Our Non-Traditional Thanksgiving '09

For Christmas for Jay and Kendall and I this year, we purchased season passes to Keystone and A-Basin, as well as season ski rentals from the AF Academy. One of the perks of being in the military is that we get some great discounts, especially living in a military-friendly town. We got an unbelievable deal on season passes and we decided what better gift to give one another than time together. We didn't purchase season passes for Nicole, because she won't be with us enough this season to justify a season pass, but we did buy two one-day tickets for her and took advantage of the time we had with her to hit the slopes for the first time this season.

We were able to have both of the girls with us over Thanksgiving week this year and picked up Nicole from DIA on the Saturday before the big day. Jay and I both took off that Tuesday and took the girls up to Keystone for their first day of skiing. Nicole picked it right up, but poor little Kendall had a heck of a time. She was so frustrated and we felt so badly for her! Jay and I tried to coach her along, and kept encouraging her to believe in herself and to not give up, but she spent most of the day frustrated.

We decided to get her some basic lessones for the day on Thanksgiving and what a difference a day makes! We kept skiing by and checking on her and by the time her lessons were over, she was flying down the bunny slopes with new confidence and taking joy not only in skiing, but in her accomplishments. I am sure it didn't hurt that she had a huge crush on her ski instructor (that is very confidential, so don't tell anyone)! Whatever the reason, we were so thrilled that she was enjoying herself and now we can go up to the mountains as a family and enjoy creating new memories in the mountains. We may not have any fantastic amusement parks nearby, but we can have plenty of amusement watching each other fall (er, ski) down the mountains :).

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed into Rexford and spent the evening with Jay's mom. We had such a delightful time! She made some homemade chicken noodle soup and some chili and some turkey breast and we brought 3 pies (they were buy one, get one, we're not completely insane) and Sharon made an oatmeal cake. We had a big feast, and then had a hilarious time playing Win, Lose, or Draw. Let's just say that none of us would be able to make a living drawing, but we still had a wonderful time. I can't remember the last time we all laughed that hard.

This may not have been a traditional Thanksgiving, but we absolutely made some lasting memories.

The ramp at the bunny slopes

Look at the view we had from the top of the mountain

I miss the ocean, but cannot complain one bit with views like these!

Getting ready to head down the mountain

Waiting in line to have our photos taken for our season passes

What on earth is she trying to draw?

Hmmmm

Would you put that camera down and come over here and help us?

4th of July 2009

One of the nice things about living in Colorado is that we're only about three and a half hours from Jay's family in Colby, KS. Our nephew Jason turned two in March and he grew up in our absence and we are just now getting to know him. It's hard to be far away and have missed so much of his development. We decided to spend our first holiday here with the family. We drove out on the 4th and spent the later part of the afternoon on into the evening at Jay's mom's house. Jay grilled some burgers and Mom's dear friend Marvena came to join our family and Jay's brother Eric and his wife Mindy and Jason. On the way to Colby, we stopped and purchased an absolutely insane amount of fireworks, only to find that Marvena had done the same. We must have shot off fireworks for about 5 hours. The kids had an absolute blast and (thankfully) no one was hurt! At about 10:00, we went into the front yard and could see the big fireworks from the fairgrounds. It was a spectacular show!

I just love the 4th of July. I am so blessed to live in this wonderful country where so many men and women have made tremendous sacrafices so that I can live in freedom and not a day goes by that I'm not reminded of just how precious my freedom is.

Jason's first experience with sparklers. He had a healthy fear of them.

Marvena liked setting off combinations of smoke bombs to make pretty colors.

Eric setting off some smoke bombs. They were Jason's favorite

Nicole, Kendall and Jay playing with fire.

This one is going to make lots of noise!

I love watching my man cook, even if it only happens outside over an open flame.

Vroom! Vroom!