because the normal time is the weekend before Thanksgiving!!  In fact, I had decided I probably wouldn't even decorate this year as I thought we would be in the middle of moving but of course that didn't happen and I decided to lift my spirits up by decorating ONE LAST TIME in this house!

So with the Christmas music going on both levels, I spent the day taking the autumn decorations down and putting the Christmas decorations and tree up!  I actually had to finish the tree the next morning as when the snow stopped, I spent a couple hours outside scooping!

I decided this year to JUST put my travel ornaments on the tree - well, that ended up being but about all of 20 decorations!!  And once again, I smiled as I hung each one up and thought about all of the fantastic trips that have been taken!!

 I decided on a new place for these 3 guys!!

All in all a fun day decorating the house and it's nice to know it's DONE!!

A Colorado Sunrise

One of the wonderful things about late fall (or should I say winter here in Colorado) are the gorgeous sunrises in the morning!  The colors change so fast that you have to grab your camera right when the colors start or you'll miss them!  Sure makes it worth getting up in the morning!

Snow, Snow And More Snow

A major storm hit Colorado yesterday afternoon and we woke up to a winter wonderland this morning!  The snow continued throughout the morning with a total of about a foot with lots of wind also!  But just as soon as the snow quit, that awesome sun came out!!

Glenn had his hands full getting 2 driveways plowed out and I tackled both decks - my poor back is feeling it this evening!!

Disappointment and Frustration!!!

Ugh, it's not good news in the house department.  Our buyer called us Saturday morning and informed us that he had been to the VA on Friday to get an update on his settlement. (He's eligible for a huge back pay settlement due to his disability from the Vietnam War.)

To back up a little, we were to close on Oct. 30th but his money hadn't arrived yet - so we extended the contract to Nov. 20th as VA had ASSURED him he would have his money in 2 to 3 weeks.  Of course that didn't happen...............

So the current update is that he has ANOTHER evaluation in mid December and payment time will be 30 to 60 days.  We can't hold his offer any longer - we have waited too long now for the money and who knows when the VA will finally send his check - it could be next spring!!

Our house will go back on the market Monday morning - I've spent hours getting the house ready once again for prospective buyers and we're hoping it will still show well, even though we have snow on the ground!!

Glenn and I have decided we will spend the month of December here in the old house - it's much easier to show a "lived in" house than an empty one and pray for a buyer during Dec.  As far as the new house goes, we expected to have our certificate of occupancy (minus the basement being done) by Dec. 1st - so now will slow down our hectic pace of trying to get it finished by then and hopefully get the basement done also by the first part of January!  I guess that's the only redeeming factor I can find in this entire scenario is that we will get a lot more "finished" on the house, whereas before, we were willing to move in with just what HAD to be done to get our certificate.

So I'm not really smiling as I write this as I'm very disappointed with this outcome!  But it can't be changed so it's onward and forward!!

Short Trips Are STILL Fun!

My friend Joleen from Kansas arrived Thursday for a short 3 night stay!  Even though we talk on the phone all the time, we still have plenty to talk about when she arrives!

Between her schedule and mine, we didn't see a lot of each other but did manage to go to Manitou and enjoy a wine tasting again with cheese, crackers and grapes!!  We talked a mile a minute, sampled 6 different wines and then finally decided on our final GLASS of wine!

When we walked in the door, I recognized the gal behind the bar but I couldn't place her!  She told us we looked familiar too and then told us she used to own Java Junction in Woodland Park!!  OF COURSE, I only got my coffee there for the entire time she owned the business!!!  Funny when people aren't in their "respective" places, you have a hard time figuring out how you know them!

It's such a cute wine bar and we sure enjoyed our time together!

We did some shopping in Woodland Park on the way back up and did enjoy some elk steaks together on Friday night.  She headed back to Ks. this morning - probably for the best as we have weather coming in tomorrow.....................

Christmas Shopping!

Have you started your Christmas shopping?  Usually by this time I have a few things bought or at least ordered - at this time there is nothing done!  The thought of even buying gifts sounds daunting to me at this time because of all the house things we're dealing with!

I also do calendars for the families at Christmas which is extremely time consuming and I haven't even started on them yet!!  Luckily I have all my pictures transferred to Snapfish so it's just a matter of looking through dozens and dozens of pictures and picking out the good ones!!  Easier said than done though.............

Since we're working at the house all day every day, I better start spending some evenings working on these calendars and thinking up some ideas!  Christmas will be here before I know it!

Wood Splitting Anyone?

It's that time of year again - the wood stove is going full force!!  And it's not only at our current house but also at the new house!!  Luckily (since it's COLD out) we have the wood furnace up at the new house as our gas isn't hooked up yet!  SO that means double the amount of wood!

Glenn has cut some wood over on a friends' property so brought a load home last Sunday - he split it and I carried it and stacked it!  It's been put to good use the past few days!!

And our log splitter?  Our neighbor suggested going in together to get a splitter and share it and that's just what we did - it works great and is easy to pull around with the ATV!  It was a great shared purchase and sure makes the wood issue a little easier!!

I've Been PROMOTED!!

Remember when I told you I was only allowed to paint the corners and around the logs?  Well that only lasted for a couple of days!  I have NOW been promoted to not only the FIRST coat of paint but the SECOND coat of paint!!

Glenn is just too busy to do the painting - but he does do the walls way up high because I just can't do them justice AND I'm scared to get on that top step of the ladder!!

We are making progress!!  I have painted the powder room and the laundry room.  The hallway is 1/2 done as waiting for Glenn to do the high up stuff and now I'm working on the bedroom!  The bedroom is being done in 2 colors - Twinkle and Greenyard - tells you a lot doesn't it? Actually it's the very lightest and second to the darkest on a paint strip - a green color, more like an olive than a hunter green!  Two of the walls will have the dark color in the bedroom and the big wall will have the light color!  So far the light color looks great!!

No pictures of the painted walls yet but at least a couple of pics of almost completed projects!!

Garage steps!!  Not quite done but getting there!!

 Deck railing - I love the way the deck looks now!!  Now let's get that hot tub up there and get it filled!

Even The Most Diligent Make Mistakes!

That would be me.  I don't often make major mistakes but I sure did this last week!

I handle the budget, the bills, the insurance, the bank accounts - anything that has to do with bookkeeping and I do a great job of it - most of the time...........

A week or so ago the bill came in for the annual pickup license plate (the old truck that has our pop up camper on it) - I promptly paid it and the tags arrived this last week.  I threw it in the wicker basket (the catch all place for things to take care of) and waited until the new pickup tags came in and then went to put them both on.

I was looking at the old pickup tags and wondered why the registration said a 1994 pickup instead of a 1996 pickup!!  I panicked and then pulled out the vehicle insurance and sure enough it stated it is a 1996 pickup!!  And then it dawned on me - I had renewed the pickup tags on the white truck that we had bought from Mountain Aspen when we sold the business, AND which we had sold to a neighbor a couple months back.................the pickup hasn't run for a year and needs work - so I know the neighbor won't be licensing it until he gets it running so there goes handing him the tags and paying me!!

I will TRY and get a copy of the signed title and take it into the motor vehicle department and just see if they will give me a refund but it's highly doubtful - they're not known for making refunds!!  Oh well, at least the tag was under $100 but I'm still upset that I made that costly error!!

Doc Susie

Sunday afternoon was a perfect time to relax a little bit and head to the Florissant Library with a friend for a presentation on Doc Susie.

The Pikes Peak Historical Society invited local Hedy Boyce to portray "Doc Susie" who was an early Pioneer Doctor who set up practice in Cripple Creek.  Dr. Susan Anderson was one of the first female doctors in the American West after receiving her degree from the University of Michigan.

She eventually moved to Fraser, CO where she practiced medicine for 60 years and eventually became the coroner for Grand County.  Doc Susie is best known for her inspiration in the TV series, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

It was a very interesting presentation and now I can't wait to read the book, "Doc Susie".

Fly Fly Away FLIES

Although the weather has been quite cold at night, most of our days are really sunny and warm.   But along with this daily sunny weather comes the flies - yup, I have been dealing with dopey flies for the last month! (And I have NO idea where they come from!!  My doors are NOT open.)

It's no exaggeration when I say that I DAILY go around the house and pick up about 10 to 15 dead flies - not just in the windows either - they drop wherever they are!!  About 2 or 3 times a week, I get the vacuum out and suck all the dead ones out of the window panes, stuck down in there (you know how that is) and that's not fun!

I thought that with the REALLY cold nights we've had the last week, (we're talking 10 to 15 degrees in the morning) that all of the flies would die but it hasn't happened yet!    They're still flying around and dive bombing into you as they're 1/2 dead, but the numbers are getting less!

I won't complain about the nice sunny days - but I will complain about the fly population!!

Fireplace Adornment

Guess what's sitting in our old living room, waiting to be hung in the new living room?  Take a peek below.

The new TV will be hung above the mantel on the fireplace - I'm not sure how well we will like it there but it's the best choice so I'm hoping it will work out fine!

Tall and Short

When I was in Denver for Halloween, Jessi and I really noticed the difference in height between the two boys.    You really don't think about it until you look at a picture - and I had just taken a picture of the two 8 year old boys when we really noticed it!

Evan is sure a lot taller than Kylan - but it sure doesn't bother either one as they're best friends!  It will be interesting to watch them grow over the next few years!!

Daylight Savings

I'm all for banning this!!  Not only does it disturb my sleep pattern but it also makes me change all the clocks and watches in the house twice a year!  And then if you forget................

Take for instance Sunday evening - I had come home from Denver and Glenn had a couple of the clocks changed but not all of them.  I proceeded to take care of that but of course forgot about the clock radio by my bedside.  By the time I went to bed, I was too tired to change it so assured myself that it was no big deal because I would do it the next day!

Fast forward to morning - like 6:15am showing on the clock but it's really 5:15am - Glenn is up and getting dressed.................when I tell him it's only 5:15, he sighs and comes back to bed but of course we're both awake by this time and can't get back to sleep - GRRRRRRRR!!!

I DO like the lightness in the morning (which will last a whole 30 days if we're lucky!) but I sure don't care for darkness at 5:30.  I've been scurrying around the past 3 nights like crazy trying to get dinner on the table when there is really no sense in that since it's still late afternoon................sigh...........

I sincerely doubt anybody will heed my wishes in this department!!

Meanwhile - Up At The New House..........

Glenn and Roy are still working hard - I'm attempting some of the painting but since I'm not very good at it, Glenn has banished me to doing corners and places the roller can't get!  I don't mind corners - I do mind trying to paint around the log ends - yikes!!!!  After Glenn pulled the plastic away yesterday I could see many places where the wall is still white - and a few places where the log is painted.  Guess I know what I'll be doing in my spare time!!

The majority of the house will be painted this light brown color - I like the way it looks and it's an easy color to paint!

The fireplace is also being installed, taking a lot more time than expected.  More venting had to be ordered which finally came in - hopefully it can be finished soon so the rock part can begin!

So although most of the house is being painted the light brown, I KNEW we needed some color in the house!!  Toasted cinnamon is the name of the paint and I LOVE how it looks!!

Roy has also been working on the outside chimney and the rock is really looking nice!

Last but not least, the drywall has been started in the lower level.  We probably won't get it finished by the time we move in but at least it's a start!

Coffee With Gwyn (Oh and Jessi too)

It was Sunday morning before Jessi and I got to do coffee together!!  Gwyn was teething and every time I lifted the cup to my lips, she would reach and go crazy for the cup!!

 And one more cute picture of Gwyn from the weekend!

It was a great weekend with the grandkids and being there on Halloween made it extra special!!  By the way, Evan got his results from his swim meet:  2 1st places - 2 2nd places and 1 4th place!!!  WOW - so proud of you Evan!!!

Happy Halloween!!

After the swim meet, Jessi and I headed home with the kids and collapsed for a while!!  But not for long as it was time to head to their church for the Fall Festival!!  I picked up Kylan as Jaime was working and Rayna was headed to a party and we attempted to get a few pictures before we left.

Little Gwyn didn't have a clue what was going on!!

 Kylan, Evan, Kenzie and Gwyn

 The Fall Festival was fun - lots and lots of people though!!  The kids had fun playing a variety of games and of course won WAY too much candy!!  This game was cute as can be and was a lot harder than what it looked!!

 I stood in line for almost 1/2 hour to get popcorn for the kids (the machine was slow, slow, slow!!) and by the time I got it, we were all ready to head back to the house!!

In the meantime, Rayna was off to a Halloween party with friends and I asked her to text me a picture of them!

 And Aleah and Parker were headed out in Ft Collins to trick or treat - they're cute as can be!!

 We cooked a quick dinner and by the time Jaime arrived from work, we were ready to head out and trick or treat!!  The night was nice and cool and there weren't many kids out in Jessi's neighborhood which made it really nice!!

 Gwyn was all snuggly in her carrier and slept through it all!!

What a LONG but FUN day!!