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!