A Year of Change

Couldn’t have drawn it up any better. The day was perfect. Everyone had fun, loved their gifts and the food was amazing. Throw in a Broncos and Nuggets, (in overtime), win, and there you have it. Now it’s onto the end of the year and 2026.

We were up early this morning as Ty’s off to work and Ava works at 7. She’s obviously working remote and grabbing some coffee and yogurt now at 6:30. She has her three monitors set up and will be on the phone until 3. We’ll head to the gym and then go see Ty for breakfast. Jag is sleeping.

We only have a couple of things to exchange due to sizing. The kids all got things they wanted, and Ty went boarding on the mountain for a few hours. Lori found a letter in our tree from Santa! We’re not sure where it came from as no one saw it the night before!

Here’s the letter!

WOW! Quite the letter from Santa! I never got one like that, and I wrote him a lot!

That’s it, time for coffee. Have a great Boxing Day and God Bless.

Well, it’s here. Before we get going, take a moment to reflect just what the day is all about. We all have our own thoughts and interpretation of what Christmas means, so I’ll leave it up to you to think about what the meaning of the day is. From all of us, have a very Merry Christmas!

Yesterday we were busy. We delivered some presents to the neighbor kids and did a bunch of last-minute shopping. Ty made it home from work around 5:30 or so and the kids made it up from Denver about 30 minutes later.

We had a great dinner of crab, shrimp, caviar and of course, champagne. After dinner we hung out until probably 10:45pm before heading to bed. Ty went up early as he was up at 5:30am to go to work.

Lori is making us coffee here at 6:30 and the kids are all still sleeping. It’s nice outside, but we’re supposed to get a little snow Saturday night into Sunday morning. Today we’re having prime rib and lobster, and more champagne, but for breakfast, Lori’s famous 24 hour French Toast.

Lori is in the shower right now and the stockings, that are hung by the chimney with care, right, are full to the brim. I think Jagger and Ava are moving, while Ty is still snug in his bed! Ha, I just can’t help myself!

So Merry Christmas to everyone! We’ll call everyone later today. Wish we were all together, maybe one of these years, God Bless, and Go Broncos!

Well, it’s here. That happened in the blink of an eye, right? We always say time goes faster as you get older. But we’ll make the best of it and milk every second of the day.

6:40am now, and Ty is off to work 20 minutes ago. Yesterday I ran a bunch of errands, and we have more today. At the post office, I had 36 people in front of me, waiting to pick up packages. I need to go back today, as Ty’s big Santa present is there somewhere.

We also need to hit the gym, then Hovey for fresh bread and pastries for the neighbors, then Costco and then, who know what else.

Big news of the day is I’m getting a new truck. If I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know, even when you see it. It looks just like my 2024 Chevy but is a 2026. I ordered a suburban, but it isn’t going to arrive by the 31st, and to get the 100% tax deduction, I need to buy one before the end of the year. I was keeping my truck so in the end, I’m just replacing it with a new one. It’s the same color and everything which is why no one will even recognize its new. It will have zero miles on it instead of 56,000, but that’s the only difference. I’m still searching for that elusive Porsche 911 made around 2016 for $75,000 or less, with low miles and a perfect history. I’ll find one someday.

Time to get moving, have a great Christmas Eve. The kids should be up around 6 tonight if there’s not much traffic. It’ll be fun to have a full house. Enjoy and we’ll talk to you all soon. Merry Christmas and God Bless you all.

Made it to Denver around 10am. I pulled over in Applejack’s parking lot, fired up my computer and had my conference call. Then I headed to meet Jag to pick up Tommy’s present from him. He had Ty’s too as I think they bought them when Ty was down for the game. We grabbed a quick burrito at our favorite breakfast place and then I headed to Tom and Holly’s. I dropped their presents and picked ours up. We’re all going to get together for dinner around the first week of January after all the rush of the holidays are over.

I was there around 12:30 and visited for 30 to 45 minutes. Her new puppy who is almost a year old, jumps, barks and mouths you, non-stop. I’m fine with that though as Harley has me conditioned to all that already.

I stopped and picked up some groceries and then picked up our prime rib at the meat market. We have a three bone, nine-pound roast, that, get this, was $365 bucks! That’s like $40 a pound, unbelievable. Hope we don’t overcook it, right?

Ty’s big present is stuck at Fed Ex in Henderson Colorado, which I think is down by Pueblo. Not sure if it’ll make it.

Ty works at 7, Lori as soon as she can get there, and I’m headed to the gym. I might end up trading my 2024 truck in for a 2026. I have a suburban on order, but if it doesn’t get here by the end of the year, I’ll upgrade the truck, as I need the tax deduction. You have to buy by December 31st to get the deduction this year. It’ll take $80,000 right off the top of our taxable income. It’s close to getting the truck for free! I’ll know more today. I was keeping my truck anyhow so upgrading is not a bad thing if I go that way. Ty is all over me keeping the truck!

That’s it, time to get moving, have a great day, and God Bless.

Three days to go! Ho ho ho. When we were kids we’d track Santa on the Santa Tracker from NORAD down in Colorado Springs. That’s the military base built into Cheyenne Mountain that controls most of the nations nuclear arsenal. Santa is on the move by the 24th due to the different time zones around the World.

Tough loss for the Broncos yesterday. Hopefully it resets us and gets us ready for the next two games. Sooner or later the streak had to end. We’re back at it in Kansas City Thursday night.

Think I’ll run down to Tommy’s this morning to drop off his presents. I have a call at 10 but can do that from the car on my phone. I need to get our prime rib for Christmas Eve too as we’re having surf and turf.

Time to get moving, have a great day, 7:30am now, God Bless.

We made it to town around 10am and ran a couple errands before heading over to the kids place. Once there, we walked over to Linger to meet Andre and Julie. Ronan, Ava’s little brother, took an Uber from the airport as he flew in from Boston, and showed up ten minutes later. It was a fun lunch that lasted 90 minutes or a bit more. The food was so so. Lori and I ordered the lobster roll, and it was horrible. But then, we weren’t there for the food.

Sooner or later, or probably already, Andre, Julie and Ronan are part of our family. The kids aren’t married but we’re pretty sure it’s just a matter of time. We’d be shocked if they don’t end up together. Anyhow, we all had fun and after lunch Julie and Andre took an Uber back to their hotel and we walked back to the kid’s apartment where we hung out for a few minutes before heading home. Of course, we had some Little Man Ice Cream, which is right next door to the restaurant, while we walked back.

We were home by 3:30 or so and hung out the rest of the day. Ty showed up around 5:30. He’s taking off this morning in about an hour to meet Jagger for the big Bronco game in Denver. Lori is headed to Glenwood in 15 minutes at 6:45 for a 7:30 appointment with April to get her hair done. Me, I’ll be headed to the gym.

The game is at 2, and we should, knock on wood, win. After Green Bay’s epic collapse last night, you never know what can happen. The weather looks good for the game.

Tuesday I’m going to run down and drop off Tom and Holly’s presents. I have some calls tomorrow. Then Wednesday it’s Christmas Eve. Jag and Ava are driving up I think around noon, when she gets off work.

That is it for the day. Hope everyone is well and enjoying the season, God Bless.

Today at 11, we have our lunch with Ava’s parents and the kids. Should be fun. Yesterday after my call, Lori and I headed over to Basalt for some groceries and some last minute shopping. The first store we went in to was a nice little shop, but some things were expensive. When I walked in I noticed this lady shopping too and thought she looked a little familiar. I kept shopping and when we were checking out, I was standing next to her, and it came to me. It was Goldie Hawn. As soon as I walked out of the store, there was Kurt Russell, talking away on his phone. We put our stuff in our car and headed to another store, and there again was Goldie, ha. Kurt was still pacing back and forth outside on the phone. Lori said, I think I’ll ask him to do a Christmas Chronicles 3!

They live in Basalt and have had a home there for 20 some years. Now if we would have run into Goldie’s daughter, Kate, that would have been something. after stopping at a couple more little local stores, we headed into Whole Foods for groceries. Finally around 2, we made it home.

Ty’s off to work already and is off tomorrow to go to the game, and then I think back at work Monday. We’re looking forward to seeing Jag and Ava today. Julie and Andre are fun too.

Looks like the wind is still blowing on the front range. Tom’s neighborhood has been without power for most of the past 3 or 4 days, but he has a generator that kicks in right away, so he’s been fine.

My buddy invited me to the game tomorrow, but I don’t think I’m up for the drive down again two days in a row. I’m excited for the boys though. Green Bay plays Chicago tonight and of course this week, I want the Packers to win.

6:30 am now, time to get moving so we can be on the road in an hour. Five days to go until Christmas! We’re still waiting on some things to arrive. Hope they get here in time. God Bless and Go Broncos!

Big day, Tom is 65! WOW! Medicare, social security and a bunch of senior discounts are now yours! You’re officially an old man. Wonder what that makes me, hmmm.

I have a call with Italy this morning at 9 and then Lori and I are headed to Glenwood or Carbondale for some last-minute shopping. My buddy Gareth, who sold his event company for around $80 million, is up until Christmas at his place he owns at the Westin. He invited me to go down for the Broncos game Sunday, (the boys have my tickets), so I might go. We’re going to hang out at his place today in the 55-degree weather for a bit.

More strong winds in Denver today. Looks nice tomorrow when we’re down for lunch with Jag and Ava and her parents. It’s an early lunch, 11am, so we should be on the road to Denver by 8:30 or so.

Ty’s off to work. Not sure if we’ll make the gym this morning with my call at 9. It’s 6:20 am now so I think we have time. Have a great day, not long now until Christmas, God Bless.

Lots of homes without power down in Denver. Winds topped 100 miles an hour! Not sure if Tom’s power is out or not. At least he has a generator. I ended up not going to Denver with all the wind as we’ll see Jag and Ava on Saturday. It was a little windy up here but nothing like down there. The news is showing trees down and stuff strewn all over the roads in the city. Looks like it might stick around for a few days.

Jagger had a great birthday. Ava came home early, and they went to Cholon for some food, and then had friends over last night. We facetimed with them so we could watch him open some presents. Ty is off today so he went to hang out with some friends last night. Think he’s going boarding on the mountain today.

It looks warm for the next 10 days, maybe the rest of the year. We’re fine with that, as the snow and cold will come, it always does. For now, we love having dry roads.

5:45am now. We have some presents to wrap for the boys today and a few more things to get. Maybe we’ll run to Glenwood today, we’ll see. Have a great day, Tom’s birthday is tomorrow. He’ll be the big 65! Big game this weekend too. They’re all big at this time of the year. Go Broncos and God Bless.

Today Jagger is 24 years old! Hard to believe. We’re so proud of him. Both boys are just incredible young men. I was headed down to Denver to have lunch with him, but really high winds and power outages are coming today, so I’ll skip it. We will see him on Saturday when we go down for lunch with Ava and her parents. We gave Jag a bunch of presents last weekend so he has some stuff to open. Happy Birthday Son! We love you!

Lori works in Vail today and I’ll get some more computer work done. Tomorrow, I have a meeting at 10am and then am open. Ty worked until 11 or so last night and is already out the door at 6:20 this morning, headed back to the restaurant.

Lori is feeling better but does have a sore neck. Dr. B said it’ll take at least 8 weeks, probably 12, for things to settle down. All things considering, it was a great success.

That’s it for the day, one week and it’ll be Christmas Eve! God Bless.