A Year of Change

Yesterday we went to Breckenridge to drop Lori at the spa with the girls and then the boys and I did the town until they were through. Man is that town packed. It has a Main Street which is so crowded that it was like the big city. Then we all went up to Jeff’s house until around 7:15 when we finally headed home. He has a home way up Mt. Baldy on the opposite side of the slopes. They sure had great views. They live outside of Austin full time and are real nice people. I’m sure we’ll see them again.

Today is the last Bronco game and I need to leave around 11 or so. Jag has nordic from 9:30 until 11 so it’ll be a rushed morning. I still have a ton of work to do and should be working all day but you know, it’s football. We’ll see how the morning goes. It’s cold but doesn’t seem as cold as it’s been. Maybe we’re just getting used to it. School starts tomorrow, I’m in Denver Tuesday and on it goes. Hope all’s well, God Bless and Go Broncos and Go Packers!

Yesterday we went to Ty’s friend Eva’s birthday party down in Eagle. The sledding hill was so big that the kids, all 15 to 20 of them,  could ride for a couple football fields before stopping. At the top was a couple of logs burning in the snow to keep the parents warm. It was part of Frost Creek Country Club which is  golf club in the summer. Afterwards everyone went back to the birthday girls house for food and cake. All of us parents visited while the kids played downstairs. We made it home by about 5:30 and kept the truck running as Ty decided to spend the night at Warners. Warner is sort of the new Vinny up here.

Today we’re headed to Breckenridge where Lori has been invited to a spa and the boys and I will go sledding. Then we’ll hang out with Greg and his wife (who works for me in Florida) and his friends who he and his wife are staying with. That’s around 2 so we’ll probably be home around 7. Before that I have to get some work done as Monday will be here fast.

Hope you all are enjoying 2016 and have some fun plans for today and tomorrow. Time to run, take care and God Bless.

Happy New Year! I remember vividly December 31st, 1999 as Lori and I were on a beach in Seattle WA. It’s hard to believe 15 years have gone by so fast. No matter what happens, time rolls on and there’s nothing any of us can do about it. Knowing that, once again, I have to stress the importance of not wasting a day. We’d probably be much more fulfilled without computers and tv’s. A man who lived even 50 years ago was much more active, skilled and probably experienced many more things than the man of today. One thing is for sure is that we were a much more self sufficient society back then. We had to fend for ourselves much more and didn’t have the convenience of jumping in a car and driving 5 minutes to get anything we want. In short, we’re pretty much spoiled, and certainly weaker and softer as a people. Hope there isn’t a Grand Awakening one day where everyone will need to utilize skills they’ve long forgotten or never had, as many will be, as we say, toast!

Now to us, Lori and I fell asleep but the boys woke us at midnight. Everyone is still asleep except for me and Mojo. He slept inside as the fireworks freaked him out. Today we have a birthday party in Eagle for one of Ty’s friends and the whole family is invited. It’s still cold but that’s ok, low temperatures let you know you’re alive. If anyone would like a print out of the past 5 years of the blog, let me know as we’ll be getting that together in the next month or so. Have a great day, a great year, and get out there and do something you’ll remember. A trip, a new hobby, learn a language, just something. You can thank me later. God Bless

Well it’s been a long road but 1825 days ago, which is exactly 5 years, we started the blog. Lots has happened but really 1825 days doesn’t seem all that long. We’re going to print all 5 years out and put it into book form so we have a written record of all the good times. Let’s see, the kids were 9 and 6 (Ty’s bday is in January of course) and you all, well, you can figure out how old you were on December 31st, 2010. I’m glad we started this, not only to entertain and inform you all, but also so the kids have a record of what went on in their lives. Who knows what the next 5 years will bring so stay tuned!

Last night we went to dinner with a guy who works for me in Florida along with his wife and close friend who has a home in Breckenridge. We had a really good time and will see them again this weekend before they head home next Monday. Lori is in the shower as she needs to be at work early plus she just found out she has a nurse out sick. Oh well, another day, stay safe and be careful tonight, especially if you’re going out! God Bless and Happy Anniversary to us all!

Two days to go, what are you going to do? Are you going out, or just staying home. For us, we call it amateur night and just stay home. There are a lot of celebrations going on everywhere up here but they’re not cheap plus I don’t know the last time we were up at midnight.

Today Jag has nordic again as he does tomorrow and Saturday. We’re trying to hook him up with this college kid for some extra training which will be good for him. Lori has to be to work early and I still have a bunch of computer work to wrap up before the new year. That’s about it, we’re going out to dinner with a guy that works for me and his wife from Florida who is here in Breckenridge for the holidays. Last night we just stayed home, I even skipped the usual birthday cake as I’m on the program trying to get in shape. Thanks for all the well wishes.

Hope all’s well, take care and God Bless.

In the end we won, but it was touch and go for the most part and we could have easily lost and ended up out of the playoffs. This is one of those years where we just might win the Super Bowl. What I mean is we have as good a chance as anyone once we’re in. The years when we’re expected to win it all are usually the ones we lose so I’d rather go in thinking we’re not going to win it all and then, who knows. Today is my birthday but I’m not getting any gifts as last night in the second half I said to myself all I want as a present is for the Bronco’s to win, and lo and behold, we did.

It was cold yesterday, cold last night and is cold this morning. Today Lori has clinic and Ty spent the night at a friends house so I think Jag and I will go to the gym. We were going to go out to dinner tonight but I think we’ll save the  money and just stay home. I have lots of computer work to do and a bunch of phone calls too. So that’s about it, guess I’ll run and see if I can find some Bronco highlights on tv. Sure hope we win next week in San Diego. If so, then the next game will be either January 16th or 17th here in Denver, whoo hoo.

GB

One thing that has worked for me over the years is to always get a jump on everyone else. In other words, to stay ahead of the pack. This time of the year while people are gearing up for New Years, I always use this week to prep for 2016. So today, although I’ve been working on this for a month, I’ll get serious about laying the groundwork for a successful 2016. This is not only for work but also in our personal lives. You may recall we started the blog almost 5 years ago to makeover or change our lives. We’ll go into that more in about a week but back to the day at hand.

Now you can skip this part if you’re not interested or like your life as it is and really don’t want to change a thing. If you are in this position, we’re happy for you, but over here, we think we can always do better. In fact I think one of the great things about life is that no matter how old you are, you can always change something for the better.

So today I’m mapping out an entire new strategy for my Company in 2016. As I said, I’ve been thinking about this and making notes since Thanksgiving but now is the time to firm it all up. We’re doing the same thing at Lori’s job. One idea here is a separate division of her office that deals specifically with professional athletes. You may wonder why but there are lots of reasons, one major one being is that their bodies heal faster than us normal folks. That’s just one example. Personally it’s also a great time to purge. You might think we’d be all done with that after moving but believe it or not, we still can purge some more. We’re also setting family goals like trips or blocking out free time, trying once again to get in great shape, and last but not least, do something to make the World a better place. Imagine if everyone did something to make the World a better place. No matter how small, if everyone did it, it’d add up!

I’ll leave it at that, but there has to be something you want to do or can do to make your life and those around you better. For us, we love this time of year as it’s invigorating, like a second chance. Think about it.

Now yesterday we went to church and they had a guest pastor from Oahu who was great. After that we had breakfast at the Wolcott Yacht Club and then headed home to take Mojo for a long long walk. He’s going away to doggie camp soon to learn some manners. Lori works today and so do I (on the above) but will try to get the boys on the hill for some turns. Then I have the Bronco game down in Big D with some buddies.

Hope all’s well, 2016 is right around the corner! God Bless and please let the Bronco’s win.

We slept in until 7am but need to get moving as church is at 9am. Yesterday Lori and I went to Denver to return some things, get the boys some clothes and found some dresses for Lori on sale as well. We left around 7:30 and made it home by 4. The boys hung out at home and played with their new stuff. We then decided to go out to dinner at 6 and were home by 7:30. There sure are a lot of tourists in town.

On the way home, Ty and Jagger were fooling around in the back seat when Ty blurted out to Jag, “you’d better call Kenny Loggins as you’re in the Danger Zone!”. Now if you don’t know, Kenny Loggins is a musician who wrote a song made famous in the movie Top Gun called Danger Zone, or something like that. It was pretty darn funny.

We finally talked with Dixie who had a good Christmas and I think Lori and Annette texted. It’s a bit below zero up here but only 9 degrees in Denver. Mojo is talking loudly as he wants a walk but it’ll have to wait until after church. Yesterday felt like a Sunday so not sure what today feels like, I guess another Sunday. Hope you all are well and that Santa was good to you. Have a relaxing day, enjoy some football and rest up for 2016. Hard to believe it’s soon 2016, that sounds so weird. God Bless.

That’s what they call today in England and Canada, the day after. Here’s the official explanation.

Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box”, from their bosses or employers,^[1] in the United Kingdom, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Bermuda, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and other former British colonies. Today, Boxing Day is the public holiday that generally takes place on 26 December.

In South Africa, Boxing Day was renamed Day of Goodwill in 1994. In the Roman Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, the day is dedicated to St. Stephen, so is known as St. Stephen’s Day to Catholics, and to the population generally in Italy, Ireland, Finland, and Alsace and Moselle in France. It is also known as both St. Stephen’s Day and the Day of the Wren or Wren’s Day in Ireland. In some European countries, most notably Germany, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and those in Scandinavia, 26 December is celebrated as the Second Christmas Day.

Now for most of us, it’s the day everything you bought a few days ago, cost less than half of what you paid for it. Retailers slash their prices hoping to make up for whatever shortfall in sales they had during the weeks that led up to Christmas. Lots of good deals are to be had for sure, if you have the energy to brave the crowds.

Yesterday was a really nice day. We made it to Denver around 11am and after quickly washing the car, arrived at Grandma’s. Shelly wasn’t there and apparently had been waiting on a cab for 2 hours. I finally offered to go get her and much to my surprise, she was only 5 minutes away! So 10 minutes later, with her in tow, we were at Grandma’s.  We all opened presents and visited and soon Tom and Ali left. Lori, I and the boys hung out for another hour or so before heading up the hill. The drive was fine until we came through the tunnel and hit the blowing and swirling snow. You could barely see. As soon as we started to drive up Vail Pass though, it was like some biblical event as the clouds parted and the sun and blue sky beamed down on us. 20 minutes later we were home with Mojo and the boys went straight to playing with their loot. Lori and I cleaned up and then sat down to relax and reflect upon the day. We couldn’t reach Grandma Dixie as she must be out of cell range. We also didn’t talk to Annette so we’ll be calling you both today. Hope all’s well and that you enjoyed the day. Rest up as New Year’s is right around the corner! God Bless.

Merry Christmas everyone! We were awaken by Ty at 5:53am saying “come on, come on, let’s go, it’s Christmas!” It was like a scene out of a movie. Lori and I, groggy from being instantly jarred awake, told him to go get his brother and we’d be right down. Five minutes later we were on the couch opening our Christmas stockings while the coffee was brewing and the snow falling outside the window.

For the first hour we opened some gifts and then saved a few for after we shower. The boys were super excited and loved everything, but first let’s get to last night.

We took off at 3pm and headed out to ranch country to the 4 Eagle Ranch for a Cowboy Christmas service. We arrived at the ranch which has about a dozen buildings initially built in the 1800’s but now refurbished, that had one big building that was  a giant horse arena that had chairs for hundreds of people. On the stage was a band with about 10 cowboys and cowgirls getting ready to play. They handed you candy canes as you walked in and had hot coffee and cocoa also as it was cold outside. There must have been 300 people from a month old to 90. Soon the band started playing a rockin version of Joy To The World and they had a big screen behind the band with the words on it. As soon as it started the entire crowd stood up and began singing along together. After a few songs, the pastor, in black cowboy hat and all, who I had met earlier in the bathroom, go figure, began his message from God. Now we’ve been to a lot of church services but this was the best. He was so funny and weaved God’s message into everyday examples of life everyone could relate to. Before you knew it, us and 300 of our closest friends said a prayer and the band began again. Afterwards, we headed outside by a fire pit where the kids were roasting marshmallows for s’mores. It was the best service we as a family had ever been to. Lori said, “who knew, all we needed was a cowboy church, a cowboy pastor and a cowboy band”. We (we were with our friends who works with Lori and whose son is in Jag’s class) all left and headed home for Christmas Eve. It was a great night that brought in the light of the Lord to our family. This may sound corny to you but it was one of those magical times when you felt closer to God. In any case, I won’t preach but it works for us as a family.

So back to the morning, it’s 7:12 am and we need to get cleaned up to head to Denver. It’s snowing and we’re supposed to get a foot today so we hope we can get over the pass, and more importantly, get back up later today. We’re off to Grandma’s house, over the hills and through the woods to Grandma’s house we go, literally!

In closing, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and wish we could be with each and every one of you. Know that we’re with you in spirit. Love and Joy to all and we’ll for sure talk to you later today, God Bless.