2013 Christmas in Colorado

We got back from Colorado today.  What a wonderful week it was. We were so excited too since we hadn't been home since Merrick was a baby so about 2 years.  We were so blessed to be able to go.

We left here on Monday morning and drove for most of the day taking more breaks than we really wanted to. The boys did so good on the drive though so I have no complaints. That night was all about hanging out with Mom and Dad and Mikayla.  We had pizza, watched a movie, and the kids got to play with Bentley the dog.  He is super fast when he runs around so the kids had so much fun chasing him and playing with him.  They kept calling him Bentenley.

Our amazing little travelers

I tried to get the sign that said Welcome to Colorful Colorado

Mikayla, Daddy, and me

Tuesday was Christmas Eve and we spend most of the morning lounging and getting ready and then we went to Cortez for lunch with Mimi and Steve.  We stayed there for most of the afternoon eating navajo tacos and opening a few presents.  Mostly though, we were just there to be together.  My brother Chad and his fiance' Natascha were able to come out too and I was able to meet her for the first time.  The kids enjoyed going outside on the farm and seeing the hay and horses and tractors and all the stuff Steve had out there.  Then all things have to end and it got to be about 3 o'clock and the boys were definitely ready for naps, so we left and went back into town.  We decided to do a little scenic driving before we went home so the boys could see how pretty Durango was.  We went up to the college and looked down onto the city.  It's one of my favorite places to go.

Gorgeous view on the way to Cortez

At Fort Lewis

View of my favorite spot.  I use to come up here when I was having a bad day and just sit and think

Later that night, everyone else came home from Cortez but before they got home, we did a little Nativity activity with the boys.  One of the presents my mom gave them was some finger puppets and stickers for the nativity story.  So we used them and told the boys all about the birth of Christ and what happened on that night.  We helped them put the stickers onto the paper to make a nativity scene and they loved all of it and helping us.  Afterwards, we decided to watch Polar Express.  My Dad, who they call Papa, wanted to watch a Christmas Eve movie with us and I want to start making it a tradition to watch that movie on Christmas Eve so that's what we did.  I love that movie and the kids loved seeing the train and Santa Clause.  It was just a perfect way to end Christmas Eve.  We put the kids to bed and waiting until morning.

Putting together the sticker Nativity on the paper

The Polar Express

Christmas morning was awesome.  I loved being at my parents house and letting them be a part of watching the kids open their presents.  We let them eat breakfast first because they are weird and have to eat the moment they wake up.  So we let them have their cereal and then it was present time.  Santa presents were first but it took some convincing for them to continue to opening the other presents.  Kayton was a little more excited about it than Merrick was.  I was just so glad we were able to get the things that we did for them.  It was a great Christmas.  We had breakfast and got ready then Chad and Natascha came over to do a little more present opening.  We then had a little more time to kill before heading out to Aunt Cindy's house so we played some games together.

Santa Clause came

breakfast

Checking out the Kindle after they were done opening presents

Merry Christmas from us

Chad and Natascha

It was then time to go out and eat dinner with Aunt Cindy, Granny, and Kara's family.  I miss going out there so much.  It was my favorite place to go as a kid.  We enjoyed a delicious meal with all the fixings.  The best part was just seeing family that I haven't seen in almost 2 years and playing games with them.  Kayton and Merrick had fun with their cousins Nathan and Jackson.  After dinner was over, we went over to Granny's house so we could have some quiet time with her.  Just like when I was a kid, the boys loved playing downstairs in the basement with all the game tables and toys.  I loved being back in that house again.  Granny and I talked for a while and she got to telling me stories and I heard a story about me and my Papa that I had never heard before and I loved hearing it.  I loved her Christmas gift this year too.  She made all of us girls in the family an infinity scarf and I wear it as often as I can now.

The best pictures I got of them on Christmas Day

Watching the cousins play on the Kindle too

Me and Chad

Getting ready to play games

Kara, me, and Aunt Cindy

Getting muddy buddies from Granny.  It's her specialty that she always has on hand.  Definitely a favorite treat for us.

Granny with the great grandkids

Our family on Christmas

It was super late so we went home and put the kids to bed.  Later that night, my parents went to bed early and my sister Mikayla and I stayed up for a few hours watching Friends on tv, which we always do, but we also talked and I felt like we just bonded so much.  We talked about her and her school and how awesome I think she is.  She is such an awesome sister and I loved having that time with her.
We decided to go home on Friday, so Thursday was playing day for us.  Santa's gifts to the boys was a remote control car and a helicopter that goes super high when you pull a string.  So Nate had the idea to take these toys and go to the park so they could use the toys like they were meant to be used.  It's also a park that has an old train set up for display and so we took the boys for a walk down the river to go see the train.  We wish we could have touched it, but it was a display thing.  There were also some really cool musical toys at the park that we loved.  They were pretty much xylophones and bell tubes that they had mallets to it with.  My mom met us there later and she and I took the dog for a little walk together while the boys played.  I loved being able to do that with her.  A fun little thing happened while we were at the park though, while Nate was playing with Kayton and the helicopter a photographer came by and just started taking pictures of them.  I didn't have a problem with it and he then introduced himself and said he was a photographer with the Durango Herald.  What do you know, he ended up putting one of the pictures in the paper the next day.  We felt like little celebrities.

The cool musical xylophone toys

He loves the slides

After the park, we were super cold and hungry, so we went to a little mexican restaurant Fiesta Mexicana on the other end of town for lunch.  We had some pretty good food and then it was definitely time for naps.  We wore out the kids pretty hard that day.  I ended up leaving the boys at home and headed out to Aunt Cindy's house again to get something from Granny and say one last goodbye to everyone.  It sure is hard to leave each time we go to Colorado.

Gotta love the ranch

We had one last night together with Mom and Dad.  We had a yummy spaghetti dinner and then Nana and Papa took us and the kids out to get ice cream at DQ.  The boys loved it and got really messy eating too.  We took one las drive through downtown after wards and saw the Christmas lights and also saw the Polar express train go by.  Someday we will go on that train ride too.

His face definitely showed how much he liked his star popsicle

Sadly all good things come to an end.  Friday morning came and we got up and loaded the car.  It was time to go home.  We said our goodbyes and headed out.

Playing with Bentley one last time before going home

But there was one last to do on our list for the trip.  Serious Texas BBQ.  We stopped at the one in Farmington since that's when it was lunch time and as always, it lived up to what we remember it being.  Nothing beats a good Texas Taco.

We made it home that night and just relaxed.  Nate also got one last piece of Christmas when we got home.  He has fallen in love with Ukelele's lately and so we ordered him a really nice one for a present and it got here the day we got home.

The trip was amazing and I hope we will be able to go back there soon.  It was such a good bonding experience for the boys and it makes me so glad that they know who Nana and Papa are and where their house is.  Merry Christmas everyone!