Christmas Eve At The Keppys

Waking up to the ground blanketed in snow was special!  Gary and Jessi fixed bacon and eggs for us before they started the gift opening!  They did their Christmas on Christmas Eve as Gary had to work on Christmas Day - worked out really well for us!

There were even gifts for us!!  Check out this awesome book that we received!  I think we should put it to good use next year!

All 3 kids had a ball opening presents - Gwyn is fun to watch at her age!

And 1/2 way through the gifts, we stopped to have coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls - thanks Jessi - they were excellent as usual!!

 After all the gift opening, we had a great ham lunch with all the trimmings!  YUM!!!

The kids' big gift was a trampoline!!  WOW - it almost takes up 1/2 of the back yard!  They started putting it together but didn't have it finished by the time we all had to change clothes!


 

And then the picture taking in front of the tree!

What a great day!  We left mid-afternoon and headed back to W. Pk to attend Christmas Eve Service and then to our neighbors for dinner and games - a fantastic Christmas Eve!

Hudson Gardens

After our car shopping ordeal, Jessi had an early dinner of lasagna soup waiting for us!!  Then we gathered up our coats, hats, mittens and scarves and headed to Hudson Gardens!

We had been here once before - it's a large park that is decorated in Christmas lights and oh so pretty!!  This year the tickets were a few dollars less than we had paid 2 or 3 years ago and we wondered why?

Parking wasn't too far away and we headed in - it was COLD!  Gwyn looks like she's in a daze in this picture!

We walked through the beautiful lights and enjoyed them all!

A nice photo op place where the gal behind us offered to take our picture!

The hot cocoa that Jessi had brought sure tasted good!

And then we got to the end of the first section and it said exit - WHAT?  Where was the big lake section where it's all done in white lights?  We looked at the map and sure enough, they had NOT decorated the other section, hence the reduced prices in admission!  Disappointing as that part was sure pretty!

Oh well..............as we got towards the exit, the fast music was playing in time to the trees so the kids started dancing - it was fine until Gwyn took a fall face first - OUCH!!  Blood on her snowsuit and of course it was dark but think she just hit her lip pretty hard and at least no teeth were loose!  Poor thing!

Still it was a great time and we were glad we went!  On the way home, it started to snow so we were glad we went early as the roads were getting slick by the time we got home!

And this next picture is NOT of the Keppys but of Aleah and Parker with Santa - Jill had texted it to us and it's such a great picture that I just had to post it!  Aleah and Parker used to be not great picture takers but they have come a LONG ways the last couple of years and now take perfect pictures!!

Car Shopping - UGH!

Does anyone else DESPISE car shopping as much as I do? 

Since I had received some extra farm money this year, I decided I wanted to go ahead and get a newer car - who knows, maybe it will be our last one we buy?  We were heading to Jessi's for the weekend anyway so decided to head out Friday morning and shop!

Now anyone that knows me, can verify that I am the ultimate planner, organizer and researcher - and car shopping was no exception!  I was on 3 different sites every day, looking for exactly what I wanted!  We knew we wanted another Ford Explorer - what mileage - what features inside and the color!  I contacted 3 different dealerships in ADVANCE to let them know we were shopping on Friday and even spoke to 2 of the dealerships!  I was prepared...........unfortunately they weren't!

Our first appt. was in Co. Springs - and we waited and waited for our salesman to find the keys to the vehicle (he didn't even think it was there at first until Glenn and I walked outside and saw it!!).  To cut to the chase, the keys were NOWHERE to be found!  The car had all the features we wanted, we just couldn't get inside to see it and drive it!  He made us a great deal on a trade-in and we ended up putting a deposit on the car (with an "out" after we could come back and drive it) and finally got on our way to Denver.

Driving to Denver I got a phone call from appt. #3 telling me one of the vehicles I wanted to see (it was my FIRST choice in color!) was not there - it was at the body shop getting cosmetic work done and wouldn't be available!!  REALLY????  2 days notice and it's not there!!  So we went on to appt. #2 and did have to wait a little while but the gal showed and we really liked her - unfortunately the car had way too much hail damage for us to consider it BUT I loved the inside - and it was a limited - not the XLT that we had left a deposit on......................

We went ahead and went to appt. #3 knowing we couldn't see the car we wanted to but they did have a limited we wanted to check out.  Our salesman was nice but SO SLOW - do they really think we want to visit and wait and wait and wait???????  FINALLY we got to see the car -  unfortunately the outside of the car was not in perfect shape - there were scratches all along one side of it that probably could be buffed out but who knows?  Again, the salesman gave us a great deal on a trade-in but I just wasn't ready to commit to a car with scratches on it!  But I LOVED the interior since it was a limited, not an XLT.

By this time, I was SO READY to be done shopping.................the salesman from appt #3 called later and said he pulled some strings and the car we really wanted to see would be available on Saturday!  So once again we went to the dealership to check out what I thought was the "perfect" car!  And once again we waited.......................

Finally the car was available - we went out to look at it and the outside was gorgeous - the inside - hmmmmmmmm - at that point I KNEW what I wanted which was NOT an XLT but a limited.  At least I had a decision made but there was no car there that I wanted - so it was back to the drawing board!!

After Christmas we went back down to Co Springs and got our deposit back from the car we THOUGHT we wanted (since it was an XLT) and unfortunately they haven't found another car to show us!  Trust me - I know they can't find another limited with my specifications because I know EVERY Ford Explorer Limited within a 100 mile range!!!

We have spoken with a guy we met Sunday evening at our neighbors house and he has a body shop locally and sells cars on the side - we gave him our list of requirements and he is actively trying to find us a car!  Will it happen?   Of course it will - eventually!  So in the meantime Glenn needs to get busy and fix a couple of things on our old car because we will now probably sell it privately!

OH THE PERILS OF CAR SHOPPING!!  I'm glad it doesn't happen very often!

Our FINAL "Unchoir" Party

For years, Arlyne (our former choir director from years past at Faith Lutheran) has hosted the "unchoir" party for a few of us that are still around and willing to get together!  It's always an interesting time to get together for a meal, sing Christmas carols and reminisce about years gone by!

However, we're all getting older........................and since finding out that one of our main couples is moving to KS to be near their family, this will probably be the last time we are together!

It was a lovely evening being together, although we have all found that our voices just aren't what they used to be - guess we just don't sing enough anymore!

One last Christmas picture of our dwindling former choir members!!

Angel of the Christmas Mine

One of my favorite things to do during the holiday season is to see the melodrama in Cripple Creek!  This year I took Rayna and Kylan to see "Angel of the Christmas Mine".

The production was excellent!!  Another great written play filled with songs - the scenes were very touching at times!!  After the production is the famous "olio" which is always fun to see - singing and dancing and lots of laughs!!

It's so nice to have this local theater close by with great productions throughout the year!

Would YOU Drive This To Town?

Our next door neighbor does hail repair on cars - he did the estimate for both our truck and car when they had hail damage thislast summer.  To me, the hail dents were hard to see in places but of course they were most noticeable on the hoods of the vehicles!

Since we are planning on trading our current car in (or selling it) and getting a different one, I knew we'd have to get the hail dents taken care of, at least on the hood!  So Al set a date since he had to be home that day anyway, and said to just bring the car over and he would take the hood off and repair it in his garage!

I had a massage that afternoon - and I don't enjoy driving and parking the big truck - so after I found out it was legal to actually drive the car without a hood on it, that's what I did!! 

The hood is back on now and looks great!!

Fun Times At The YMCA

The presents have been opened and now it's time for the kids to play!  And the adults!
Glenn was still having his hearing problems so he slept some and watched the kids play!

A bunch went swimming but we're not allowed to take pictures in there - they all had fun!  Some of us moved on to the game room where you could play ping pong, bag toss, Foosball, pool and table shuffleboard!

After an afternoon of playing (oh yes, some played mini golf outside too!), Glenn and Jessi took a ride up the hill to see if there were elk and there were!!  3 huge bulls!

After an Italian dinner, we headed over to play Bingo!  We were early so the boys played some checkers!

Some of them did some coloring!

Bingo started and it just wasn't as much fun as last year - the little prizes were really lame - and the caller wasn't great!!  Can you tell by this picture that nobody was really enjoying it?

But our family picture there turned out awesome!!

We headed back to the cabin to have our adult gift exchange (where I took NO pictures!!)!  Jessi once again had a cute game to go with the gifts - this year we did a food/beverage gift bag and it was great fun!!  The kids also had a little food gift bag exchange but not all got what they wanted so we'll nix that for next year!!

Then it was prediction time!  Jill had brought the "frog" and Jessi and Gary were the winners this year!  Glenn and I had the least amount of questions right..............

Sunday morning was another beautiful day - Jessi and Gary fixed breakfast for us and afterwords, Jessi and I went to the main office to see if we could get a key to see the inside of the cabin next door!  You could tell it was newer as there were blinds on all the windows instead of curtains - and there was another one just steps away that could also work!  We got the key and WOW were we impressed!!  Leather couches, HUGE kitchen with plenty of counter space, a dishwasher and it was all redone inside and beautiful!!!  We peeked in the other one and sure enough it had the leather couches and a dishwasher too.  When we returned the key we asked about next year and they told us just to request those two - not a guarantee but we can certainly hope!!

By noon we were all packed up and headed out - one last picture by the name of our cabin!

What an awesome Christmas with the family - lots of memories made!!

Our Christmas Celebration

We woke up to beautiful sunny skies and cool but nice weather!  Glenn and I cooked up breakfast and soon the other 2 families arrived for our Christmas! The 3 boys had matching t-shirts and the 3 little girls had matching ones too!

The girls loved their "name" sweatshirts!

And Rayna was thrilled with the Beatles poster we got her!

Gwyn was so cute opening up her presents - her eyes would light up and she would get so excited!

I had bought a blue tooth stocking hat for Rayna - and after I tried it out, decided that not only did I need one but the 3 girls did too!  The music sounds awesome coming out of the little speakers in the hat!

Many years ago (before Robby and Jill were even married), Robby gave Glenn and I an electric Santa who wiggles back and forth as it plays Jingle Bell Rock - I have had it out for years and years but decided I was done with it as most of the time the kids don't end up at our place during the month of December.  So I did the next best thing - I regifted it back to Robby!!  We all got a chuckle out of that and he couldn't believe I had kept the original box it came in!

Once again I made picture books for all the kids - yes, it takes many hours to do it but it is so worth it and the kids love getting them - here's a few of the kids looking through their book!

What a crew!!

After the gift opening it was time for coffee and cinnamon rolls!!  Jessi lovingly makes them from scratch for us and as usual, they were AWESOME!!!  THANKS JESSI!!

And the day continues.........................

YMCA - ESTES PARK - 2017

After spending 2 days putting food and gifts together, it was time to head to Estes Park for our annual Christmas get-together with the kids and grand kids!!

Unfortunately, Glenn was not up to par - he had went to the ER the Saturday before with a bad head cold and hearing loss!  The dr said his ears were plugged so they cleaned them out - but there was fluid behind the ears which would take a while to heal!  We were hoping his hearing would return by the weekend but it hadn't..................so we packed up the meds and IB Profren and  hoped he would do OK!

Since he couldn't hear well, I ended up driving!  And wouldn't you know it, the night before we had an inch of snow so the roads were slick and sloppy!  By the time we got to Co. Springs, it was hard to even see out of the windows so we stopped for a car wash!

It was a nice drive up there and we stopped for a quick lunch in Estes Park at a sandwich place called "Scratch" - it was great!!  And then it was on to the YMCA to unpack into our cabin!

We had the same 2 cabins as last year - but this year Glenn and I took the smaller room with twin beds and let Jessi and Gary have the large bedroom which also had a twin bed for Gwyn!  The Savages arrived soon after us and after organizing, we headed over for the kids to skate!

Can you believe they even had small enough skates for Gwyn?

Our evening meal is always soup - since the Smiths weren't going to arrive till after dinner, Jessi brought one batch of soup and Jill brought a large sandwich!

Robby all ready to cut the sandwich up!!

But lo and behold, after all that work Jessi did to make homemade wild rice and chicken soup, not much was eaten!  Since the soup was still frozen, Jessi put it in a metal pot and started heating it up - only to discover that SOMETHING tainted the soup - we assume it had to be the metal pot!!  OH MY - so disappointing!!  But there was a frozen chunk that was NOT put into the pot so we microwaved it and a few of us got a bowl of soup!  It all worked out OK but Jessi felt so bad!

While the girls cleaned up, the kids had tablet time!

The Smiths arrived so we could celebrate Kenzie's 9th birthday!!  She had several gifts to open up!!

Besides money for books and a coupon for a movie, we gave her paints - she was excited!!

Her chosen birthday dessert was oreo fluff so we all enjoyed that!  Some of us went down to the other cabin for some karaoke while the guys stayed at our cabin!

Jill and I sang up a storm on "Dancing Queen"!!

The guys stayed up WAY too late and were WAY too loud for Jessi and I!!  They need to party at the other cabin tomorrow night!!