Denver Aquarium

I miss my laptop!! Not only do I have to share the main computer with Glenn but I also had to download my pictures on it too - which is something I haven't done for over a year and a half since I've used my laptop!! Thanksgiving can't come SOON enough so Robby can fix it!!

Our weekend was a Denver weekend to babysit kiddos!! Jaime and Brad are in Tx. and Jaime had originally asked me almost a year ago to come up and babysit for them while they were gone - that was when we THOUGHT Gary was going to retire at the end of August!! But since that didn't happen, I could only do the weekend - and Jessi has been a great fill in for me!!

So we came up after work on Friday and picked up Rayna and Kylan at Jessi's house and proceeded to take them to THEIR house for a couple of nights!! It sure was strange watching them without Jaime or Brad in the house!! We started a movie but Glenn and I were just too tired to watch much of it so we hit the sack!!

I was planning on sleeping in - WRONG - Kylan was up at 6:15 and came into the bedroom saying it was time to get up - I told him differently - and he crawled in bed with us but of course we didn't get any more sleep...............

Late morning we dropped Kylan back off at Jessi's so we could take Rayna to her volleyball game - how fun to see her play again - this time in a different league - and her team won 5 out of the 6 games they played - she's one great player!!

We had packed sandwiches in the car which was a good thing since we were all starving by then and met Jessi at her office for adjustments which were needed after I believe about 6 weeks since our last one!! And then we moved all the car seats into our car and headed to the aquarium!!

Luckily we had coupons to make the prices cheaper to get in because it IS expensive!! But I love to go there and someday just Glenn and I are going to go to really enjoy the exhibits!!

You would think with 3 adults and 4 kids we would have had an easier time keeping track of them but we failed..............Kylan got quite lost for a while and I was in a state of panic trying to find him!! But of course we did - and I tried to hang onto his hand for quite a while after that but you know kids............

Here's Rayna in the deep sea dive suit!!

She's the only one I could get to stand still long enough to take pictures!!

To be honest, not many of my pictures turned out great because it's kind of dark - but I love this picture!

Jessi took this "attempted" picture of us and the kids!!

Feeding the stingrays was interesting - after paying $2.68 for 3 sardines, (I had no idea that was what I was getting - I figured it would be a dry type of fish food!!) none of the kids actually fed them because it was kind of scary!! Oh well - at least we tried!!

They are cute, aren't they???

Now why didn't I get Rayna in this one???

I tried to do a "sibling" picture but Kenzie and Evan were just not going for it but I did capture Rayna and Kylan!!

We ended up getting their faces painted since a nice guy had some extra tickets!! I thought it would take a LONG time for that - try about a minute apiece!!! Face painting just isn't what it used to be!!

Also on those "free" passes from the guy were admission to the 4D show - since Kylan was too short to go in, Glenn and I took him and Kenzie to the car while Jessi, Rayna and Evan enjoyed the show!!

Getting to our next stop was not what I would call fun!!! The interstate was completely backed up but thanks to Jessi's phone, she found us another route - although it did take a LONG time and the kids were tired and hungry and absolutely DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! I think they thought Nana was pretty crabby too because I was!! Guess I'm just not used to the noise!!

We did finally make it to CiCi's Pizza and had fun eating lots of pizza and some fantastic cinnamon rolls!!! The kids pretended to play in the arcade while we relaxed!! And then it was homeward bound to finish our movie and hit the sack again!!

Kylan made it till 2:00AM and then came in saying he needed his humidifier filled as it was dry in his room!! I told him I was too tired to do that so to crawl in bed with us - big mistake - he coughed and coughed and coughed!! Glenn and I finally got up and gave him some cough syrup, filled his humidifier and put him back in his bed!! By that time I was WIDE AWAKE and laid there for a long time before finally getting to sleep.............

Sunday Jessi and Gary and the kids came over after church - Jessi and I escaped to Caribou Coffee for some much needed "alone" time and then it was back for lunch and to frost and decorate Thanksgiving cookies that Jessi had baked!! It was fun and they kids loved it!!

Now I'm getting geared up for Thanksgiving where we will head back up to Denver for 3 nights - I'm thinking I should take some ear plugs!!

A Filthy, Dirty Car

I washed my car on lunch hour - 42 degrees with winds blowing about 30 mph - it was like taking a shower at the same time I was washing the car. BRRRRR!!

But it was needed - my car was so dirty I couldn't get in and out of it without getting dirty - and with a Denver weekend coming up, I thought it might be nice to be able to see out of the windows.

After the car wash, I went to get the mail. When I walked back out of the post office I panicked - my car was gone! Until I realized that nice looking SILVER car in the parking lot was actually mine instead of the brown one I usually drive...........LOL....

Breakdown Weekend!!

As we all know, sometimes things happen in groups of 3! So I'm waiting today to see what will be next........

Saturday was another wood day - Glenn actually cut another load of wood and after he returned, we spent a couple of hours splitting and stacking - and actually FINISHED it all up on Sunday!! What a great job to be done!! But by Saturday afternoon I was stiff and sore again so went to turn up the hot tub - it was dead - no power at all. Glenn checked it out and sure enough, the circuit board was fried - time to order another one and they're sure not cheap!!

Sunday I turned on my laptop to find a message stating to immediately backup all files on my computer as my hard drive was about to go!! Yes, I was in panic mode - of course I called Robby who checked it out and said it was true!! Luckily, he helped me download what needed to be downloaded and will order me a new hard drive that he'll install over Thanksgiving for me - whew.............

Monday is not quite over yet...............

I Am Thankful............

for the beauty God has put on this earth!!

A winter sunrise in the mountains!

But My Name's On The Shipping Label.....

Jessi wrote a few blogs back about how she had ordered a photo canvas and when it arrived, it was someone elses' family on the canvas!! Almost the same thing happened to me........

I had ordered the family calendars that I do every year - they take a LONG time to do on the computer and I spend many hours choosing JUST the right pictures and making sure all the grand kids have an equal amount dedicated to THEM!!

SO I was excited when the yellow slip was in my box on Monday, meaning I had a package to pick up!! But my excitement turned to disappointment when I picked it up - it was NOT the right size!! So I panicked! The box size was similar to the photobooks that I sometimes order but I hadn't ordered one..........and my heart skipped a few beats, thinking that I had ordered the WRONG size of calendars!!

The return address on the box was Keepsy - and at that time, I didn't remember if Snapfish was usually on the return address or if they subbed it out to another company - imagine my surprise when I opened the box and saw that it WAS indeed a photo book with some strange name on the front!! I looked at the packing slip and the address where it was SUPPOSED to be shipped to and it was London, England!!!

At that time, I seriously began thinking that my calendars were not in this country!!

I emailed Keepsy the situation and immediately got a response back - they were SO sorry that it had happened and could I please destroy the book and the shipping label and if my calendars didn't arrive in a day or two, to contact Snapfish about the situation.

The good news: my calendars arrived yesterday!! And the even nicer news was another email from Keepsy, stating they were so appreciative of me letting them know what had happened that they were giving me free of charge, a picture calendar OR a photo book!! Unfortunately, their system can only accept pictures from Flicker or Facebook and I solely use Snapfish so probably won't be taking advantage of their offer - but it was sure nice of them to reward me!!

My Aching Back!

It's definitely a hot tub night!!! Both Glenn and I are a little stiff and sore from the days' activities!! While I went to church, Glenn went over to Martin and Joleen's to borrow their wood splitter - up to this point, Glenn would go outside each evening and split enough wood to get us by through the night. It was TIME to get the wood all split before winter sets in!!

Check out this pile that Glenn has split and I have stacked!! Now you'll understand why we're sore this evening..............

But we're not done yet..........I got to the point where I just couldn't bend down and lift any more wood up to stack so I had to stop - Glenn worked a little bit longer and then said it was time to watch the Broncos game anyway!! The piles to the right of the picture still have to be split and as you can see, I'm WAY behind on stacking!!

The rest will have to wait till next weekend - especially since it's 5:30 and it's already dark outside - any volunteers for next weekend???? Hot tub, here we come!!!

SNOW DAY!

Let me set the scene: snow falling outside, the gas fireplace flickering , a great cup of coffee in hand, a clean house and ME - just sitting there enjoying every second of it - I HAD A SNOW DAY!!

Glenn got up early and after checking the TV, yelled up that all the schools in the county were closed so to sleep a little longer - which I did!!

It was a winter wonderland outside and I hurridly dressed after I got up, not wanting to miss ANY time of my day off!! And since the weekend before was a work weekend, not only was the entire house clean from top to bottom, but the windows had all gotten washed too and the laundry was caught up - the day was MINE!!

As I sat there checking emails in front of the fire, I thought: is this what retirement is like? No obligations for the day, no committments, no WORK????? It was a GREAT feeling and for just that day, I DID feel like I was retired!

I worked on my Snapfish calendars to give the kids at Christmas, I finished reading a book, I simmered some apple cider, I scooped the decks and I scrapbooked!! It was indeed a day for ME and I look forward to more of those................