Holiday Happenings

 This winter I have been content to just relax at home!  And that's OK - December is usually so full of activities but I'm appreciating my decorated house and the snow falling and the Hallmark movies more than EVER this year!  And since the family get together is in Jan. this year, there was plenty of time to shop and wrap!

But I did do a couple of things!  Joleen came in for a few days last week - it's always great to have my friend here!!  Saturday found Jane, Joleen and I at the Butte Theater in Cripple Creek for the Christmas production of  Angel of the Christmas Mine!  Last year we really didn't enjoy the production that much but I thought this years' was excellent!!!

Trying to get a selfie with 2 ladies who did NOT want their picture taken - ha!

When the production was over, the manager came on stage and said we all needed to stay in our seats for a while as there was a medical emergency in the back and the stairs (which you descend to get out into the street) had to be free of people until they could transport a person - sure enough, right at the back of the theater were the EMT's working on somebody - about 20 minutes later, they transported the person down the steps so we could leave!

AND we saw the famous ice castles which were still being produced (and now they are open!) which look amazing - I can't wait to see them inside!!

On Sunday, we had our Unchoir Party - yes, there are still 4 of us that STILL get together for a meal and sing a long!  I made the soup and the punch this year - Arlyne always makes this wonderful ice cream peppermint dessert, Beth brought corn bread muffins and Steve brought the relish tray - a great meal! Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures!!  DARN!!

And once again, we all ATTEMPTED to sing Christmas carols - we laugh and smile during this as we just don't have the voices we used to have when we sang in the choir - but it's still fun!

Christmas is right around the corner and it looks like we WILL have snow on the ground - how much?  Only time will tell..........

Jessi and Jam

 I was super excited when Jessi told me she wanted to come down and spend a couple of nights with us as she just needed a break - I get it - working and kids and activities and cleaning and cooking just sometimes gets to a person and you need some "mom" time!

Unfortunately the weather didn't look too promising on Friday when she was supposed to drive down so she rearranged her schedule and got left by noon - awesome!  AND she beat the snow!

We had a relaxing afternoon - lots of talking - a Hallmark movie - a good dinner - and watched the snow fall!

Woke up to about 8" of beautiful snow!!  Gosh it was pretty out!  Jessi decided to shower about the time the sun started to come up so I raced outside and took this picture!!  WOW!

Some time during the day we went for a walk - it wasn't super cold and the trees were just beautiful!

Jaime came over Sunday morning so we could make our jam!  This year we ended up making 4 batches - 2 peach, 1 strawberry and 1 cherry!  But not without some complications!  Somehow I only had 4 cups of frozen strawberries and I needed 5 cups and Jaime's frozen cherries unthawed but they were lacking a cup also!!  I dug around in my freezer and found some frozen blueberries and black berries so we added those to the cherries and Brad had some frozen strawberries in a bag so he brought them over with the promise of a soup lunch!!  It was a "win" situation so we could finish up the jam!

In the meantime, Jessi had brought her famous homemade cinnamon rolls so we enjoyed them BOTH days - they're SO GOOD!!

 Finishing up the jam - we make a good team!   And Jessi sat at the bar and blogged and talked to us all morning so it worked out great!

It was a fantastic weekend and I know Jessi enjoyed her time just relaxing and blogging and watching Hallmark movies in front of the fireplace with a snowy background - you just can't beat life in Colorado on snow days!!

Kenzie's Birthday and Other Happenings

 How can it be December 19th already and I haven't even blogged in December yet!!!  It's always amazing how time gets away from me!

Granddaughter Kenzie turned 15 on Dec 2nd!  This beautiful girl proceeded to get her drivers' permit the following Monday - which basically means she CAN get her license as soon as she turns 16!  She passed drivers ed with flying colors and now will start practicing with mom and dad - right?????

Glenn has been wanting a one man fishing hut on a sled!!  And he found a used one from a guy over in Gunnison so they met a couple weeks ago and he bought it!  He's excited to try it out soon!

Not a good picture but this is what it looks like on the inside!  Perfect for one person and will be easy to pull on the ice!  The top portion folds down.

Jaime and Brad went to Mexico for 5 nights - first time EVER for a vacation with just the two of them!  They had a wonderful time!  We had Kylan and Irene over for dinner one night while they were gone!

November Photo Dump

 And the Christmas season has begun!!  It's nice to be all decorated, the majority of the gifts bought and the calendar full of events!!  But for now, here's the wrap up of November!

These beautiful November sunrises remind me of what we see in Baja!  Oh those colors!!

Mid-November it was time to take down the fall decorations and start on Christmas - this is what my house looks like when I start - and yes, it takes me a couple of days to get it all decorated and then another day to clean - HA!

We have a cat that has been showing up at our house - I'm sure he belongs to a neighbor!  But Glenn started feeding it milk every time it comes around - he SAYS he wants it around outside to catch mice but deep down, I KNOW he really DOES enjoy cats!!

Time to make pumpkin bread!  I ended up making 2 batches and could hardly believe that ALL 6 loaves came out of the cans perfectly!!  That doesn't happen very often!

My "travel' tree and fireplace decorations! (the decorations on the tree are from the places we have visited)

But I think I like this picture even better!!!

When Kohl's started their Black friday specials WAY ahead of time, I not only ordered my usual cozy sheets but a new electric blanket AND a new bedspread which we needed!   And I LOVE it!

Good-bye November - Hello December!!!

Thanksgiving #2

 It was actually too darn cold to go for a walk after we ate!  The sun left us late morning and it turned cold, really cold!  We had our pie mid-afternoon and then took the usual family pics!

Here's the Keppys

These 3 boys are growing up WAY TOO FAST!   I'm sure Parker is due for a growth spurt any time as he's in 7th grade!  They sure have fun gaming together!

Jill made us Christmas shirts!!!  One of the schools she works at has a new machine that makes the iron on decals - they turned out SO CUTE and we were thrilled to get them!

The Savages

Almost matching flannels!!

The Smiths

And we even got a group picture!  YAY!

Robby, Jill, and Aleah (along with Penny, their dog) stayed with us - after eating leftovers for dinner that evening, we headed back to our house!  Jill and I were up kind of early the next day as we were going shopping with Jaime - it was COLD out and had snowed about an inch but the roads weren't bad out our way.   We picked up Jaime, got some coffee and headed to Co. Springs!

Unfortunately, Woodland Park and Co. Springs were frosty and snowy with slick roads!  It was 10 degrees in Co. Springs and it never changed!!  We did Kohl's and a couple of other stores and then headed to eat Mexican!  Sure missed having Jessi with us!

We went back over to Jaime's late afternoon to eat pizza and have more pie!!  And played a few games once we got back home to our place!  Since Kylan had to work, Parker came home with us so they could head out early the next day!

Being all together over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend was such a blessing!

Thanksgiving Blessings

 This year it was back to our traditional get-together!  HOORAY!  Unfortunately the Keppys could only come down for the day since Gary had to work on Friday and Kenzie was signed up for Drivers Ed and Gwyn had a sleep over to go to - busy family!!  But we made the most of Thursday when we were all there but Matias who spent the day with his girlfriends' family in Parker.

Everyone met at Jaime's house mid morning and the preparations started - or should I say they continued as we ALL had dishes to make on Wednesday!

Kenzie decorated all the punch glasses with our names!  Pretty rare we get pics of the 4 guys!

I had found a cute picture of a turkey veggie plate so forwarded it to these 2 and asked if they could do the relish tray - it turned out SO CUTE!

Making our turkey and ham cream cheese and pickle roll-ups!   It's a favorite of us all!

And this is what the kids do ALL DAY LONG!   Drives me crazy but times have changed and I just need to accept it and carry on - HA!

Rayna helping out with the mashed potatoes!

We did a ham and a smoked turkey this year with all the trimmings - dinner was outstanding!

Yes, the ball game is paused in the background!

We decided that instead of sitting as couples, we would put the girls on one side and the guys on the other as it seems we're always trying to talk over each other - worked out great!

After a delicious dinner, we did the cleanup and played games.....more pics to come!

Those Lovely Doctor Appts.

 It must be that time again - all those wonderful dr. appts that come up once or twice a year!  Mammogram is done - an x-ray on my back and leg done (with an MRI scheduled in Dec. since the x-ray showed nothing) - dermatologist is the first week of December.   And last week was my endocrinologist appointment up in Denver!  

My endo appt went just fine with no issues and no reason to come again until a year - hooray!  After that I headed to Jessi's and we packed a quick lunch and went to coffee!  Always a great time!  We decided to do a little bit of shopping before we went back home - we stopped at Kohl's since I had $15 in Kohl's cash to spend - didn't find what I was looking for BUT I always need new underwear so that's what I got!  Unfortunately, when I went to pay, they couldn't find my Kohls cash anywhere - weird!  And for the strangest reason, the email that showed my cash, had just disappeared from my email account!  It wasn't saved or in trash or anywhere.............Hmmmmmm............  No problem, the cashier gave me a discount anyway which was very nice!

We headed to another store and by this time, I was feeling really shaky!!  Sometimes coffee does that to me but it really hadn't had much time to even get in my system!  And then Jessi reminded me about my medication!!  I take my thyroid medicine every day as soon as I get up as you're supposed to wait an hour before you eat - I took it (or thought I did) and when I got out of the shower, there is my pill lying on the counter!  Without even stopping to think, I took it - and then realized I must have dumped two out as I KNOW I had taken the original one!  So I had 2 in my system and Jessi told me that's probably why I had the shakes - NOT a good feeling and sure took a long time to get it out of my system - I won't make that mistake again!!

Anyway, we shopped a little more and then headed back to her place to pick up Gwyn at school!  After a nice dinner, we played my new game and everyone enjoyed it!  Evan did really well and won!

Here's the rest of us with our scoresheets - Gary played also but took the picture!

And since I didn't get a picture of Kenzie, here's one Jessi sent me for her volleyball banquet and awards!

I slept in Gwyn's bunk beds on the lower part and she slept on the top - her room was rearranged and I really liked the new look of it and slept great!

After walking Gwyn to school the next morning, I headed back to W. Pk for groceries and a massage!  All in all, a great trip to Denver !

Wedding Bells

 Our next door neighbor and really good friend Alan (who lost his wife last January) got married again!  We had met Debra a while back and are still getting to know her, but she's a gem for Alan and we were both happy when he found a new partner!

They decided to get married at 11 Mile Canyon at 11:11am on 11/11 - how's that for a lot of 11's!!  Reception was to be held in their large new shop area - Debra is very creative and had lots of great ideas for decorating!  We went over on Friday night for pizza and to help decorate!

Saturday morning we were at their place at the alloted time and transported the violinist out to 11 mile - we hadn't been out there in years and I had forgotten how beautiful it is in that canyon!  Since we had gotten 8" of snow that week, there was a lot that wasn't melted yet so it was a slow drive out there and a little icy getting up the path where they were getting married!

Was it cold out there?   YES - to the tune of 23 degrees when we arrived!!  But luckily the sun was shining so that made it feel warmer!

This is Alan's grandson that brought the rings up - he was so cute!

The married couple!

After loading up all the decorations, we headed back to the shop where a catered BBQ luncheon was served - very good!  And then it was time to take down the regular tables and reset up the place with tall tables for the reception that evening!

I helped set up the "snack" food for the evening - lots of fruit, cheese, crackers, nuts and all kinds of finger food goodies for dessert!

After Debra's praise band played for a little while, the DJ started in with the dance songs - oh gosh - I danced and danced and danced and loved every moment of it!!  Unfortunately there weren't any country songs in the dance line up but you can bet I requested one as there were 3 of us couples who love to country dance!  It was a lot of fun!

Here are Debra and Alan cutting the cake - somehow I didn't even get up there to get a slice!  

All in all one fantastic day and I wish the two of them a wonderful life together!

SNOW!

 And I was ready for it!!  The peak was looking a little bland so it was time for some snow and it came - to the tune of 8" on Nov 7th and 8th!  It's always SO pretty out when it's snowing and I love sitting in the recliner and watching it snow!

I had just taken the above picture when about a 1/2 hour later, the clouds all moved and the sun came out!

What a beautiful day it turned out to be!

That's one thing about Colorado - just as soon as the storm passes, the sun is out and shining!