New Year's Eve

After having to call in sick on Thursday because I had no voice, I was a little worried that our weekend plans wouldn't happen!! But between the hot tea and the vicks, I felt MUCH better on Friday, even though my voice was pretty cracky!!


Glenn and I packed up on Friday morning and picked up friends Martin and Joleen by 12:15 and headed over to Buena Vista - the roads weren't great in places but we still made good time and checked in at the Deer Valley Ranch!

I had booked a 3 bedroom, 3 bath cabin and one NEVER knows what to expect when you're booking a cabin - they're usually very cute but sometimes quite rustic and that doesn't bother us since we're easy to please!! But this place was NICE - VERY NICE!! An extremely well-stocked kitchen with an eating area that led to the living room where you walked down about 4 steps into a huge room with a nice fireplace!! 2 of the bedrooms were huge - I picked the one with the tall, tall ceiling that had skylights set into it and that was neat!! Each bedroom had their own bath off of it and ours had 5 towel sets - FIVE!!! Needless to say we were very impressed with the cabin!!

We unpacked and played some Mexican Train and soon our other couple, Lonnie and Dawn arrived! It was time to start eating and drinking!!! Martin cooked up a "seafood boil" which consisted of crawfish, shrimp and crab and we ate and ate and ate - so much in fact that this "appetizer" actually became our dinner because we were so full, the thought of eating a full meal was just too much!!!

Here's a shot of all of us playing "Mexican Train" - and then it was on to The Newlywed Game and Left, Center, Right!! We had a ball playing games and laughing!!

We did end up later on eating the next day's "lunch" item which was French Dip Roast Beef but it worked out perfectly!! Yes, we even made it to midnight!!!

Because of the horrible cold and wind outside, we had opted to NOT go to the hot springs on Friday afternoon and were really hoping to go on Saturday - but we woke up to below zero weather with the wind whipping around once again and there was just no way that we could imagine sitting in those hot springs, especially since 2 of us were still sort of sick!!

It was fun to wake up the next morning and have Glenn cook us a huge breakfast and then sit around in our pj's and drink coffee and visit..........how relaxing!!!

We did bundle up Saturday morning and take a short, EXTREMELY cold walk to some of the different buildings at the ranch - we saw their outdoor swimming pool which is kept about 85 degrees (brrrrrrrr) and their outdoor hot tub (which needed cleaning but it was too cold to even think about that too) - they had a sauna inside one of the buildings but even that didn't peak our appetite!!

They have a huge lodge filled with couches and chairs and a large fireplace - just like you would imagine a dude ranch lodge would look like!!! On one side of the building was their large dining room (closed in the winter) and it was just a nice building that would be fun to sit and relax in!! Here's the outside of the lodge - the chairs are all facing the mountains and the view you see is the next picture!!

The last building we checked out was the game building - ping pong tables, pool table and upstairs a huge room with lots of chairs and a large TV - we figured the guys would want to be there watching football in the afternoon but they actually chose to stay with us in the cabin!! Outside on the deck, was this neat arrangement of antlers!! We were all impressed!!

Saturday afternoon we all piled into our car (we have a 3rd seat in the back) and took a drive over to Salida, a nearby town where we stopped at a cute coffee place for coffee and sandwiches - nice and cozy!! But we were all happy to head back to the cabin for a great spagetti dinner that evening and another round of games!! What fun!!! It's been years since I've played so many games in one weekend...............To be cont'd...........

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!!!

One last post before the new year sets in!!

We FINALLY got some major snow here in Colorado - it started about noon yesterday and we ended up with about 8 inches - it's still snowing a little bit this morning and it's darn cold out - 10 below!!

The good news is I feel much better!! I really did take it easy yesterday - putting vicks and moist heat on my chest every other hour, lots of tea with lemon juice and honey, and plenty of time on the couch!

So the New Year's Eve festivities are on - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

A Warning!

Yesterday I took the day off - I've been taking a day a week in December since I have vacation time to use up and although I wasn't feeling well, I had plans to head to Colorado Springs to spend my Christmas bonus from my boss and I just didn't want to give that up - I made a quick trip down in the morning and was back home by 1:30!! Only today I'm paying for it because I'm home sick - yes, I have that darn cough and sore throat back so I'm spending the day on the couch in hopes I'll be a little better tomorrow for our New Year's Eve activities!!

Anyway, I had a great time shopping and found exactly what I was looking for - a new coat, a pair of black shoes and a pair of tennis shoes, a case for my new movie camera, a pair of jeans, and a new white robe!

I was at Walmart when I saw the fluffiest, cutest robes hanging on a rack - they were SO SOFT!! But I couldn't tell if they were below the knee or floor length so just decided to try a black one on - BIG MISTAKE!!! I was wearing a light blue/purple sweater (one of those soft, clingy ones) and a pair of light tan brushed denim jeans - I tried on the robe and decided it was NOT long enough so took it off and then looked down at myself - I was COMPLETELY COVERED with black fuzz - everywhere the robe had been in contact with my clothing was black!!! Oh my gosh, I looked hideous - what to do - I started picking off the bigger chunks but soon realized that would take hours so I wheeled myself over to housewares and found a lint brush - I took off the outer covering and started de-linting myself - and it took 3 times of tearing off the lint roll before my clothes looked better!! Trust me, I did NOT buy that robe!!

So a word to the wise - it you see a nice fluffly robe, DO NOT TRY IT ON!!! Buy it and then take it home and try it on!!

READ THE LABEL FIRST!

I have a set of snowman dishes that I use during the Christmas season - and also have matching place mats for them! But what I don't have is glasses to go with them!

So during our after Christmas shopping spree, Jessi and I were at Walmart and I saw the cutest plastic glasses that had red and green dots all over them - I bought 4 of them and brought them home and they look just darling with the snowman pattern!!

Of course I have a place setting for 8 so decided I better get 4 more and sure enough, my Walmart had them too!

We used them Sunday night although only one glass got put in the dishwasher - imagine my surprise when I unloaded on Monday morning and saw that I now had a glass with pink and blue dots!! I dug threw the trash to find the sticky tab that I had scraped off all 8 of them and sure enough - NOT dishwasher safe!! DARN!!

I don't mind washing them my hand - it's the REMEMBERING NOT to put them in the dishwasher!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE.............

that the frog is not sitting at our house for the next year but is at the Savage's house!! Glenn and I have YET to have that cute little thing at our house!!

So this is what happened: we're going through the annual predictions and actually Glenn and I aren't doing too bad - we're at the end and counting them up - and believe it or not, Jill and Robby tied with us!!!! WHICH MEANS: going to the tie breaker!!! The tie breaker is ALWAYS the price of diesel gas at the Western Store outside of Woodland Park - but I was appalled at what we had written down last year - $2.46!!!! Gosh, diesel must have been CHEAP last year and that's where we got that number!!

But Robby and Jill guessed $2.99 and the actual price was $3.10!!! I was so upset - I jumped up and down but it didn't do any good - so the cute little frog went to the Savage's, ONCE AGAIN!!!

Do you think it will EVER take up residence at our house????

By the way, I don't know how the Christmas Eve Cont'd post wound up on top of my Christmas Post but it's mixed up so you'll have to scroll down to check out Christmas Day!!!

Christmas Eve - cont'd

I not only enjoy taking pictures but also taking movies on our movie camera!! The best part of using the movie camera is to watch the tapes, years later............

So if you ever see me lugging around a huge camera case, you'll know I've got my movie camera with me!! Yes, I've had this camera since 1996 and it's one of the LARGE ones - it takes a cassette type film and after you've finished one, you just throw it in the box with the rest of them until it's time for Robby to edit them into a DVD!! Robby was VERY good about making me DVD's and I would choose the music to go with each scene - not an easy process for either Robby or me!! And he finally got to the point where he said - NO MORE!!! I didn't blame him a bit!! My box has several tapes in it now and it's time to get them in order and take them to Walmart so they can put them on DVD's - only it just won't be quite the same without my "chosen" music on them!!

Glenn had put a gift for me under the tree a while back and decided that I should open it on Christmas Eve - and I did - and I was SO EXCITED to find a NEW MOVIE CAMERA!!! One of those cute little digital ones with NO MORE TAPES to use and no more large batteries to charge!! WOW - it's so nice!!! And he caught me completely by surprise as I had no idea he was getting it for me!!


So there just aren't quite as many Christmas pictures this year because I was busy using my new movie camera!! Robby showed me the on/off button and the record button and that's all I needed to know for the holidays!!! Now it's time to get serious about this camera and read the instruction booklet!! Thank you Glenn - I LOVE my new movie camera!!

Christmas Day - 2010

This was MY Christmas picture of the kids before we started opening!! Evan and Mackenzie decided to start dancing, Aleah kept running out of the picture and Kylan is totally bored!! What a crew!!

We did get some family pics though although we forgot to take one of Glenn and I - no matter - we look the same anyway!!



First on the agenda is usually the kids socks but because everyone seemed to be starving, we decided to do breakfast right away - at least the first 1/2 of breakfast - Jessi's homemade cinnamon rolls were SO TASTY, and along with the all the fruit and dip, we had a feast!!

The kids enjoyed their socks from Santa and then it was on to the opening of the gifts!! Because the 2 boys wanted to just open as fast as they could, Jessi decided we would do a special chair - we decorated the chair and sat it in front of the Christmas tree and the only person that could open HAD to be in the chair - and it really worked out well!!

Papa made worm farms for each of the boys - he has a huge container of worms down in our storage room and every time the boys come, they're very excited to see the worms!! Let's hope the worms stay in the containers and aren't found crawling around the house!!


Soon it was time to eat the egg bake and cinnamon toast - we were all really full after that - and the gift opening continued!! I was excited to get Cabella's long underwear to wear when we go ATV'ing and can't wait to use my new crepe maker that Jessi got me as she had my name!! Also on the list was a new watch and a beautiful scarf!

Glenn received some new coveralls for work (I know, really exciting!!), an ATV book on an area that we want to explore, and a new heat gun for work!! Robby had his name and gave him a new pair of Cabella's socks (they last FOREVER - he's worn this one pair for probably 8 years!!) and a long hitch type thing that will make it easier to hook up the boat when the camper is on the pickup!

After a fantastic prime rib dinner, the kiddos (except for Rayna) all took naps and the adults did their predictions (more on that in another blog) and their socks!! Then it was on to Christmas Trivia - wow - what competition between the 3 couples and Glenn and Rayna who made up a team!! Jessi and Gary won so got the first pick of the prizes and Glenn and Rayna were next! I was hoping Rayna could get the cute holiday cocoa mugs as she LOVES cocoa and sure enough she did!!

Kylan is NOT happy in this picture with his cute reindeer antlers and Mackenzie seems to be saying - "Oh my, Oh my"!!

Aleah was all smiles in this photo!

All in all, one fantastic Christmas - I think the key is to be ORGANIZED and Jessi and I spent a lot of time and emails thinking the weekend through so everything would go off without any hitches!! AND IT DID!!!