Christmas 2012

Primo Cookies

Preparing shrimp/sausage dip

Mere and Clyde

Eric's beard Val knitted for him.

The bocce score board from Mere and Tim

Another Christmas has come and gone and this year was an especially good one.  We braved the small blizzard for mass at Midnight too.  The ciopinno and wedding soup were delishous too.  Valerie arrived on her birthday so she was able to meet Lauren before she headed out to Ct.  Mere and Tim arrived on the 22nd and had to return early on the 26th.  Tyler left for NYC and Ct. on the 27th for New Year's.  Eric was able to be here for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.  Cookies were decorated and the kids helped prepare the meals.  Clyde, Charlie, and Jerry all got along and kept each other worn out (Chris came down from Minturn on the 25th for dinner).  We did miss seeing Chops and Turk.  My two standby sayings remain true............'There's never enough time' and 'Things always work out.'  We also missed seeing and talking to family but skype helps.

Happy Birthday to our Brown Eyed Girl!

Yesterday was Val's 29th birthday.  She drove thru the night to get here from North Dakota.  We had a relaxing day with a 'birthday breakfast', a 'birthday shower', 'birthday knitting by the fire', 'birthday tequila lime chicken pasta', and leftover chocolate mousse cake. Then we watched 'birthday Christmas Vacation'.  Today we are celebrating with Tiramisu  Cake, sushi (she doesn't get it in N.D.), and presents.  I think she gets a better deal all around since we try to make it special since it's so close to Christmas.  Happy Birthday Val!

Homemade Apple Slices

I occasionally check a blog called The Italian Dish and have been wanting to try these apple slices for quite some time.  They are easy and yummy.  I sliced Granny Smith apples with my mandolin, sprinkled them with raw sugar and a little cinnamon and put them in the dehydrator instead of the oven.  They would make great hiking food and look very 'Marthaish' with the cute little star.  The seeds fall out and aren't a problem.  Also they are thin enough that it doesn't take very long to dry a batch.  Three to four apples filled my dehydrator.  Even Arn thought they were tasty.

The Nutcracker on Ice

Yesterday Gma and I went to see The Nutcracker on Ice at the Sertich Ice Arena.  It was performed by members of the Centennial Ice Skating Club.  It was well worth it and very enjoyable.  The costumes were great too.  We'll likely make it a tradition but need to remember to take a thermos, snacks, and a blanket.

The Palmer Lake Star

A small town tradition I truly love.............................The Palmer Lake Star.

Fav Meal................Bracciole and Stuffed Shells

We had a few friends over for dinner the other night and Arn made Bracciole with Marinara Sauce (San Marzano tomatoes).  I made 2 batches of Stuffed Shells.  Everything turned out great and was very delicious.  We've been eating lots of left overs all  week.  I just used the recipe on the box of shells and added spinach.  He rolled the round steak with cheese and bread crumbs and simmered it in the sauce for several days.  Yummy !

Trying to Get Organized.......

I've been on a mission to 'red up, ream out, delete clutter, organize, simplify'.  I've got most of our old paperwork and files organized by year and eliminate that year when it passes the seven year mark.  I've sent several boxes of old vhs tapes to ACT Recycle 2200 Burlington, Columbia, Missouri 65202.  They are an organization who help handicapped adults have a job, earn money, feel useful, and help the environment.  They used to clean and recycle the vhs tapes but not dismantle and recycle them.  They grind up the plastic and I don't know where it goes from there.  Check out their website.
They now take CDs, DVD's, floppy discs, and cases.  You can send them to them at the book rate and they will send you a tax receipt.  While cleaning out some items to send (turbotax cd's from 2000, old cd's from Arn's old job) I came across a bunch of floppy discs (with backups from computers we don't even own anymore.  Some of the discs had info on them from the kids school years.  What to do....... After looking online and seeing that it costs $17.00 per floppy to retrieve the info I looked in the cupboard of old computer stuff and found a FLOPPY DISK DRIVE !!!! Let me know if you'd like to borrow it sometime.   It is really easy to see what is on each floppy and it's kind of fun because I've found Tyler's college essay and some poems by Arn that we thought were gone forever.  I'm even finding pictures I haven't seen in years.   Now my project will be looking at about a dozen floppy disks, transferring the files to the lap top, deleting the floppy, and getting it ready to mail off to Missouri.  Another thing to conquer in the future are the many unorganized pictures filling many tubs.  I did move them all to a location easier to move in case of another forest fire scare.  Scanning all those pics, giving everybody a copy of the discs, not sure what I'll do.  I still feel the need to have hard copies of pictures......I welcome any suggestions.

I can't wait to be able to get rid of the many TTEO notebooks hanging out on a shelf in the laundry room closet.

Johnny's Navajo Hogan

Today we checked out Johnny's Navajo Hogan.  I had a coupon and I've been driving past the Hogan for years.  It is on the National Historic Registry and was built in 1935.  The two wooden dome ceilings are built without using any nails.  It' been lots of different venues over the years but was reopened a year or so ago and is basically a bar with live music on the weekends.  We went for lunch.  The pizza was good and the broasted chicken was delish too.  It's a cool building and we will probable go back for the chicken or try one of the burgers.

The Perfect Tree

This past Monday was the first day the forest service started selling tree permits.  We weren't sure if it was going to happen this year  due to the Waldo Canyon fire.  The cutting area was unaffected so we got our permit ($10.00) and drove to Woodland Park.  We decided to drive all the way in to the end of the cutting area (15 mi.) since the weather was beautiful and there was no snow.  We found a beautiful Engleman spruce (the same species that the White House has this year from Colorado) and had it cut and on the top of the car within about 30 min.  Since the weather was great we decided to have an adventure and drive home over Mt. Herman Rd.  We back tracked about 10 mi. and then drove about 45 min. toward Monument.  It is beautiful up there but has some messy areas due to 'shooting spots' and 'drinking camps'.  It was great trip over the mountain.  The tree is up but not decorated.  We thought we were going smaller this year but it looks pretty tall (12 ft.).   Another perfect tree and we helped the environment by thinning the forest.
Mt. Herman Rd was in great shape since it was used so much during the fire and it looks like they have been doing lots of thinning up there for fire prevention.

Thanksgiving 2012

We had a very nice Thanksgiving this year.  Meredith and Tim, Tyler and Lauren, and Chris and Maren were all able to make it down for turkey.  Everybody pitched in and helped and the turkey and turkey breast turned out great.  Jerry, Clyde, and Charlie all got along great for the most part and kept each other worn out from all of the playing outside.  The weather was mild so we were able to play bocce, take a hike out to Monument Rock and make a visit to O'Malley's. I still don't know how to 'turn' a pic. We missed Val and Eric but we'll be seeing them for Christmas.

1st Snow Hike of the Season (End of Oct.)

Before I left for Calif. Arn and I took a hike up to the reservoirs.  We were hoping for more snow but it was pretty anyway. Arn even wore his yak trax. These were taken the last week of October.

Mending a Heart

Looking down the hill toward the hospital

San Francisco Bay Trail

1st trip back to walk on the beach @ Pacifica (with his heart hugger)

I'm back from spending some time with my brother to help him recuperate from his heart surgery.  I was there 2 weeks.  He did well and is on the mend.  The hospital was in a great area and I would try to walk as much as I could in between visits.  I found a walk along the water, a loop on a bike path thru a neighborhood and a nice walk up a hilly street.  I also found a great Italian grocery store and a hole in the wall sandwich shop (Little Lucca's) so I need to walk more now that I am back home.  Rock is feeling better everyday and is utilizing visiting nurses, a visiting physical therapist, and eventually cardiac rehab.  He should be able to drive again after his Dec. 5th appt.  In the meantime he's walking around his apt. complex which is beautiful and very park like.  We are so glad and thankful that he found out about his aortic stenosis and that the surgery is all done. Now......on with his retirement!

San Bruno, Ca. Visit

Rock @ Golden Gate Park

Pacifica

Miramar - on the water

Pacifica Pier

After our trip down the coast we spent a couple of days with Rock in San Bruno.  We went to the Golden Gate Park (Science Academy), out to eat at Crusteaceans, checked out Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, and had a nice lunch at an ocean front place called the Miramar. 


Heading back to Ca. tomorrow ............watch for future posts.

Hwy 1 - Jenner,Ca. to San Francisco

View from Hwy 1 near Jenner,Ca.

The mouth of the Russian River

Muir Beach

A vulture on the cliffs where we hiked.

Bodega Bay