Christmas At The Savages

Christmas Eve morning we headed up to Jill and Robby's for Christmas - we take turns going to the 3 kids' houses to watch them open their presents and this year was Jill's turn!  I don't think Glenn and I have EVER been to her house for Christmas so it was fun to see all their decorations and participate in their traditions!

Before we headed out to their early Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, we snapped a couple of pictures since we were all dressed up!

They had a cute photo op set up at the church so we took a few pictures there!

After we got home and changed, we played a game and before we knew it, darkness had arrived and it was time to look at a few lights and pick up dinner!  This house was fun because you tuned your radio to a particular station and the lights went to the beat of the music!!

Their tradition for Christmas Eve dinner is Chinese!  They have a favorite "to go" place so we picked up several items and had a feast back at the house!

After the kids went to bed, the guys and Jill had quite a project on their hands!!!  I opted NOT to help!

But the results the next morning were amazing and Parker loved his gift from Santa!!  Aleah was thrilled with her gift too, a large camper for her American girl dolls!

And Christmas morning had begun...........

Catch Up Time

It's almost New Year's Eve - somehow the month of Dec. just slipped away as it was as busy as ever!  My plate always seems to be full and with a snowstorm and extremely cold temps on the way, I'm looking forward to Monday and Tuesday as we have NO PLANS!  I think I will just sit and watch it snow - you're right, that will never happen...........

A few highlights of Dec:  My friend Jane and I went to the Christmas melodrama over at Cripple Creek - it was quite different this year but we loved it just the same and we always enjoy the "Olio" at the end!  Even though it was pretty cold out, we walked a few blocks to see the reindeer that had been brought in by one of the local hotels!  They were cute as ever!

One Saturday morning I had a neighborhood coffee for a few of the neighbors - it was fun to see them and catch up although a few couldn't come because of sickness!  They all enjoyed the cinnamon rolls I made (Rhodes in the freezer section) as they taste pretty close to homemade - but nothing compared to Jessi's cinnamon rolls of course!!

In the midst of everything, I had a colonoscopy - no fun - they never are - but everything checked out OK and that's all that matters!!

I went to Denver with Jaime so she could meet with her endocrinologist and discuss her upcoming radiation treatment which will be in February.  We stopped over at Jessi's office to get adjustments and then headed to IKEA!  What fun that is - we even had lunch there!!  I desperately needed a new office chair so purchased that along with a few Christmas decorations that were 50% off - I know, I don't really need them but I had been looking for another tree of some sort to hang ornaments on as my "travel" tree is full and I did find a really cute one that I can leave up year round!

As soon as we got home from Denver, our neighbor called and wanted to know if we wanted to go Christmas caroling around the subdivision!  Glenn opted not to go as his shoulder was aching but I grabbed my heavy clothes and went!!  The neighbor drove his truck and pulled a trailer with hay bales that we sat on!  We went around the loop and sang at several different places!  Here's a picture of Al and Peggy, our closest neighbors!

And here's a few of us sitting on the trailer although it's kind of hard to see!!  It was SO COLD out and I was ready for cookies and cider at the neighbors' by the time we were done!

And the next night was our annual "unchoir" party at Arlyne's house - we are very few in number now but we had a great time and the food is always awesome!  We did sing carols that night too although we've found many of us sure can't hit high notes on those Christmas songs!

FUN at the YMCA

We all had such a great time and the kids loved the roller skating, swimming, and basketball - not to mention just spending time with their cousins!!

The 3 girls always have a great time catching up!

Gary, Jessi and I took a walk one morning - pretty chilly but the sun was warm!

The kids had fun sitting around the coffee table to eat!

Glenn went in to sleep - and then Gwyn needed a nap (she was sleeping at night on our floor) and when I went back in to check on her, she was in bed with Papa!  Precious!

Always a good time at Happy Hour!

We did go over for Bingo but didn't make it mandatory this year - so 1/2 of the family stayed downstairs in the game room playing pool and ping pong!  And yes, we ALL won at least once with Bingo - but the prizes are lame, just little tiny toy like items.  Gwyn enjoyed them though!

Jessi and Glenn (with help from others) finished their SECOND puzzle!

My only wish for the weekend was to get a picture of Glenn and I with the grand kids at the YMCA statue!!  SO we bundled up everyone Sunday morning before we left and got some pictures!!  Wish they were closer but I'll take what I can get!!

Guess my photography skills ARE a bit better as I zoomed in before I took pics of the Keppys!!  I'll pass that skill along to either Jill or Jessi - can't remember who had my phone!!

So another fantastic Christmas is in the books - what an awesome way to celebrate!!

Present Opening!

Saturday morning we opened the gifts!!  We got a great start in the morning and the kids had a ball opening their presents!!

I had door mats personalized for the girls - they turned out so good!!

Found these dream catchers with the girls' initials in San Antonio!

And the boys loved their "animal cable bites" for their cords!

Midway through opening we stopped to have coffee and Jessi's excellent cinnamon rolls!  And I almost forgot the story on the c. rolls!!  Before we left, Gary had put them in the 2nd seat of their car and then went to pick up Evan at school - when they returned, Jessi immediately opened the car door and the glass pan and the rolls shattered on the cement!!  But we picked up the rolls (which were frozen) and made sure there was NO glass stuck on the bottom and stuck them in another pan - they were all just fine!!!

I always do the annual calendars for the kids and Glenn and I - it's quite a project but I enjoy doing it!

The best part about making Snapfish picture books for the kids (based on the time they spend at our house during the summer) is to see their faces when they open the books - they all LOVE them!!

Hanging out in the afternoon while the kids went swimming and roller skating!!

After an Italian meal that evening, we adults had our gift exchange - baskets and/or gift bags of food or drink - we had a ball playing the dice game and passing those gifts around - even though Gwyn doesn't look happy, the rest of us were!!

And after our gift exchange, we did our annual predictions!  This year we decided to retire the "frog" and do something different!  Each couple put $15 in one envelope to be used by the winner for either ice cream and/or dinner!!  This year the Smiths and the Keppys won - instead of doing a tie breaker, they just decided to split the money!!

More pictures in the next blog!

Christmas At Estes Park

WOW - what an early celebration for Christmas!!  But we were all excited to head to the YMCA at Estes Park like we've done for the last couple of years!  This year we were happy to get the 2 newer cabins that we had looked at last year!  How nice it was to have a dishwasher and plug ins where your cord didn't fall out!

After we unpacked, the kids wanted to go roller skating so we headed over to the roller rink!  Gary had built a device for Gwyn to use as she likes to keep up with her brother and sister!  She LOVED it and skated for a couple of hours - what a trooper!!!

 All of the buildings were decorated so pretty and it was fun to see them all lit up at night!

Unfortunately, their computer system crashed and never got fixed the entire time we were there!  It made for some super spotty internet at the cabins!

We let Gwyn open up a game from us that evening so she would have something to do!

We also had Kenzie open up her gift from us which was money to spend at the "craft" building the next morning- she picked out a larger and a small elephant to paint and a beaded snowflake to make! 

The other kids did a little painting too - what a fun time!

Isn't she cute painting her little airplane?

The rest of the gang arrived Friday afternoon and got all settled into their cabin! The guys picked up pizza for dinner so it was quick and easy!!  Our type of meal!!

We always celebrate Kenzie's birthday on Friday night - she loved her presents and we all enjoyed eating the delicious chocolate cake!!

Back at our cabin, Jessi and Glenn got hooked on a jigsaw puzzle and worked late putting it together!    I believe they actually finished it the next day and then started on another!!

The boys slept in our cabin this year - Glenn and I got the master so we had Gwyn on the floor with us and Gary and Jessi had the other bedroom!  It was a great cabin and worked out well as it was basically just steps from the other one!!  Next up - our Christmas celebration!!

Catching Up

Seems like the time between Thanksgiving and our Christmas celebration was WAY too short and I found myself extremely busy getting everything done! 

Glenn had his post surgery appt with his surgeon where he was told he had to wear his sling for 2 more weeks - as you can imagine, that didn't make him too happy!  But he's getting along just fine and although it's sore some days, he's patiently waiting for physical therapy to start which should be any time - I KNOW he wants to get it started to get ready for ice fishing!!

I had my last physical therapy appt on my elbow - basically 3 months of weekly appointments didn't help much at all!  My elbow still is very sore at times but my physical therapist basically told me he couldn't help me any more!  I'll still continue to do the exercises he has given me and if the pain doesn't get better by summer, I may have to get a cortisone shot.

Jaime is feeling better every day and was able to join 3 of us on the Home Holiday Tour!  I always enjoy going through the homes and seeing all the wonderful Christmas decorations - we had a great day together!

We had a few inches of snow and the trees looked so pretty that I just had to take a few pictures!

Glenn has been doing his best to keep busy - he came up with a way to keep his feet warm during ice fishing!  He has tried the battery operated socks and that doesn't work for him so he came up with a new plan - I don't know all the details but somehow he has shoe pads with wires attached (that go inside the boots) and they're hooked up to some kind of battery pack!  Jaime tried them out and said they kept her feet toasty warm - yay for Glenn!

Gwyn had her pre-school program and Evan had a band concert the night before we were heading up to Estes Park for Christmas so Glenn and I headed to Denver Wed. afternoon.  Jessi was working so we dropped Evan off for his band concert and by the time Jessi got home, we raced to the program and she stayed for Gwyn's first song and then left to go to Evan's concert!

Gwyn looked cute as can be up front!  She loved waving at us too!  After the cute program, we had cookies!

We were so happy to be able to attend her first performance!!

  We were sorry to miss Evan's concert but hopefully can attend another one this spring!  And after a good nights' sleep, our 2 families were on the road to Estes Park!!

Thanksgiving Cont'd

What happened to the days when we couldn't wait to get dinner dishes all cleaned up so we could spread out the Black Friday ads and start working on Christmas lists?  Gone - they're gone!! 

Jessi stopped and did buy ONE paper (after she found out the cost was $5 - really????) and we glanced at the ads but that was about it!!  I had my shopping almost all done already with just a couple of gifts to get and the others had a little shopping to do but not like most years!  One reason is since we started celebrating Christmas EARLY up at Estes Park it makes you buy your gifts much earlier - we celebrate Dec. 7th and 8th this year so I started ordering gifts online at the beginning of Nov.!!

This is what the guys chose to do most of the afternoon and part of the next day - work on a drill?

Rayna was heading out to Denver mid-afternoon to see friends up in Denver so we took our family pictures early before she left!!

Evan's hair apparently kept getting in his eyes so who knows who tied it up like this but I think he'll appreciate this picture someday - ha!!

One of our traditions is for me to play Thanksgiving Bingo with the little ones!!  We use cheerios as markers so they can all eat them - this year even Gwynnie could participate!!

Jill and Jessi put together an awesome jigsaw puzzle!

Leftovers and pie for dinner that evening - YUM!!

And a group picture with all of us!!  Jaime didn't have a great day but we coaxed her outside to get a picture!!

What an awesome Thanksgiving!!!!