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!

Go Broncos

Our good friends James and April have AMAZING seats to the Broncos! They are seriously the 1st row in the north end zone. You can't get any closer to the game, without actually being on the field! They invited Joe and I to the game several Sundays back. It was actually a game that they had one too! Thanks Smileys for the Sunday funday!!!

Look out below

The tree in our front yard has been dying. Sadly, it got boars and we couldn't get it better. This is the 3rd tree that we have lost in our yard. What are we doing wrong, or is it just bad luck?!? Joe and I have been discussing getting it down, we decided that doing it in the fall versus the winter is a good idea. We had thrown around ideas of going to Estes Park, going for a hike in Boulder. After much discussion, Joe said he just wanted to be home. I completely respect that, after working all week and all of the board stuff he does he is rarely just home to 'hang out'. We decided to make green Chile, I went to get the ingredients. Joe was headed out to mow and putz in the yard. When I returned all that remained of the tree in the front yard was a stump! Joe decided to just start taking it down! Wow, what a job! After hand sawing each root our neighbor Dennis came over with an electric hand saw. Amen! That helped huge. Dennis also stayed to help with the project. After a while the guys decided they should use a car and help break the tree free. It was decided to use Dennis' car since his was front wheel drive. The good news, the guys got the tree out. The bad news, it shattered the back window in Dennis' car. So, after trying to save some money and not hiring it done, we really didn't save anything. We offered to pay for Dennis' deductible. The tree is out, I think we will replace it with a new one. But I think we might wait a little bit. Poor Joe was so sore and tired yesterday. He is out playing golf now, hopefully his body isn't hurting to bad!! Thanks Dennis for your help, and we are so sorry about your car!

A game of golf...

The Smiley's and us have done this a few times this summer, not nearly as much as we wanted too. On Friday was the PJ night at Vista Ridge, so we dropped the kids off and tee'd off. It was a beautiful afternoon. We had some beers in the cart cooler and were on our way. I'm not great, but love being out there with Joe and great friends. Joe was so excited, he got his first ever birdie! Good job honey! The kids had a lot of fun and PJ night too! It was a win for all!

The main event

Sunday September 18th at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Downtown Denver, my little sister Emily became Mrs. Tim Lawrence! It was a beautiful event. Everything was perfect! The flowers, that were done by Bev, the dresses she picked for the bridesmaids, the tuxes, the cake, the flower girls, ring bearers. Really everything could not have gone more smoothly! Emily was stunningly beautiful! I think the comment made most yesterday was that she should be in a magazine, she looked fantastic! Tim looked so handsome too! It was such a beautiful day, I was so honored to be a part of it. I am excited to see Emily and Tim make their life together, such a bright future it is! Congratulations Emily and Tim Lawrence!!

Bridal luncheon/dinner in Denver

On Saturday the girls had the bridal luncheon at Kate's house at 11am. We headed to get the kids from Aunt Jamie & Uncle Chad's about 8:15am. We chatted with them for a bit, then headed home where I started getting ready for the shower. When Emma and I headed to the shower the boys headed to the annual biscuit days celebration in downtown Erie. The boys then headed over to April & James to watch the CU CSU game. Which CU won!! Yay!

After the beautiful bridal luncheon, Joe the kids and I headed back down to Denver to check into our hotel room for the night. Joe went on a tour of the Great Divide brewery and then headed to the Rockies game with a huge group of people. The kids and I walked around on 16th Street mall and then met my mom, Bill, Mary Jane and Jo (all long time friends in from Nebraska) for dinner at Panzano. Joe called me just as we were finishing up dinner, he decided to leave the game and meet up with us. I was bummed he wasn't enjoying the game, but the kids and I were so happy to have him come and hang out with us!

After dinner we walked back to the hotel and enjoyed a few cocktails and chatted. We headed up to bed pretty early since Emma and I had to be up and in the bridal suite by 6:30am to begin the makeup process....

The Wedding events begin....

Friday September 16th~

The rehearsal, The Grand Hyatt in Downtown Denver 4:15pm

After getting Emma out of school at 2:30pm to make it to Denver on time for the run through. We made it, the traffic already started getting bad at 3:30pm so luckily we left with plenty of time. The kids were having a sleepover with Clayton and Taylor. Uncle Chad was nice enough to swing by and pick up the kids at the Grand Hyatt so we could enjoy the rehearsal dinner. After Uncle Chad got there, we he headed over to Vita for the dinner.

Vita is located in the Highlands. Although we had never heard of it before it was a very good and fun evening! We stayed with my mom that night so we didn't have to drive back to Erie.

We were in bed before 11pm, which was great since we knew we had a big weekend ahead!

Young Patriot...

Emma was asked by Mayor Wilson to lead the Pledge of Allegiance for the Town board meeting tonight. What an honor! When Joe told her, she was excited but immediately got nervous. Tonight, when Mimi brought her in the board room with her hair done so pretty along with her nails and toe nails she was so nervous. Mayor Wilson, took her up and showed her what they were going to do. Once he started, she stood up there and rocked the Pledge! I could hear her voice the whole time! I was so proud!! I looked at Joe during it, and I could see how proud he was! Having his daughter leading the pledge of allegiance for the town he works so hard for!!

After she was done Mimi, Poppa, Jack, Emma and me headed to Briggs Station for some dinner and to celebrate! Way to go Em, we are all so proud of you!

My little helper....

Since Emma is in school full time, Jack and I do all of our running around together. I am loving the time alone with him when he is not in preschool. This morning after dropping Emma at school, I need a few things from vitamin cottage. Jack was all about helping me, he pushed the little cart and put everything in it for me. It was cute watching him cruise around the store. Thanks buddy for your help!

Celebrating Auntie Jamie's birthday with Zac Brown Band

Happy Birthday Auntie Jamie!! What better way to spend your birthday than going to a Zac Brown Band concert? At red rocks no less! Randy, Bev, Jamie, Chad, Joe, Allison and I all went to the concert on Monday night. We had a little tailgate complete with cupcakes, baked by Allison. We enjoyed some beers and snacks before heading into the concert. Red rocks is an amazing venue for a concert, but when it is Zac Brown it is even better! He put on another great show. This is the 3rd concert we have been to of his, all have been incredible! It was a beautiful night in Colorado, we danced sang and enjoyed being together! Auntie Jamie, I hope your birthday was as wonderful as you are!!