Life on the High Plains

It was back to work yesterday after spending a few days in Idaho to celebrate Christmas with my dad, brother, and Dana and Adam.  I just downloaded the pictures I took, or to put it better, the pictures I didn't take. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  My goal while I'm at my dad's is to fill his freezer with individual servings of home cooked meals.  I made him chili, beans and ham, spaghetti, chicken enchiladas, and beef stew during this visit.  It should last him a few weeks.  I meant to take a picture of his freezer, but I forgot. Needless to say, Idaho is cold in December.  We were treated to a white Christmas which is indeed beautiful as long as you don't have to go anywhere.   Adam was thrilled to use the snow thrower, but guess what--I didn't get a picture of that either.  Luckily Irv snapped one with is phone and forwarded it to me. Dad got rid of most of his Christmas decorations, but he kept a s...

We were recently in Vegas for the Nationals Final Rodeo.  It was kind of cold and dreary while we were there, but we still went out for a midnight walk to visit some of our favorite places. There nothing quite like the fountains at the Bellagio.  Another favorite thing about the Bellagio is the Chihuly ceiling.  It is amazing! Happy Skywatch Friday!

Our family is spread out this year.  From Idaho to Colorado to Wisconsin to New Mexico to Oklahoma to our extended family in Australia. Just know that we're thinking of all of you and wishing you a very blessed and joyous Christmas. Love you all!

Have you ever thought about how they got all the supplies to the Hoover Dam when they were building it?  No, I had never given it a moment's thought before Irv found us a fantastic trail to hike while we were in Vegas.   The Historic Railroad Trail is a 3.7 mile (one way) trail that is the last remaining section of railroad line that was used during the Hoover Dam construction.  It consists of 5 tunnels that are approximately 300 ft. in length and 25 ft. in diameter.  Construction started in 1931 and the lines were used until 1961 when the last turbine was hauled to the dam.     In 1984 the trail was added to the National Register of Historic Places.     It was a cold, drizzly day and we had the trail pretty much to ourselves after the people in front of us turned back after a mile or so.     It cleared up a little bit on our way back and we got to see a little bit of Lake Mead.     ...

Happy Birthday Mom! We love and miss you!  (Oh my goodness, we were all so young and skinny 26 years ago when we celebrated Christmas in Ft. Rucker, Alabama!)

We don't have any kids around our house at Christmas time anymore which makes Christmas a little less fun.   What we do have, however, is a kitten named Sophie. She believes we put a tree in the house just for her entertainment.  Every now she'll come running to me with an ornament hanging out of her mouth.  She's just so dang cute that it's hard to get mad at her. Tonight I spent a little cleaning up under the tree and rehanging ornaments. Hmmm...I wonder how this ornament was broken. Strange how things are just falling off the tree by themselves. The angel that tops our 9 foot Christmas tree was also on the floor.  There must have been an earthquake in Colorado today. I hope nobody thinks this little kitten is as sweet and innocent as she looks. We have proof that this little stinker is up to no good...   She keeps us laughing and smiling this Christmas season...

There is isn't any place that does a 5K quite like Las Vegas!  While we were there last week we participated in the Santa Run along with 15 thousand other Santas. It started in the old downtown Fremont Street area of Las Vegas. Even the dogs were decked out for Christmas. Robin Leach, remember him from Life Styles of the Rich and Famous, was the emcee for the event.  You'll never guess who else showed up--Wayne Newton.  See him on the stage (the guy with the suit on)? Here's a blurry closeup just in case you don't believe me. The Mayor was also there along with Holly Madison (????).  Apparently she's some famous playboy bunny. Olivia Newton John also stopped by to say a few words which made Mr. W really happy to have another Ozzie nearby. In case you're wondering why all these half naked men are around--the Chippendales were the Grand Marshalls for the run.  You'll notice I wasn't shy at getting a closeup as they walked throug...

You know it's almost Christmas when Mr. Bean's winter concert rolls around.  We had the pleasure of enjoying some truly wonderful middle school band music last night.  It would have been even more enjoyable if the adults in the audience had shown some respect to the hard work these kids have invested in their music this year. Oh well, the music was fantastic and if you listen very closely you'll hear Mr. Bean's first concert solo.  If you're looking for him, he is the second little head from the right.  (Sorry no close-ups.) Mr. Beans, you are truly turning out to be a wonderful young man and Pappy and I are so proud of you! Merry Christmas!

After a whirlwind week in Vegas it was so nice to come home from work yesterday to find my dear hubbie pulling the Christmas decorations out of the rafters in the garage.  Last year after Christmas we decided to get a new pre-lite Christmas tree because assembling our monster of a tree was very labor intensive and getting the lights to work was always a headache.  I found a tall skinny tree at Garden Ridge that I wanted and my dear hubbie, spendthrift that he is, watched and watched the post Christmas sale until it was 90% off.  He got it for next to nothing, brought it home, and stored it in the rafters. As soon as we opened the box I knew there was a problem.  It came in four sections.  I then read the box.  My hope to replace my old monster tree with something a little less space consuming isn't going to happen with this tree. I now have a 9-foot tree that is 5 1/2 feet in diameter.  It reaches the ceiling!  Irv had to bend down the top t...

Incredible sunset at the Colorado State University vs. Air Force Academy football game last week. Too bad the Rams lost.  Happy Skywatch Friday!

We had our 2nd annual family fun painting night on Saturday. Just look at the smiles on these faces.  I have a new best friend...too bad she lives on the other side of the globe. Eager to start our masterpieces. Why is she giving me that look? Everyone did such a fantastic job.     J and C became official members of the family this week.     Mr. Beans and Mary are very talented.  Mr. Beans went a little rogue and followed his own inspiration.  For some reason he refused to let me have his painting for my office.      This might have been before the dancing started.     The moms seemed to take it a little more seriously than everyone else.     Mr. W made sure all our glasses were kept filled.     I believe a good time was had by all.    I have just one question...can someone please explain this painting to me?  All I ...