Bronchomania

New Year's Eve 2015

Me:        What do you want to do for New Year's Eve?
Mark:     I don't care.
Me:        Good!  Then we are going on a Moonlight Sleigh Ride in Breckenridge!
Mark:     *no words* and then "the look*

So guess what I found for us to do for New Year's Eve this year?  Uh huh, a Moonlight Sleigh Ride!  This was another thing that I had on our Colorado bucket list and it just so happened we could do it as a fun way to ring in the New Year!  We went with our friends Rich and Linda and we picked them up about noon and had lunch in Evergreen on our way to Breckenridge.  As we headed up the mountain, the temperature started dropping quickly.  It was 9 when we arrived at our hotel and by the time we got to the stables (about 2 hours later) it was -3 (without the wind).  

So we bundled up and headed to Breckenridge Stables for our 5:30 pm ride.  Fortunately they gave us hot chocolate to warm us up before the ride and they also provided us with nice thick wool blankets to wrap around ourselves while we were on the trail.  

There were about 20 people on our sleigh and most of the time everyone was talking quietly so we could hear the jingle bells on the horses as they pulled us through the mountain trail.  It was a beautiful night and we had clear skies so the stars looked close enough to touch! Plus most of the houses that we passed were still lit up with their Christmas lights and it looked just like a scene out of the movies. The sleigh ride lasted almost an hour and by that time we were ready to get inside and warm up.

Part of the package that we got included a delicious buffet for us to enjoy.  Mark was so afraid that all there would be to eat was chicken but to his surprise they had a pork loin entree so that saved the day.  There was also a man who played guitar and sang lots of John Denver songs so most of us "old people" in the audience were happy to sing along with him.  Even the little kids got involved when he broke out with "Rocky Mountain High".  

After we finished dinner we headed back to the hotel.  None of us had any desire to do the party scene in Breckenridge so we spent the rest of the evening playing cards and dominoes and rang in the New Year with a toast before heading to bed. Man, we are party animals aren't we? 

I've said it before and I will say it again: Maybe one of these days Mark will learn to speak up about what he doesn't want to do when I ask!  

Christmas 2015

Christmas this year was different for us for sure.  The girls both spent Thanksgiving with us this year so that meant that they would spend Christmas with their other families.  It's weird to think that we are at that stage of our lives but that's the way it is.  As it happened the girls were both here the weekend before Christmas day so we had an early Christmas with them.  As far as we are concerned, it really doesn't matter what day we celebrate the holidays on just so long as we get a chance to be together! 

So instead of being "down" about the holidays and the girls being away, Mark and I decided that we would spend Christmas with my brother Rob and his family and my parents.  Mom had some health issues before Thanksgiving that kept them from coming to Denver to be with us and we didn't want to go two holidays without seeing them.  

We drove to Santa Fe on Wednesday and got in pretty late.  Mom and Dad were already at Rob's when we got there so after a quick hello we all went to bed and decided to catch up on things in the morning over coffee! Mom still wasn't completely over her cough, had coughed most of the night before and had been a wee bit stubborn about going to the doctor in Carlsbad. So I loaded her up in the car and drove her to a nearby Minute Clinic.  The PA gave her some more antibiotics and some cough medicine that really helped stop her cough and she was much better by that later that night (Christmas Eve).  Zoe and August had to work until midnight (Santa Fe has a long history of the residents eating out LATE on Christmas Eve) so we didn't get to see them until Christmas day.

Mom and I spent the day helping Rob get things ready for dinner that night.  The kids and Rob's friend Susana came over in the early evening and we spent a nice evening together exchanging gifts and enjoying a delicious dinner that he made.  

Mark's family had decided that they would all gather at Kelly's house on Sunday to celebrate with the Graves' side of the family so Mark and I left early on Saturday and drove to Odessa.  We had planned to stayed with the Piepers and we came in early so that we could spend some extra time with them. We had been keeping an eye on the weather because the NWS said that there was a strong possibility of a large winter storm that might go through the Permian Basin if the conditions were right.  When Mark's parents and sister found out that the weather might be bad, they decided to stay in Brady and in Arkansas.  Late Saturday night the weather turned south and hit the Permian Basin with snow and ice so Kelly called off the whole gathering for everyone's safety.  We were sad that we didn't get to see everyone but under the circumstances it was a good call on Kelly's part.  

Sunday came and dumped about 10 inches of snow that day so the Piepers and us stayed in and watched football games, played cards and dominos and enjoyed our time together.  We had planned on leaving on Monday but the roads were icy and because Texas and New Mexico aren't used to dealing with ice and snow, all of the roads leaving out of town were closed.  So that meant we "had" to stay another day (oh dang lol) Tuesday morning the roads had opened but the conditions were still dicey so we waited until 10:30 am to head home.  

The roads were "open" but they were still in awful shape.  It took us almost 15 hours to make it back to Denver.  We were exhausted by then end of our trip but we were so grateful that we were able to spend time with our family and dear friends. And to us, that was the best gift of all!