A Year of Change

Hard to believe isn’t it, December 1st, wow. We started the day with Lori and I waking at a little after 6 to get ready to go cut our Christmas tree. We managed to get the boys up and ready and in the truck by 7:20. About an hour and 10 minutes later (after stopping for donuts and coffee) we were past Copper Mountain on the road up to Leadville. We found a spot where a snow plow had cleared a side road a bit up into the forest, put the truck into 4 wheel drive and pulled off. We jumped out and proceeded to hike up the road covered in deep snow trying not to sink in too deep. After a ways up the road we found a good tree about 10 feet or so off into the forest. I took a step off the road towards the tree and sunk in above my knee. The next step was a bit deeper but finally I made my way to our chosen tree. It only took me a minute or so to saw it at the base and haul it out to the family. Lori and I then carried it down the snowy road and threw it in the back of the truck. Ty meanwhile found himself his own Charlie Brown tree which is about 18″ tall.

Next up was a stop in Frisco for a snack before heading home to Denver. About 10:20 or so we pulled up to the house. It was actually 10 degrees cooler in Denver than in the mountains. Lori then began to work her magic. Meanwhile Jag and I went to the store and when we returned Lori had the tree up and inside with the lights about to go on. She’s a master at decorating, especially if it revolves around some sort of holiday, and Christmas is King!

It’s now 5:45am and Jagger and I are headed up to Vail to see Dr. Viola at 7:30. Hopefully we’ll be back by 10am. We’ll know after his appointment how long he’s off his snowboard for. Lori and Jag will go snowshoeing next weekend while Ty and I hit the slopes as I’m sure Jag will be off at least for a few weeks, if not longer.

Lori has a big week at work and Ty is at Ameritown today. Lots of Christmas shows start this week, many of them classics. Hope everyone is well, have to get moving so have a great day and God Bless.

p.s. Great day for the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos! Go Broncos!

The day started out good with all of us sleeping in a bit (except for me) before hitting the slopes. Lori dropped us off a bit before 10am and we headed up the lift. Everything was fine until about an hour in when Jag took a spill and put out his hands which is a natural reaction. Well it turns out he broke his right arm in two places a bit above the wrist. We could tell right away as he was in pain and it was swelling up. Lori picked us up and we headed right over to the hospital emergency room, ching ching $$$$!

It took us a good hour to get x-rays and see the doctor but once he came in and found out who we were (we know lots of people at the hospital) he took really good care of us. You see Jagger had seen the top hand and arm specialist from the Steadman Clinic (same place that did Lori’s neck) when he broke his elbow so his name was on his chart. Anyhow the ER doctor called Dr. Viola (the specialist) who was on call to look at Jag’s x-rays. He determined that it was best not to try to set it until at least Monday if at all. Next week is the Birds of Prey Downhill which is the World Cup Ski Race in Beaver Creek and Dr. Viola is working with all the international teams for the whole week but said he’d come in early Monday morning to see Jagger. So Monday morning at O dark thirty Jag and I will head back up to Vail.

We thought of just staying until then but Ty has Ameritown which is a big thing for all 5th graders and Ty is the President of the University and has to be there! So about 3:30 we loaded up the car and headed down the hill to Denver. Too bad as I’m really skiing well, ha ha. It’s almost freaky how well I’m skiing, hope it keeps up!

We made it home by 6pm as there were a couple of accidents that slowed us down. Jag is doing fine and even opted not to take any pain pills. Today we’re running back up into the mountains to cut our Christmas tree as we didn’t get to it yesterday. We’ll also try to get the rest of our lights up as tis the season!

So that’s it for us, can you believe it? Another hospital visit and more medical bills, wow! All we could do is laugh. I told Jag not to worry as he’s getting all his medical issues out of  the way while he’s young. He was a real trooper as I could tell it hurt bad. He told me he thought he was going to throw up from the pain so you know it was bad. Wonder what’s in store for us next, maybe we should have a contest!

And lest I forget, Happy Birthday Annette!!

God Bless.

We started the day out by getting up at 6am and were on the slopes by 9. The boys went snowboarding and I decided to ski for a few hours by myself. I haven’t skied in a couple of years since I had knee surgery in May 2013 but all was good. Thankfully skiing for me is like riding a bike. Everything came back to me and by the 3rd run it was as if I had never been off my skis. Now my muscles, that’s another story. I could feel the burn in both my quads from the first run and had to force myself to conciously relax between turns. By the evening I was sore though but I’ll work through it today and after 30 minutes of pain or so, it’ll go away. I’m just lucky that way, knock on wood!

Around noon or so I hooked up with the boys and I did a few runs with them on their snowboards. They are both doing incredible for never really snowboarding before. By next weekend I should be able to take them just about anywhere on the mountain. At 1pm Lori picked us all up and we then grabbed some leftovers for lunch before heading out for some afternoon sledding. Finally at 5 we ended up at a restaurant where the owner is a friend. By 6pm we were done and boy it felt like 10pm!

Today the boys and I will hit the slopes in the morning and then in the afternoon we’re going out scouting the woods for the perfect Christmas tree that we have a permit to cut down. We’ll strap it on top of the car and hopefully get it down to Denver tomorrow. That’s about it, lots of exercise and fun in the sun and snow. Hope you all are well, have a great day and God Bless.

Well she did it, after 14 years of trying to make a good turkey, not only did Lori make a good turkey, she knocked it out of the park! Yesterday we had what was basically the perfect turkey, and she doesn’t even really like turkey! The skin was golden brown, the white meat moist and the dark meat perfect. She used a Martha Stewart recipe where she soaked cheese cloth in white wine and butter and cooked the turkey for the first few hours with that covering the breast. She even stuffed it! Throw in mashed potato’s and gravy, green beans, cranberries and pie and it was a great meal.

First up though was the boys morning of snowboarding. They were on the hill from about 9 until 1 and did great. All the international race teams are here practicing so they were side by side with the French, Italians, Germans, Canadians, the U.S. and more. They were running gates (the race course) on the hill next to the boys. After boarding, sledding was up next. We made our own course on a hill which was fun and fast. After that the boys built gingerbread houses which we picked up at Walmart for $8 bucks. Throw in our favorite Christmas movie, One Magic Christmas, and it was a fun family day.

Today the boys are back on the hill and I’ll ski this morning and then hook up with the boys around noon. No Black Friday shopping for us as all our money this year is going to skiing and snowboarding. Lori is determined to make sure the kids ski every waking moment they’re not in school this year as it’s such good exercise and basically required for every kid if you live in Colorado. Now they know how to ski but the snowboarding thing, even though they’ve played around, is pretty much new. By the way, Mojo is in heaven romping through the deep snow and then laying down in front of the fire on his bed with a fresh bone. It’s like a Hallmark Card.

Hope everyone had a great meal and fun time wherever you were. I know my Mom was excited for all the football. I didn’t see much with all the activities. Thanks to Uncle T for watching the house and turning our lights on and off. (I did stop the paper) Have a great day and God Bless.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We should all take a moment to be thankful for all the wonders of life! I’m especially thankful for my family meaning Lori and the boys but also for each and everyone of you. Aunt Robi pretty much said the same thing in her comment from yesterday.

Before I get into the day, WTF is going on with all these people protesting the decision not to charge the police officer in Missouri who shot a criminal who tried to attack him. They had a Grand Jury enquiry with both black and white people who said he was within his rights to use force. But no, the easily manipulated stupid people who are out protesting and destroying businesses, may of them black owned, are nothing more than common criminals. Without knowing all the facts, (and no one does unless they were in the Grand Jury) have decided that this police officer is guilty. This right here should tell you something about mob mentality. It doesn’t matter what’s right or wrong when people are prodded into acting out. How sad this is if you really think about it.

Now onto the day. Lori arrived home around 6:30 with a raging headache and the boys and I were gone most of the day running errands and going to a basketball clinic at Columbine High School in the afternoon which was really good.

This morning we’re loading up the suburban and heading for the hills. It was snowing too hard last night plus we didn’t have all our gear together. The mountains have been getting lots of snow so we should get some good ski and snowboard action in over the next few days. Hopefully no one will break any bones!

More later as we’re running late, take care and God Bless, time to hit the road!

That’s right, sometime between 5 and 6pm tonight, Lori will be off work and begin her much needed, much deserved, 5 days off. Although in theory I too am off, I’m never really, off! Regardless I’m determined to get the misses some much needed rest and relaxation.

Today I’ll be wrapping up the month and working on December to close out the year strong. I think the boys are going to a basketball clinic in the afternoon but am waiting to hear from our neighbor who will drive them.

I’ll be getting the kids and my ski gear together so we can have some fun in the snow over the next few days. I’m not sure how I’m going to get everything in the car but will figure it out. I’m sure some sledding and snowshoeing will also be in the cards. Anyhow more to come, hope you all have big plans for turkey day, take care and God Bless.

Hard to believe, don’t blink or you’ll miss it! Yesterday we dug out our tree from the attic and Lori as usual made our home look like something out of a Hallmark card. I thought we were maybe a bit early but today am thinking we’re late! We were going to go to the football game but I could tell Lori wasn’t really up to it so I sold the tickets and stayed home to help, although I really didn’t do much except watch football. Still it was good to spend the day at home, even though it was the game of the century! Oh well, there’s always the Buffalo game on December 7th.

As you know the boys are off this week. I woke up at 4:30 for a 5am conference call with my guy in New York only to call him and have him ask “didn’t you get my text”? When I said no he told me the meeting had been moved to next week. Oh well, sleep is overrated anyhow.

Today after my 9am conference call I’m going to throw the boys in the truck (not literally of course) and drive up into the hills a bit to get our Christmas tree cutting permits. Up first though will be a trip to the gym and then a stop at the store as we’re out of coffee! I don’t know how this happened as I always buy in bulk meaning about 20 pounds at a time. Trust me, you don’t want to see Lori without her coffee.

Next up will be starting to get stuff together to take the boys skiing this week. Lori works today and tomorrow and then is off until December 1st which is good timing as we all just need a break. A special thanks to Dixie and Don who for Christmas bought our season passes for skiing. Without them we couldn’t really ski much as it’s just too expensive these days ($90 per person per day) and the deadline was yesterday. I could do without it but the boys really want to go and they should as it’s a great sport that they can have fun with their whole life, and of course I just can’t drop them at the curb, so the three of us will be whizzing down the slopes. Lori with her neck surgery is verbotten (that’s German) from the slopes! Good news is we’ll have curbside service as she can drop us off and pick us up each day. Maybe I’ll get her a little chauffeur outfit for Christmas, that’ll go over big! I’m going to try to get them on the slopes 3 days this week at least.

Time to run so I can get to the gym and as I said, get Lori her coffee! Hope everyone is well, take care and God Bless.

Yesterday Lori was on a mission. Part of it was staying so busy she didn’t have time to think about anything else. I moved some wine from the front room for her and next time I looked (like this morning) the downstairs front rooms were spotless!

Jag went to a movie with a friend and her Mom and brother, and Ty went to the trampoline place with Vinny and his parents so we managed to keep the place clean for the day.

Today is the Bronco game and I was going to take some people but am now taking the family so we’re all together. After a few phone calls we found some tickets for my friends so we’re all going after all.

Next up is Monday and Tuesday work for Lori and I and then some skiing and snowboarding for the rest of the week. Hope my knee is all rehabilitated, I’ve been trying to work the legs hard at the gym. Lori will drop us three off each morning and then do her own thing whether snowshoeing or resting or whatever. All in all we’re just looking forward to a break. That’s it, time to run as her comes the wife with my coffee, yea!

Hope everyone is well, take care, God Bless and Go Broncos!

Thank you for your kind words and comfort yesterday with Lori’s dad passing away. It’s important for all of us to remember that although his body is dead, his spirit lives on. Here’s a couple comments,

1. Robi says:

   November 21, 2014 at 4:13 pm

   I’m so sorry about your dad Lori, it makes me cry. Glad you got to see him recently. As much as you hate to see him go, trust me, it is much more painful watching your dad suffer. XO

   Reply
2. Eleanor Tafoya says:

   November 21, 2014 at 10:26 pm

   Lori yesterday when you called him as soon as he knew that was you calling, he just lit up and you made his day. He loved you so much, he is in a good place now, I loved him so much that it hurts, time will pass and we can laugh at his funny stories and his funny humor, he is missed but not ever be forgotten.

   I went down to her office around 10am as I sensed something was up. About 45 minutes later at 10:5 MST, Dixie called to say her dad passed away. After dealing with the moment, we decided to go to lunch. We then made it back a little after noon and I hung out until it was time to go get the kids.

   Next up was Ty’s basketball game at 8pm and today he has team pictures. Then maybe we’ll get some Christmas decorations up. Cindy our neighbor has insisted on bringing us dinner tonight so that’ll be nice. Time to run so I can hit the gym. Hope all’s well and  let’s all say a prayer for Bob, God Bless.