Sometimes when doing yard work, you have to call in the big guys to help ... like Batman ... because we all need some extra superpowers to handle those leaves!
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
The Colors of Christmas
One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to hit the Dutch Heritage Gardens Greenhouse out in the country in the rolling hillsides of Larkspur for their annual Holiday Open House. The weekend after Thanksgiving, they have an Open House where the public can come in and buy poinsettias and plants at discounted rates. After that, the plants are destined for the local grocery stores of Colorado. In addition to stocking up on fa-la-la foliage, this is also a wonderful photo opp with the "colors of Christmas." Enjoy these photos of our little elves...
Can you spot the Leahy elves?
Mr. Luke (with a slight cocoa mustache!)
"Can you two hug and
look like you like one another?"
Funny Reid
Grantman
"Luke, could you take a picture of us by the pretty flowers?"
This is what we got, but it's kind of hip in an
industrial-greenhouse-irrigation-system kind of way!
Walking into the greenhouse, Papa spotted this truck.
Grant motored around in this truck the ENTIRE time.
If you look closely, you can see he's hauling
hot cocoa in the back! Precious cargo!
Our crazy crew!
Special Delivery - Several poinsettias & a little boy!
Boys will be boys!
Grant suddenly realized his truck was being
swarmed by older brothers and was
slightly displeased by that.
"That's it. We're done. LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!"
Vogel Visit
Also over Thanksgiving Break, our good friend Byron Vogel and his boys Kyle & Adam stopped by for a visit. It was so much fun to catch up. The boys became fast friends and even worked in a wiffleball game!
Thanksgiving Menu
Oh, how we love planning Thanksgiving Dinner! We usually travel to see family on Thanksgiving, but this year we stayed at home & hosted family. We took our inspiration for the big meal from some friends over at the Food Network. Here's a peek at our menu...
Alton Brown’s Good Eats Roast Turkey Recipe
Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten’s Sausage & Herb Stuffing
Giada de Laurentiis’ Baked Mashed Potatoes with Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs
Desserts by Kathy & Jami (we aren’t on the Food
Network yet, but perhaps some day!)
Oh, the meal was DELISH! The turkey sat in a brine for 12 hours before cooking. We thought the brine would enhance the flavor a little more (not necessarily the case) but it certainly amped up the moisture. Very good! The stuffing had bits of sausage, dried cranberries, apple & celery mixed with sourdough bread. A perfect combination of sweet and savory in the stuffing. I wanted to find a potato that was different, but not too different. We found a winner with these Giada potatoes as the parmesan and mozzarella cheese added a little different zip. Green beans are pretty standard, but add some caramelized onions ... WOW! And finally, the surprise dish of the day that I thought people would either love or hate were the brussels sprouts. Loved them! There were second helpings of these on more than one plate! They had a drizzle of molasses mixed with the pomegranate seeds and nuts, which made for quite a festive & fancy spin.
Thanksgiving Holiday with the Dittos
This Thanksgiving, our hearts were filled with much gratitude ... for health, happiness, time with family, rest & relaxation, and beautiful weather. What a fun-filled week with Jami's Aunt Marcia and cousin Matt visiting! We loved having them here (and that they were up for any and every adventure with our crew!) Here are some Thanksgiving week pics of our good times and great memories!
Sunshine, shorts & sun ... a beautiful day
on the Gleneagle Golf Course!
The guys enjoyed some time golfing
while Marcia and I hit the Y for TRX/Kettlebell class.
Reason #57 why it's cool to have Matt visit ...
he lets you drive the golf cart!
These two are quite the pair...
always looking for their next adventure!
Time for a Thanksgiving morning hike.
Wobble before you gobble!
A lovely family hike through Fox Run Park.
You can never have too many cooks in the kitchen.
The more, the merrier!
Papa was as our fabulous wine connoisseur
for Thanksgiving dinner. Delicious wines
from Cameron Hughes & chocolates, too!
from Cameron Hughes & chocolates, too!
Kathy & Grant (who looks like
he's up to some trouble!)
Our first year of having a kids' table!
Kathy made the most
beautiful pumpkin pies!
Our table set for the feast.
Reid added the piece of bread
(perhaps he thought the "placecard
pears" needed a buddy?!)
Not the original plan, but it
added some rustic charm and
showcased Reid's culinary creativity!
Time to carve the turkey!
Oh, how Mama loves the kitchen!
It was truly a pleasure to plan and prepare
Thanksgiving dinner with our menu
inspired by the Food Network.
Post-Turkey Trampoline Time!
Fun for everyone!
The weather was so nice we enjoyed
dessert on our patio. Oh, and some people
enjoyed some tree-climbing!
Leading up to the Dittos visit, the boys talked
non-stop about going to play laser tag with them.
So we headed off to Brunswick Zone XL for
some fun Friday morning!
Time for our annual Swedish meal!
Scott made the Nelson family recipe for
Potatis Korv (AKA Swedish Potato Sausage).
Our Crew from Thanksgiving 2012
Thanks to all for a fabulous week!
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Batman LIVE!
For Birthday #6, we gave Reid tickets to see the performance of Batman LIVE! on stage at World Arena. Big bro Luke joined Reid and Mom for this night out to the theater. What an amazing performance with trapeze artists, stunts, superheroes suspended from cables, acrobats ... just WOW! The boys talked about their favorite parts of the musical the whole ride home.
Our first seats were pretty high up!
Because there were so many open seats,
we got to move forward!
Our Favorite Bat Fans
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