Rock finally came to visit us again!! We enjoyed his visit and hope he comes again soon. Luckily the weather was great while he was here and we went on a hike out to Monument Rock with Maggie. Love ya, Trunkle Trock!

Yummy Homemade Pizza and More

Tyler has been cooking a lot the last couple of years (the girls always have) and we are finally getting to taste some of his creations. He and Miranda came down to see Grandma at rehab and while they were here Tyler made the best pizza I've ever tasted. He makes his crust from scratch and uses fresh mostly organic toppings. It was delicious. This was my fav - pesto, ricotta, tomato, and pinenuts.
Meredith recently showed me how to make chille relenos using egg roll wrappers, roasted green chiles, and cheese. I knew the Fry Daddy would come in handy some day. They can be served with green chile on top but we ate them while they were crunchy and dipped them in raspberry chipotle sauce. Mere also made Cranpinapeno Jam for Christmas which is great on cream cheese.
Valerie brought us some chokecherry jam/syrup and we used it on some great 'made from scratch' blueberry pancakes while Uncle Rock was here. I'm looking forward to trying some of her canned items once she plants her garden. She got a canning set for Christmas.
It's rewarding as a mom to know my kids can do all these things!

Grandma 12/26/09

Wow, thinking back it's been a hectic past couple of weeks. Grandma arrived on the 21st of Dec. and seemed to be feeling the altitude a little more this time. We'd give her something to eat or some Gatorade and she'd feel better. The day after Christmas she started having some stroke symptoms so we made a trip to ER. They admitted her and the MRI showed a stroke (Thalmus and Occipital). She spent 12 days at HealthSouth Rehab Hosp. and made a lot of progress. They worked her out 3 hr. a day with OT, ST, and PT. She came home on Friday , 1/8/10, and is doing quite well. She's using a walker, is able to do steps, and seems almost back to normal. Vision and short term memory seem to be the problems. She has right sided visual field cuts so won't be able to drive and reading seems to be a big problem. Anyway, we are all glad to have her home and recovering. Outpt. therapy starts on Monday and she'll probably have it 3 times a week. Stan, Bea, Stan, Jr., Bry, Mason, CB, came over last eve for a pizza party to welcome her home. Rock is here visiting for the week. Gram made the dessert! (hicory nut cake). Post about Rock's vs. coming soon.....

We hosted Christmas Eve this year and had a wonderful time. Grandma spent some time with the Banks' and went to their church service. We attended midnight Mass as always. Christmas morning and day were relaxing and enjoyable. The kids slept in, we opened presents, and enjoyed the day. We always have biscotti and had monkey bread this year. In the evening we went to Stan and Bea's house for a Mexican Fiesta which was delicious and fun.

More pics.....

Christmas

We cut the tree again this year near the Rampart Range area but in a different area. I think next year we'll go back to the old area. The tree we chose is beautiful but big. Very tall and wide. It took the help of the Little Giant to get it decorated. Valerie and Eric drove down from North Dakota on the 19th and Grandma flew in on the 21st. Tyler and Meredith came home from Boulder. We all celebrated Val's birthday by going our for sushi (something she doesn't get in North Dakota). We also spent her birthday baking cookies and decorating the gingerbread house.