December Photo Dump

 Since we are well into Jan., it's time to be caught up and get this posted!

I was excited when the new Avatar movie came out!  So Glenn and I went to the first showing of the day down in Co. Springs - the movie was fantastic!  But the length of that movie, oh my gosh!  That's an extremely long time to sit through a movie - even if you're in recliner chairs!

I was SO GLAD we opted to see it in 3D - the images were fantastic!

Year after year we continue to have our "unchoir" party!  I bring the soup - Beth brings the rolls - Steve brings the relish tray - and Arlyne makes the dessert!  We have it down to a science now!  Our singing voices continue to fail us each year - HA!

Jane and I not only did the Holiday Home Tour together but also went to Cripple Creek to see the winter production - unfortunately we were not impressed with either!  We've decided that we have went for SO many years to each of these, that there's nothing new to see!  Are we getting old and grumpy?  I think so!

What a peaceful scene looking out back from the deck!

Jessi showed me this old saved photo from I think snapchat - I kept looking at it and the woman looked familiar but I couldn't place her so finally asked Jessi who she was - HA!  - I laughed and laughed when she told me it was ME!

Yes, I DID get my tubs for next year!!

And that's a wrap for December of 2022!  Now on to 2023!

New Year's Eve

 The Keppys' came down for the weekend - yup, they just can't get enough of us - HA!  They actually pulled in Friday night around 5:00 - I had dinner all ready and was excited that Evan was going to spend the night too!  Unfortunately, he gets the floor but we have a decent mattress that he sleeps on!

Gary and Glenn headed out to ice fish the next morning!  Not as early as Jessi and I were expecting but that's OK - we just always enjoy our "alone" time!  We headed over to the Wild Horse for coffee - love those peppermint sprinkles on the coffee!

Right before we were ready to leave the Wild Horse, Ashley called and needed help with her little one again, Jay.  Her mom was not doing well in the hospital and she was flying out the next day so wanted to spend some time with her!  By the time we got back to the house, her and her boyfriend were waiting to hand Jay to us!  I KNEW the girls would be excited to have a baby in the house and I wasn't wrong - they had an absolute ball with him!

Kenzie couldn't stop holding him and even put him to sleep!

In the meantime, Jessi went into town to pick up Aleah (their family came down for a New Year's Eve party at friends that now live in W. Pk) so we had ANOTHER babysitter!  I didn't have to worry about keeping Jay entertained while I fixed dinner!

Ashley picked up the baby late afternoon - we ate soup and rolls for dinner and then got the kitchen cleaned up and tables and chairs set up for our Bunco party!  Oh, and the guys got home from fishing - a good time!

Jaime came straight from work (so I saved her some soup), and the rest of her crew arrived too!  We all drew numbers for what table we would start at AND who our first partner would be!  With 6 adults and 6 kids, it worked out perfectly!  Of course, the goal was to get to the HEAD table and STAY there!

It was loud and FUN!  After the first round, the food came out and we stopped for a break and then it was on to the second round and finally the third round!  We tallied up the scores and gave out prizes to the top 6 winners and then participation prizes to the rest!

 

Here's the gals!

And here's the guys!

We really enjoyed the evening together and hope to do it again!!  Evan went home with Kylan for the night - Aleah and Kenzie got in the hot tub for a LONG time and of course ended up staying up pretty darn late!!  Did the grown ups make it?  Absolutely not!!  We DID go out at 9:00 and see a couple of fireworks that they set off early but sure didn't make it till the midnight ones!

The guys went fishing again!  Gwyn enjoyed her hot cocoa with the chocolate spoons I had bought - Jill came out to pick up Aleah and stayed about an hour so that was fun to catch up with her! And then we just relaxed and had a great ham dinner ready when the guys got home from fishing!

The Keppys left after dinner!  A really fun weekend with family and A Happy New Year to all!

Coffee and Babysitting

 Time to have coffee with Jaime over at Wild Horse!  I hadn't been over there during the month of Christmas so hadn't seen their decorations NOR had one of their Christmas drinks so it was definitely time to go!

I had the most delicious drink - white mocha, toasted marshmellow and peppermint - yummy!

Jaime and I talked a mile a minute to catch up - she had to give me lots of details on the NEW addition to their home!  Jaime and Brad are very committed to helping those in need - and Kylan met a gal online whom he was gaming with - she came from a home where she was no longer welcome and after her roommates didn't renew their lease on an apartment, she had nowhere to go so was living in a car outside of her work.  Anyway, Jaime and Brad flew her up here and she is now living in their home, working on getting a drivers license (she is 19) and will find work soon.  Her name is Irene and we met her on New Years Eve - a very sweet gal who hopefully will have a much better life here!

Also going on is our neighbor and friend Peggy who was diagnosed with lymphoma - she's had a tough road and has now been in the hospital for 28 days - she chose at first to do alternative medicine but her tumor was too big and she ended up in the hospital - her hubby Al called New Year's week in tears telling us there was nothing more they could do after surgery and if we wanted to see her, we needed to come down.  Her daughter from Florida was flying in that day (amid several delays due to weather) and we all prayed daughter Ashley would make it in time.  It was a tearful journey to Colorado Springs to say good-bye to Peggy but when we arrived, a miracle had occurred!  Peggy's vitals were back to normal and the dr said he had never seen anything like it!!  She was still in ICU and had another surgery ahead of her but things were looking up!  Ashley did get in that night and needed help with her 6 month old son on Friday so I took him for the day!

Unfortunately he was teething and not very happy for a couple of hours but after I gave him the teething tablets, he was a different little guy and I enjoyed him!

Glenn had fun plaing peek a boo with him and we got him to laugh and giggle which was fun!!  Guess I haven't lost my touch!

Over & Done

 And Christmas is once again, a thing of the past!  All the planning and prep is over - the anticipation is gone - and the DREAD of taking all those decorations down is looming - HA!

Jessi and I needed COFFEE together - it just didn't happen earlier so Monday was the day to do it before we headed home!

But up first - after Christmas shopping to get those rolls of paper and the plastic containers that I use for the cracker mix!  We headed to Walmart early since we're early risers!  It wasn't too busy yet but by the time we left, it did get busier!  We found the paper we wanted and all kinds of great sales BUT there were no containers at this Walmart!  DARN!

Also, since we were having a New Year's Eve Bunco Party at our place, I picked up a few gifts for prizes - you just can't beat that 50% off!

And then we were off for coffee!  Since we were over in the Southlands area, we just went to the coffee place there - we'd been there before and it's not as good as our usual place, but we still enjoyed it along with our usual talking!

We actually stopped at a grocery store to look for containers after coffee but they didn't have any either!

After finishing up the packing, Glenn and I headed back home - but first we stopped at Walmart in Woodland Park, just to see if they had containers - AND THEY DID!  YES!!

Thanks Jessi and Gary for a wonderful Christmas weekend!

Christmas Day 2022

 I remember years past when I was just as excited as the 3 girls were for Christmas to arrive - trying to finish the shopping and the wrapping - decorating the house - putting up the tree - making cookies and candies - and buying stocking stuffers to fill the socks the night before!  And then that magic moment when the girls would walk down the steps (while I either took pictures or recorded on the movie camera) and pounce on their socks and their Santa Claus gifts!  Oh if only we could all relive those moments!

The traditions are pretty much the same with all 3 girls - but I don't have the stress of doing it all like I used to - I just get to sit back and watch it all unfold and relax - there IS something about getting older and just getting to enjoy the moment!

We opened our socks and the blanket was pulled off the Santa Claus gifts  - happy smiles - cute pictures!  And then it was off to the kitchen to finish cutting up fruit and stirring the fruit dip together, along with yummy cinnamon rolls and coffee!!

This year Jessi attempted to make a few gluten free rolls for Gary - they didn't look very exciting but they tasted fine and that's all that matters!  

What a beautiful sky to wake up to!

Happy kids!

It was sure fun to watch Gwyn open her gifts!  She's still at that age where she opens one gift and then can't wait to open the next one!

I got Glenn an ATV scarf for Mexico - sometimes it's very dusty riding in the sand!

Jessi and Gary gave me the cutest gnome towels and LOTS of chocolate - it's already in a bag to go to Mexico!

Oh my!  Crazy messy but what fun!

I feel shorter every year!  Soon Gwyn will pass me up!

Jessi fixed a yummy breakfast casserole that we ate after the unwrapping - then it was clean up time and a walk to the park so Gwyn could try out her new scooter!

And we ate YET AGAIN!!  Tri tip roast with all the trimmings AND homemade rolls - it was all excellent!  Glenn watched football all afternoon and Gary went ice fishing!  Then it was game time after an early dinner and I think we all collapsed that night!  A wonderful day celebrating the birth of Jesus!

Christmas Eve at the Keppys'

 I'm not sure where the last 2 weeks went but poof - they were gone!  And it was Christmas Eve and time to head to the Keppy's!  It was actually our turn to be with the Smiths but since we had spent Thanksgiving with just "them" and not the other families, Jaime said it would be fine to go elsewhere.  And since Jill's were headed to Iowa for Christmas, Jessi's family got us again!!

Our car felt empty as we headed north - we were basically going to watch them open their presents so it was an easy pack this time!  We decided to eat at Chick Fil A till we got there and saw the line wrapped around the corner - so we headed to a place by Jessi's house that is called Slim Chickens and it was excellent - we were both impressed!

We were already dressed for church and we all headed there for the 3:00 service!  It was a wonderful service and I was thrilled that even though the church uses a praise band, they sang famaliar carols!  After church we did the picture and it sure turned out nice!

Jessi and Gary had to help with the beginning of the next service so Glenn and I took the kids home and finished up dinner so we could eat as soon as they got home!  Delicious lasagna soup and homemade rolls - they're the best!

And then we were off to the drive through light show that Jessi had bought tickets for!  It was at the fairgrounds so very close - we did have to sit in line for quite a while but they had great Christmas music playing and we didn't mind the wait at all!

The lights were fantastic!!  I was impressed!  It was nice to just sit and relax as Jessi drove through it!

Most of the lights "danced" to the music that you tuned into on your radio so we turned it up loud and just had an awesome time!

After filling the socks and Kenzie putting out the Santa food and drink, we all headed to bed!  What a wonderful day!