New Year's Eve

Kristen planned a party with her friends for New Year's Eve (with our agreement) at our house, but it meant that Chris and I weren't making any plans for that evening. Chris and Amy and I went out for dinner before Amy left to hang out with her friends.

Kristen's friends came for pizza, games, and fun.

Misha's Gift for Me

When Misha asked for gift ideas for me for Christmas, I suggested that I would love a watercolor of the red truck that is so popular right now.

I love her talent.

A Day at the Museum

Chris planned a fun activity day for us and the girls, starting with the latest Star Wars movie. It is pretty fun to see our girls' reactions to the newer movies and the older cast members cameos.

We stopped for a quick lunch at Chick-fil-A and then drove to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to see the Pixar exhibit. I think the biggest takeaway for Misha was that she doesn't want to be an animator as it requires a lot of math and physics. She much prefers the illustration part of the process.

A Little Getaway

Chris planned a short getaway while he had a few days off at Christmas (Splunk shuts down for a week from Christmas to New Years). We drove up to Estes Park after running errands in Longmont and finishing up some appointments. We haven't had much snow since the big storm at Thanksgiving, so the roads were nice a clear and we meandered the long way around, passing through Allenspark on our way to Estes.

We checked in at the Worldmark condos and then found a great but chilly restaurant for dinner—Antonio's Real New York Pizza. We were seated in one booth and asked to be moved because it was so cold sitting next to a single-pane window. Most of the patrons sat with their jackets and hats on. I guess you know the food is good when people are willing to brave the elements inside the restaurant!

On Friday, the 27th, we hiked up to Calypso Falls. It was a hike we had never heard of before and both of us are excited to go back in the summer time to see the waterfalls.

Christmas Day

We had a great Christmas Day. We changed our "come out of your room" time from 7 am to 8 am. Amy was happy to sleep in, but she wasn't waking up fast enough. It all started with a phone call from Kristen to Amy's phone and then text messages:

Kristen:
SEESTER WAKE UP!!!!!!!
IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!!
SEESTER!!!!

Chris:
Mmmm. These donuts are sure yummy

Kristen:
AMY CHRISTINE WAKE UP!!!!!!

Amy
I'm up I'm up

We enjoyed a leisure morning of gifting. Some of the gifts of special note were the gifts of jewelry from Grandma Andrews. My girls were particularly touched to have heirlooms passed to them from their great grandmother.

Another new tradition of making pasta, gnocchi, and meatballs was heartily appreciated.

I even tried my hand at a Instapot flourless chocolate cake. I think maybe next time I would add in some milk chocolate instead of just using semi-sweet chocolate, but it turned out great.

Christmas Eve Dinner

Our new Christmas Eve tradition of eating at HuHot in Thornton was pretty much a bust. We arrived at the restaurant at 6 pm only to find that it was closed. CLOSED!!! We weren't expecting that and spent the next 40 minutes trying to find and agree on a new restaurant. We ended up at Red Lobster and Kristen got a bib!

After dinner, we returned home to watch the new Christmas Nativity video, Chris shared a Christmas message, and then we exchanged our Christmas Eve gifts.

And the signal that Christmas was almost here? Bringing the gifts upstairs from the basement closet. Amy "volunteered" to organized the presents under the tree while Misha and Kristen ran the presents upstairs from the basement. Hmmmm.

Kristen was then sent to her room for the night before we bought up her new dresser. Gotta have surprises!

Misha helped Chris put together my new office chair while Amy headed out to spend time with friends. Just a little initiation for Misha into the Christmas Eve dash to the last minute putting together of gifts with parts.

Ringing the Bell

Chris and I spent a couple of hours ringing the bell for the Salvation Army red bucket after returning from our scavenger hunt in Denver. Amy, Misha, and Kristen stayed home to decorate cookies.

Chris and I were impressed with the generosity and friendliness of so many of the patrons of King Soopers on 17th in Longmont. After our two-hour stint, Chris had to organize the money to deposit in a bank box. He did a quick count of the donations and it totaled well over $1300 for four hours. Kind of beats the $50 he and my brother, Shane, collected at Thanksgiving.

Scavenger Hunt

We spent the morning in downtown Denver completing a scavenger hunt on Christmas Eve morning. We have enjoyed these Urban Adventure Quest scavenger hunts in Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, Boulder, and Houston. They are a lot of fun and introduce us to parts of different cities that we wouldn't otherwise see. After 18 years, we made our first stop at Union Station, discovered Dairy Block, and Confluence Park where Cherry Creek and the South Platte rivers converge.

We were blessed with pretty nice weather for the middle of December.

Some of our non-morning people took a little time to get happy, but we all ended the day on a positive note.

The Giving Machines

On Christmas Eve Day, our family spent the morning in downtown Denver completing a scavenger hunt. Our hunt ended close to Writer's Square where the Giving Machines sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were located. Making selections at the Giving Machines was the highlight of our morning.

Seminary and The Giving Machine

I teach early morning seminary and as a class, we decided to raise funds to donate to the Giving Machine in Downtown Denver. The students were given the option of earning money and donating anonymously. As a class, we collected $112. With those funds, we bought a pig and three chickens. So proud of the young men and women that I have the privilege of teaching.

Trucks at School

Apparently it is a thing for the truck-driving "cool" kids at school to back into a parking spot every single day.

Washington DC at Christmas

Chris had a little extra time one evening while finishing up his last trip to the East Coast for the year. He ventured out to see the White House and a few other sites around Washington D.C.

Movie with Chris

Chris and I had a Saturday afternoon to ourselves and, after finishing some Christmas shopping, decided to take in a movie. We were able to see "Midway" and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great reminder of all of the men and women who have sacrificed so much for this country.

The theater was fairly empty.

More Birthday Celebrations from Grandpa Kline

Amy and Grandpa Kline said a quick "hi" and "goodbye" at the curb as Amy arrived home from Utah, and Grandpa returned home to Arizona after a visit. He left some presents for Amy's birthday. I remember a time when Amy said a definite "no" to borrowing Mom's pencil skirts. Styles change and now she is adding pencil skirts to her Amazon wish list.

Grandpa Kline Visit

Grandpa Kline just had shoulder surgery, however his doctor did clear him to fly and he spent a few days at our house recuperating and reading a book. He's not one to sit still for long and noted a number of times how nice it was to just sit and read; he hadn't done that in a long time.

Grandpa was able to join us for Kristen's Winter Gala Christmas Concert at the school on Wednesday night. On Thursday, we had dinner at Bonefish Grill and then introduced Grandpa to the wonder that is Scheel's. He was duly impressed and even went home with a gift or two. Ya gotta love a store with a ferris wheel!

St. Vrain Christmas Walk

A homeowner in the Saddleback neighborhood of Firestone had the ingenious idea to encourage his neighbors to decorate the back of their homes along a pathway paralleling Saddleback Avenue. Over the past couple of years, the event has grown to include more homeowners decorating, carolers, pictures with Santa, and hot chocolate and apple cider stands.

Chris and I took Kristen to meet up with her friends. Amy and her friend, Aleksey, meandered along the pathway in front of us.

Christmas Concerts at the School

Kristen had two nights of concerts. Grandpa Kline came to visit and attended the concert on the second night with Chris and I. Kristen was a little nervous because she had a solo. She rocked it.

Video

Birthday Celebrations

Amy finished finals yesterday and happily packed her bags and left Logan.

She drove first to Julie's house in Layton and then Julie and her family and Amy met Misha in SLC to celebrate Amy's birthday. They had dinner at a steak house, enjoyed Temple Square, and bought a pair of glasses at the Giving Machines (google this) next to Temple Square. I loved seeing the pictures of them together.

Amy and Misha drove back to Provo together and had a sister sleep over.

Crying at College

Amy sent me this picture from outside the testing center at Utah State University. She told me about it a couple of weeks ago and snapped a picture for me during finals week. Gotta love that the kleenex box is empty.

She's 20

Can't believe how fast the past twenty years have flown. It just seems as though it was yesterday that the nurses were placing this sweet little girl in my arms. Twenty years ago when Chris and I marveled at the wonder of this miracle in our lives. Twenty short years as we have watched her grow and succeed and be beautiful. Happy birthday my girl.

The Finals Countdown

For the past couple of weeks, Amy and Misha and Kristen have been counting down the days to the end of school. Last number of days of classes. Last homework assignment done. Last final.

Amy is finished on December 11 (Happy birthday!). She flies home on the 13th. Misha is finished classes on December 12 and flies home on the 18th after her finals are finished. Kristen's last day of classes is Monday the 16th and she is finished her finals on the 19th. Kristen and I are both finished seminary on the 16th. Hallelujah!

Wrapping Paper

I just love the country-themed Christmas decorations, especially the red trucks. It reminds me of visiting my grandpa's farm when I was a little girl. He had similar trucks on his farm, some that his grandkids loved to play on. So, when I found this wrapping paper to match my other decor, I was pretty happy.

I "just looked" at this cute stuff at Hobby Lobby.

I had to say a big "no" to this truck though. It was at Michaels with a $2000 price tag. The tree in the truck bed was extra. But cute right? A lawn decoration at Christmas. A used car lot for the rest of the year.

Christmas Tree Star

I bought a star for the Christmas tree and it was so heavy that it wouldn't even stand up. So, I had to rethink how big the star could actually be. I found this blingy one, and in the right light, it looks as though it is lit up.

Gingerbread at BYU

I was impressed that Misha made gingerbread cookies this past weekend. She had to buy molasses, spices, and cookie cutters, but the end result was pretty fun. She even shared them with her co-worker Emma and Emma's boyfriend, Jon.