Girls' Weekend

 What better time to get together with the girls than when Glenn is ice fishing!!  Unfortunately Jaime had to work (her and Jessi are on opposite working weekends now) but Jaime did get to join us one evening after work!

The weather sounded fine - just a 40% chance of snow starting late afternoon - yea, that didn't happen!  It started snowing lightly and got windy about 11:00am on Friday.  And it kept up!  The snow was barely covering the ground by afternoon but the forecast at that point didn't look great - a much higher percentage of snowfall throughout the rest of the evening.

Jill drove down to Jessi's place in Denver and they headed out together - I25 was already backed up so they took the back way to Co Springs - and didn't realize till later that they were right in the midst of the storm the entire way!  They had bad icy roads to drive on and the normal 2 hour drive to our place turned into a 4 hour drive!  I was SO GLAD when they finally arrived as I was worried the entire time!

They were both exhausted and after unloading the car, I fed them soup and fruit and we sure didn't stay up too long that evening!

Saturday was a bright and sunny day - we only got a couple of inches of snow on the ground so the roads weren't bad and we headed over to The Wild Horse cafe (only a couple miles from our house) and enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate in front of the fireplace!  I LOVE that this place is so close and has such great coffee!

Check out the 2 coffees and the hot chocolate - wow were they good!

And what did we spend the day doing?  READING!!  We had a few little projects to do that didn't take long at all but the bulk of the day was spent reading!  I always have plenty of time to read but the girls are so busy with work and kids that they don't always get that chance!  We loved just hanging out!

I fixed beef stroganoff for dinner (Jill brought her own gluten free noodles) and it turned out great even though I had to rearrange the 2 cans of soup I use to be gluten free soups - tasted the same!  And a little later, Jaime showed up after work!  She ate her dinner while we all talked non-stop and then we made chocolate fondue!

It tasted SO GOOD!  And was so fun to be all together!

After breakfast on Sunday we got in the hot tub and relaxed a while - and then it was back to reading until the girls had to pack up and head back out!  At least the roads were all clear by then and they had a fast trip back to Denver!

How special to get together with my daughters!!  We definitely should do it more often!!

And He's Off!

 After what seems like 2 months of planning and 1 month of packing (it probably wasn't all that long!) Glenn has headed to South Dakota to go ice fishing with Neal and granddaughter Maggie!  I'm sure he looked pretty huge driving down the highway pulling his trailer loaded with the ice shack and the razor!!  I decided I better go check it out and take some pics before he took off!

The back is really cute with his sign on the door and an old fishing pole attached!

The inside is all insulated and he has all kinds of hooks and shelves to use!  The black round thing on the floor is one of the holes to fish out of - another is in the corner of the picture!

There are 2 beds and both can be lifted up to make room while you're fishing!  Maggie is planning on sleeping on one of the beds as Neal is sleeping on the ice in just a regular hut - BRRRRRRR!

Glenn has a small heater in there and it doesn't have to be on very long to get warm in there!!  He also has a carbon monoxide unit so he can safely sleep!

He will travel to NE and spend the night somewhere along the road - hopefully a rest area - and continue on to SD tomorrow!  I know they'll have a great time!!  Snow is in the forecast for Friday and the lows have been WAY below zero so at least the ice is plenty safe!

Doesn't this make you want to go ice fishing?       I'll pass - thank you!

Happy New Year!

 It's 2022 - gosh it seems weird typing that!!  I haven't wrote out any checks yet so really haven't written out the year!

Did we celebrate on Dec. 31st?  Of course not!  We actually did get invited to a party but it was in Divide with a younger crowd AND we did get enough snow that night to make the roads pretty darn slippery so I'm glad we just stayed home!  Unfortunately we couldn't see any of the fireworks as the peak was all snowy and cloudy!

Denver started getting snow - and Gary, Jessi and Gwyn went to the park to play in the snow!!  HOW FUN!!!

Jill's celebrated up in Ft. Collins at their house as they were getting a LOT of snow!  Hooray for them!!  The kids even got inspired to go out in the dark and play in the snow after seeing the Keppys' photo!

Cheers Robby and Jill!

New Year's Day was nice and relaxing - I updated calendars while I watched the parade on TV and I'm sure Glenn watched football all afternoon!

We had Jaime and Brad over for dinner that week for their anniversary dinner - they chose to eat at home vs. going out so Glenn and I cooked steak and shrimp for them with some sides along with rhubarb/strawberry dessert!  It all tasted pretty darn good!

And January continues.....

December Photo Dump

 Going - Going - GONE!  2021 that is!  And what a year it's been!  Happy memories and sad memories - great trips - awesome family time - a not so fun nose surgery - good times spent with friends - political craziness - and of course dealing with COVID!  Here's hoping 2022 is even BETTER than 2021!

And the final photo dump pictures!

Jaime came over one day to make jam!  We ended up making 3 batches and found that the lower sugar jam tastes just as good as the excessive sugar jam!  Just for reference, did you know that 1 batch of strawberry jam (which makes 8 of those cute little jelly jars) takes 7 cups of sugar??????

Jane and I headed to Cripple Creek one Sunday afternoon to the Butte Theater and saw "A Cripple Creek Christmas Carol."  It was excellent!

Our neighbors got this cute sign for Glenn to put on his ice shack!  

Is that a massage chair in our family room?  YUP!  Gary and Jessi needed a break for space in their house and asked if we would take it to ours for a while!  Absolutely!

I've been dealing with plantar fasciitis since last August - no fun - after seeing a podiatrist, he informed me I MUST get new shoes (even though I bought a pair of expensive Nikes, they were not the right kind for my feet) so I invested in a new pair - no they were NOT cheap!

And last but not least, one of our amazing sunrises!

And that's a wrap for 2021!

Iowa Company

 Company from Iowa visiting us in the wintertime is pretty rare!  But Neal and his family had decided to come out skiing for a few days and stopped to stay at our place on their way home!  Also joining them was granddaughter Nedelle and one of Neals employees, Matt.

They arrived on a Wed. late morning with sore muscles from skiing and a little bit of sunburn!  It was fun to listen to their accounts of skiing and the condo they stayed in and the fun of trying to get a Uber from Frisco to Breckenridge so Jenn and Nedelle could get massages!

The pool table got LOTS of use that afternoon and evening!

We played lots of cards too!

The 3 Iowa grandkids!

Here's the whole gang before they took off Thursday morning!

It was sure great to see everyone!

Christmas Day

 It's fun to be in a house where there's still a child that believes in Santa Claus!  I fondly remember Christmas mornings when our 3 girls were little - the anticipation and the excitement wondering what Santa Claus brought you!

With homemade cinnamon rolls baking in the oven, the kids came down and were all excited what Santa Claus brought them!

Kenzie had asked me to bring up our stockings - they haven't been used in many years so it was fun to bring them and find them full of little gifts!  The kids had picked out some hilarious items for Papa at the Dollar Store!

Oh those yummy cinnamon rolls and fresh fruit - thanks Jessi for those homemade rolls - they were delicious with coffee!!

Kids ready to open presents!

Jessi had done several Snapfish books of previous vacations so we all enjoyed looking through those!

And Gwyn got a ukulele!  Evan and I had fun trying to tune it - and finally realized the strings don't match those of a guitar!

  

We're all smiles!

Jessi always takes a picture from the loft of the MESS!  As you can see, we all had a wonderful time!

After breakfast casserole, some of us headed to the park - it was gorgeous outside - not my idea of Christmas Day weather but oh well....

We relaxed in the afternoon, played some cards and had an excellent roast dinner that evening!  Gary and Jessi outdid themselves showing us a wonderful time and lots of great food!

Meanwhile, Jill and Robby had an awesome Christmas and we appreciated getting this picture!

I didn't get a family picture of the Smiths so am using this one after they all went skiing and are having dinner on the way home from Breckenridge!

What a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Eve

 My friend Carrie came in on Amtrak Christmas week - she was here to see a couple of friends and spend Christmas with her son Boone and his girlfriend in Castle Rock.  After spending a couple of days with another friend, I picked her up in Co Springs on Thursday.  We headed to a wonderful lunch at Carraba's and it was during that time that she got the phone call from Boone - both him and his girlfriend had COVID!  

He hadn't felt well the day before and neither had she - yes, they were both vaccinated and both had gotten the booster also - but they still got it!  We talked over lunch about what to do as her return ticket home wasn't until Sunday night and of course her other friend and I both had plans for Christmas!

We headed to the Broadmoor after lunch to walk around inside and see the huge gingerbread house and all the beautiful decorations - but as we drove up to the parking garage, the gal in the booth stopped us and said everything was closed to the public, only hotel guests were allowed in the area. Darn - we were looking forward to that!

 We decided to walk around Old Colorado City or Manitou but both places were crazy busy with people walking around and traffic was awful, so we just got the heck out of there and drove back up the mountain!  We stopped at one of the new coffee places and enjoyed visiting there with coffees in hand!

After arriving at our house, Carrie decided to call and see if she could get her ticket changed - after 1 1/2 hours on hold, she got on the computer and managed to switch the ticket to Friday night for only a $20 fee!  Hooray - she of course was so sad not to be spending time with her son but at least she could get home early!

We headed up to Jessi's on Christmas Eve morning and stopped at her son's place which was basically on the way - she put their presents on the doorstep and they both came out and visited for a minute with her! 

Gary and Evan had both bought these motorcycles (?) - strangest contraptions I'd seen in a while!  But they run well and Evan and Kenzie had a ball driving them around!  

After lunch we headed to an afternoon Christmas service!

I always enjoy the candlelight service singing Silent Night!  A very nice service!

The mandatory pics taken in front of the tree!

And below is the picture that was taken at the church which Jessi received a couple days after Christmas - it sure turned out nice!

Glenn and I took Carrie to Union Station after church so she could be there for the train - believe it or not, it was pouring rain!!  We wanted to get back before dark but that didn't quite happen!  Downtown was kind of busy around the train station but we got Carrie dropped off and headed back home!  At least I got to see some beautiful Christmas lights on the way back home!

Jessi and Gary had a yummy meal ready for us when we walked in!

The kids opened one present that night and we relaxed and hit the sack early!