A Different Kind Of Christmas Tree.

For almost ten years (I think), we have travelled up into the moumtains to cut down our Christmas tree.  We love the adventure and our fresh, "Colorado" tree, but this year, we decided to take a break.  Sometimes, you just need a change.

So, this year, we travelled an incredible .5 miles down the street to the Little Elf Christmas tree lot on the corner right near our house.

We started to look around at the trees, and honestly, it took us a bit to adjust to the super full, super perfect trees we had to choose from.  We've grown accustomed to the naked tree that requires 27 strands of ligths to make look good.

But, the kids helped us look around for just the right one...

This one was just a little too tall for our house!

It got really cold in a matter of 30 minutes, so Landon enjoyed snuggling with his daddy.

In about 10 minutes, we found "the one" and had it tied on our roof and ready to bring home.  

We got started right away with the lighting and decorating...

And wa-lah (how do you spell that?!), our 2014 Christmas tree...

Complete with three "angels" underneath, ha!

Thankful.

I think that this is now the third year we have hosted Thanksgiving at our house. We really enjoy using our dining room every once in a while, and we're REALLY glad that my mom and dad still take on the Turkey!

Our morning started off with our traditional pie baking session.

Payton always likes to make her special pie dough pastries.  This year, she added baked pear and cinnamon and they were delicious!

Apple and cherry (plus a pumpkin from Sam's Club :))

After the pies were baked and ready to go, we decided to start a new tradition.  Two of the families from football invited us over to Arapahoe to play a little Thanksgiving football.  Everyone was involved from the moms (I had an interception!) to the little guys to the grandmas and grandpas.

Lucy really enjoyed the beautiful day.

Hudson, Brady, Austyn, Danny, Payton, and Sam.

It was really fun to get a little exercise and enjoy the day with our new friends!

After football, it was time to start getting ready for dinner.  Everyone pitches in and makes a special dish.
Abby and Sue.

Grandma Inge and Wesley.

Payton and her momma.

And Oma and Opa with "the bird".

When the meal was ready, we all sat down to get our grub on.  We had 20 people this year!  The lighting is terrible in this cell phone pic, but it's the only one I got of the whole group.

After dinner, the men decided to tackle the dishes.  It was awesome!

And of course, no Thanksgiving is complete without a round of  Aunt Sue's Turkey Game!

It was a great day, and I am so thankful for such amazing people that I get to my friends as well as my family!

Halloween in Fourteen

Halloween 2014 was a spooky, scary, super fun day and night!

I have always dressed up at school on Halloween (my favorite has been an old lady substitute), but for the past two years, our Science Department has done a group costume.  Last year's Big Bang Theory was a rousing success, so we knew we had to top it.

During one of the labs we did this semester, the students measured the depth of diffusion on a cube.  One of my colleagues decided that would be a great name for an 80's hair band, and the idea took off from there.

So, here is our band's poster.  We printed this out and hung it all over the school.  Kids kept asking questions, but we kept it a secret until Halloween morning.

The band.

Band Babes.

My super pretty selfie.

We performed an air band concert at lunch and had an absolute blast.  (Who knows what the kids thought, but that really wasn't the point :))  I really love working with super fun people that are some of my closest friends.

After my school day ended, I headed over to Twain to take part in the kids' class parties.  Twain goes ALL OUT on Halloween, especially for the 5th graders!

The festivities started with an all-school parade.

Payton and Avery decided to both be sassy samurais.

And Brady repurposed his football uniform to be a zombie football player (make up was added after school)

For the 5th graders, to celebrate their last year of elementary school, the parents create a Haunted House.  I went over the night before and helped staple black plastic, hang spooky stuff on the walls, and find hiding places for parents to jump out and scare kids.  It's CRAZY that we are allowed to do all this, and TOTALLY AWESOME as well.

Payton, McKenna, Brynn, and Makayla getting ready for their turn through the Haunted House.  Payton LOVED it and went through it probably 10 times.

Above the library, they also created a "Surgery Room."  Here is the doctor (one of my friends) explaining all the kids are about to see...

They got to touch eyeballs (peeled grapes) and intestines (spaghetti noodles) and see all kinds of creepy stuff in jars!

After all of that fun, we headed home for some neighborhood trick or treating!

Cohen and Arie hit our house first, so we took a few pics before heading out.

The Sassy Samurai, Mikey the Ninja Turtle, and our Zombie Football Player.

A Family Selfie...I love Brady's "zombie" pose.

After an hour or so of trick or treating, we headed to Oma and Opa's for our traditional soup and "get-warm" session.  This year, Oma had a special surprise for Brady...she dressed as a football player to!

Opa also joined in and dressed as Harry Potter.  I think it's so cool that they dress up!

We also met up with Nolan, Heath, and Brooks.  They dressed up as Denver sports mascots, what a cool idea!

We had a great day, and we are already starting to think about costume ideas for next year!

Grand Lake Year 2!

Last year, to celebrate the end of volleyball season, we headed up to Grand Lake with Dana, Jen, Chris, Nate, and Trish.  We were so excited when Dana invited us to go again this year!  This time, we were able to use the "other" VanEps cabin which is just a little bit smaller, so it was just Dana, Nate, Trish, Wes, and myself.

We took off Saturday morning before Thanksgiving as early as we could after dropping off all of the children.  A BIG thanks to Gwen & Tim, Brad & Jayne, Crystal & Oscar, Karena & Bill, and Grandma Inge who each took one of our children and/or the dog!  (It really does take a village!)

We arrived up at the cabin around noon, and this was our beautiful view....We were anticipating a snow storm that evening, so we decided to immediately leave for an outing while the sunshine stuck around.

Wes and Nate wanted to shoot their guns which is legal in the National Forest (or something like that), so after asking around in town, we finally found a road that took us far enough into the middle of nowhere that we could fire a few rounds.

The ladies...Dana, myself, and Trish.

Honestly, what we did the most of while we were there was laugh.  We all had tears running down our faces and side aches for most of the trip.  So, here is the same picture, different filter, and titled with our new names...Blanche, Stacy, and Donna.  

We walked far enough off the road and away from any cars/houses/etc. to safely shoot.

We each fired one or two rounds that were incredibly loud and decided enough was enough.  Doesn't Blanche look super awesome in this shot?!

After shooting, we headed back to the cabin for some card games and relaxation.  Dana, I mean Blanche, made a really good soup that stuff our bellies full.  I didn't take too many pics of this time, but this one might give you some idea of how silly we were being:

Love you Donna!

After dinner, we got all dolled up and headed into town for an evening at our favorite local bar, the Lariat.

Trying to take a couple shot.  Nate added to our cuteness factor with his photo bomb.

Wes giving Nate's "famous" thumbs up.

See what I mean?

We hung out at the Lariat for a bit, then headed back to the cabin for a few rounds of Heads Up and a lot more laughter.

In the morning, we ate some awesome juevos rancheros courtesy of the VanDusseldorps and then packed up to head home.  (24 hours was plenty long enough for everyone who was watching our kiddos!)

We had an awesome little mini-vacation and are so thankful for Dana's family for letting us use their cabin.  We are also so thankful for great friends who we be ourselves with and laugh, laugh, laugh.  Looking forward to year three!

"Ghouls" Night!

Towards the end of October, I hosted "Ghouls' Night."  All of my lady friends were invited...the invited instructed them to wear a LBD (little black dress), and I would help them accessorize with a witch's hat once they arrived.

So, I got the house all spooked up and waited for everyone to arrive.

Dana and Trish drinking Trish's "witch's brew".

Jen and Kim.

Jen and Kim and Kim's wine!

Julie and Sarah.

Julie, Moi, Gwen, and Patty.

Me and my beautiful s-i-l's...

And all the lovely "witches" once they arrived!

Everyone helped bring a side, an app, or a portion of dessert, so we enjoyed an awesome dinner at the dining room table.  It's so fun to eat, drink, and LAUGH every once in a while without having to heat up chicken nuggets and clean little faces!

Photo bomb by Gwen!

After dinner, we fired up the chocolate fountain and filled our bellies with messy sweet deliciousness.

At the end of the night, we also exchanged favorites gifts.  We've done this several times already, but it's fun to have everyone bring a few of their favorite things, trade, and go home with fun new gifts!  Here Gwen is trying on her new boot socks, and Trish is measuring them?! 

My best pals Blanche and Donna.

The night was super fun, and I am so glad that I am a part of this fun group of ladies!