Thankful....

Words can't begin to describe how thankful I am.....this time of year always makes me reflect as I'm sure it does for many others. It seems though, the older I get the more I am reflecting even when it isn't close to the holidays. The older I get I also notice how people, myself included measure success based on 'things'. I have come to the realization it doesn't matter the house you live in, the car you drive or the clothes you wear that make you successful. I am so grateful for the beautiful family I have helped create and the family I am a part of. We are blessed beyond measure!

Joe got a new job with JBS, another wonderful blessing..... but with that new job comes the 'new guy' title. We had planned to go to Breckenridge with Mimi, Poppa, Uncle Chad, Auntie Jamie, Clayton and Taylor. We had planned to head up on Thursday afternoon and then do our traditional Ravioli Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. Well, Joe ended up having to work on Friday, so we didn't end up heading up until Friday afternoon and doing our dinner on Saturday night. The rest of the crew headed up on Thanksgiving and got everything unpacked and ready for our arrival on Friday evening.

Thanksgiving was still lovely for us, despite the change in plans. We had Mimi and Poppa over for a Thanksgiving brunch. Then about 1pm we headed over to our wonderful friends the Smiley's. James and April made a fabulous dinner! Hands down the BEST turkey I had ever eaten! After dinner we hung out, drank some wine and chatted. It was wonderful!

The next day, the kids and I got us all ready to head to the mountains. Once Joe got home we headed out for a fantastic weekend get away with family!!

We were all so excited to get there!

Once we got there, we had some dinner, drinks and visiting. After putting the kids to bed, or trying! The adults, played wii karaoke. It was hilarious!! Hopefully you were one of the lucky ones to see the YouTube video. A hit for sure!!

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, sledding, visiting, cuddling and enjoying being together! Did I mention how thankful I am? I love my family and our good friends.... at the end of the day there is nothing else that matters!!

New Jersey and come New York

This past weekend I had to go to Parsippany, New Jersey to speak on behalf of Ipsen Pharmaceuticals. The conference wasn't until Saturday, and it lasted only until 1:30pm. My mom and my sisters decided to come with me to support me through my speech. Since I was there because of Ipsen I had to stay at the hotel they put me at, which was a 76 minute train ride one way into the city. Since it was such a long ride into the city we didn't have as much time there as we would have liked.

We made the best of it though and still had a fabulous time! We arrived at Newark on Friday a little after 2pm, once we got to the hotel got settled and changed, we headed out to the city for some Friday night fun. We had been given a recommendation for the best restaurant in the city, Gramercy Tavern. They didn't take reservations, so once we got the there we had to wait almost 3 hours for a table. We enjoyed sipping on wine and enjoying each others company. The food was amazing, and the atmosphere was beautiful. We got back late to the hotel, and since I had to get up early for my conference we went straight to bed. I woke up and headed to my conference. I was a little nervous to speak, but did well. I was so honored to be part of such a specialized topic. After the conference we headed back into the city, we hit some hot spots. We were a little bummed that we didn't have more time, but again we took advantage of the time we did have! We hit ground zero, a sobering place but still very neat to see, times square, Madison square garden, empire state building, little Italy. We had an amazing Italian meal in little Italy before making our way back to Jersey.

The next day, since we didn't have a ton of time before we had to head to the airport, we decided to do a little sleeping in, and hit the spa.

It was a fast trip, but a lot of fun. We laughed a lot, had good food, saw very cool things, and I was part of an amazing conference. I want to give a special thank you to Bev (my mother in law) for being an amazing Grandma and helping with the kids all day so that could go on this trip! Thank you, thank you! Also, to Joe, you are wonderful! Thank you for all of your love and support through every phase of this!

The next chapter begins.....TODAY

Well today is the day that Joe starts his new job with JBS! After a fun and relaxing weekend, he was ready to go this morning. He looked great, and was excited to get going. He left the house at 6:45am, and I have talked to him once today. He said it was going well. Can't wait to hear how the rest of his day went!

Congrats honey!!

Go CU, or something like that

Joe and I were asked to go to the CU game with James and April on Friday night. April got some great seats from a client of hers. They were great seats, but not such a great game to watch. We all love the CU Buffs, but there are some growing pains there. New coach, new division. It might be awhile until they are good again. But we will still have a lot of fun cheering them on.

We left at half time and headed back to Harpo's for some more drinks before heading back to the Crowder's house.

On to the next chapter.....

Leaving is always sad, especially when you have been some where for 11 years. Joe after being employed with Level 3 Communications for 11 years has decided to move on. He was recruited and offered an unbelievable job at JBS! JBS is a meat company in Northern Colorado. He will be the HRIS Director for the 65, 000 person company. I am so excited for him!

He is excited too, but this morning when he left for work at Level 3 for the last time this morning, it was a little sad. He has done great things with Level 3, I know he will also do great things with JBS!

Here's to the next chapter honey!! We are all so proud of you!

Halloween 2011

Wow, what a busy Halloween weekend and day!! We had pumpkin patch, kids parties, adult parties, school parties and trick or treating. All were so fun! The kids made out with way to much candy, but have done well not eating it all in one sitting!

Another great Halloween in the books!

Reese

Emma and Jack have wanted a dog for the longest time. Pretty much everyday they would both ask me if it was the day they were getting a dog. Joe and I talked and talked about it and finally decided we wanted to get a puppy. We wanted to try and do it for the kids for Christmas, that proved to be entirely to hard. Joe found a puggle (pug and beagle) at a breeders in Byers Colorado. While the price was more than right, and the little girl was ready to go home, we decided on doing an early Christmas present from Mom and Dad for the kids.

We brought her home on October 15th. We decided to name her Reese, because she looks like a Reese's peanut butter cup. She has taken on many new nicknames, Reese buttercup Carnival (as Jack calls her) Reesie (as Emma calls her) and Joe and I have started calling her piece (short for Reese's pieces)

She is such a good puppy, and couldn't fit in to our family any better! She was what was missing for our family.

She adores the kids and the kids her! Joe and I were both worried we might regret the decision to get a dog, luckily we are both totally in love with her!