This Crazy Life Of Ours!

Life just doesn't slow down!

Let's see - after Robby's left after the ballgame that Friday night, I had coffee with the neighbor Sat. and then went to a fundraiser auction all afternoon!  After church Sunday, I DID get a little bit of down time before my friend Carrie and her son Boone came in Monday morning!

Carrie now lives in Tx!!  They picked me up and we headed to Buena Vista to go to Cottonwood Hot Springs - I haven't been there in years!!  And it was snowing like crazy when we arrived - all the more pretty that way!

The place hasn't changed much at all - the pools felt AWESOME and we soaked for a couple of hours!  They stayed till late morning on Tuesday!

Wed. I went to Co Springs with Jaime to Costco - and I probably haven't blogged about that either!!  Glenn and I joined Costco a few weeks ago, mainly so he could get a hearing aid!!  He lost about 40% of his hearing when he had the flu a couple years ago.  He's dealt with the hearing loss as he didn't want to pay for hearing aids, but when a friend of mine said the BEST deal for hearing aids is at Costco, then Glenn decided to go for it!!  Even though they got back ordered, they came in the DAY before he left to hunt so he was thrilled!!  So anyway, we are now Costco members and loving shopping there!!

After Costco, I ran errands and had my massage in Woodland Park - because we had a storm coming in late afternoon, we cancelled choir girls get together for the night and ended up meeting mid afternoon for a couple of hours which worked out great!!  And by the time I got home, the snow had started!!

It was SO NICE to stay home all day Thursday enjoying the 6" of snow that we got and doing what I wanted to do for the day!  Glenn arrived home about noon on Friday - no luck but he really enjoyed his week of hunting with Bob and Jim! 

I helped him unpack the food as we had to get ready to leave for the football game!!  It was way up in Elizabeth so we rode with Jaime's!!  Jessi's all came to the game which really made it fun!!

Here's all the kids - plus Rayna's friend!!  (thanks to Jessi for the pics!)

Was it cold?  Absolutely!!!

It's a challenge to stay warm at these games!!  Hand warmers though are the BEST!!

Unfortunately Woodland Park lost the game but Matias played great as usual - it's so fun to watch him play!

And now here we are HOPING to get left for Iowa on Tuesday morning BUT we have a snowstorm that will be hitting tonight and most of tomorrow - which means the roads are not going to get cleared and another snowstorm right behind this one.........so we shall see!!!  In the meantime, it's nice to have a couple of relaxing days!!

FINALLY - Celebrating Birthdays

Since it was fall break for Aleah and Parker, Jill and I had made plans to go to the North Pole since we had planned it during the summer and Parker was sick!  The Savages came down late Wed. night and even Glenn stayed up to see them - he was heading out early the next morning for elk hunting!

Unfortunately Aleah wasn't feeling the best the next day and was running a slight fever but Jill gave her some tylenol and we decided to go ahead and head to Cascade!  Little did we know it was fall break for a lot of schools and the place was actually busy!!  But the kids still didn't have to stand in line very long to ride the rides!!

Stopping in to see Santa is always fun!!  And I believe Aleah asked for a phone for Christmas!!!!

Our mandatory polar bear picture!!

And the ice pole - it's STILL icy!!

Parker and Aleah rode ride after ride while Jill and I chose to watch them most of the time!  Jill did venture on a few rides though!  We enjoyed a picnic lunch and also went to the magic show which is always fun!!  The weather was perfect!!  Just cool enough to wear long sleeves but no jacket!

We stopped for smoothies on the way home and were all tired by the time we made it back!!  Parker helped me do the "outside" chores while Glenn is gone!

Friday was a great day for playing games and cards with the kids!!  Jill and I had a few things we needed to do together and somehow the day just flew by!!  We all headed into the football game that night and yes, IT WAS COLD again!!!

It was a fun game to watch with Matias making the first touchdown and later doing an awesome tackle on a guy!!  Woodland Park won 42 to 0!!!!!  It's sure more exciting when they win!!

Jill and Robby headed back home after the game - another great time with the Savages'!!!

Summers This 'n That

Since the snow is flying as I'm writing this, I better get the last summer blog posted - it's been on my mind for weeks but somehow I just didn't get the pictures taken - since I knew it was going to snow today, I made it a point to take these pics yesterday!!

First up is Glenn's green house!!  He built this on the back side of the shop this last spring - yes it took many, many hours to get it done and he's already replaced the plastic once!!  But he spends hours and hours and hours in there so if it keeps him out of my hair, then so be it!!

He also purchased a used aquaponics system during the summer and has a complete setup for growing some of his vegetables that way!!  Of course you need fish to do this so he fished at Dick's pond (where we take the boys to fish) and caught I believe about 45 fish to use in the system!  It's all pretty neat and of course all the grand kids love feeding the fish!!

Glenn grows amazing lettuce!!  We had some early in the summer but then he really got into it late summer!!  He bought a variety pack and he has so much of it that he has been selling it to the local "farm to table" restaurant and also to Mountain Naturals in town.

Also this last spring, he completely fenced (high to keep the deer out) the outside garden and then built raised beds for his lettuce, onions, carrots, and squash!  He's given a lot of it away to the neighbors and his carrots are SO GOOD!!!!  Because I just took this picture, most of the outside garden is picked and done!!  At least next spring most of the heavy work is already done and he can really enjoy the planting and harvesting without all the building involved!

For my birthday, Glenn made me a walking stick, per my request!!  One day when we were out ATVing he picked up several pieces of wood and had me choose my favorite!  Then he sanded it and finished it out - I LOVE it and it makes me feel more secure when I walk!

Yes, this is a picture from our deck of Pikes Peak - but what you WON'T notice is that Glenn cut the huge tree down that was blocking 1/2 of the peak!!  Now there's a clear shot and I love looking out at it!

A Short Weekend With The Keppys

We always enjoy having the kids down and although it was short since Jessi had to work Sat. morning, we had a great time!

The kids needed to let off some steam so we played outside for a while - in the wind of course - that darn wind was still sticking around!  But the leaves out are pretty and it was a nice fall day!

That evening Brad and Kylan came over for the evening and Jaime came after work so they could all get adjustments from Jessi - we all LOVE having her for the family chiropractor.

Sunday morning we decided to go to Mueller for a hike!  Since Evan had spent the night with Kylan, Gary went over to pick up both boys while Jessi and I had a quick coffee session!!  And then it was off to Mueller!!

Gary had brought Autumn, (Kylan's dog) to hike with us since Brad had told him you could have dogs in the park - WRONG!!!  After getting in there and all out of the car to hike, the sign said NO DOGS ALLOWED on any of the trails!!!  Darn!!  So Gary and Kylan took the dog back to Brad's while the rest of us enjoyed the Visitor Center!

We finally got on our hike - it was supposed to be around 1 1/2 miles but with the couple of turns we took, I think it ended up being around 2 miles.  The older kids of course had to climb the big rock!

Gwyn was upset she couldn't climb the big one so we told her to climb the small one!

It was a fun hike but the last part was just too much for Gwyn - she had walked ENOUGH and kept crying she was NOT going to walk any more!!  I think her screams and whines could be heard throughout the park - ha ha!!!  Poor thing - she actually did a great job of walking that far for a 4 year old!!

Everybody did their own thing in the afternoon!!  Jessi and I spent quite a while planning out Thanksgiving and our Christmas at Estes Park - some of the boys went practice shooting - some watched football - Rayna and Matias came over so the Keppys could meet him - and after an early dinner, they headed back home to Denver! 

Homecoming

Somehow I missed blogging about Homecoming!!  Rayna and Matias had a fun week at school dressing up the different days!  Wednesday night was their parade and bonfire and that's where Matias officially asked Rayna to the dance!  Along with flowers and candy, he also made this sign which I thought was pretty clever since she LOVES the Beatles!!

Because Jaime was working and Brad was hunting, I offered to go over to their house to take Homecoming pictures!  There was one other couple and another gal all there so I was the official photographer for all of them!

They all went out to dinner and then headed to the dance for a fun time!

This last weekend Rayna and Matias went to Denver to attend another Homecoming with her good friend up there!

Ah, it seems like only a few years ago that all three of OUR girls were getting ready for Homecoming - where do the years go?

Creede - Fall Trip

Coffee and breakfast out - yum!!  And then we headed up Slumgullian Pass to head to Creede!  Always a picture perfect place!

Glenn had found a forest service road on a map where we could ATV so we unloaded and went for a ride!!  But not long on the trail and we ran into the remains of a bad forest fire - acres and acres of this!!

And look what was carved on one of the highest points which had some awesome views, despite all the burned trees!

We headed back into Creede and found our cabin - wow, I was impressed!!  It was less money that the one in Lake City but looked brand new inside and it was large for a cabin!!  I loved the log table and chairs in the dining area and lots of cabinets and CLEAN dishes inside them in the kitchen!!  Not only was there a nice bedroom but a set of log bunk beds in an alcove off the bedroom!!  It's a place I would definitely recommend!!

We could easily walk uptown to eat - first we walked around the shops but a lot of them were already closed for the season, as were a couple of the restaurants!!  We ended up at a Mexican restaurant and I had one of the best shrimp tacos I've ever had!!  So a great choice!!

The gal who checked us into our cabin had showed us the route to do Bachelor Loop and that's where we headed the next morning!  The entrance to this loop was quite dramatic and gorgeous!!

We actually ran into a few yellow trees on this loop - hooray!!

Lots of old mines along the way and we went drove down one road to a working mine that a family has opened up to the public - it was interesting and lots to look at!

We had a great day doing the loop and the weather was gorgeous!!  That evening we ate at a local bar which was interesting - not the greatest food but we weren't complaining!!  This huge stainless steel fork is set very close to our cabin - I'm assuming the building beside it must have one time been a restaurant???  Who knows but it's certainly eye catching!

Another great trip in the books!!