Thanksgiving Wrap Up

Where did this last week go? It just flew right by. Landon only had school Monday and Tuesday. I was busy getting things ready for Thanksgiving, birthday gifts for my dad, starting to get Christmas stuff out and set up. Next thing I knew, it was Thanksgiving!

We had our friend over for Thanksgiving. We ate around 2. We cooked a 26lb turkey, green bean casserole, candied yams, mashed potatoes, gravy and some pumpkin pie fudge. Amanda brought the stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, deviled eggs, pecan pie and pumpkin pie. The food was great! The boys had fun playing and being boys. 

Me, Amanda and her friend took off close to 4 to go shopping. We stopped at Michaels first and grabbed a few things. We decided to venture to Toys R Us to see how nuts it was there. It was nuts, that's for sure. The line was wrapped almost all the way around the store. We just waited to watch people go crazy. They were only letting so many people in the store at a time. Next was Walmart. We all got a few odds and ends. Then Target. I was so nervous. I wanted two big ticket items, electronics of course. I wanted the Canon Rebel T3 camera bundle, and a DSXL for Landon. We got there a little after 6. The line was pretty long already. It was cold. Low 30's. We waited and waited, BUT, I got my stuff. The DS and Camera were on the same end cap. I ran to them, grabbed them, and ran away! Worked out great. 

I am in LOVE with my camera by the way. It's SO SO nice. Why on Earth did I wait so long to get one?

Landon was trying his hardest to wait up for me. I was home around 10. Poor guy. The next morning we really got the bad boy up and taking pictures. 

We've been busy getting things out of storage, and still haven't decorated too much. It seems like we've been in the car a lot lately. Not sure why. 

ANNNNND Guess who's back? 

ZAP! 

While Landon fell asleep on the couch last night. Zap busted out of the box. He put their Advent Christmas Count Down calendars out for them and left a note!

Landon was SO excited to come down stairs and see that his box was open. He had fun trying to find him. And I had fun getting pictures! 

Owen was all about it too.  

I put Zap in the tree. You aren't supposed to touch him, and Owen was all over him, it gave Landon a panic attack almost. So he is safe in tree, out of harms, Owen's, way!

I am excited to have this little elf back! I started the month off stating everything I was thankful for. I saw it all over Facebook and it was getting kinda old. I decided to stop. I did realize how much I have, how blessed I am, and how thankful I am! I def have LOTS to be thankful for. 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Now that I have a nice camera that I'm obsessed with, I am sure I will enjoy blogging again and sharing lots of pictures!

New Chair

Owen got an early Christmas present last night. Oma and Opa got him a chair for Christmas. We've been wanting to get him one so he has somewhere to sit. He will sit in his highchair in the morning and watch cartoons while he finishes eating. He's always sitting on toys, and when he drinks his milk or juice he just plops on the ground. 

He LOVES Mickey and Elmo right now, and we found this super cute chair at Costco.

He loves it. 

Landon even fits in the chair and when Owen was in the bath he was sitting in it! AND, of course the box is always fun. 

Thank you Oma and Opa!

I can't believe it's only 31 days to Christmas! We started getting stuff out of storage last night. I've seen so many houses with their stuff up. I was like, man it's early, but if you think about it, most years we would have already had Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we went to the Commissary and bought our stuff for Thanksgiving dinner! I can't wait. We are having our friends over. We've invited a few other people, but most people have plans. Now that the stores open early, you know I have to go shopping, we don't want too many people around and have to kick them out so I can go shopping! hahaha. I kid. Kinda. 

Are you going shopping this year? I hate the fact that the stores open SO early. But I love to go, it's fun. There are a few items I am looking to get, and I hope I can get them! Both being big ticket things and electronics, and I will elbow someone if I need to, hahaha!

Family Pictures

We had some family photos taken a few weeks back. I have a hard time picking a photographer. The lady who did ours last year was good, but I see all these amazing photos people get, and I just didn't get that from her. 

On one of the local FB pages a girl posted she was doing mini fall sessions for $75. Well I missed out on that darn it. Then I saw she was doing a mini Christmas session for $75. It was the day my dad was coming in. I didn't want to miss out, she was booked solid til the 8th of December. There was no way I could have waited that long! She booked up within an hour, and I am SO SO glad I was able to get in.

We went to this field north of us, and had the mountains in the back ground. It was like golden behind us. If we would have went earlier, we would have gotten more of the silhouette of the mountains, but I am SO happy with how it turned out. 

She guaranteed 5 pictures in this session. We got there and she got started right away. It was quick, no hassle, Owen was happy, we were outside and not in a studio. There was no one around and watching us. And it was fast, did I mention that already? Having a toddler that has a short attention span, this was huge! She was so patient, she sang to him to get him to look (Owen) and took a TON of pictures. 

We ended up with 19 pictures on the disc. 9 photos, in color and black and white and a template for a Christmas card. I am SO happy. Here is a sneak peek. I don't want to show them all til after Christmas cards and gifts go out!

I love this. Owen is pulling at Landon, like usual, Landon is looking like he did something and then it looks like I'm sticking my tongue at Greg, hahaha. I love this picture though. It's us! I just ordered my cards from Snapfish, and as I am looking through them I am second guessing myself. I HATE THAT. Why am I doing that to myself?? dang it! 

Oma and Opa's visit

Greg's Mom and Dad came to visit Tuesday night. It was nice to have so much company! I didn't realize how lonely I was. It was definitely nice to have all the family around. 

On Wednesday we went to the Commissary and got some groceries. Of course Retired Military love to go to the commissary, especially if they aren't close to one. Our Commissary has a TON of Germany Christmas cookies, candy and chocolates. They have stuff from England and Italy as well. They grabbed a bunch of that stuff! After that we went and ate at a Brazilian Steak House. Oh my. I've never been to one. It was GOOOOOOD! I was so full when we left. 

Once Landon was out of school we went to the US Olympic Training center. It's just a few miles down the road from us. It was so awesome. I loved it. I want to go back. It was a free tour. We got to see where the athletes train. My favorite thing was the gymnastics area. We got to see John Orozco do his vault. So awesome.(I know he's not doing the vault here! haha!)

We got to see where the gymnsits train, the volleyball players, swimmers, and the weightlifting area. That area was packed! The US Rowing Team was in there, and those are some BIG guys. Oh my goodness!! I think we were all in awe of these people. Such an awesome thing to see.

These were all the pictures I took. I do want to go back. Such a neat place. 

The rest of their visit we were pretty busy getting things ready for the party and Landon's birthday. I didn't take many pictures. I'm not sure why. We just were so busy. I hate that. (Not getting pictures)

They left on Saturday during Landon's party. They had to leave towards the end to make their flight. It was such a nice visit!

This has been a tough week. Owen was sick first off. I spent my Monday afternoon at the Doctors. Then Tuesday night I noticed he had a rash over his trunk and going up his neck and behind his ears. I figured it was something he ate, or his eczema. He'd been sleeping horrible because he was sick, Tuesday in to Wednesday was terrible. When I was changing him Wednesday morning I noticed that the rash was WORSE. So back to the doctors we went. She said he seemed to be having a reaction to the Amoxicillan. Great. So now he is on another antibiotic. He slept much better last night, and his rash is almost gone. That poor baby. I am just exhausted. I have no energy and am mentally drained. I can imagine how he feels.

This morning we had snow. Yay. Except the roads were PURE ice. Nice. Slippery. Cars stuck. Cars sliding. Cars crashed in to stop signs. Thank God I have 4WD and we just slid a tad when I was turning in to the school. Hope the roads are better at pick up time! 

Dad's Visit Part II

On Monday, Veteran's Day, we decided to go for a hike. The weather was just perfect while my dad was here. We decided to go to Red Rock. We hadn't been there in a while, since the start of summer, or end of Spring. There was lots of flooding up that way, and we were curious to see if it did any damage or anything. 

Now I'm not sure if you remember in the past, there was a pond that was about dried up. Colorado has been in a pretty bad drought. You could really see it when you would see this spot. Check it out now after all the rain we got!

WE used to walk down in the middle of this thing! It's nuts to see how much water is supposed to be in it. It was such a great sight to see. There was some other damage through out, like trees, plants and walk ways partially washed out. Lots of rock had slid down, it was just different. I can't imagine how it looked when all the rain was happening. 

We walked around for about an hour. My dad loved it. He got lots of great pictures, and I was taking them with his iPad as well. SO I didn't get many on my fabulous foggy camera! haha. 

Since it was Veteran's Day Greg picked to go to Freddy's. He got his meal free, and we all enjoyed a burger as well. 

We grilled some Fajita's for dinner and relaxed the rest of the day. Tuesday my Dad flew out of Denver. We got Landon early from school and dropped my dad off. His flight left about 630pm. Kenny and Tina were arriving in Colorado Springs at about 634pm. HA! So we had to rush back, but we had plenty of time to spare. My dad made it home safe and sound. It was such a nice visit with him.

When he first got here, Owen was calling him, "Popeye." Or that's what it sounded like. By the next day he was saying Grandpa. He would constantly call him to make sure he was around! He even called him the next morning when we came down the stairs!

Visit #1

On Saturday the 9th my dad came to visit. Alma was going to come with him, but her dad was in the hospital and pretty sick so she wasn't able to make it. Greg had a Veteran's day parade in downtown Colorado Springs so Owen, Landon and myself headed up to Denver to get Grandpa Rick!

The boys were happy to see Grandpa! Owen loved to run around in the airport and yell, and go up and down the escalators! Silly boy. Landon just chased him around and laughed. He's a good big brother. 

Once we got home we relaxed for a little bit, then I had scheduled our family pictures so we went and got those done. After wards we went and ate at our favorite Mexican food place, Hacienda Colorado. 

Ever since the whole babysitter thing Owen is terrified I am going to leave him. He did great. It took him a few hours to warm up, but then he was good. 

Landon was happy Grandpa was here, he had someone to talk to, and talk his ear off he did! haha.

Sunday we went to Cripple Creek. It was about 1hr20min from us, on the other side of Pikes Peak. It is about 9,200 ft in elevation. It was a gorgeous drive. I bet a few weeks prior it was better with all the Aspen trees leaves changing and falling. There was snow in the shady area's, and the little ponds and streams were frozen. So pretty. 

At one point we stopped, Cripple Creek is below, but you could see all the Rocky mountains in the background. It was breathtaking. Pictures don't do it justice. 

Cripple Creek is a mining town, it's also a town full of Casino's!

We weren't sure what to do. It was Sunday, and dead out. I didn't realize it was ONLY casino's! haha. They have mining tours, a train tour and a museum. The train was closed, the museum was close and the mining was open. We had just missed the tour, and didn't want to hang out for another hour. So we stopped and played at the playground.

I loved the mulch here. It was rubber, and when you stepped in to it you sunk. It didn't stick to you, and it softened the fall! Cool stuff. Much better than the wood junk we have here, that STICKS to everything and hurts when you land on it!

On our way back we stopped in Woodland Park and got a sandwich, then hung out the rest of the day at home and watched football. I made a roast in the crock pot for dinner! 

Tomorrow I will blog about the rest of Grandpa's trip.