Happy birthday, Emma

As the week comes to a close, (and it's been a busy one) we are pleased to announce that we now have TWO teenage grandchildren, and both are amazing!  Emma is 13 today, and lucky to have her birthday fall on Presidents Day, a day with no school.  She had a party last night at her house with some of her friends and the last text I got from Meredith  said how "interesting" it was to have seven 13 year olds there...I am sure!  (Ah, to be a fly on the wall!...or maybe, not!)
We celebrated with dinner here on Saturday night, and her choice of entree?  Chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes, of course.  After dinner, the kids and the Moms went downstairs, the kids to play (?), and the Moms to finish the latest jigsaw puzzle. 
We also celebrate the fact that Brad has completed 25 of his 33 radiation treatments.  It was somewhat of a challenge this week, as the scheduling/operation of the machine had some problems, making for late nights. And, on one of those nights it snowed just enough to make the drive home really treacherous.  Friday night ended with dinner in Ft. Collins with our friends Bill and Marilyn- an enjoyable evening.  He started some rehab Friday as well, and will see the therapist once a week in an attempt to "rewire" some of the areas that were affected by his surgery, such as reading, spelling and word retrieval. She gave us some good ideas to help with that.
Curt and Amie left for a short trip to Las Vegas yesterday for a much needed get away.  They will meet up with Heather and Matt and I feel confident that they are having a wonderful time, and getting lots of rest.....
Sunday was spent laundering all of the towels for the cleanup of the toilet overflow into the basement on Saturday, and getting the piles of dished done from the "noodle extravaganza".  We then went to see a movie (our first since October) with Carrie, Spencer and the kids, "Life of Pi". ( Note: this movie was not appropriate for 4 and 6 year olds, and their Dad had to leave 20 minutes into the movie, ending up at Chucky Cheese).

innovative way to go down stairs

Gabi & Corbin got into the scotch tape,
but were quiet for several minutes

Rory & Elijah played minecraft

Grayson with trains (genetic?)

I close this post today with this P.S. to my Mom!
I think it's quite appropriate.



 

Sophie & Emma chatting

Show me da love!

 You know how much I love holiday decorating!  This crafty idea gave me a reason to get rid of some playing cards that were missing  a few in each deck.  Just punch and string!









The week has been nice, having a couple of days off (Wednesday and Thursday).  I was able to play bridge with Ramona on Wednesday (yay, we took 1st place....) and then have a Mother- daughter shopping day with Meredith on Thursday, something we haven't done in a long time.  She and I went to Centera to get some birthday gifts for Emma (Feb. 18th she'll be an official teenager) and found a few bargains along the way.  We started off at the makeup counter at Macy's with a spend x$, get xxx$ worth of free stuff where we both took advantage of that deal.  Then it was on to Aripostle to load up on birthday gifts (also on sale) with a stop at a new Greek restaurant for lunch.  Although we thought we'd just split some appetizers, we ended up taking more food home with us than we ate.  After finding a few more bargains, including a couple of jackets for Gramma, we headed home.  Meredith and I cracked up at Gramma modeling her new stuff, changing shirts to match the jackets.  It was cute! On Friday, all of the kids were out of school for parent/teacher conferences, so Amie and I took them to a new childrens' museum in Ft. Collins (nothing like going to FC twice in one day!).  It was a great place and they had fun (unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I apologize for the cellphone pictures). 



The drummer boy

Gabi and Sophie in the tornado booth



 



The week has also marked the beginning of hair loss for Brad. It is somewhat unsettling, but just one more thing to get through.  With 20 treatments behind us, the countdown is on.
We finished the week by playing in a bridge tournament at the Budweiser Center.  It's a long day and I wasn't sure that Brad could make it, but 56 hands and 6 hours later, we finished.  Not our best effort, nor our worst and our partners, Bill and Marilyn were very patient!  I love that he was willing to make the effort!



Grandma, do I look like a rock star?

Gramma trying to explain how her"lift" chair works

February Love

We are so happy to celebrate the halfway mark of Brad's radiation treatments with the fact that he still feels great.  Other than a little fatigue, he is doing really well!  The most remarkable aspect of this was that we played bridge on Saturday, something that I didn't believe he would ever be able to do again.  Not only did he play well, but we placed third (out of 12 pairs!), much to my amazement!  For me, it was the most normal day we've had since late October.  The group was sure excited to have him back (lots of hugs) and even brought a cake!

 

This weekend, we celebrated Spencer's birthday with a Super Bowl party at their house.  As a top secret surprise, his Mom, sister and kids flew in Saturday night, and he truly was surprised...not an easy task to pull off! (Did I mention how much we enjoy being able to see them as often as we do, and getting our hair cuts/colored as an added attraction?)

 

 The Frost menu was their famous tacos, refried beans, rice, and all of the toppings, along with green chili, chili rellanos, guacamole and dessert provided by Meredith was a "light" chocolate - peanut butter cookie bar. Happy 37th to Spencer!

Elijah & Corbin, "army team"

Jack and Trent's team

Nothing like a hair appointment with 30 spectators!

The only injury of the day- a bloody lip!

Grayson & Emi

 

Attending the gala event were the Simmons regular 15, plus Nancy, Sarah, Emi, Trent, Gaby (Sarah's friend from Denver), Steve, Tracy, Jordan, Jackson, Alayna, Jason, Jessie, Sunni, and Hattie.  I must confess that I didn't watch any of the game as I was sitting in the kitchen listening to the shenanigans pulled by Carrie, Jessie and Tracy when we all lived in Bittersweet.  Seeing their girls (Gabi, Sunni and Alayna, along with Sophie) is a little " dejavuish"...same personalities as their mothers!  (Hopefully they won't be quite as "creative" as their Moms were!)