Breckenridge

One of our many things to be grateful for are our good friends. We've been very blessed in that area over the years. Some of our dear friends here in the Springs were kind enough to let us use their condo in Breckenridge this past weekend. What a treat! We headed up Friday morning and left Saturday evening (since Drew had to be at the airport early this morning). It was such a nice getaway. Very relaxing. A change of scene is a good thing sometimes.


Saturday, i hung out with the kids while Drew and Doug headed off to the slopes to do some snowboarding. Doug is a skier, but wanted to try boarding. He's a pretty naturally talented guy and was starting to pick it up when a 13-year old blindsided him, tripped over his board and smashed his face into the tip of Doug's board. When Doug went to help him and see if he was ok, he was literally spitting blood and teeth. Teeth pulled out by the root. Luckily, this kid's dad is a dentist who promptly came and shoved his five bottom teeth back into their holes, told Doug not to worry, "he knocked out his top teeth last year." But Doug is completely scarred for life. He thinks he'll stick to skiing. Drew faired better and had a great time on the mountain. I thought about taking a ski lesson since it's been so long since i've truly skied and i was always all speed and no brakes. But i'll have to do that another time. Once they got home, Drew and I enjoyed a walk and chat through the shops in town.


Bode enjoyed sledding behind the condo. I didn't think he'd ever want to come back inside. Too much fun! And his winter gear kept him nice and toasty. Keegen wasn't as psyched by the snow. He liked being outside in it but just sat. He wanted nothing to do with riding in a sled or walking in the stuff. Maybe next year


I'm so glad Drew came for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to have some family here to share it with. We ate a lot and talked a lot and just hung out a lot. I hope he comes back soon!

Gobble Gobble

This was my first year making a full-on, for-real Thanksgiving dinner. The prep has actually been fairly painless. I did wear rubber gloves when rinsing, drying and seasoning the turkey because raw meat totally grosses me out. Other than that, though, things have gone well. Bode's preschool turkey project. He was adament about writing the words himself!

Drew is here from Dallas and the boys are having a great time. Bode did ask repeatedly this morning, "Why do boys like Drew sleep so long??" I'm sure it felt like forever to him since he was up at 6. (In all fairness to Drew, he only slept til 8!).

Ever so helpful! Loves those rolls!

Our neighbors from across the street joined us so Bode and Keegs had some playmates. Dinner was delish. The turkey was just about right. The stuffing (my grandma's "recipe"--meaning it's very cryptic, "a dash of this, a little of that") turned out pretty well, too. Oh. And the grasshopper pie with my mom's fudge sauce was to die for. A nice day. Nice conversation. The boys had a blast.

I ended up getting tomorrow off! Yea! So I get to spend time with Drew afterall!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Retro Resurrection

While Bode was never really into stuffed animals and never introduced to dolls, Keegen has always been a dragger-around-of-blankies-and-stuffed-animals. My sitter commented to me how he carries around some of her daughter's dolls when he's there and I thought maybe I should get him one since we are a doll-less home. But then today i was in the basement looking for something big enough to mix the stuffing in and voila! Carmody Norvell and Stacey Gussie were uncovered. My Cabbage Patch dolls from back in the day (i'm gonna guess 1983). They're both preemies which makes me wonder if that was a self-fulfilled prophecy or what? Anyway. I gave Carmody to Keegs and he proclaimed, "Baby!" and promptly tried to yank the binkie from the doll's mouth. Perfect. I brought up Stacey so Bode wouldn't feel left out but he's not interested ("Maybe later, Mom"). I still have the CP diaper on her and a bunch of outfits. And the bassinet that my mom made. Fun to go down memory lane every now and again.

Might as Well Jump!

A wee bit dark, but me thinks they're pretty dang cute. Hopefully you can sort of see it.

Veterans Day

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in DC. My dad, a Vietnam veteran, was asked to speak at a ceremony being held there with Colin Powell as the keynote speaker. I have a big, fat, soft spot in my heart for my dad. And i think he did a bang-up job with his remarks and i wanted to share them here.

So, click on this link and it will take you to the USVets TV site. Click on the video link you'll see on the left side. My dad will be introduced around 19:45 minutes, so just move the little bar to fast forward to him.

Halloween

Here we are getting ready for the church "Trunk-or-Treat." Woah, Elephant! Don't fall!

Looking quite excited at the prospect of candy, candy, candy

Non-binkie pic

Making rolls for our traditional cheese soup on Halloween (one day i'll be able to take a picture and not have loads of crap and clutter in the background!)

I just thought this was cute

Bundled for the 30 degree Colorado Halloween

Having fun trick-or-treating with his best bud