Christmas 2011!

The 2011 Christmas season arrived so quickly.  Granted, it didn't technically come any quicker than usual, but the flurry of activity in November and December made it seem so.  It was much fun though, and we got to see a lot of our family. 

We were at home in Denver before Christmas, and hosted Dan and Christy for a couple of days.  Though we did watch the Broncos lose, we still had a great time and got a bit of snow to make things white. 

Then we drove to MO to see my family.  We had clear roads on the way there, and actually didn't have any snow during our visit (although we heard Denver got hit while we were gone).  We did some relaxing in MO, cooking, baking, or just hanging out.

I don't know who enjoyed playing the guitar and singing more - Dad or the girls!

We also got to know our new neice and nephew a little better...welcome to the family Olivia Joy and Louie Oliver!

She's doing the Tebow!

Then there was a tea party for the little girls with some family friends...

Dad was showing the girls how to play the drums for Wipeout...

...and here's the whole band.

Helping Mom get the tea ready



One evening we all went bowling and mini-golfing (indoor of course!), which was loads of fun...



Christmas Day we went to church, had brunch, opened gifts, and then had a big dinner.  Having kids around always makes gift opening more exciting!

I highly recommend this to anyone wanting a good devotional that makes you think

Masks from Venice

Louie decided to get in on the action too, but Olivia wasn't interested

What IS it Grandpa Dale?

To keep himself in shape over the holidays, Bryan attacked the woodpile.  He split a lot of wood, and then he, Tim, and Justin went and cut some more (which was a story in and of itself!:)...which Bryan then split.  Nice work Hun!

We also spent an evening on the Plaza with our friends Mat, Fran, Lance, and Shivani, and we stopped in Topeka on the way home to visit Bryan's Grandma Virgina and Uncle Dave and Deanne.  And while the pizza we had for dinner was great, getting to catch up with them was even better.

We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives!  Thanks to everyone for the time together, the gifts, and making our holidays extra bright this year!

Thanksgiving 2011

November 2011 (I have to put that since I'm posting this entry so late and it's already next year!:) Bryan and I packed up the trusty Jeep and headed to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with the hospitable Dan and Christy Skinner!  We stopped in Glenwood Springs for the night, and thoroughly enjoyed soaking in the natural hot springs...pure bliss!  The next day we got up and drove the rest of the way to Flagstaff, arriving in the evening.  It's a beautiful drive - love, love, loved the scenery along the way!

I wanted to get out and play for a few minutes...

Is he singing? 

We spent a relaxing Thanksgiving day watching football and eating yummy food, then set out Friday morning on a Jeep ride.  And when I say "ride," I mean climbing over rocks and up/down inclines that you might not think a vehicle could do.  It was so much fun, and full of more gorgeous views!

The area around Sedona that we Jeeped in

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but this was my first "we're going up that!" moment.

At our first "get out and look around" stop

I am the little red dot running to the top of the mound...

...and now I am the even smaller red dot that made it there

This is called Devil's Staircase and we rode down it.  It doesn't look that steep until you're holding on and trying not to squeal : )

Then we stopped at Chapel of the Holy Cross on a hilltop.

This is the view from the Chapel.  Check out that mongo huge mansion!!

Saturday the four of us headed out to the Grand Canyon!  I hadn't been since a family vacation in junior high (I think - maybe early high school), and was looking forward to seeing it again.  It didn't disappoint - that place is amazing!

 

Love my trees!

How very appropriate that we caught a raven on the raven sign

We didn't run into huge crowds most of the time because we started at the opposite end that most people did, but we hit some people toward the end of our jaunt



This wasn't as dangerous as it might look...

...but I wasn't taking any chances with getting any closer to the edge!!

Ah - such beauty.  God, you did good!  That evening Bryan and I drove a few hours to Kayenta where we stayed the night, then drove home Sunday and crashed on the couch to watch the recorded Broncos game.  What a lovely trip all around!

Driving home, we stopped to gaze back and take a picture...you might recognize this as the spot Forrest Gump stopped his run across the U.S....