January 11, 2017

We spent our last day of Christmas break at the Denver Art Museum to see the Star Wars Costume exhibit.

I'm not a huge Star Wars fan in general, particularly of the prequels and sequels,

but I will never forget seeing the original Star Wars movie in the theater in the 70s.

I didn't like science fiction - had never been a fan of Star Trek on TV -

but this movie was groundbreaking and even I knew that - and was in awe.

So it was pretty incredible to see the costumes from these movies and

all the behind-the-scenes artwork, storyboards and videos.

My favorite part of the museum, though, was the glass work in the gift shop,

particularly these trees.

The triangular prism in the middle of this picture was Jed's favorite...

the lines of color refracted in amazing ways.

Jed loved the Star Wars exhibit,
but our lunch across the street from the art museum,
at BurgerFi,
was a really close second in his heart.  :)

It was such a neat place!

If you're ever in Denver, we'll be glad to meet you there.  :)

January 6, 2017

We got our first snow of the new year yesterday, though sadly it didn't amount to much.

This hasn't been a very snowy winter so far.

We still have hope, though.  :)

January 4, 2017

Jed and I have so enjoyed having a few days of Christmas break at home 

before getting back to the grind next week.  

One of the fun things we did this week was make this chocolate house.  

The kit included molds so we can make it again each year.
We've already made a shopping list for candy for next Christmas to improve our design.  :)

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!