Estes Park - #2

 It's our "Christmas With The Grandkids Day"!!  Always one of my favorite days of the year to watch the kids open the gifts that Glenn and I give them!

We ate breakfast at our cabin and I baked the cinnamon rolls I had laid out the night before - they always make the cabin smell SO GOOD!  Then we all walked across the street to the big cabin for the gift opening!

Jaime and Jessi were already starting on their tea and coffee when we arrived!

The younger kids all got hooded blankets and they loved them!!

Robby, Gary and Brad enjoying the opening of the gifts!

They also all got hats with different things printed on them!

The drivers all got wind proof and water proof emergency blankets to put in their vehicles along with a personalied license plate!  Didn't get a picture of them all together!

We stopped for cinnamon rolls and coffee about 1/2 way through - once again Jessi outdid herself with a pan of homemade cinnamon rolls (mine were NOT!) and then finished up!

Here are the girls with their Tulum, Mexico books that I did for them!

And here are the grandkids that I made the books for - once a grandchild has graduated, they no longer receive the books!

The line up - from oldest to youngest - WHAT A CREW!!

And the calendars that I make for the girls and their spouses!  Yes, I spent many, many hours on the computer in the fall doing all of the books!

It was free time after lunch - some went to the craft center and here's Aleah and Kenzie with their paintings - they are both SO GOOD!

Gwyn enjoyed this gift and spent a lot of time using the markers to finish the pictures!

Jill and I did dinner that evening - Italian - Jill made lasagna and I did manicotti - paired with garlic bread and ceasar salad it was a great meal!  We had the kids clean up each evening and the boys were in charge this night!

After dinner, we played Bunco Lightning Round - I had brought dollar bills for everyone - each got $3 and after rolling, either got to keep the money, hand $1 to your left OR $1 to your right OR put $1 in the center!!  Eventually all the money ended up in the center and Kenzie was the winner for the kids!

It ended up being so much fun!!  Then the adults played the game and Glenn was the winner!

We will definitely do this game again next year!

Then it was off to the gym, all piled in 2 different vehicles!  Most of them played volleyball or basketball for a while - and then some went in to roller skate!  

It was ONE FANTSTIC DAY AND EVENING!!!  

Estes Park #1

 FINALLY it was time to celebrate with the entire family!!  17 of us headed up to Estes Park YMCA for a 3 night stay!  The school kids were all still out and the working kids took 3 days off so we could all be together!  We rented a 4 bedroom and a 3 bedroom cabin for all of us!

Glenn and I headed out Friday morning and picked up Rayna along the way - we were jam packed with all the gifts and a lot of food but made room for Rayna and headed up north!

Once you get off the interstate, it's such a pretty drive!

 We enjoyed Subway lunch before we got to the YMCA and got checked in!  I picked up all the keys for both cabins since we were the first to arrive!  And was quite surprised when we didn't get the cabins we requested!  

We were a lot further up this time which made for some fantastic views!  First we checked out the 4 bedroom cabin so we could unload all the gifts there!  We were a little disappointed with the arrangement of the cabin since it didn't have the huge kitchen like before, nor was the living room really large - oh well.

The 3 bedroom cabin that we stayed in with Jill and Robby, Gwyn, Aleah and Kenzie was very nice - our kitchen was actually bigger than theirs but since most of them were staying in the big cabin, it was still easier to do the evening meals over there!

We had taco night the first night - it was interesting getting all 17 of us around to eat dinner but it all worked out great!

Some of us headed over to play Bingo but the room was FULL and there was no room to sit!  So we went down to the game room and played for a while before they shut it down!

Then it was off to the gym and roller skating rink - I always enjoy watching the kids skate!

Later on, the girls played cards in OUR cabin while the guys all played poker in the bigger cabin!  I guess they were SUPER LOUD so I was sure glad I wasn't sleeping over there!!   Gwyn slept on a mattress on our floor since the 2 teenagers stay up much later than Gwyn does!!  It worked out just fine although since we had the small bedroom, it made for not a lot of room!!  

Glenn had brought wood for our cabin so did have a nice fire going that day!!  I always love a pretty fire!

And next up is our Christmas!

December Photo Dump

 It IS mid-January - time to get December put to bed!!  

Glenn has worked some on his lift for the shop - we had such a COLD December that a lot of days it just wasn't feasible to be out there!  But he's gaining on it and will have it finished up soon after we get home from Mexico!

I LOVE the park trees all lit up in Woodland Park!

I made a double batch of lefsa in December - and I'm eating the last bag (which of course was frozen!)  It was a LONG day making it, but totally worth the sore back when I was finished!

Pikes Peak after a snow - always a fantastic sight!

Kitchen FAIL !!!  My friend Beth had brought a bundt cake to our choir girls get together a couple months ago - I LOVED the shape of it and haul my bundt cake pan to Mexico so thought it would be a great idea to get another one and why not try the really different one!  Of course we were having company that weekend!!!  I was busy in the kitchen while it was baking and all of a sudden started smelling something burning!!  OH MY GOSH!!  The cake batter was just oozing over the top!!  I grabbed a cookie sheet and put it under the cake BUT about 1/3 of it was already on the oven bottom.  So I grabbed a dishrag and started mopping up the cake and using a spatula to try to get it up before it burned even more - NOT FUN on a hot oven!  WHAT A MESS!!!  Once the oven cooled, then I had to scrub the racks and finish it up!!

But yes, what was LEFT of the cake came out beautiful and I LOVE the pattern!!  But just not willing to risk doing that again in the oven so Goodwill, you're getting a brand new bundt pan!  I'll stick with my old one!

And that's a wrap for December!

Bunco Party for NYE

 Jessi helped me set up tables for the party and get the food ready - Jaime and Brad headed over, along with Matias and Maddie - and we were sure glad Kylan got off of work early so he could come too!

Believe it or not, I never took a picture that night - so thanks to Jessi for snapping pictures - guess I was just too busy playing hostess!

Glenn frying the egg rolls and the squaw bread!

Being silly in the kitchen!

Gwyn loved the egg rolls!

Matias and Maddie being crazy too!

We had a great time playing Bunco and Jaime was the winner!!  But we had prizes for everyone!

Lots of great food was eaten and the guys ended up playing pool in the lower level!

It was a fun night - everyone headed home around 10:00 - of course the Keppys spent the night!  Since I was too wound up to sleep I guess, I actually crawled out of bed at midnight and watched the fireworks over Pikes Peak - they were amazing!!!!!

New Year's Eve Weekend

 The Keppys came down!!  YEA!  Not only to spend some time with us but also because we were hosting the NYE Bunco party!

Kenzie and Glenn playing some pool - that table sure gets used when the kids and grandkids are here!

I checked to make sure Wild Horse Cafe was open Sunday morning and it was!  So Jessi and I got our special time together with some excellent coffee!

Because Kenzie loves coffee too but never gets invited (well, sometimes she does!),  I made her a special coffee once we got back home!

Gwyn had fun helping Papa in the kitchen mix up some squaw bread and egg rolls to cook that evening!

Jessi got new glasses and looks pretty darn sharp in them!

The Savages stopped by - we were glad to spend time with them before they headed into Woodland Park for a party at their friends' house!  It looks like they're sampling SOMETHING here that I would imagine is alcohol related - ha!   They took Kenzie back with them - so we missed having Aleah AND Kenzie for the Bunco party!

After doing some planning for Estes Park, the Savages headed into town, we ate some dinner and then it was time for the rest to arrive for the Bunco Party which is up next!

Christmas Day At Jaime's

 Christmas Day - This year was our turn to go to Jaime and Brad's house to watch them open their gifts!  I baked some cinnamon rolls in the morning to take and we headed over mid-morning to their house!  It was cold out - I DO remember that!

The kids had plenty of presents to open!

Jaime and Brad got Glenn and I each a Turkish beach towel which repels the sand and dries very quickly - they had bought some when they were in Mexico in Dec. and really liked theirs - can't wait to try them out!

Rayna got a super soft comforter for her bed!

   

Glenn wrapped up for me a new robe that is very soft and cozy - I picked it out of course and love it!

We had cinnamon rolls and coffee about 1/2 way through the opening!  And here's a nice picture of the Smith family when they were done opening!

Brad cooked a delicious prime rib for dinner - very tasty as he smoked it!  Games were played and we had a great afternoon before we headed back home!

Here's Aleah and Parker at their Christmas in Ft. Collins.

The Keppys' went to Iowa for Christmas so celebrated late when they got back home!

Everyone had a wonderful Christmas - and Estes Park (later this year) is still to come!

Ice Castles in Cripple Creek

 I really didn't drop off the face of the earth - life just got in the way the past few weeks!

BUT I am back on track and ready to finish out the year and start the new 2024 blogs!

The Ice Castles - I was so excited to go see them!  Glenn and I and another couple had been to them over at Silverthorne many years ago and I loved them back then!  But we had went during the day and I knew that this time, I wanted to go at night!

Since we rarely drive at night (unless we have to) I called Jaime and asked if she would take us!  She rallied her group and we ended up taking 2 carloads over!  Jaime drove our car with Glenn and I, Matias and his girlfriend Mattie.  Brad drove his car with Rayna, Kylan and Irene!

It was COLD out - very cold - we all dressed in layers and wore hats and gloves and boots but it was STILL really cold in there - what did we expect?  It was all ice!!

I loved that they posted these informative signs!

Rayna

The group

This is the short slide - and yes, I went down it!!

When you stood in line to do the slide, you were up much higher and the view was pretty cool!

There were several of these ice formations!

After an hour or so we were all froze and it was time to head home!   The only thing I believe they could have added is a hot chocolate stand on the way out - we would have sure enjoyed that!