Denver Party Cont'd

Next up was dessert - the best part!  Each birthday person chose their own "special dessert" to have and it was interesting what they picked - Parker wanted white cake with chocolate frosting, Evan wanted an apple pie and Rayna wanted cinnamon rolls!  And the moms came through with just that!

 One of the gifts Rayna received was a virtual reality box (I'm sure that's not the name of it but it's all I can think of) where you put your actual phone in this box and use a special app and then watch it - it's really cool!

 Later on that afternoon we were off to Evan's game - we were supposed to go to Kylans game too but he had been under the weather for a couple of weeks so didn't play!  Evan did great and their team won!  He had quite the cheering section for him!

 Back to Jaime's house for a taco bar - after loading the dishwasher there was some water on the floor in the kitchen and Gwyn walked right through it - her socks got wet and she just thought that was awful!!  Although we couldn't understand a word she was saying, she went on and on and Jaime finally took them off and set them in the sun to dry - it was SO FUNNY!!!

 Playing Mexican Train is always fun!!

 Sunday Glenn and Brad fished again - Jessi and I had coffee and then hung out at Jaime's for a while!  Later that day (which was actually Brad's birthday) Brad got HIS favorite pie - strawberry rhubarb!

 Glenn had fish to clean when we got home - 1 large trout and lots of perch - this perch was fair size considering they don't get very big!  He cooked up a yummy dinner out of them!

A Triple Birthday Party!

Because Glenn and I are usually gone part of Feb., we are never around for the two February birthdays of Evan and  Parker and sometimes not around for Rayna's birthday the beginning of March.  So this year we decided to have an EARLY party for all 3 of them (and also to wish Brad a Happy Birthday on Jan. 29th and Jaime a Happy Birthday on March 19th).

We headed up Friday so Glenn could ice fish during the day and I hung out at Jessi's house till the gang started rolling in!  Gary grilled up some great chicken for dinner and we watched "Sully" that evening - a good movie!

Saturday morning I decided to try out the camera on my NEW IPHONE 7PLUS!!!  Yes, I upgraded!  Jaime had gotten the same one a while back and I really liked the big screen - since my phone was old and not holding a charge, I knew I would have to get a new one soon so went for a new one and I love it!  The camera is AMAZING!!

Check out this little cutie!!  I have never had a grand child HUG like she does!!  When she sees you, she comes a running and jumps into your arms and holds on for dear life!!  Friday afternoon we had went to the school to pick up Evan and Kenzie and the babysitter had brought Gwyn there - when she saw me, she came a running and just flew into my arms - I wish Jessi could have recorded it because it was so cute!!

 Kenzie was all smiles sitting in the sun drawing!

 After coffee Saturday morning, we headed over to Jaime's house and had a ball singing on the karaoke machine that Jill had brought down!  Gosh is that thing fun!!

 In between songs, air hockey was played!!

 Jaime and I are attempting a song here - just can't remember what it was!!

 And then it was birthday opening time!!  Parker turns 6 on Feb. 13th and he loves Lego's!

 Rayna turns 15 (15 - man that makes me feel old!!!) on March 2nd - she loves shopping on Amazon!

 Evan turns 10 on Feb. 18th - he also is picking out things to buy on Amazon!

And then it was out to the kitchen for dessert - so stay tuned for the next blog!!

Moving Up In the World of Electronics!

We're heading to Mexico soon - and there's always that dilemma for me as to how many books to take to read!  This time will be a little different since we're heading to the Baja for 3 weeks!  So after talking to some friends who are meeting us down there for a few days, they suggested of course to get a "reader".

Now my two sisters have already told me quite a while ago that I needed to get one -  but I just love the feel of a book and wasn't sure I would like it!  Also, I thought it would cost a lot to buy the Amazon books, even though I know they have freebies.  But my friend assured me that I could download a couple of apps and then get books from the local library!  REALLY?????

So when I was in Denver last weekend, Jessi and I checked it all out - first checking out the local library and then checking out the different readers.  I couldn't believe all the books that were available to download from the library - but of course I knew I had to get a library card as the one I had was 20 years old AT LEAST!

After I got home, I tried to use the old card and of course that didn't work - library cards have to be renewed every 5 years!  Yesterday when we went to town, this is what I got!!

 WOW - never thought I would get so excited about a library card!!  The guy helping me at the library answered quite a few of my questions about e-books and gave me a sheet to explain how to set it all up!

And today in the mail came my new Kindle Voyage!!  Excitement once again!!  I plugged it in to get it charged up and followed the instructions to get it started!  I chose this one mainly because it had more lighting than the regular one and at my age, I need all the light I can get! (check out the recommendations for me at the bottom - ha ha!!)

I was super excited to find out as soon as I got it set up that it offers "Goodreads" if you want it!  That is the app I have on my phone that has all the books I have read listed and ranked!  I wasn't expecting that so am really happy!  Now we'll see how far I get downloading the app you need to have for the library - I have the instructions but knowing me, will probably have to call Robby for help!

I'm sure Glenn will be happy to know I don't have to lug along 15 books to read on vacation!

Ice Fishing In Denver

The plan was to go to Kansas ice fishing - but Glenn decided that he just didn't want to drive all that way and have the fishing not be good so he decided Aurora Reservoir was the next best thing!

We decided it would be fun to babysit Gwyn on Friday so we were up very early and headed to Denver before Jessi had to go to work!  And what fun it was to watch her!  She is such an animated toddler and at times jabbers and jabbers but we have no idea what she is saying!  Gary had brought a huge box in the living room (from something they had bought) and she played and played in that box!

Glenn went ice fishing late morning and I played with Gwyn till she napped - she LOVES putting on other peoples' shoes and is ready to GO at a moments notice - unfortunately her and I were not going anywhere that day!!

Jessi fixed dinner that evening and we had lots of time to talk and catch up!  Gwyn LOVES electronics already so we watched for a few minutes!!

 Glenn, Evan and Brad headed out really early to ice fish on Saturday - Gary had clinical and Jessi had to work so I watched Kenzie and Gwyn - they played in the box once again....................

Late morning my friend Joyce (who now lives in Hudson, CO) picked me up and we went for lunch at The Olive Garden - how fun!  After that we walked around Southlands Mall a little bit and then ended up having coffee at a new coffee place there - it was so great to see her and catch up!

Saturday afternoon I headed over to Jaime's to spend some time with them - the guys had a great time fishing and we all enjoyed dinner together and a movie!

Sunday Jaime and I went to church and then to coffee at The Bean Tree - another place I hadn't been to so that was fun!  Our plans were to head home on Sunday evening but since there was a football game on late, we decided to just spend the night again and head out early Monday morning for home - another great Denver weekend!!

Girls' Night Out

The choir girls still try to get together once a month to catch up on the latest news and eat together!  Since one of our gals (who has moved away) was back in town for a few days AND it was Arlyne's 80th birthday last week, we decided to do a movie, dinner and then cake back at Arlyne's house!

We met at the theater and saw "Collateral Beauty" - I liked the movie - very thought provoking and quite a twist at the end !   Then it was next door to eat "tapas" at Carmen's!  The food is very good there but since it was a Friday night, it was quite busy and it's one of those small places that you can hear the conversations of the tables around you so it was hard to talk and hear each other!

And lastly, we headed out to Arlyne's to have cake and coffee!  What a fun evening with great friends!

It's All About The Fishing

I told Glenn he better pack a lunch to take out on the ice - and he informed me he would want to take a break and would come back in - yea right, this is GLENN fishing - the DIE HARD!!

While he crawled out of bed at 6:00am, I slept in.................did a few stretches - straightened up the cabin - cooked some bacon and scrambled eggs - and then made coffee and sat down with the book I was reading!!

I had a wonderful time reading - but not so much fun on the computer.  I had a couple of projects I wanted to do but the internet was sketchy - I would just get on for a couple of minutes and then it would go down!  It was fine checking mail and working with a few pictures but it sure wouldn't stay on long enough to start a Snapfish book!!

It was cold out and pretty windy - I really thought Glenn would come in but he didn't.  So after my lunch I walked over to the office (across a highly icy parking lot) and checked out 3 movies to watch - I did work on my Swedish weaving project while I watched TV!

Glenn came in late afternoon with a smile on his face!!  He said he'd had so much fun catching perch and had caught a lot, but only kept about 10!

 They tasted mighty good that night when Glenn cooked them up!

We had a nice relaxing evening although Glenn went to bed pretty early while I watched a movie!

The next morning Glenn packed a lunch to take out!  He did get pretty hungry the day before!  I spent the day relaxing again with my books, movies and weaving - and walked over to the office to get more movies!  The furnace wasn't working in the cabin so the property guy came over and got it taken care of!  It was almost a blizzard outside in the morning as it was snowing and blowing like crazy - I couldn't imagine being out on the lake in that!

Glenn came back late afternoon again with a smile on his face!!  (yes, the picture is upside down!)

 Do you have any idea how long it takes to clean about 30 perch?  A LONG time!  We had only brought stuff to make one evening meal at the cabin so we walked over to the restaurant/bar again for dinner - I had been thinking about dinner all day and knew what I was going to order along with a piece of homemade pie.  And guess what?  The restaurant was closed!!  We walked into the bar and asked and the bartender said it was closed for the evening...............darn..............was there any place else in town to eat?  No!  OK - guess we would have to settle for bar food - so we asked the bartender what the choices were and he said pepperoni pizza - that's it!  OK - guess we're having pizza for dinner - a frozen pizza at that!!

But it was good although very small - the owner of the property was there and bought us a drink so it was a cheap meal that night!

Thursday Glenn said he would fish in the morning and be back by 11:30 to load up since check out was at 12 - and in 3 hours he caught these:

He didn't have time to clean them so just packed them in snow - we loaded the truck, checked out and headed back home!  I had packed lunch for the trip and we stopped in Pueblo at DQ for blizzards!

The drive home was SO MUCH nicer than the drive down!  And all the semi roll-overs were gone!

A Windy Ride

Monday morning we headed to Eagle Nest, NM in the pickup pulling the ATV behind us.  We left about 9:00 to head down the pass and as we were driving, noticed it was quite windy out - and then it got worse and worse...............

By the time we were down to Co. Springs, we could see there were huge signs blown down, trees uprooted and all kinds of things on their sides!  After getting on the interstate, we didn't get too far before traffic was at a complete standstill - I got on my phone to see if I could figure out what was going on and found out there were 2 semis that had rolled over. The wind was horrible - and stuck there on the interstate was kind of creepy when we finally started moving as there were lots of semis in the right lane and of course you had to go by them since we were in the left lane!

I didn't have my phone out to take a picture as we finally went past them but I needn't have worried - there were PLENTY more on their sides!!  It was NOT a pleasant trip driving in that horrible wind!  I counted 8 roll-overs going south - and by the time we got out of Pueblo, the Highway Patrol was pulling semis off the road - and the ones that were already on the road were mostly stopped under overpasses and side roads!  What an ordeal!!
 

 By the time we got down Raton Pass, the wind was not as strong - we stopped there and had lunch and then continued on, only to find that the wind picked up once again!

We had never been on this highway before and the last 15 miles or so were really pretty as we wound through this canyon which was in a state park.  And then we arrived in Eagle Nest - a tiny town with not a lot here!!

We drove on out to the lake so Glenn could figure out where he would be ice fishing and then went back to the Laguna Vista Lodge where we checked into our cabin.  The wind was still pretty bad so Glenn opted not to head out to fish - he did go out and get his fishing license so he would be set for morning!

The cabin was cute and had everything we needed!  The little dining table worked out great for me to put my computer on BUT internet was in and out the entire time we were there!  Mainly because of the weather!

We headed over to the Calamity Jane Restaurant and Saloon for dinner that evening - had some good nachos while Glenn watched part of the game there - we sat in the saloon part which was really a huge, neat bar with a fireplace and places to sit in one corner!  Would it surprise you to hear there was only one other couple besides us?  Not a very hopping town this time of year!

Glenn set the alarm for 6:00am - not me - I was sleeping in!!

A New Year!

And what did we do on New Year's Eve?  Absolutely nothing - we were still recovering!!  So it wasn't an exciting time at all!  Joleen was here from Ks. so we watched a movie and that was about it!

Monday morning Jo had a dentist appt. in Co Springs so I decided to go with her and we would do a couple of stops and have lunch out!  It was good to get out of the house but by the time we got back home, I was exhausted and had to nap - I can't believe how run down both of us got with that sickness!  In fact, I am STILL coughing some but my energy level has gone back up!

This last weekend Glenn and I headed to CS to attend a housewarming for a friend of mine and then we went on up to Denver to spend the night!  Glenn and Brad went ice fishing Sat. evening while I hung out at Jaime's house where we spent the night!

Sunday Jaime and I went and got coffee to take to Jessi's and enjoy since Brad, Glenn, Evan and Kylan all went ice fishing!  I spent the day with Jessi and the kids!  It was SO FUN to walk in the front door and have Gwyn standing there jumping up and down with her arms out to me!  She is quite the hugger and such a joy to hold and hug!

She loves putting on boots or shoes that are too big for her - here she has on my boots!!

 The guys had a good time fishing but didn't catch anything!  Glenn and Evan came back to the house to nap and I took Kenzie out for her birthday movie - we saw "Sing" and it was excellent!!  We both loved all the great music in it!!

And then it was time to head home since we were leaving the next day for New Mexico for Glenn to ice fish!