Rocky Mountain High

Don't Fred and I do a great job of looking at the camera ;)

Sunday drive

It all started Saturday morning with Fred making the announcement that he had a dream about Big R (a western, ranching, farming, catch-all type store) and that we should go there. The only Big R that I remember is in Redmond, OR, so I laughed and said "whatever"...Fred reminded me that there was one in Alamosa, CO and thus, the Leisher family gathered in the car on Sunday morning heading off to Big R. It was a nice drive and we looked at the cow shaped trees which Lukey says are "silly" and admired the mountains. We stopped at the old train yard and were well covered in black soot. Then for the big event...Big R...we admired the cute western wear, found a kettle for our wood stove and Luke and Logan picked out Thomas stickers (what else) and gumballs (of course). After this, we decided to drive a little further and visit the Great Sand Dunes. I was not thinking that we were going to see much other then snow capped hills but it turned out to be a perfect day; not too cold and the sand was actually warm in spots. We finished out the day with more trains, some pizza and a quiet ride home. All in all a nice Sunday event.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

We had the best Christmas ever this year. Grammy, Auntie Monique and Leyla made it just in time to all be together and we had a great day with a yummy brunch, presents and the traditional, yet sickening Chinese food. It was one of the most beautiful Christmas days with the snow falling and a fire the wood stove: who could ask for more :) Luke got not one but two car carriers and he and Leyla were in their glory. Chevy was an extremely happy dog as she devoured her new tennis balls. Logan, unfortunately, was not feeling well (someone has been sick for the past 2 Christmases...) but when he is better he will, I'm sure, join in the rambunctious play. The couple photos that I took are just of a lazy morning together.



Whoops they're blurry...

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it SNOW!

It has been steadily snowing for the past few days so here is a slideshow and video of the snow festivities...

Decorations

We went to Twirl, the local toy store, play area, etc, for a craft show this past Saturday. They were offering wreath making as their craft for the day so we went to make one. Luke was insistent on adding cherries to the wreath but beyond that had little interest in the actual construction. So, I made a nice Christmas wreath complete with cherries. When we got home Lukey was much more interested in the wreath so Daddy and he hung it on the door to his room. He LOVES it and comes out to check on it before bed and runs over to it throughout the day to touch and just enjoy his glorious decoration.

Happy boys

and three hours of clean-up...





PS This was not intentional ie not a Mother approved activity. I was checking email and they were playing with their kitchen (or so I thought) and I heard joyous laughter which I went to check out and found the above scene. They were making flour angels, throwing flour-balls, and rolling about gleefully.

The Countdown

December is here and with it the countdown to Christmas. I love advent calendars and the anticipation of opening the doors and getting the surprises. So, that is something that I am passing on to my kids and Luke is now the age that he understands a bit about time. It is the first thing he wants to do in the morning and he talks about it all day; what shape he got and what shape Logan got that day and all the days previous. Logan also knows that when the calendars come down there is chocolate to be had so he scurries right over too. The first couple days it was really hard to wait until the next day(day 2 he took it upon himself to pull over the coffee table and get it down from on top of the armoire) but he knows that we do one chocolate and one box a day and is so cute with excitement! I took a pic of the advent calendar spread to commemorate this occasion in my passing down of favorite holiday traditions.



Another tradition that is happily at play is Christmas music. Both boys love it this year with Luke hearing it and saying "Christmas musak YAY" and Logan doing his little jig. So hooray for that too!