O Christmas Tree

We went to the mountains in search of the perfect Christmas tree. The weather was so nice. There is not much snow yet so our search was fairly easy. We saw three potential "keepers" and finally decided on this one.






Jamie was excited to help with the tree and used his toy saw to cut "lots of things".





It's hard to believe that we're already decorating for Christmas but we are looking forward to a fun holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent the holiday at home. After some quick, last minute cleaning, we enjoyed a relaxing day watching the Macy's parade on TV and then watching football.The Broncos played the Cowboys (and WON!) which made for extra celebration and thanksgiving.

The Hamilton's roasted the turkey while Julie prepared all of the necessary side dishes. After we all had our fill of yummy food, we watched "The Polar Express". We missed spending Thanksgiving with family but it was nice to be home and share it with good friends.

Paradise FOUND!

Jamie was invited to a birthday party at the Sand Dunes Swimming Pool (AKA The Hooper Pool).

We have lived in Alamosa for 17 years and had not yet discovered this SLV oasis. It is a natural hot artesian heated swimming pool that is open year round. It has a kiddie pool that goes from 1 foot to 2 feet in depth and is PERFECT for Jamie. He had so much fun playing in the water with the other kids and didn't have to cling on to either one of us. He felt completely comfortable and independent wading in the shallow water or floating on his swimming noodle. The water going into the pool is about 118 degrees but cools down to between 98 and 104. They also have a therapy pool where the water is 108. We all had a great time and will definitely spend more time there now that we know more about it.

A perfect day to climb a tree...

Jamie was having fun playing at the park with his friend, Parker, when they both decided that they'd try to climb this tree. I couldn't resist the photo op!

FCC Craft Show

Julie & Jamie were in Denver but Bill was at home in Alamosa putting on the 5th Annual Craft and Bake Sale at our church.
He really enjoys his scrollsaw hobby and looks forward to the holiday season when he can show off his masterpieces. This year he has done craft shows in La Jara, Albuquerque and Alamosa. His next show is Dec. 2 & 3 at the Villa Mall in Alamosa (not a real mall, just a strip mall).

Chuck E. Cheese

Julie & Jamie and Emily & Shelby went to Denver for a Colorado PT Cruiser Club meeting on Saturday.
We spent most of the time running errands and decided to reward the kids for their "good behavior" with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. They had a great time!

Remembering Granddad

Julie and Jamie spent this past Veteran's Day weekend in Albuquerque. This was the one year anniversary of Julie's grandfather's death. Her cousin, Esteban, also came in from Los Angeles to be with family and remember.

Saturday, Julie & Esteban searched high and low (really, we even went to a casino) to find the USC vs. California football game on TV. We ended up at Hooters and had a great time watching the game and catching up. The Trojans won...still undefeated and still number ONE!

Later that night, we met at Gram's and were talking about different things when the subject turned to our family history. With Esteban's laptop and my Gram's wireless DSL (yes, my 89 year old grandmother has wireless DSL), we started digging. We came up with a few names that I'd not come up with yet which triggered Gram's memory with even more names and information. She then remembered an envelope of family history information that one of her nieces had put together and sent to her over 10 years ago. Wow, it was like hitting the jackpot! They had to kick me out and send me back to my mom's at midnight just so they could go to bed.

On Sunday, Owen & Shelby and Wanda joined us at Gram's for yummy roast & turkey dinner. We all went to the cemetery to place flowers on Granddad's and Everett's gravesites. I had not been to the cemetery since the funeral and had not yet seen the headstone that had been designed by Esteban. It was a beautiful autumn day and it was sweet to see Jamie & Shelby playing near the gravesite...almost as if they were playing in Granddad's lap. Granddad's memory and legacy will forever shape our lives.

Happy Halloween!

Jamie was so excited for Halloween. We thought he was going to be Thomas the Tank Engine but he changed his mind several times before deciding on Buzz Lightyear. (He went as Bob The Builder to the playgroup party.) We went to the Harvest Festival at the Waverly Church where Jamie and his best friend, Spencer, had a great time together. They played all of the games, including ring toss, bean bag throw, cake walk, field goal kick, free throw shooting and bowling.

Jamie & Spencer

We had so much fun at the festival that we got a late start on the trick-or-treating. We only made it to four houses for the boys to belt out their well rehearsed "Trick-or-treat!" As you can tell from the contents of the pumpkin, they were well rewarded at those four houses.

The LOOT!