Swingin' in the Snow.

It's been a year since...

We moved to Colorado! On this cause for celebration, we enjoyed dinner at the first restaurant we went to in Colorado Springs a year ago -- The Plate. What a year it's been! Here's to Year 2 and many more fun memories ahead.

A dinner celebration for our 1st year of living in CO! 

After dinner we perused some local shops nearby and checked out the new Mac store. Luke and Reid quickly became fixtures at the kiddo computer station. Check them out computing below.

Denver Adventures.

Denver was calling our name today, so we were northward bound this morning. Here are the highlights of the day from the Mile-High City.

Mimi & Papa have been gone on a road trip to KS, so the boys were eager to see them now that they've returned. We decided to take them to one of our favorite downtown eateries for brunch -- Snooze! We noshed on eggs benedict, the largest breakfast burrito you'll ever meet, the ever-popular pineapple upside down pancake for the youngest diners (but we all snuck a few bites), and the lone lunch item of a salmon BLT. Five happy tummies walked out of there. Snooze is always a treat!

Next stop ... a small local grocery store that sells an impressive spread of Swedish delicacies. We had several items to pick up for our upcoming Swedish dinner -- brown beans, glog, lefsa, and lingonberries. Mission accomplished.

After these food-focused few hours, it was time for the park! Some pics from the oh-so-happy park enthusiasts...

Oompa Loompa? No, Luke just took on an orange hue while photographed playing in this tube on the playground. Funny photo!

Whoa, Mr. No Fear ... maybe he'll attempt tightrope-walking next!

Korv.

Luke takes a turn at stuffing the korv (supervised by our neighbor James!)

Every year around the holidays, one of our favorite traditions is cooking a Swedish meal. Using recipes from Jami's grandparents, we prepare this elaborate meal that many generations of Nelsons before us have enjoyed. One key element of the meal is "korv" ... a sausage with ingredients of potatoes, onions, beef, pork, and some spices. We usually find a local market that sells this potato sausage around the holidays, but this year, we're taking it up a notch...

We decided to share this traditional meal with our neighbors next weekend. Our neighbor James is quite into making sausage, so he volunteered to make the korv for our meal. We trekked up to their house last night for a full tutorial in korv-making. What a treat to see the process! Long ago, Jami's Grandpa Nelson used a cow's horn and the center of an angel food cake pan to stuff the sausage. Fast forward to modern times, James has a great set-up that connects to their Kitchen Aid mixer to do both the grinding and stuffing. Much easier! 

Our dinner isn't until next weekend, so stay tuned. One thing we know is that the sausage is sure to be delish!

Another good reason to go to Bass Pro Shop...

Reid, Jami, Melissa & Luke at Bass Pro Shop

We're not really into fly-fishing or hunting or boating, but today we had a really good reason to go to Bass Pro Shop in Denver. College Theta friend Melissa Neff and her husband Nick were on a quick trip to Colorado, and we met up with them today for a late lunch at Bass Pro Shop. Why there? It was along their route home, is easy to access from the interstate, and features a good restaurant! It's so much fun to chat with Melissa because she's always up to something interesting and does a great job of keeping in touch with many of our college friends. What a great afternoon outing!

Election Day at the North Pole.

With all the talk about the election, we thought we'd share how we spent the big day. We opted for mail-in ballots vs. having to stand in long lines with small antsy children, so our voting duties were checked off the list and we could move on to other things ... like celebrating Christmas. Yes, Halloween was last week, Thanksgiving is still weeks away, and today we headed to the North Pole. Well, actually it's the Colorado Springs version -- a Christmas-themed family amusement park. It's open from May to Christmas, and this lovely November day was our first trip there. A few funny highlights of our adventures:

• We picked the BEST day to visit the park because we had it all to ourselves (thanks to it being a weekday and Election Day). There were more employees there than park patrons, and we didn't have to wait in a single line. Actually the ride operators were sitting around waiting on us. When does that ever happen?!
  
• The tilt-a-whirl is the first choice of amusement rides with the Leahy crew. We laughed non-stop! 
  
• Reid's favorite thing to say on amusement rides is "Yeehaw! Yeehaw!" Apparently, we've got a cowboy on our hands.
  
• We visited Santa. Both boys were slightly scared of him. Nothing new from last Christmas. Same ol' story there. Maybe one day they'll actually talk to the Jolly Old Fellow.
• Every year the boys get a new ornament for the tree, and today they picked out a Grinch ornament for Luke (not because he's crabby but more that he's a big fan of the movie) and a little car one for Reid.

We think the cold weather is just around the corner, so it was good to celebrate Christmas now at the North Pole on a crisp fall day. All the Christmas music and rides really put us in the holiday spirit. Ho, ho, ho!

Beep, beep! Luke may not have his license yet, but he's a great driver of antique cars!

More driving. Motorcycles this time. And yes that's a brontosaurus with a Santa cap in the background.

If you are going to ride in a bug, make sure it's a smart with one spectacles!

Rudolph & Reid on the carousel.

All Aboard the North Pole Railroad!

Abracadabra ... waiting for the magic show.

If you sit on the outside, you get squished. Sorry, Reid.

Which way to the fun?

Appreciating Autumn.

As if this fall hasn't spoiled us enough, we enjoyed yet another weekend of fantastic weather. These are a few of our favorite activities this weekend -- jumping into leaf piles, raking leaves, kicking back on the grass, giggling and more giggling. Oh, how we appreciate you, autumn.

One final Halloween photo.

Trick-or-treating got the best of Batman, as he fell asleep on the couch with a smile (and chocolate) on his face. The end.

Halloween to the Max.

Happy Halloween to all! There's a reason this is one of the favorite Leahy family holidays ... we love getting into the Halloween spirit. Today has been filled with one spooky shindig after another! Luke had school today, where all the teachers and students sported their finest costumes. The students enjoyed a special breakfast and watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." Then it was off to march through Downtown Monument in a school parade and do some trick-or-treating at the various Monument merchants. 

Breakfast at Luke's school. Reid enjoyed a muffin, too.

Parading to Downtown Monument.

The mob by the downtown shops anxiously await more candy!

The brothers at the parade.

This Very Tall Sheriff (on stilts) joined the parade festivities. He helped direct traffic so the kids could cross safely!

After returning home for what Mom hoped would be nap time (which actually turned into "I want more candy" time), the boys kicked back for a few hours before we headed out again to go trick-or-treating at Scott's work. His company opens up on Halloween, and the employees' children can go office to office and score a boat-load of candy in a very short amount of time. It's great to meet the people Scott works with, and they enjoyed seeing the boys in their superhero costumes. After getting each piece of candy instead of putting it in his trick-or-treat bag, Reid would hand it to us and say "OPEN IT!" We tried to explain to him that we'd have some when we were done ... you don't eat as you go ... but I guess by Reid's rules, you snack along the way!

The family enjoyed some trick-or-treating (with lots of treats) at Dad's work.

Figuring the boys would be tuckered out and sugared up, we opted to stay home and welcome the ghosts and ghouls stopping by our abode tonight ... until Luke's neighbor friends came by and then he wanted to go candy-gathering again. So Scott took the boys out -- for the THIRD time. If you are going to celebrate Halloween, better live it up to the max! Following are some fun pics of the two superheroes together tonight.

Batman & Superman sit on the front step.

Is this the batmobile?

Demonstrating one's superpowers is all fun and games, until Batman flies into the house and bonks his head because he can't see out of his masked cape. Superman stands by though ... still flexing his 'muscles.'

Flying off to save the day.

Look at all our candy! Yum!

Happy Boo-day!

The art from the invitation.

Today we celebrated Reid's 2nd birthday with a Halloween costume parade & playdate. (We waited to have his party until closer to Halloween to make sure everyone had their costumes!) It was a gorgeous 70-degree day, so all the lil' ghouls and goblins enjoyed playing in the backyard and the haunted clubhouse. The costumes included our own resident superheroes, another Batman, Barbie cheerleaders, policeman, firefighter, ballerina, Cinderella, cowgirl, and frog! What a fun day for Reid and for us all!

Pizza & pumpkin cupcakes ... yum!

Beware of the haunted clubhouse! Enter at your own risk.

1 ... 2 Batman Boys! Reid & Gavin looking cute as superheroes.

I scream. You scream. We all scream for FROSTING!

The Costumed Crew! (A few moms had to jump in the photo to encourage shy children!)

Speaking of shy, Reid was a little bit timid when the birthday singing began. Good thing Dear Ol' Dad was there to help!

Kicking off the Halloween festivities...

Salt, Pepper & a couple of Superheroes!

One of our favorite times of the year is coming up this week, and we've got a full week of hauntingly good fun! We kick-started the Halloween festivities with a party today at the neighbor's house. A bounce house, ghoulish goodies, creepy kabobs, cookie decorating -- what fun! Our neighbor Kat went all out planning a great afternoon. Enjoy the first of many Halloween pics for the week!

Mr. Frog (Jake) and Superman (Luke)

Everyone knows the muffin top is the best.

There once was a boy named Reid.

Who decided it was time to feed.

So he pulled up a stool.

He was surely no fool.

And ate 1 bite from each muffin top indeed!

Social Saturday.

Saturday was full of social outings for the Leahy family. Jami enjoyed a girls' afternoon out shopping with some friends at their favorite boutique Eve's Revolution in Old Colorado City and then lunching at eclectic Shuga's. We all enjoyed the dose of girl time with good friends!

Jami, Beth & Jenny enjoy lunch at Shuga's.

In the evening, we hopped yards and enjoyed a Mexican fiesta dinner with our next door neighbors Brian & Melissa and up-the-hill neighbors James & Kat. We're all grateful to have found one another in the neighborhood because our kids are similar in ages and love to play together. Check out the cute neighborhood pals below!

Makenna, Anna, Gavin, Luke, Reid & Jake

Pumpkins & Pasta.

This evening Luke, Scott, and Papa enjoyed a guys' outing to a spaghetti dinner at Luke's school. In the fall, the students get to treat their fathers and grandfathers to this tradition of a pasta dinner with a side of pumpkin carving! Luke's class made the special spaghetti sauce at school today (yes, they seem to be very into the culinary arts) with each student bringing one ingredient for the sauce. The Leahys provided an onion. The dads and grandpas then got to sample the sauce in the main course at tonight's dinner. After eating, everyone set to work on carving their jack-o-lanterns. What a fun evening for the guys! Meanwhile Mimi, Jami & Reid had their own family night out with dinner at a favorite local restaurant A Second Cup.

Cold snap.

Rumor has it that the first snow of the season often comes in mid to late October. Sure enough. Last night the wind started howling, this freezing mist began falling, and the weather turned downright cold. This morning we awoke to a very different scene...

View from our driveway.

Our nice green backyard blanketed with wonderful white snow!

Reid dressed for the chilly day!

This first snowfall of the season reminded us of traveling to the Springs last year at this same time on our initial house-hunting trip.  It was a blizzard the entire time we were touring houses! History repeats itself...

Sir Counts-a-Lot.

We were able to capture Reid counting on video. You have to coax him into getting started, but then he is off and counting. (Listen closely ... 7 and 8 come quickly.) Enjoy! 

Changing hues.

We have a few Aspen trees in our yard that just finally changed colors this week. They must have missed the memo from when the rest of the trees turned earlier this month! The colors of the trees complement our house paint color quite nicely! Look closely and you can see some fall yard gnomes in the photo.