Christmas & Family Stay-cation

Merry Christmas! I don’t have many pictures of present-opening, but Coen had a good time and it was an exciting Christmas morning. Justin surprised me with tons of thoughtful things, like a massage and a new cell phone!

The beautiful drive into the mountains and to Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, CO. We took a 2-day, 1 –night family vacation at a YMCA resort near us. It was an amazing facility and we hope to go again soon!

Getting ready for tubing!! Unfortunately, there wasn’t much snow since it has been a low-snow year, but Coen still had a great time and he even got to “drive” the tube down the sledding hill.

Our second stop upon arrival was the Craft Barn. Coen made a beaded bracelet that said “CWV” and had a bunch of fun sports and flowery beads. A meltdown happened shortly after these photos. It was definitely nap time.

Coen LOVED roller skating and even stood up on his own and wiggled his feet a little bit the fourth and final time we went skating. (Yes, we went rollerskating 4 times in a matter of 40 hours or so.)

We ate at The Library in Winter Park, CO. It was delicious and a good closing to the day.

Coen beat us at Candy Land!

The view from our room the next morning.

I snapped this photo of the frozen waterfall on the way home. I remembered seeing it on the way to the resort so I was ready.

Snowy Red Rocks Park and outdoor concert venue – We stopped to look around on the way home. It was about 55 degrees when we got out of the car, which was a nice break from the below-freezing temperatures atop the mountain!

Coen Quip

I supposed I should keep track of at least a few of the funny things that Coen says for the future. I have a terrible memory.

Today Coen was looking for his Angry Bird (“angeee buwds”) bandages. We both knew where the box was last night (in an orange bag). This morning I asked him to look downstairs and he, quite exasperated, told me “Mom, I look EVERYWHERE!”.

I couldn’t help but laugh (a lot), then I helped them find the Angry Bird-aids, which were above his eyesight level on a counter.

Today he also used the Xbox controller to go to the next episode of Diego. That child…

Gigi’s Visit

 

Coen’s great grandma Ide came to visit the day that Tia left! It was a fun time and she made me (Veronica) rest since I was getting a cold. What a good grammy I have.

Coen loved playing with Gigi and wanted to help her with everything. We hit up some good Kohls sales and just took it easy.

“This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth…” (You can see Coen’s mouth open wide from singing.)

Making sugar cookies! We found out that my Better Homes & Garden recipe is extra delicious. Love you, Grandma/Gigi!

Tia Comes! & Longmont Parade

Tia Jessica (my sis) came to visit! The first day she and I toured the New Belgium brewery and then that night we had a faculty Christmas dinner.

The next evening we went to the Longmont parade. We met up with Titus (Coen’s BFF) and his family. It was a great time, although our toes were quite frozen by the time the parade started. It was also the longest parade ever, of which we will be a part (as Our Savior’s Lutheran School) next year.

Playing with Tia is the best!

Our whole gang saving our place on the sidewalk. Even though it was partially taken from us by a gang of elderly ladies with walkers….so cruel.

Coen and Titus finally got a semi-decent photo at the parade. And Justin was in between their ferocious car-playing at Applebee’s. He survived.

Lyons Christmas Parade & Fireworks

Coen decided to go out in the snow without a jacket. The second photo is seconds before he slipped and whitewashed in the snow. Then he blamed it on me….right.

Coen’s (early) big Christmas present is this carseat. It goes from 5-pt harness to a back booster to a backless booster. He’ll probably need it until he’s 18 the way the carseat laws are going. Hopefully he doesn’t weigh more than 100 pounds at that point… just kidding. He better weight more than 100 at 18 years old. Especially since his height estimation is 6 feet tall.

 

We went to the Lyons Christmas Parade and fireworks with some friends and their two girls, Emma and Sadie. We met for a delicious dinner at Oskar Blues and watched the parade from the patio out back with some delicious microbrews from the restaurant/microbrewery. I’ve decided that Christmastime fireworks are the BEST!!! They start early (7:30 PM), and we are home afterwards in time for Coen’s normal bedtime.

These were Coen’s first fireworks and he loved them. He couldn’t choose between watching the lights on the ground that were set to Manheim Steamroller Christmas music, or the fireworks in the air. There was free hot cocoa (which Coen found amusing since we call him “Coco”) and we had a great time getting to know friends better. Merry Christmas!

Happy 28th Birthday, Justin!

For Justin’s birthday he got a recliner. I led him into the family room with his eyes shut (in front of the set-up recliner) then I told him to open his eyes. I handed him a birthday card and Coen yelled “Happy Birthday!” He first checked for a new Xbox 360*, but then found that it was his same, old one. Then I told him he should sit down (and, according to his story, forcibly shoved him backwards…) and he realized he had a new recliner! Thanks to Justin’s mom and my mom for chipping in as well!

 

*Justin and I will be getting a new Xbox360 for Christmas. Maggi and I stood in line at Best Buy on Thanksgiving/Black Friday morning for the midnight opening and got an AMAZING deal. Go us! It was a great, somewhat chilly, time!

Here was the line once people filtered out after receiving their big ticket item tickets:

Work Conference & Vilski Visit!

Gabriel and I attended the 2011 Denver ACTFL conference this year. Last year we met in Boston, MA for the conference. This year it was close to home! Our boss was so kind (*cheap*…ahem) to put us in a trashy Ramada hotel known for its high school parties and drug-doing. Hurrah.

We met another coworker, Robyn, so that makes 2 people that I have physically seen from my company! The conference went well, and Denver is a lovely city to explore. Small, but lovely.

 

Gabriel came to visit for a few days after the conference. Maggi (Justin’s mom) watched Coen while Justin had school on Thursday and Friday so they got in some great bonding time! She said that overall Coen was good, and he didn’t seem to miss me too much when I got home. He was more excited about meeting Gabriel (or, as Coen said, Gabyrel) and playing with him. We got to enjoy the school kids’ Thanksgiving meal and we played Ticket to Ride.

We took a little trip up to the mountains to find that most roads are closed for the winter. It was verrry windy, but pretty! Coen got a wolf hat from Grandma and Grandpa Vilski. He threw a huge fit in the store, but took a nap shortly thereafter. : ) So we can blame it on sleepiness, right?