Spring vs. Snow

We really do need moisture!!  With the 6" we got last week, we were really hoping for more pictures like this!!

 So I was super excited when we were in a warning a couple days ago with expectations from the weatherman of up to a foot!!!  What actually fell was 1/2 inch!!  SO I won't put a lot of stock into tomorrows' forecast which is 8 to 14"!! 

Monday I worked at the Little Chapel Food Pantry - it's a church based organization which hands out boxes of food twice a month to the needy!  Glenn and I both worked a couple of weeks ago but he was busy this time so I just went!  The last time I boxed up dozens and dozens of eggs - but this time there were no eggs or dairy to give out but there was extra produce!  Usually around 300 boxes are given out during the afternoon - it's all very organized and there are a lot of volunteers to help out!

If there is extra produce that won't keep till the next give away, the volunteers are urged to take some home!  EVERYONE was amazed at the size of these carrots from Mexico!!  I just had to bring some home to show Glenn - and yes, that is a regular sized carrot beside the large ones!!

Today I had my eye exam and I'm getting new frames - I can't wait since the pair I have now I've not been happy with!!  So watch for a "new" look soon!!
 
Funny story - Gary, Jessi and the kids are in Iowa and today they were at Gale and Kris's house - Patty and Leonard went down to visit them and Gwyn thought that Patty was ME!!!  So Patty got all my usual hugs and of course loved every minute of that - Gwyn even called her Nana!!

Our Keurig machine has been acting up and I told Glenn that I would try to clean it once more by running vinegar through it but if that didn't help, it was time to order a new one!  This old one was given to us by friends of ours - he had brought it home from his office since they had upgraded to something else and our friends already had one so they gave it to us!!  I didn't think I would ever use one - right - I use it practically every day and I Love it!!  The cleaning didn't do much good so Amazon is shipping us a new one - and it's even red to match the regular coffee pot!! 

Landscaping

With all this nice weather that we've been having, it's hard NOT to get excited about spring - even though we know we have more snow coming!!  I shouldn't say MORE because we haven't had much at all since the first of the year and it's dry as a bone!!  We would sure welcome any moisture we could get!!

Glenn had found a great deal on some large and small pavers to use around the trees and in front so after getting them home, he's been working on laying them a little at a time.  But he's made progress!

 He has plans for lots of flowers here!

 This will be the patio in front of the house!

Glenn also bought some juniper bushes which are now planted and look great up against the house!  Slowly but surely we'll get this house done!

Spring Break Kids

After Gary's graduation we spent the night at Jaime's and were up bright and early to head home with Rayna!  It had been a long time since she'd stayed with us so we were excited to have her!

What fun we had watching old videos of her growing up!  We laughed and laughed at most of them and only got through 3 of the DVD's!!  So we still have many more to see - it's amazing how many videos I took of her since she was the first grand child - I'm afraid the other kids will be disappointed when they look at them since my taping got less and less over the years!

Rayna was excited to go driving on the gravel roads with Glenn - I opted NOT to go!!

 We had fun making blueberry/banana muffins, playing games, watching TV, getting in the hot tub, and just hanging out together!

 Monday morning I met Brad and Kylan in Co. Springs and we exchanged kids!  Kylan and I had fun playing games, putting together food for Happy Hour, working on his penny collection book and spending time outside!  Glenn was working on a bobcat he had just bought so Kylan helped him for a while!

 And the playset is always a hit - even for the older boys!

Brad had stayed at his property the night before so came over for breakfast the next morning and then took Kylan home with him - what a fun time with the 2 kids!!

Gary's Graduation

On the way down to Denver, we stopped at a camper "junkyard" to see if we could find a window for our 5th wheel (which was blown out last summer).  I've never seen so many camper parts in my life - and of course you just look for what you want!  There was a large building that was full of windows and hundreds more stacked outside - we looked around for about an hour but didn't find one that would fit...........

We headed to Jessi's office for adjustments and then took her out to lunch before we headed to her house to get ready for Gary's graduation!  But first we picked up Gwyn from the babysitter and oh what fun to have her run into my arms with that wonderful hug she gives!!

I sliced and diced at Jessi's house for tacos after the graduation and enjoyed visiting with Gary's mom who had flown in from Iowa! And then it was a race to get to graduation in time as the traffic was heavy!

The graduation was very nice with a couple of really good speakers and we all cheered Gary on as he got his diploma!

 Back at the house we had a yummy taco bar for dinner and sat outside since it was so nice!!  Gary's cake was delicious! (and yes, the green was for St. Patrick's Day!!)

What a great graduation party!

Spring Break in Ft Collins

What fantastic weather Ft Collins was having when we arrived on Tuesday afternoon!  Jill's daffodils were already blooming!  Her and the kids were excited to be on spring break and I was excited to spend some time with everyone!

Robby had found a travel trailer in Omaha, Ne that he wanted to go out and hopefully buy so Glenn decided to ride with him on Tuesday - too bad the trailer had some serious issues so Robby didn't buy it!  But Glenn did get to stop at Children's Hospital and see Maggie - Neal and Jen's little girl - who had been diagnosed with meningitis.  Glenn and Robby spent the night with Patty and Leonard and had a great time visiting before they headed back on Thursday!

In the meantime, Jill and I decided to head to a movie (since it was bargain night at the theater) so we saw "Lion".  Great movie!

Aleah and Parker love getting little gifts so I stopped at the Dollar Store before we headed up and bought a sack full of stuff for the kids - I doled out the little gifts throughout a couple of days and they enjoyed getting each and every one!   They loved the cards I got them and we played many many games of the "8" game!

 It was warm enough out for the kids to have fun with water balloons!

 We all did a little shopping and then took a short hike.

 By that time, the kids (plus Jill and I) were ready for smoothies!

 Jill and I even got away one afternoon while the neighbor watched the kids and we went to the "Chocolate Cafe" - gosh they have great desserts and coffee!

 Jill got her flower beds cleaned out, I helped her re-decorate Parker's room, and I watched while Aleah took a piano lesson!!  We were glad to see the guys back early Thursday evening!

Jill had a conference in Denver on Friday so she headed out early Friday morning - since it was St Patrick's Day, the kids changed the clothes on the frog - doesn't he look cute?

And then it was time to head to Denver..................thanks for an awesome time Jill!

Destination Imagination

Saturday Evan and Kenzie's group gave their presentation of "Sole Hope" at the Destination Imagination competition in Denver - they were first up so it was an early morning for everyone!!  Gwyn was "Nana's" girl for a day and only wanted ME!!  I soaked that up like a sponge!!

 The kids did an awesome job on their presentation!!  I was impressed!!  And Jessi is one of the leaders of the group so I admire all of the time she spent helping and monitoring the kids!

And we were so excited to hear that evening that this group took 1st PLACE!!!  Awesome job Evan and Kenzie!!  They'll be going to state competition in April and I'm sure they'll do well there too!

32 Years And Counting..............

Our anniversary day - how can it be 32 years? 

Our plans?  Dinner at Carrabba's where they serve an excellent steak - we trade off between this place and The Steak House in Cripple Creek!  And since we had to drive to Colorado Springs to pick up Glenn's truck anyway, it worked out great!

We had such a nice waitress - dinner is always SO much more fun when you have a great server!  I ordered the steak without any sauce and Glenn ordered the steak with sauce but no mushrooms.  When the meal came, mine had the sauce on it (which I was SO glad because I had forgotten how good it was with it) and Glenn's came with the mushrooms so he just scraped them off - no big deal.

Well of course the server felt bad and we assured her it was no problem at all - then the cook came out to our table and told us he would be glad to make it again and we told him it was just fine, not to worry! 

 We ordered dessert and coffee and it was SO GOOD....................

So when the bill came, they not only comped the dessert, but also Glenn's beer and BOTH coffees!!  WOW - how nice was that??  You can bet we tipped our waitress GOOD!! 

A great day - and now counting down the next year..................

Back To Mountain Living

It didn't take long to get back into the swing of things in Colorado:  an evening get together with the choir girls - 2 nites of eating out with friends - tax appointment - working on Medicare (yes, Glenn starts this on May 1st!!!) - taking the truck in for some safety recalls - a dentist appointment for me - a massage - installing a set of blinds - a blind appointment for Glenn on a business...................life does get busy!

When we took the truck down to get worked on, I told Glenn we had to stop at Kohl's as I was hoping they still had a few winter coats marked down - I really needed a new coat!  And they did!!  I found one that was super warm and fit well!!

 Of course the best part of Kohl's is seeing how much you save!!  I not only had a $5.00 coupon but a 30% off!  Can't beat that!!