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!

October Photo Dump

 Time is flying by - November is upon us with the start of decorating for Christmas, playing Christmas music and shopping for gifts!  I know - I'm one of those people that rushes the season but I LOVE the Christmas holidays and I LOVE preparing for it all!

But in the meantime - October - Bye Bye!

Jessi is always telling Glenn and I to wear red whenever we attend their kids' sporting events - I have to be honest, I did NOT have anything red to ever wear!  But Jill and I were shopping at Sam's when we were up there last and I found this red sweater/top!  PERFECT!!  It's all ready for next years' events!

I shred a LOT of chicken - and it seems to be time consuming - so when I saw this shredder on Amazon, I decided to get it and try it!  It works great - have to use small pieces but that's not a problem!  And I was a little worried about cleaning it but rinsed it well after using and it was easy to clean!  YAY!

We had October's choir girls get together at our house in Oct. - joining us were Linda and Roxie (who each stay with Arlyne and Beth respectively).   We had a great meal and time together and it was fun to show off the house!

One Sunday I drove to Co Springs and met Amy - we went to the play "Misery" (remember that movie??) at the Fine Arts Center - it was very well done and we both enjoyed it!

And here's the new game, along with extra score pads, that Teri taught us how to play - now I just need people to play it with!!!!

Pikes Peak is once again covered in snow - always a beautiful sight!

And that's a wrap for October!!!

SISTERS - Coffee and Snow

 Oh what fun to just hang around the house when we returned from Mt. Princeton!  We looked at a lot of photo albums and pictures and had some great laughs!

Teri brought a new game to play - QWIXX - oh my gosh, Patty and I loved it!!  I can't tell you how many games we played AFTER Teri so patiently taught us!  It took us awhile to get the hang of it but we both so enjoyed it!  In fact, I ordered the game and the score pads! (and yes, there may have been some wine involved!)

Speaking of wine, a funny story - Patty drinks the same type of wine that I do so I always have it on hand - but Teri drinks a drier wine so told me what kind to get - I was at Walmart and found a couple of brands in her type, but one was quite expensive so I just grabbed a bottle of the other.  When I got home that day, I was checking my receipt and found that the bottle I picked up was only $3.67!!!!  Oh my gosh - was it cooking wine???  I had no idea that you could buy wine that cheap!  So of course I bought a more expensive bottle the next time I went in.    SO was that bottle of cheap wine good?   Teri said it was drinkable but not as good as the other one of course - ha!

We went for a walk one morning - that sun was bright!

Saturday morning we met Jaime over at Wild Horse Cafe for coffee - it was great as usual!

I always love their fall displays!  And was excited to find out they are now serving pizza!!  YAY - only 1 1/2 miles to pick up pizza now - that's amazing!

Then we headed to Jaime's place so Patty and Teri could see it!  It was fun to include Jaime in our "sisters" get together!

FOOD!  There's always food involved! And we actually went back over to Wild Horse on Saturday late afternoon to pick up one of their pizzas and some garlic knots - excellent!!

Saturday afternoon it started to snow!  It was VERY pretty coming down and we just enjoyed relaxing in our recliners with the fireplace going, watching Hallmark movies!

We ended up with about 5".

It was TOO COLD out on Sunday morning to enjoy special coffee outside!

One day we enjoyed cinnamon rolls with our "regular" coffee!

Monday morning was an airport run as Teri was heading home that day!  It was minus 1 at our house and when we went by Divide, it was 13 below - yup - it sure gets cold in that valley!

We dropped Teri off and with no other plans down there, just headed back to the house where we spent the next day and 1/2 just relaxing and watching movies!  Wednesday morning we headed back to Co Springs so I could drop Patty off for her flight!

It was an AWESOME get together with the sisters - and it's so nice to know that we don't have to DO anything but spend time together!  

Sisters Trip - Mt. Princeton

 Due to Covid, we haven't done a Sisters Trip for a while - last year we DID get together in Soldier for our "Gran" reunion so that was great!  I had seen Patty in Iowa for Amy's memorial service and Teri had flown in to see Patty a few weeks later!

But Patty had called and said she wanted to come to Colorado for about a week and we decided the best time would be when Glenn went hunting - YES - a perfect time!    And then Patty and Teri were talking and Teri said she could come too and just like magic - WE HAD A SISTERS TRIP PLANNED!

We had decided it was just going to be low key - the only plans were to go to Mt. Princeton for the day and night to soak in the hot springs but otherwise we were just going to hang out - eat lots of junk food - watch Hallmark movies (yes, I started taping them a while ago!) - go out for coffee - and look at old pictures, scrapbooks and photo books!

Glenn got up early Wednesday morning and headed to his hunting spot - and Neal, Chance and nephew Mike arrived later in the afternoon to pick up an ATV and then head over to Glenn!   I picked up Patty and Teri at the airport and we headed back up to Florissant!

Teri had NOT seen our completed house - we checked the dates and the last time she was in Colorado was in 2014 when Glenn was building the house!  So it was fun to show her around and they both settled in!

What a fun afternoon and evening - just visiting and enjoying Happy Hour together and of course watching a Hallmark movie that evening - doesn't get much better!

After a short walk the next morning and special coffee, we packed up and headed west to Mt. Princeton!  We had actually went there the last time they both were here so it was fun to get over there to soak!  Our cliffside room was ready for us when we arrived which was wonderful - we got unpacked and threw our suits on and drove down to the pools!

Always love this view of the creek!

Unfortunately it was WINDY out - didn't really bother us in the pools but gosh it was cold when you got out!  We soaked for a while and then went back to our room to have happy hour outside - brrrrr!  It was chilly to say the least with that wind!

Wine and 2 kinds of dips and pretzels - yummy!

I put soup in the crockpot to heat up for our dinner later and we headed back down to soak - by this time it was dark and we all were very careful walking!  It's always fun to soak at night but we were disappointed that darn wind had NOT stopped!  But we still enjoyed it!

Back up the hill for downtime - our soup was delicious - and we just hung out till bedtime!

We all woke kind of early and checked the sunrise - not magnificent but not bad either!

I had brought pre-cooked sausage patties and eggs to put on bagels and it sure worked out great to eat in the room so we didn't have to wait at the restaurant - then it was back down to soak!  We got in the small pools and they felt so warm!

The infinity pool which is up where our room was didn't open till Friday so we planned to stop there for an hour before packing up!  We were all super impressed with the pool and it was so nice and warm with beautiful views!

I guess this picture posted wrong - it was taken in the morning when the sun hit the mountains!

   

And a cute display right by the office - they did have fall decorations all over so it was fun to see!

We headed home right before noon and got unpacked!  What a great trip to the hot springs!