Christmas 08

Well, Christmas is finally over and we now prepare for New Years Eve. The decorations are up for a few more days and we love having them up. It was a quiet Christmas and I found my mind and heart back in Las Vegas. But now we begin new traditions, mainly that of hoping to get to Vegas next year.

It finally started to feel like Christmas when GranDee arrived after a 19 hour delay due to snow in Las Vegas. (So I guess Hell has finally frozen over and a snowball really does have a chance!) After sleeping (or not really sleeping) at the LV Airport, she was a real trooper and wanted to meet up with some of our new Denver friends for lunch. We even stopped by Roqué's place and she got to see that and meet Gyrdie, Roqué's sheltie. We finally made it home in time to meet Noël as she got home from school. The next day we went shopping for things for the making of Pumpkin Bread, rolls and things for Christmas Dinner.

On Christmas Eve we met with Mark Stutz and his family in search of the ultimate sledding hill. Even though the temperatures have been below zero, we have a shortage of snow in the Denver area. After driving for about 45 minutes we found a country club in the town of Evergreen that has a bump with snow on it. However the nearby lake was so cold that there were several ice fishermen on it and one section was being prepared for outdoor ice skating. We plan on revisiting that once it opens.
The kids had fun going down the small slope and pulling each other around on the sleds. Aspen didn't like the ride much, but for Noël...anything.


Gyrdie and Aspen are too cold to argue.






Roqué and Gyrdie had fun chasing around in the snow. Gyrdie just loves running and rolling around in the snow.















Noël thought she would try the new sport of snow surfing.












Here are the results.















Austin and Caden are Mark's two youngest kids. They are so much fun and we so enjoy having family around.









Roqué and Austin give walking on the frozen lake a try. If you look in the background you can see some people ice fishing.











Noël wasn't so successful at walking on ice.














On Christmas Eve we had dinner at Mark and Heidi's. How fun to realize their traditions included soup and bread for dinner and English crackers for everyone. Mark's mom, Carole, grew up in England.







Aspen was our little Christmas Elf. She wasn't quite big enough to qualify as an official Reindeer.











Rus showed his Martinelliholic tendencies by polishing off the last bottle.













They adopted our tradition of a talent night and we had a blast. Caden's talent was this bizarre stomach roll. Gross and intriguing at the same time!











We went from youngest to oldest, so Austin was next. He gave a wonderful rendition of Jolly Ole St. Nicholas on the trumpet.









Noël played the theme to Titanic on the piano thingy.













Mariah showed off her dog whispering skills and played a game of patty cake with her dog Lizzie.





Tanner was the up with his talent. That of showing off his deformed feet and ankles. He could give Shiloh a run for his money!!











Mark's talent was singing Row Row Row Your Boat backwards. He actually did it!!

Rus and DJ actually did a talent this year. We sang Baby Its Cold Outside - kinda.

Christmas morning I actually had to go get the Christmas Bell and wake everyone up at 7:30. The only upside of not having little ones in the house. So after breakfast the four of us (Rus, DJ. Noël and Roqué) sat down to open presents. There were actually more than we had anticipated, most of them for Noël.
Roqué showing off her new hat, scarf and gloves she got from Mark and Heidi.
That afternoon Mark and family came over for dinner and games. As you can see, Tanner got a little aggressive from his desperate hunger. Poor Mark just got in the way.

After dinner we played a game where Tanner actually had to trade socks with Caden. EEEWWW

And finally, Rus took the time to set up our webcam. So those of you who have one of these babys can get on line and we can be even more in touch. How I miss all of my family and friends. Honestly, Christmas wasn't the same with out you, but we have your love and that is enough.