Merry Christmas & Happy Birthday Chris!

First off Meg, Sofia, and I want to say thank you to everyone for the touching cards and gifts we received over the last few weeks. Everyone has been quite generous this year and we are lucky to have you all in our lives.

This was the first time that were did not head back to Michigan for Christmas since moving to Denver. While it was hard, we were fortunate to have one another, our friends and a beautiful child to make for a fantastic holiday and birthday. Last night, we had a small get together at our house with our neighbors. While enjoying food, wine and lots of laughter, I was struck at how incredible it was to be enveloped by the love of friends during the holidays. We are so fortunate to have people in our lives to trust, laugh and support. We truly have been blessed in our life out west!

Every girl regardless of her age loves a new dress.

Meg did a great job on the traditional red-velvet cake.

Flashback to 1981 anyone?

I got Guitar Hero II from Santa! Rock on Meg...

Christina, Jenn, and Randle joining us for some spirits and snacks Christmas Eve.

We got between 10-12 inches of new snow on Christmas day! Couldn't pass up this oportunity to get some sleddin' in!

On Dad, On Mom, On Layla, and Blitzen...

Didn't everyone have one of these? Can't you already hear Ode To Joy?

What a beautiful setting with Meg's great-grandma's china passed down from her Aunt.

Matt, Stacey, and the Twins finally got out of the house. Piper was wide awake and Elli was in the other room with visions of sugarplums dancing in her head.

Sofia loved the ribbons on all of the gifts as much as shredding the wrapping paper.

No caption needed here. What a cute picture!

Sofia got a new purse which will nicely hold her toy cell phone.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

Ya Mon, I'm Back (With a Sofia Montage Too!)

I'm back from Jamaica and not a moment too soon. My trip to the Caribbean for my best friend's wedding was simply delightful. We had so much fun, relaxed A TON, danced like crazy, ordered many a Jamaican Smile (our drink of the week), relieved memories and made many new ones. It truly was a trip I will never forget!
The weather in Jamaica was great - sunny every day, 86 and breezy. Just close your eyes and you can feel it. :) We stayed at the Sandals resort in Whitehouse, about 1 1/2 hours from Montego Bay. The resort was packed with amenities - I almost felt guilty! My other BFF (yeah, that's right...bringin' the BFF back thanks to Kate!) Kate and I shared a room for the week. For those of you who don't know, Sandals is a couples only resort - as a result, Kate and I were literally THE ONLY two people at the resort NOT a couple. This made us pretty famous and really fast. The question of the week was, Are they or aren't they? We had a good laugh!
Marissa and Brad's wedding was so beautiful. I wouldn't have imagined their wedding any other way - soft island breeze, flowers in the garden everywhere, an intimate ceremony, great music - it was perfect. I have never seen Marissa so happy and she looked absolutely stunning. It was so special to be able to share in such a joyous occasion.
Needless to say, when it was time to leave, I was sad but excited to get home to my hubby and child. I missed them so much while I was gone! While we were waiting at the airport to come home, we noticed that time was very quickly going by and our airplane was nowhere to be seen. We ended up not leaving until almost an hour and a half after we were supposed to! As a result, I missed my connection to Denver and couldn't come home! I was so upset. Luckily, Kate and Zach waited at O'Hare while I made arrangements to fly on standby the next day and then took me to their house to get some shut eye. At 4 a.m. the next morning, Zach graciously got up and drove me all the way back to the airport. Riding on standby wasn't so bad - I only ended up having to wait a little over 4 hours before catching a flight. I was home by noon and giving hugs all around.

We've been busy since my return finishing up Christmas shopping and gift making, cleaning the house and playing with Sofia. In fact, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to share some of her latest tricks. Check out our Godzilla-Roaring, Horse-Riding, Peek-A-Boo Princess in the video below. Enjoy!

She made it...

Well despite another attempt by mother nature to thwart vacation plans, Meg made it to Jamaica. Her flight out of DIA was almost canceled, but they airport was able to find another plane to carry her and her guitar to Chicago. Once there she spent a few hours trying to sleep at Kate's before going back to O'Hare to catch the first flight of the day out to Jamaica. She called to let me know that they all arrived safely after a 1-1/2 hour ride to the resort. I don't plan to hear from her much as the resort doesn't allow calling cards and the long distance calls are $4/min! I hope she can figure out the bathroom signs...

Racing Mind

It's late. I have so much to do, I can't seem to get my mind to slow down. I leave for Jamaica on Friday evening for Marissa's wedding. I am both excited and nervous - a much needed break, but also the first time I have been away from Sofia for more than 24 hours. Needless to say, I am going to miss my beloved hubby and my lovebug, Sofia.

Before I go, I have to:
-finish grading 120 tests
-write lesson plans for my sub
-invoke the fear of God into my students so they don't mess around while I am gone
-finish packing
-pick up my bridesmaid dress from the seamstress
-pay bills
-send Christmas gifts
-do laundry
-bring Sofia in for a flu shot
-practice my guitar
-practice my guitar
-oh, and did I meantion, practice my guitar???

I have no idea how I am going to get all of this done by Thursday night. It is a really good thing that there is a BLARING light at the end of this tunnel!!!

New Arrivals!

Elli and Piper have arrived! Both Mom and babies are doing well. Be sure to check out Matt and Stacey's blog to see more pictures of the new beautiful McSkimmin girls and two proud parents! We went and saw the 10hr old babies this evening and even got some time with open eyes. Elli is the smaller one and is quite the eater! Piper sure does have a set of pipes to go along with her name. We cannot wait to get to know these two beautiful girls.

Piper is on the left and Elli is on the right.

Sofia was curious and very excited to meet her new friends, (here with Elli).

Christie + Godzilla + Snow = Fun

We had a great visit while Christie was here from Washington D.C. We had a great surprise...Christie's business trip ended 2 days early! That meant 2 extra days that we got to spend together. We had so much fun reliving memories and making new ones. Unfortunately, we were not able to offer Christie any of our 300+ days of sun that usually shines over Colorado. While she was here, we got hit with our first winter storm! Oh well, we still had tons of fun hanging out at home, watching old videos and helping Sofia cultivate her Godzilla skills...

Meg and Christie sharing some laughter while flashing back to crazy memories in the dorm at Michigan State University.

Sofia took an instant liking to Christie. She laughed at all her jokes just like Mommy. Meg could never resist Christie's impersonations and obscure movie quotes...

Godzilla terrorizing Block City. She has even learned to roar! It is so cute.

"I will crush your city with my amazing strength. Just wait until by cute burps turn into raging inferno radioactive breath..."
"I will learn my ABC's on my own darn time! Take that Block City."

"Who am I kidding, I am just a cutie with the a knack for knocking stuff over."
Man these fish sure are bittin' today. Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

A Little Heat for the Holidays Part II

It is 67 degrees in Denver today. Sweet!

A Little Heat for the Holidays

Last night, Chris and I attended his company's annual holiday party at the Westin in downtown Denver. Swanky doesn't even begin to describe this year's event - sushi, cheese, fondue, sesame chicken and spirits were just for starters before the party began! With nearly 200 people in attendance, the ballroom was packed for our three course meal. A DJ had been hired for entertainment when the meal was finished, but a local mariachi band provided the ambiance at the start of the evening.

Matt and Stacey were kind enough to watch Sofia until about 11:30 so that we could enjoy the party and then Matt brought her down to the hotel as we were staying there for the night. Just after Matt dropped Sofia off at the hotel, we were waiting for the elevator to head back to our room and as the door opened, the GINORMOUS guy ducked to exit. Chris coolly said, "Good luck tomorrow" to which the huge man responded with, "Thanks." The doors to the elevator shut and Chris said, "Holy crap! Do you know who that was? That was Alanzo Morning! You know, of the Miami Heat basketball team!" Needless to say, Chris was super excited. We found out shortly after that the entire team was staying in the hotel! While we did not see him, glimpses of Shaq were seen by several of Chris's co-workers.

This morning, our little love bug was up bright and early. I decided to let Daddio sleep a bit, so she and I headed down to lobby to have some yogurt and do some exploring. Sofia quickly discovered the excitement of escalators and wanted to go up and down over and over and over again. After about our 30th trip (no exaggeration), we were at the top making the turn to head back down when another man in a Miami Heat warm-up suit headed our way. He seemed fascinated with Sofia and laughed at her intrigue with the escalator. He commented on seeing her go up and down several times and we laughed at the "hours of fun" that it could provide. Turns out the man I was talking to was the COACH!

After such a swanky party, it only seemed appropriate to mingle with the rich and famous! Wouldn't you agree?

After an awesome breakfast at our favorite dive with our friends, Andrew and Megan, we headed home for a much needed nap. Once the food coma had subsided, we, along with two of our neighbors jumped in the car and went Christmas tree shopping. None of us had ever done tree shopping like that before - with other people, that is. It was hilarious! We found a great deal on trees at the strangest of places - our grocery store! We had decided that we would bring our trees back, help each other put them in the stands and then have a progressive decorating party, if you will. It was all good in spirit, but once we finished helping each other put the trees up, we were all pooped. So, each of us worked at our own pace for the afternoon and invited one another over in the evening to see the results. It was such a fun way to share in the tradition of tree decorating.

Jack has already found his spot for the next month.

This will be another busy week for the both of us. Chris has already wrapped up one of his two projects at work (ahead of schedule!) and is already beginning to bring a close to the second. He is doing such a wonderful job and seems to really be enjoying his time. I will be working this week with my kids on examining the work, force and power within their bodies and finalizing holiday service projects with my student government and national junior honor society kids. What we are most excited about, however, is that my long-time friend, Christie will be staying with us for the weekend! She is here for the week on business and has extended her stay so that we can have some time together. This week also offically begins my countdown for Jamaica! My dear friend, Marissa's wedding is now just a few weeks away!

Have a wonderful week!

Thanksgiving Picture Grab Bag!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did! We drove to Redwood Falls, MN to visit the Weltches (my Mom's side of the family, introductions to follow). We decided to leave Monday night after the Bronco's game and drive the twelve hours through the night while Sofia slept . It was a long but successful drive and great to see my family. My grandma is working hard to fight another round with cancer, so needless to say it was an important visit.

We got to meet my cousin Anna's boyfriend, Aaron, and their new 4-week old baby, Addison Elizabeth. She is such a small sleepy bundle of joy. We had a great time catching up with my cousin Ryan who has always been tons of fun. My mom's little brother Dick and wife, Joyce, are so excited to be grandparents and it was impossible to hide the glow in their faces. They also live in town and we spent nights over there hangin' out at their bar and in their huge hot tub.
Lindsey's squeeze, Jaffer, even surprised us by flying into the Twin Cities and then renting a car for the two hour drive to Redwood Falls. Mom's older brother Tom and his significant other, Donna, also stopped by on Thursday from "the cities" for a short visit.

Thanksgiving morning was spent traveling the 2 miles between the two Weltsch households maximizing ovens for dinner for 15-1/2 people (one just had milk) . Sofia had a tough day of teething and it really maxed us out. She had four teeth coming in and chewing food was NOT on the menu.

It was really tough chasing around a 1-yr old when there was something she shouldn't get into every 15 feet, whether it was a stone coaster, a nice collection of DVD's , or someone's beverage from my uncle's almost poetic bar. Thanks to everyone for their help and understanding.
Meg, Sofia, and I stayed in at my grandparents house along with Lindsey and Jaffer. This house is magical to me because while we moved around a lot growing up, this house was the vacation house and the root of most of my extended family memories. It was really great to share this with Sofia and Jaffer. Sofia may not ever grasp the sentimental value of this house and town, but I will always share my memories and stories with her.

We left Saturday around noon and drove the 5hr leg to Omaha to stay the night with Meg's friend and ex-co-teacher Angie. She moved back home to open a business and relocate with her husband, Aaron. She was an unbelievable host. Her husband had plans to meet some old friends, so she gave me the remote and some college football while she and Meg talked about school and friends. They have a 10mo son named Caden who is a happy big baby (at one lb bigger than Sofia). We stayed up late chatting and left somewhat early on Sunday and made the last 8hr leg back to Denver.

We had a great visit and added to the growing memory scrap book I hold so dear inside me. Here are a few of these memories I want to share with you. Please send your thoughts and prayers along to my grandparents for improvements in their health and for strength for all of our family to provide the support they need. P.S. Everyone say hello to My cousin Ryan who has been secretly been reading all of our blogs...Hi Ryan!

Just the three of us...

Here is the entire Weltsch Family except for my Dad who is still in food coma and Aunt Joyce who is taking the picture.

Grandmary and Sofia, what a special picture this one is.
Grandpa (or G-Pa) always the loving helper, working with the Sweetness and her Thanksgiving dinner, Friday night.

My lovely sis, Aunt Lindsey, and her littler pookie bear reading, Peak-a-boo Zoo.

Daddio doing the same. This is her favorite book. I have to keep repairing the action pages with tape and staples!
Here is Anna, my grandpa, Clint, and little Addison
Grandma Joyce or Aunt Joyce?
Lindsey and Jaffer were amazed with the small size of this little one. She was born 5lb-5oz and 18in long. She cried once that we heard all week.
Here are the boys downstair at my grandparents' house. It goes Ryan, Aaron, Dick, David, Jaffer, and me. I am giving Jaffer a lesson in a game he has never seen or heard of, bumper pool!
Sofia, my little ringer, tossing a ball into the pocket. Brings a whole new meaning to the billiard term, ball in hand.

My Grandpa and I always find time for a game of Cribbage. One day when I was younger I saw Ryan and Grandpa playing. I wanted to learn so bad and we haven't stopped playing every visit since.
Even Sofia wanted to get in on the card action. Do you like her shirt with printed on pearls?
This is a high-chair I beleive that was even used by my Grandma when she was a little one. The tray is even screwed on because her sister used to toss it! How's that for vintage...
Yes, we did bring Sofia's pack-n-play to sleep in, and no this was not it. But it was a convenient place to keep her while we all went to over to Dick's. (Just kidding everyone)
This is right before we left for Redwood but is so darn cute so I had to include it. This is actually a 3-6 month snow suit, but maybe it was mis-labled?
This is one of those moments where we just let her play and took like 20 pictures!
Rub-a-dub-dub, what cute chubby babbies splashin' in the tub.

This picture pretty much sums up the car ride, WE WISH!!! Actually, she was pretty good with only a few fusses that were easily diffused with food or juice. She is her father's daughter. Hehehe.