Lefsa

 Jaime and I really wanted to make lefsa before the holidays but it just didn't happen!  So we set up a date when she was off and her tech Kim from the pharmacy asked if she could join us!  ABSOLUTELY!

I went ahead and got the potatoes boiled up and riced - they have to cool for a couple of hours so it was best to get that out of the way so we weren't making lefsa the entire day!  Kim and Jaime both arrived and then the fun began!

Jaime had bought this tortilla maker and she was excited to try it for lefsa - for the record, it didn't work for lefsa!  But at least we know!

Kim had brought a double batch to roll out and cook - Jaime and I did a double batch too!

We had both of our skillets going and found it surprising that Kim's cooked so much faster than mine, even though we had the exact same ones AND at the same temperature!

It was a fun day talking while we worked and listening to music!  And it's much more fun to do it all together!

The lefsa turned out excellent!  Jaime took over 1/2 since we were leaving soon - I ended up freezing a couple bags of mine so will get to enjoy more later on!

Estes Park - Yes, All Things Come To An End!

 Sunday mornings are never as fun since it's the day we head home!  Gary and Kenzie headed out about 4:45am as Kenzie had club volleyball games in Co. Springs!!  It was fun to get up early and see a little sunrise!!

Some of the "craft" trees were still there so I lined them up and took a picture - they all turned out so cute!!

We ate some breakfast and then a few of the kids came over and admired the views from our cabin!!

It would be fun to come up in the summer and enjoy the warmth and the scenery!

It's always a bit of a chore to pack up BUT ours was easy as we didn't have to haul all the presents back!

The other 3 families had to stop at the craft store and some of their items weren't quite ready so they had to wait - but they sent pictures!!

Gosh their items turned out cute!!

And more of them!!  We have fantastic painters in this group!

And then it's over - a LOT of work to put together this great time with family but it's all so worth it!

Estes Park - Even MORE Fun!

 After we had done the games, everyone went their own way - and then I realized we were SUPPOSED to do the craft I had brought - darn - oh well, we would let the kids know when we had it set up and they could do it whenever they wanted to!!

Here was the first group to start!  Glenn had cut aspen tree rounds and I had picked up good sized pine cones - bought some little beads and toppers from Hobby Lobby and the kids (and some adults) glued on the beads and toppers!!  They turned out cute as can be!!  Glenn had sprayed some with snow and some with red spray paint!

Jaime and Jessi were in charge of dinner that night - crockpot enchilada chicken soup - we all love it!!

With lots of toppings and tortilla chips, it made for a perfect meal!

Then it was time for the "dice" money game!  We played this last year and it was a real hit!!  $50 was in the jackpot and after much laughter and ooh's and ahh's, Gwyn was the winner!

Then it was the adults turn - same thing - and I was the winner this year!!  Hooray!!

Since the "adults" didn't do the grab bag gifts this year, we played one more round with the adults and "adult kids" but everyone had to do a $5 buy-in!  Again, it was hilarious as we rolled the dice round and round through everyone but Jaime came out the winner!!

Since Reese was there, she took our annual family picture which turned out great!

Next set of people doing the craft!!

And then it was karaoke time!!  Hezekiah had gotten one for Christmas so he brought it along and oh my gosh, it was SO FUN listening and watching everyone get up front!!

Even Jill and Jaime sang a song together!!  EVERYONE took a turn that was there!

I think they sang a LONG time but Jill and I finally headed back to our cabin to get some sleep!!  It sure was a fantastic day!

Estes Park - Saturday Fun

 It felt great to have a good nights' sleep AND sleep in just a little bit - although the calm and quiet of the early morning is a VERY nice thing!  The kids all slept in and a few of them headed to the craft center after breakfast to work on their ceramic projects!

And then it was back up to the house to play the minute to win it games!!  These guys were all ready to play!

The "pick up marshmallows with red cups" game - we laughed a lot!

The candy cane game - probably everyone's favorite!!  It took a little bit of skill to drop the candy cane in the bottles but it was sure fun!

Stacking marshmallows with chopsticks - not as easy as it sounds!!

Scooping up bows while you're blindfolded - it was amazing how FEW you had on your plate when you were done!

But Robby did pretty darn good!!

Tossing marshmallows into the red cup!

At the very end, here were the winners!!  The Keppys ruled!!  And Robby was a winner too but just didn't get a scratch card!

Free time was next!!  Some of the boys went swimming - others crafted - I think maybe I just relaxed for a while after all the excitement!!  More to come on Saturday evening!

Estes Park - Afternoon & Evening Fun

 Friday afternoon was open for the kids to do whatever they wanted to!  And with lots of choices, they went separate ways!

Jill brought this tiny "Corn Hole" game and everyone had fun with it!

A few went ice skating!

Always love this pretty view of the mountains!  Several worked on ceramics at the craft center and pics of that will be on Saturday!

4 of the girls at the YMCA statue!

More playing the game as they wait for dinner!

It was Italian night - Jill brought lasagna and I brought manicotti - we also included garlic bread and Ceasar salad!

These 3 had clean up duty!!  And they're even smiling!!  

And then we all piled into cars and headed down to the rec center - Gwyn couldn't wait to go skating!

And the rest of the kids (and some adults) played some volleyball!  Nice jump Hezekiah!

It's always fun to watch them play!

And after this LONG day, it felt great to hit the sack and have a good nights' sleep!

Estes Park - Celebrating Christmas

 We all woke up just a little bit tired as no one slept well that first night - but we were all ready for our "Christmas" morning present opening!

The gang gathered in our cabin right on time and the present opening began!

I bought the girls printed kitchen towels with their family names printed over and over - they did turn out really cute!

These 3 loved their plush robes and wore them all weekend!

All the boys received high powered flashlights!

Kenzie, Aleah and Gwyn got light up stocking caps  - love the guys in the background having their coffee!

I even got a present this year - Jessi bought me dark chocolate for my special coffee AND peppermint vanilla sprinkles to put on top!

I love to watch the little smiles these boys have when they're looking at their photo books I made!

And here's the bunch with their books!

When I was in Greece, I bought all the girls little zipper bags with sterling silver earrings inside that have the famous "eye" on them!

Here's the lineup from oldest to youngest - Reese was also included!

After the opening, we had Jessi's famous homemade cinnamon rolls AND caramel pecan rolls that Glenn made!  Both were absolutely delicious with coffee!

On to predictions from 2024!!  It's always fun to go over these and see what our answers were!

In the end, it was Robby and Jill who were the winners and collected the cash!

And next up - afternoon and evening fun!

Estes Park - HERE WE COME

 It's Jan 2nd - time to head to Estes Park for our annual Christmas get-together!!  HOORAY!  We've all been anxiously awaiting this special time!  This year there will be 19 of us which includes Rayna's boyfriend, Hezekiah and Evan's girlfriend, Reese!   And we're also excited because this year we booked 2,  4 bedroom VACATION cabins which are a step up from our cabins we usually get - which means they do have a LOT more room and includes nice leather furniture, tv's on both floors and a family room downstairs!  The best part of renting these is that Jill did the booking this year and she got a 50% discount since she works in the school system!  WOW!  That sure made a difference on the price!

Glenn and I took the Boulder route this year - we had all decided to arrive there around 2:30 - actually check-in time is 6:00 pm ( I know - hard to believe - but we have ALWAYS gotten in at 2:00!)  Unfortunately, not this year!  The cabins were not ready so we all headed down to the game room!  Oh and I forgot to mention the wind - oh my gosh - it was horrible!!  The kind where you didn't dare open up opposite side doors of your car at the same time or the wind would have taken everything out!!  It was extreme to say the least!

The kids had a great time in the game room!

And then a few of them went upstairs to the main level as they were offering a craft - making Oobleck - which is made from water and corn starch and coloring!  (HMMMM - I kind of think that's what I make for a thickening when I make gravy!!  Although I don't color it - HA!!

Then a bunch of us trudged back over to the lodge where registration is to see if the cabins were ready - NOPE!!  Oh my - we were not happy!!  Jill did get checked in but they won't give you the cabin names or the key cards till housekeeping says it's ready!  We hung out and talked and talked and waited and waited!!  And then the electricity goes out..........

They had a backup generator in the lodge so there was a little bit of light but it was darn dark outside!

It's getting later and the kids are all starving - finally we made the decision that Jaime would go downtown and get pizzas for us (assuming the pizza place had electricity???  We had no idea and of course none of our phones would work because the wifi was down and there was no service!)

She was just ready to walk out the door when an employee made the announcement that since we could not get into our cabins, the dining hall was open and we were welcome to go over and eat, free of charge!!  HOORAY!!!  It was cold and windy but we all trudged through the snow using our flashlights on our phone!  The buffet line had enough lights so you could at least see what you were dishing up but the tables only had a tiny light in a lantern and you couldn't even see to eat!!  OH MY - what an expereince!!

There was a LOT of people eating there that couldn't get into their cabins yet!

After we ate, we moved to another room that had tables and booths to hang out - the electricity slowly started coming back on in some of the buildings!  A couple of us walked over to check on our cabins but still not available (apparently housekeeping wasn't able to connect with the main lodge for a long time due to the outage )

They had ice cream available so we ate that - but all we wanted was to get in our cabins and unload our cars!!

Kenzie and Aleah were exhausted and fell asleep - the waiting was hard!

Finally we got the OK to get our key cards for our cabins!!!  HOORAY!!!  The roads were a sheet of ice from all that wind blowing across the roads but our cabins were gorgeous!!!!  Really nice big living rooms with a dining room table in each that seated 12 - nice big kitchen - family room downstairs with another tv - we couldn't have asked for anything better!!!

Jill and Robby and Glenn and I were in one cabin along with Kylan and Irene, Evan, Parker and Matias.  The rest were in the cabin next door - we were the only 2 cabins on the little road so that made it nice!!

We all helped each other unload and unpack and FINALLY we were ready for our time to start!

The first night is usually the night the guys and the grandboys play poker - this year was no exception - they started out in the other cabin but then moved to our cabin - and yes, they are SO LOUD when they all are together!!!  Luckily I had my sound machine going loud and I took a pill to sleep but I could still here the doors slam, etc. etc.  

     

Here's a few of them at the other cabin - and NO, I didn't get out of bed to take a picture at our cabin!

They played poker WAY TOO LATE - but they all knew we were meeting at 9:00am the next morning to celebrate Christmas!