Saying good-bye

This week has been spent planning the all important party for Meredith; a time to say goodbye to friends and former co-workers as she embarks on her Nebraskan journey.  Considering that we didn't do formal invitations (just word of mouth, Facebook and email) we had a great turnout for the party.  Shows how much those who know her think of her....

Carrie found someone to cater who did a great job.  He brought thin sliced roast sirloin served on flat bread or rolls, along with a spicy jardiniere, humus, some red pepper dip,  and fresh veggies.  We had sixty people, including a bunch of kids who played great together (outside- a beautiful evening).  I really planned on taking lots of pictures, but the more people who showed up, the less my camera got used.  One of the surprise guests was Elizabeth (Haythorn) Perkins, who was Meredith's maid of honor at her wedding. Good visiting with her!

Meredith & Elizabeth

We gathered again on Sunday, for our last day with Mer and the kids.  Brad grilled some burgers and we polished off the leftover dip from the party.  Sarah was here for her weekend of "saloning", so we all look fresh with our new cuts and colors.  Corbin and Trent had an amazing time together, and can we all say, once again, just how appreciative we are to have her fly out from California every 8 weeks? She SAYS she doesn't mind, but, hmmmm, I wonder!
The weather people are predicting a huge snowstorm (6-12" here) on Tuesday, so we're glad they'll get back before then.

Easter....new beginnings

It's been a beautiful spring-like week and a few little flowers have popped out since last weeks' snow has melted.  The Easter decorations are up just in time.

Glad to have these warmer temperatures for the start of Spring Vacation (for the kids, anyway).  Had a busy but great week, starting of the weekend on Thursday evening with a Disney On Ice show at the Budweiser Center.  Carrie, Amie and I took Sophie, Gabi and Corbin who all three loved the performance and were asleep in the car before we got home!

 On Friday, Brad had his MRI in Loveland early that morning, followed by breakfast (oooh, just the two of us!) at CrackerBarrel.  We came home and did some tidying up and some errands and then drove to Aurora to get Mom.  Gramma went with us as it has been many years since she ventured out of northern Colorado and said she enjoyed the drive. We got back just in time to drive to Ft. Collins for Brad's follow-up appointment upon completion of his radiation.  It was strange being there again after routinely checking in every evening at 6:15.  Great news, though, as his MRI showed that the treatment did work!  Apparently, most of the family members were apprehensive about the outcome, except for me!  I knew it'd be good!  Our next visit will be in a couple of weeks back at University.  Brad hopes that Dr. Nye will cut back his dosage of Keppra (anti-seizure drug).

On Saturday, we all gathered at Amie's house to dye eggs.  Of course, the older kids thought egg dying was beneath them, so they bailed right away.  Grayson got into to the whole thing, spilling all of the green dye and soaking his socks in the yellow.  We found that the markers were a better choice for him than the dyes!  Gabi and Sophie were all about the glitter dyes....

 

It was a beautiful Spring day and we all enjoyed being outside, the two Grammas included!
Meredith and her family took Grandma Butler to church with them Saturday night for Easter
services, while Brad and I made dinner.  Sunday morning arrived with a gorgeous sunrise.  Mom
had intended to stay until Tuesday when her flight home was scheduled, but decided that with
the weather forecasting a change on Monday night, she would go back with Don and Vicki following
Easter dinner.  We had a scrumptious (I thought so, anyway!) dinner of turkey with the
usual side dishes and salads and other sides contributed by guests, Don and Vicki and
Amies' Mom, Susan.   
After dinner, the kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt and I'm fairly certain that theirchocolate levels were high!

Birthday Blizzard

Remember a couple of weeks ago when the forecasters predicted a huge weekend blizzard and we all prepared for it by stocking up on groceries and filling up our gas tanks?  And then, nothing....Ok, so the weather people were off by a couple of weeks, so we still got our snowy weekend THIS weekend. 
On Friday, the PLAN was that I would pick up Mom in Aurora at Don's house, then take her "senior living" shopping for a new residence, then meet up with Pam and we'd have a birthday dinner.  We looked at three places (these were in addition to the various places that she'd previously looked at with Don & Vicki, Pam, and then Alex), none of which suited her the way some others had, but we had a nice day and had lunch at one of the stops.  We were getting ready to meet Pam when we learned that the snow had already begun falling in Greeley.  So, we nixed that plan, and I drove home  where several areas were already experiencing "white-out" conditions.
It snowed all night and continued on through much of the day Saturday.  Brad and I had planned on going to Ft Collins to play bridge, but that was cancelled due to the weather, so we just stayed in, other than taking Gramma to her hair appointment and going to get groceries. Brad cooked one of my favorite meals, which along with a bottle of wine, was the highlight of that day!
My wonderful family really rallied on Sunday and I have to say that it was one of my favorite birthday celebrations!  Carrie, Gabi, Meredith, Emma and I began with a Chinese lunch, then off to do some birthday shopping, made a little more challenging than they realized the two places they had intended to take me were both closed!  We then met up with Amie and Sophie for  mani-pedis, keeping the Chinese theme going!

We then did some on the spot shopping at a nearby store, where I randomly picked up some birthday gifts, then home to a huge pot of Cajun boil that Brad had made while we were gone.  And of course, I was treated to the usual "play" done by the grand kids with Emma singing solo in the background, the girls dancing, and then the finale, the boys unrolling a banner with "Happy Birthday Grandma" written on it!

And then, the grand finale.....a delicious pineapple upside down cheesecake made by Meredith!

P.S. Have I mentioned how much we will miss these desserts?

St Patricks Day/Grammas birthday celebration

Happy St. Patricks Day!

 

Does anyone realize how difficult it is to take a picture of 7 very active kids?  Believe it or not, this is the best shot! I just wanted to show them all in green....(I did eliminate the ones of Grayson pulling Corbins' hair and the subsequent crying/hitting).

We did have a fun Sunday dinner and the kids were all so good...maybe just knowing that their days together are numbered with the upcoming Taylor move...but regardless, they had fun together. 

 Rarely does a Sunday go by without someone putting on a  costume, and Emma chose the lovely, lavender duck.  Sophie and Gabi adore her!  Later, they were playing some kind of game to guess the future....how many kids they'd each have, where they'd live, how many cars etc.  Meanwhile, the boys were playing "boy games" in the backyard. 

Gramma requested tacos for her birthday meal, which we all enjoyed and Meredith made her favorite chocolate banana cream pie for dessert.  I think her 93rd was a success!  She loved her gifts- a beauty salon certificate from Curt and Amie's family, new Skeecher shoes from the Frost family, a gorgeous purse and earrings from the Taylors, and some new shirts from Brad and Sue.
These are the first pair of athletic shoes for her!  We commented about how stylish she looked in her new hoodie and shoes!

 

The little blizzard who couldn't

This weekend was supposed to bring 6-10" of snow, but once again,  we were gypped!  The official amount was .24".  So glad I planned ahead and got groceries/gas beforehand.  Crazy Colorado weather.....  Brad and Curt are still working on a job in Denver, and are getting weary of that drive, so I'm sure they aren't disappointed in the non-blizzard.  A busy weekend here, but not as busy as things are at the Taylor house!  The decision has been made to move (for a look at their location, see haggardrealty.com.  It's the house with the red door).  They will move to a condo for the first few weeks, then to the house as  soon as it is vacant. I am so relieved that they have living arrangements made, and are making progress at getting their current home on the market.  The plan will be to move mid-April and to get Emma and Elijah in school so that they are able to meet some kids before summer begins.  We are sad for our loss, but happy for their new beginnings.
Saturday, we went to see the new OZ movie.  Interesting concept to find out how Oz got it's wizard before Dorothy and Toto ever arrived!  On the way to the movie, Gabi was telling Corbin (in our car) the story and said, "they never needed no stinkin' wizard.  They just had to believe in themselves because they had it in them the whole time".  Well, there you go!
Sunday was spent doing the usual- cooking, cleaning, laundry etc.  We made a huge pot of posole green chili and some guacamole with quesadillas and Meredith brought her yummy chocolate cake (the secret is a cake mix made by just adding a can of pumpkin and some chocolate chips...no eggs, no oil, no water, no nada!)  Spencer commented at dinner that he may have to forgo the Sunday dinner unless Meredith can get the dessert here, and was coming up with some innovative ways of making that happen!  The girls asked Emma to bring her duck tape collection to make Barbie clothes, so they spent the day in my craft room.

What was everyone else doing? 

Curt and Spencer were listing more of their fabulous finds on Ebay... while Meredith was giving Gramma the lowdown on the move and Carrie was working on a puzzle, the boys were playing in the storage room and having an occasional wrestling match, Grayson was eating a bowl of cereal with Grandpa's help, and Amie was working on the kitchen clean-up. Yup, another normal Sunday!