The chill of January mornings....yeah, not my favorite.  It is supposed to be 30 degrees cooler than it was yesterday with a high of 22 expected today.  Makes one just bound out of bed with anticipation, huh?  Speaking of anticipation....all of us were apprehensive about the outcome of Brad's MRI this week and were all pleasantly surprised at the good news that there were no changes.  The one caught most off guard by this news was, in fact, Brad.  He really thought something was going on (all up in that brain area of his!) and was prepared for bad news.  Not THIS time!
I met with a formal support group at MCR on Friday (started as an offspring of our coffee group).  Think I prefer the intimacy of a small group.  Sadly, one of our foursome had to have Hospice come in to take care of her husband.  So enough of the winter doldrums.....
Yesterday, Amie and Curt and the kids went to Denver to celebrate Susan's birthday/Christmas by presenting and installing a new TV for her, just in time for the Super Bowl!  Heather and Matt were there as well, with the baby coming momentarily!

Yep, looks like she should arrive shortly!

Amie was in a race on Saturday (as if running isn't torture enough!) at Horsetooth Reservoir, where the race ended with the runners jumping into the ice encrusted water. Ah, good times...

Saturday  was crazy as always, beginning with Corbin's basketball game at 9:15.  We had to wake Gramma up so she could go with us before her hair appointment.  We took her walker with us and I think she really enjoyed watching the game.  

 Afterwards, we took Sophie to her soccer game.  I asked her what her Dad was doing and she said, "Handling Grayson". Pretty accurate.  Amie had taken him to the grocery store Friday when he stood up in the, cart and flipped out on his head.  He's a handful! (BTW, he was ok after his fall)
Saturday night was the NCMC Gala, which Carrie and Spencer (the latter reluctantly) attend yearly.



  This year, we watched the kids who did great having a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa.  I was fixing them ice cream cones, leaving the ice cream out for a few minutes prior to soften when Brad said to me, "Leaving ice cream out makes it lose it's integrity". Huh?  Anyway, we attempted to get Gabi to let Grandpa pull her super wobbly front tooth out, but no deal, so it literally hung by a thread the whole week.

 

Carrie attempted to pull it (see tearful pics), Spencer tried and nearly everyone had a finger on that tooth this week!  Finally, yesterday afternoon,  she accidentally "kneed herself in the face" and wah,la, knocked it out.

 Yesterday, we had Sunday dinner (with French Dips requested by Rory), homemade mac & cheese and brownies for dessert.  Besides cooking dinner, I spent the day catching up on laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning and a little time for scrapbooking!
I talked to Meredith this weekend who reported that her 89 year old neighbor had taken she and Emma to see the Missoula Children's theatre production of "Blackbeard".  One of the kindergarten "parrots" threw up on the stage.  Her neighbor said she now thought she had seen everything on that stage!  She also shared with me a story of coming home late one night last week, walking up the long sidewalk to her front door, and hearing a hissing noise behind her. She turned around to spot a very large possum waiting to attack (do they do that?). Of course, the front door was locked, and she banged on it frantically until the kids opened the door. The next day, Steven told her that he had seen that possum (yeah, it's a big one) and why didn't she think to smack it with the snow shovel that was on the front porch?  Guess I wouldn't have thought of that myself!
Have a fabulous week.

Super Bowl Bound

Yeah, don't we wish we all were going to the big game....Unfortunately, our tickets were not drawn in the lottery to get Super Bowl tickets, so guess we'll just have to party in front of the TV! (Sophie announced that the Super Bowl Party would be "hosted at their house"....Hmmmm. Might want to check with the parents!)

Exciting game day for all.  Carrie & Spencer and Curt & Amie went to the game....beautiful weather and relaxing (for a change) game.  The fans sitting around them apparently noted  the behavior changes in the boys this week, having brought the girls to the game!

Tasha watched Sophie and Grayson and Carli took care of Corbin and Spencer during the game, then brought them back to our house for a chili dinner when their parents got home.  Carli (why?) let Gabi wear her wedding ring to the park that afternoon,  and of course, it was lost.  Happily, it was found later that evening with the help of a metal detector.
The rest of the weekend was busy. I met with my support group on Friday morning for coffee, then it was off to help Gramma find a new bra.  (Meredith asked if she got a leopard print one!)  When Kohl's didn't have what she wanted, we were off to Macy's. Luckily, a nice young woman helped with her selection.  Friday afternoon, I went with Carrie for a manicure, then to shop for her dress for the upcoming Gala this weekend. Saturday was a day of driving to and fro...taking/picking Gramma up from her hair appointment, then to Corbin's first basketball game.  THAT was worth the drive!  Those kids were so cute and Corbin definitely loves basketball!

 

 After the game, Russ and Dan Haythorn (friends of the family when the kids were growing up) visited with us.  Dan's son, Max, is on the same basketball team as Corbin (yes, that's the two of them sitting together on the bench).  Crazy, small world!
After the game, we went to watch Sophie's soccer game, then on to see a movie "The Nut Job" with the Frosts.  During the movie, I got a call from Anne Masterson wanting to know why Brad and I hadn't come to Jeff's 60th birthday party.  Well that would be because I thought it started at 5:00 instead of 2:00.  Always nice to make a late entrance.....the party was nice, though.
From Ogallala, I got a picture this week!  Woohoo!!!Thanks, Mer!  Apparently, it was pajama day at school on Friday, so Emma wore her Christmas pj's that we sent her.  Brad and I remarked at how much she looks like Meredith....

 Miscellaneous weekend pictures....

 

 Coming next week: Father/daughter dance, The Gala, Rory's school dance (Sadie Hawkins-a 9th grade girl asked him to go)...Stay tuned and have a great week!

I don't have a reasonable excuse for not blogging about last week.  Oh wait! I think it was the wind.  Nope, because it's blowing like crazy this morning and here I am.  So the week in a nutshell. ...
We met Brad's new oncologist here in Greeley, having switched to a new insurance plan this year. (Oh, and hasn't THAT been a challenge!) Anyway, we thankfully really liked him and felt good about the information that he gave us regarding Brad's ongoing maintenance.
On Friday, I went to play bridge with my friend Beth at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. Wow, speaking of windy...there were gusts of over 60mph during the tournament and the building literally rattled like a plane was landing on the roof! It was great spending the day with her.
Saturday is to become "game day", as Sophie is playing indoor soccer and Corbin is playing basketball, so we'll be sitting on the bleachers for the next few Saturdays.  I tried really hard to get pictures of Sophie playing, but between the Plexiglas and the netting, it's pretty impossible.

 

This is what most pictures looked like through the net!

 

After the game, Carrie and I took the girls and Corbin to see "Walking with Dinosaurs", a cute movie about a Pachyrhinosaurus that tried to be informative.  Every few minutes one of the girls would ask "What's a carnivore again?"  or "What's an omnivore?" "What's a herbivore?" (Oh, like my knowledge of dinosaurs is so vast...)  On the way home from the movie, the three budding pop stars performed. Enjoy!
Not sure we'll see them on tv........
Sunday was the big Bronco game (well, not as big as the upcoming ones) and the boys (Brad, Curt, Spencer and Dave Fields) were among the 78,000 attendees.  The apparently had a wonderful time (maybe a wee too good of a time) and survived the win, the wind and the crowds!

 

 Meanwhile, the rest of us stayed home and enjoyed the game and some broccoli cheese soup, bread and lots of "snackage".  Amie brought a blanket to finish and Carrie, Rory and I managed to complete the single most difficult jigsaw puzzle I've ever worked on.  The four little ones played dress up and somehow coerced Grayson into putting on a dress!

 

 P.S.

I just thought of something I didn't include in our Griswald adventure....While we were at In-and-Out Burgers on Christmas Eve, Spencer bet Rory $10 that he wouldn't eat one of the smokin' hot peppers that you can request for your burger.  Rory did it! (although nearly throwing up in the process) and Spencer had to pay up!

Family Survey

After our trip, I thought it would be fun to see what

 

 everyone thought, so I sent out this survey and logged the answers.  Can you guess whose answers each are? (Some were duplicate)
1. My favorite memory of this trip was...................................surprising the kids, the Disney Character breakfast, our Disney day, eating at Ruby's, everything, seeing my cousins, the bus (Grayson)
2. The best food we had on the trip was....................................Ruby's, the Character breakfast buffet, Aunt Sally's dinner, In & Out Burgers, Porkey's Pizza
3. My favorite ride at Disneyland/California Adventure was.........................CARS, the van, Hollywood Tower, Grizzly River, Space Mountain, Autotopia because "I like to drive cars" (Grayson)
4. The thing I was saddest about leaving to come home was..........................going back to work, leaving Trent and Emi, leaving my Mama, leaving the nice weather, leaving Emi, leaving Nana's house, going home to cold weather, leaving our California family
5. The thing I laughed the hardest about was...............................Spencer returning the van to the parking garage, Gabi's comments, Gabi talking about angels and zombies, the "wedgie" in Las Vegas
6. That 12 passenger van was..................................great family time, awesome, fun, much appreciated that it was insured, a noisy experience, giant, really close to that "pipey thing", really comfy despite the number of passengers and all of the luggage
7. The nicest thing that happened on the trip was................................getting to see everyone in California, sharing a hotel room with Rory, being with both families, the beach, getting a present from Nana, Trent giving me his Lego watch, Grayson falling asleep, being invited to Aunt Sally's house for Christmas dinner, Sara fitting me in to her busy salon schedule
8. What one thing that we didn't do would you choose to do if we were to have a "do-over"?.............
Spend more time on the beach, spend more time at Disneyland, gamble more in Vegas, go to Legoland, eat at In & Out more, spend Christmas in our new house, get home before 3:00am
9. The beach day was fun because.................................the weather was beautiful, watching the kids play in the ocean, finding seashells, playing in the waves
10. This is what I think about Nana and the family.............................I love them, I am blessed to have such amazing and loving in-laws, they are special,  they are an extension of our family, I love them and can't wait to see them again, they are nice and they made a good turkey dinner
11. The thing I missed most about not spending Christmas at home was..........................watching the kids run down the stairs in their pj's to open gifts, cooking a nice Christmas dinner, not hearing reindeer feet on the roof, playing with my toys at home, seeing the kids open their gifts, waking up in my own room & my Mom, the cold weather
12. If we could've fit more people in our van, who would you choose to come along?..................Tasha to be with Rory and help with Grayson, Mer and family, The Taylors, Trent and Emi, Aunt Heather, Emma and Elijah, all of the above!
Well, there you have it! A condensed version of our trip thoughts......
And now, back to Greality and the snow and the cold......
This weekend had plenty of both the snow and the cold.  Our plans to play bridge in Ft Collins Saturday were halted due to the weather, as well as a plan to go to Denver to a party at my Mom's place on Sunday.  We did make the best of it, I think.  We had Gabi and Corbin on Friday night while Carrie and Spencer went to dinner with friends,

 then Sophie and Grayson Saturday night while Curt and Amie did the same.

 Sunday was spent in the kitchen, peeling several pounds of potatoes for soup to take to the Frost family home where we all shared  Sunday dinner.  While the guys and Gramma watched football, the girls and the kids and I played board games!

 

 

 

And Grayson played with trucks!