Emma's school holiday party!

Emma had her school holiday party on the last day before break. Not only did she have Jack and I attend, she also had Clayton, Elmo & Auntie Mily! She had so many people there to show off. She was so excited to have Clayton there. She has him help make her gingerbread house, and moved a chair up next to hers so he could have a place to sit while they had their treats. After treat time, all the kids gathered for story time. After the stories were over the teachers gave each child, including Jack and Clayton a new book for Christmas! It was such a fun way to start the holiday break!! Thanks for coming and sharing in the special day Clayton, Elmo & Auntie Mily!!

Christmas breakfast with friends....

I love this time of year! I love that there are so many get togethers, with people you see a lot or people you don't see very often. It almost always includes good food, good drink and good company! This gathering was no different! Every year for awhile now, the girls get together for a holiday breakfast. This year the only time we could get together was on a Saturday, we we included the guys and all the kids. This was a lot of fun, something we don't do all that often. We had great food, great drinks and most importantly great company!

Christmas dinner....

I am very fortunate to not only work for a very fun, supportive and loving place but I also have two very good bosses. That have also become good friends! For Christmas, Brandy and Katie took me to this awesome place called the Southern Sun in Boulder. We had dinner, drinks and chatted. They surprised me with a gift certificate to get a manicure and pedicure as well as a sweatshirt. I feel so lucky to have such great bosses, friends and a place to work!

A little bit of chicken fried!!

The Zac brown band concert was amazing! Probably one of the best that I have ever been to. Jamie, Chad, Billy, Allison, Joe and myself began the night having dinner and drinks at the Irish Snug. We enjoyed the BEST buffalo waffle fries!! I have been craving them ever since!! Then we ran to the Fillmore. (It was freezing outside!) The whole thing was perfect, good music, good friends and the beer was good and cold! To top it off, the kids had an overnight with Mimi and Poppa so we got to sleep in the next day!

Craft with Grandpa Charlie

Grandpa Charlie stopped by on Thursday afternoon on his way back from hunting. I thought it was so sweet, him and Emma sat down and worked on a snowman craft. Jack supervised! I am so glad that they had some time with him, and I think he really enjoyed it too!

Our Clayton day!

Today is our Tuesday to have Clayton over to play. Both Emma & Jack were beside themselves when they woke up. Emma immediately asked me "Is it the morning that Clayton is coming over?" They have been playing hard, and since they have been playing I have been able to get some stuff done. We made Oatmeal butterscotch cookies and they all settled in on the couch to watch 101 dalmatians. I love the Tuesdays I have with all the kids. Watching them play with each other and seeing experiences through their eyes is amazing!

Holiday decorating

This year above all other years for whatever reason I was so excited to decorate for Christmas! I even asked Joe if we could decorate on Monday before Thanksgiving! He very quickly shot me down and told me I had to wait until after. I agree, you have to wait until after the Thanksgiving holiday. So on Sunday after Thanksgiving, we pulled out the tree and all the trimmings and decorated. This year we put our tree upstairs and I was a little sad it was going to be up there, but I actually am so glad we put it up there. I love this time of year, all the lights, music, parties, food....it's all so fun!

My little cowboy!

I'm not entirely sure when Jack got his love for horses and cowboys from. Maybe from my dad Grandpa Charlie and Jack being around his horses. In any event, Jack loves horses, barns, cowboy boots and hats. The other night we were putting him to bed, he had all of his horses in bed with him tucked in tight. I kissed him shut the light off, closed the door and walked out. About the time I got downstairs and sat on the couch I heard him wailing. I knew he wasn't hurt, so I thought I would wait to see if he stopped. A few minutes passed and the wailing only got worse. I went up and opened the door, with huge tears in his eyes he says "I need my cowboy hat!" Typically I wouldn't go on the search for it, but it was the sweetest thing. Not only did I go get the hat, I also got the camera. He thought that was pretty cool. Joe just shook his head at me and smiled. I then heard him on the monitor ask for his Bronco hat, I ignored the demand. Maybe it has nothing to do with the love of his hat and more about working the system to not go to bed!!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year began with the gift of Joe having the whole week off! We were all so thankful! On Thursday morning, we went to Elmo's for a light breakfast and visiting, we then went to the rec center and got in a pre turkey/ravioli workout, that was followed by naps. At about 4pm we headed over to Mimi & Poppa's for the delicious Thanksgiving feast! It was all so good, turkey, stuffing, the best sweet potato casserole, green mashed potatoes (which were Parmesan basil and very good!). If that doesn't sound like enough, I am so lucky I married into such a wonderful family that is full of very cool traditions. Randy & Bev made homemade Ravioli, sausage and meatballs! It was amazing! The evening concluded with the boys watching the Bronco's play and win and the girls chatting away. I have so much to be thankful for!