December 31, 2016

We celebrated our Christmas Day at home on New Year's Eve.  

I only bake pies at Thanksgiving and Christmas, 

so they're a cause for celebration in and of themselves.  :)

That's pecan and lemon meringue,

and there's double chocolate in the fridge.

Merry Christmas!

December 29, 2016

I love, love, love these pictures.

That little girl is so full of spit and spirit.

And that little boy is a sweetheart.

I never thought I could love anyone as much as my children,

until I had grandchildren.

This is what Jed and I came home to this afternoon!

This travel day was not the best ever, so it was a nice end to a sad and stressful day.

We're already looking forward to the next trip and the next welcome home.  :)

December 28, 2016

This was the last full day of our visit and it was one of my favorites.

Jed and I took the two older grandkids to a park in their neighborhood,

which is accessed by a trail in the woods.

It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful walk.

Our first stop was the sandbox.

Puppy seemed content to hang out in the stroller.
Grammy ended up lugging the stroller around the park the rest of the time we were there,

which was not exactly how she envisioned that working out.  :)

Next up was the playground equipment.  

Jed is such a good uncle!

 Note he's lugging around his nephew's football helmet.  :)

After the kids were worn out running around the playground,

we headed over the small pond to do some "fishing"

with a stick and small pieces of shrimp someone had obligingly left for us.

Alas, no fish fell for our tricks this day.

I was pleased they sat still for another photo session.

For a minute, anyway.  :D

The walk back was spent bent over looking for the perfect rock for everyone in the family.

I have two rocks on my desk, one from each of these precious children.

Grammy couldn't carry rocks and the stroller too...but this was hard work for a 3 year old.

December 27, 2016

I'm so thankful my daugher-in-law sometimes grabs my camera and takes pictures.   

I hate having my picture taken, but a lot of times I don't even realize that she's doing it, 

which is sneaky but helpful.  :)  

I'm awful glad for this picture.

I love this face.  :)

Our sweet granddaughter and her puppy.

Monkey see...

...monkey do.  :)

December 23, 2016

In between the grandbabies and my parents, we visited two aunts and uncles,

several cousins and my brother.  

I didn't get pictures of some of them, 

and others might not want their pictures posted on the interwebs,

so we'll skip to our visit with my parents and a highlight of our visits with them...

a trip to Smithfield Station for dinner.

 

And the highlight of a trip to Smithfield Station is the bacon-wrapped scallops.

Yum!  :)

December 15, 2016

I love the progression of these two sets of pictures - 

one with our 3 year old granddaughter and the baby,

and the other with our 5 year old grandson and the baby.

The different expressions in each picture, of the baby as well as the kids, is so funny.

December 14, 2016

Jed with the grands. 

Actually sitting still.  

It was a miracle.  :)

Our precious new grandbaby.

Born November 20, 2016.

December 13, 2016

Jed and I took off today for over 2 weeks in North Carolina and Virginia to visit family for Christmas!

We were so excited!!

This was the best travel day EVER.

It started with a train ride from Golden to the Denver airport.

There are a lot of stops along the way but it was smooth as silk and didn't take much longer 

than driving and parking would have, and was a lot more fun.

I printed our boarding passes at home the day before, and we didn't have luggage to pack

(traveling light is so nice but it helps to be staying with people with washing machines)

so we were able to bypass the ticket counter altogether,

and there was NO LINE at security!

And I didn't even get patted down like I usually do!

I looked around waiting for someone to detain me and when I saw no one was looking our way,

we high-tailed it out of there.  :)

The flight was smooth and uneventful, and we didn't have to wait at baggage claim.

So awesome!

Brad picked us up and since he works near the airport, he took us back to his office 

so we could see where the magic happens every day in his organization.  :)

He says he doesn't always look like this but I'm not sure I believe him.  :D

December 1, 2016

I stepped out my front door this morning and this is what I found on the mat.

What a sweet way to start the day!

November 18, 2016

Another casualty of my not-being-prepared-for-winter-yet.
However, it's supposed to be 60 on Sunday,
so maybe I can enjoy the hammock and the summer wreath
a little while longer. 

November 17, 2016

Every state we've lived in, the natives have always said the same thing...

"If you don't like the weather, just wait a day."

I think people everywhere must say that.  :)

Colorado might win the contest, though...

yesterday tied a record of 80 degrees in Denver,

and today's high was 41 with SNOW!

Obviously we didn't get the hammock put away in time, again.  :)

November 15, 2016

We have 2nd floor balconies on the front and back of our townhouse.

I admit that we don't use them like some people would...

mostly because that would entail buying chairs and tables 

and we are so not buying even more stuff to have to move next time.

But once in a while we walk out on them and enjoy the views.

I'm so glad I did this afternoon...this tree in our front yard looked like it was on fire,

with the sun shining through the red leaves. 

It's been a beautiful fall...

unseasonably warm but beautiful.

October 31, 2016

Jed's first carved pumpkin...Minecraft, of course.  :)

And Jed's first Halloween without trick-or-treating.

He gave it up voluntarily, which was nice.

Instead, he dressed up like an old man

 and sat on our porch trying to scare the kids that came up.  :)