Nelson Family Christmas.

Today we started the Christmas celebration by hosting the Nelson side of the family -- including Briana, Craig & Dalton from KS and Mimi & Papa from Denver. We kicked off the get-together with a lunch reminiscent of Craig & Briana's rehearsal dinner -- mesquite pork loin, creamy chive potatoes and green beans, as well as 2 desserts including a "snow cranberry cake" and ostkaka (AKA Swedish cheesecake.) From these culinary delights, we then moved on to opening gifts. Many surprises and fun gifts were opened. We decided to lean toward gifts of family outings this year, so we are all sure to have fun new adventures that await us in 2009 thanks to the generosity of our family.

All in the family!

Mimi, Papa & their 3 grandsons.

The 'original' Nelson crew.

Our fam of 4.

After all the festivities, Papa read Reid a book before naptime. Curious George tagged along.

Class act for Christmas!

Children donning reindeer antlers. Gingerbread houses made from graham crackers stuck on milk cartons. Christmas carols sung by sweet lil' voices. These are a few of our favorite things after today's Christmas program at Luke's school.

Luke and his classmates crooned several carols, and then we decorated gingerbread houses. It was so much fun to see all the children in the Christmas spirit with the great energy and enthusiasm that the teachers -- Mrs. Elstad and Mrs. Young -- bring out in the children. Here are some photos from our very merry morning at school celebrating with Luke.

The reindeer all lined up and ready to sing!

Luke and classmate Paige decorate their gingerbread houses. Luke only used green gumdrops, green M&Ms, and green sprinkles for decorating. And yes, he's wearing a green shirt. There is only ONE color in his world!

Cuties with cookies.

Luke with his teachers Mrs. Young and Mrs. Elstad

Side note: This is the first public performance that Luke has not been super shy when standing up in front of a crowd. We are so proud of how confident he was today! Maybe it was the antlers...

C is for...

C-c-c-cold and croup! This week started out with some of the coldest temps we've experienced here ... hovering in the single digits! Brrrr! Along with that, Reid also came down with a case of croup Sunday night. After a visit to the doctor and some medicine, he is on the mend, and the characteristic croup cough is fading. Here's the patient resting up and watching a show on Dad's computer...

More fa-la-la festivities...

This weekend brought more fa-la-la festivities for the Leahy family. While Scott and Jami dashed off to the RT Logic Holiday Party, Mimi & Papa watched the boys and worked on the creative culinary masterpiece of decorating a gingerbread house...

Mimi & the boys put their heads together to come up with a design for the house.

Hmmm ... little did we know the box included a Reid!

Every project needs a supervisor. Reid finds it's best to offer guidance while standing on the table.

Off to a very merry holiday gathering for RT Logic!

Holly Jolly Junior League

'Tis the season to be jolly with the Junior League! Things have been hoppin' with League events this past week. Here are some highlights...

We celebrated our newest Junior League members (they are in the back row in the sparkling sashes) at the Fall '08 Provisional Graduation last weekend. Members of the Recruitment/Provisional Committee are in the front row plus Jami, who helped assist the committee with some of the marketing/ad materials for recruitment.

This weekend this fantastic group of Junior League volunteers helped to decorate one of the Colorado Springs airport terminals for a service project called Fantasy Flight. At this event, underprivileged children come to the airport where they have the opportunity to take a real plane ride to visit Santa at the North Pole (AKA our well-decorated winter wonderland courtesy of the League). What a wonderful way to share the Christmas spirit!

And finally, some members of our Spring '08 Provisional Class gathered together today at the Leahy home for a lipgloss exchange (like an ornament exchange only more girly!) We had a wonderful time catching up and celebrating ... and we all left with great glossy gifts!

Spreading Christmas cheer...

Today Reid and Jami set out to help spread a little Christmas cheer with the MOMS Club, a new group we've joined that connects families in our area for fun activities, playdates, service projects, etc. We joined about 10 moms and 20 kiddos at a local retirement home to sing carols and share holiday crafts with the residents. Reid was a little timid about meeting everyone, but he eventually warmed up. The morning was very heart-warming for the young and young-at-heart! (Below Reid is in the middle of the holly, jolly carolers.)

You. Me. 3D Movie.

The boys celebrated a milestone this week ... seeing their first 3D movie! Armed with Skittles (the cinematic snack of choice) and the fancy 3D glasses, we enjoyed the kids' flick "Bolt," a story about a dog who stars on a TV show and thinks he has real superpowers. Very cute!

Brothers & Belts.

One day this week while Luke was getting dressed, he shared the following proclamation: "Today is a GREAT day to wear a belt!" Ah-ha. So it is! Luke rummaged around in his closet and found a belt -- not just one, but two -- so Reid could wear one, too. After Luke put on his own belt, he assisted Little Bro, who was quite intrigued by the concept of wearing a belt but went along willingly. Wouldn't you know it, both boys have been sporting a belt every day since...

And that is the story of how you learn to start wearing a belt. Because your brother made you.

Snow Family.

With some gorgeous weather today, the conditions were perfect for making some snowmen ... 4 to be exact ... oh, and they just happen to resemble some familiar faces. Take a look at the production process and the final result.

Dad teaches the boys the art of rolling snowmen.

Real Reid places the carrot nose on Snow Reid. 

Tah-dah! Our snow family! Thanks to the Zienkewicz crew for the snow family kit!

Small Town Christmas.

One of the perks of living where we do is the proximity to Monument (a small town north of Colorado Springs that is a mix of close-knit community, mountain lifestyle, and artsy folk.) Take that small-town feel and add a splash of holiday and you have Monument Small Town Christmas. Today we met up with Mimi and Papa and journeyed downtown for the fa-la-la festivities. Below are some photo highlights...

Reid & Luke have a chat with Santa and Mrs. Clause. They both were pretty okay with talking to Santa this time ... huge progress from past meetings with the jolly fellow! Reid had THAT expression the entire time, as if to say, "I'll go along with this, but I don't like it." 

 

It's a holly jolly hayrack ride! Yeehaw!

Look -- it's Rudolph ... or is that Blitzen?

Let it snow...

And snow ... and snow! We awoke this morning to beautiful flurries falling, and the snow has continued all day. We ventured out once today for a birthday party, and when we returned 3 hours later, the snow was so deep that we got stuck pulling into our driveway and had to shovel it to get back into the garage! This is the biggest snowfall we've seen since moving here (it's between 1-2 feet in some parts), and the Leahy crew took the opportunity to check out the weather conditions today. Below are some videos of our snowy adventures.

This first video is taken in our backyard. Please note there is no audio. It is a little lengthy, but worth watching to see the brothers in action. 

The Boys & the Sled

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Let us preface these next 2 clips. We live at almost 7,000 ft. elevation, and our neighborhood is very hilly ... mostly uphill to get to our house. So when you are presented with the opportunity to ski down your street, why not?! We had heard that a few years ago a guy skied down our street, so we decided to follow suit. Scott was up first. As luck would have it as he was walking up the hill, he passed a woman who was snowshoeing down the street! (Note: these 2 videos have audio.)

Scott the Skier

Mountain Mama

In all, what a memorable day of our Thanksgiving holiday weekend! 

Elf on the Shelf.

Have you heard of the Elf on the Shelf? It's a fun Christmas tradition that came to the Leahy household this year. The story goes that the elf is sent by Santa to keep an eye on little boys and girls, and he then reports back to Santa on whether the children have been naughty or nice. Every night the elf moves (with a little parental assistance after the boys are in bed) to a new lookout post. When the boys awake in the morning, they are so anxious to see where the elf has moved. Here are a few highlights about our Elf on the Shelf...

• Part of the tradition is that each family has to name their elf. The boys decided to call him Mr. Teddy (well, actually, that was Luke's idea, but Reid went along with it.) 
  
• Luke likes to stare at Mr. Teddy and exclaim, "I see his mouth moving. He's smiling!" 
  
• Papa told Luke that elves can fly, so Luke has developed many theories about how Mr. Teddy gets to his new locations. Every morning a new tale unfolds. Quite entertaining.
  
• If the boys get a little unruly, it's amazing to see how quickly they snap back into shape with the reminder, "The elf is watching you!"

Traditions are one of the best parts of the holiday season, and this is a new one we are really enjoying. That said, it's late and we'd better go transport Mr. T to his new spot...

Deck the halls...

With the turkey dinner over and done, our next order of business for Thanksgiving night was putting up the Christmas decorations. It was so much fun to find the 'new' spot for all-things-holiday since this is the first Christmas in our home! The boys really got into decorating this year and checking out all the ornaments. Mimi and Papa got quite a chuckle out of all the commotion involved with holiday decorating in our house! Very lively! 

Dad and his little helpers start assembling the tree.

L & R are still "helping." Perhaps Reid is making sure Dad is steady while standing on the stool... 

"Look, more toys! Who says they need to hang on the tree?"

Tah-dah! The finished product!

So blessed.

We are celebrating many blessings this Thanksgiving, but two of the greatest are health and happiness. We are so glad that Mimi has been feeling better lately and that we could all enjoy family time together this holiday. Here are some fun family photos from the day & a video, too!

After-dinner wagon ride.

The family on Thanksgiving '08!

Outtakes are funny. Notice Reid quietly chiming in and that Luke doesn't trust the self-timer on the camera.

Dinner by InStyle. Dessert by Aunt Mary Ann.

Our Thanksgiving menu was inspired by an article featured in InStyle magazine. Long story short, it's what the singer Billy Joel eats at his house on Thanksgiving. True story. If it's good enough for the piano man, it's good enough for us! Well, it was better than good ... DELISH!

So here was the spread at our house this Thanksgiving...

• Butternut squash soup
  
• Maple & orange glazed turkey
  
• Spicy cornbread stuffing
  
• Red potatoes with carmelized shallots
  
• Green beans with sun dried tomatoes
  
• Cranberry-orange-apple relish

Dessert was taken from the kitchen of Aunt Mary Ann (Scott's aunt) and was an amazing pumpkin crunch dessert. Oh, and Mimi brought her famous peanut clusters, too. Yum!!

Some good eats this Thanksgiving and happy tummies!

Mom and her sous chef Luke.

Scott is the king of carving.

Bring on the turkey dinner!

Gobble, gobble table decoration.

Poinsettias Plus.

The latest chapter in the Book o' Leahy adventures is a random (yet festive) trek. Random because it involved driving way 25 minutes way out in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road. Festive because it involved poinsettias. A friend told us about the Dutch Heritage Gardens in Larkspur and that they were having an open house & tour today. After a long journey on a winding dirt road, we spotted the largest greenhouse facility EVER. There it was on top of the hill with nothing else around it. 

To give you some background, the greenhouse supplies most of the state of CO with poinsettias and is a big supplier to grocery stores. So if you buy a poinsettia from King Sooper, it likely spent some time here! The greenhouse has more than 100,000 poinsettia plants in a variety of sizes and colors stocked for the holiday season. The colors were amazing...

Surrounded by a sea of red.

Hugs, not bugs, in this greenhouse.

Mom & her boys

Checking out the scene.

We are thankful for...

Turkey-Inspired Art Projects

Luke brought this gobbler home from school last Friday. It immediately became a favorite in the Leahy Art Gallery. The use of hands as feathers -- genius! The incorporation of real feathers to add texture and depth -- brilliant! The random green circle stamps show the artist's inspiration in that he 1) prefers the art form of stamping and 2) loves the color green. 

These are the placecards for our upcoming Thanksgiving feast we are hosting on Thursday. They were made with love by the boys (with some parental assistance.) And yes, if you were coming for Thanksgiving dinner, we'd make a turkey out of you, too...

The rest of the story...

While Luke was having fun with Mimi and Papa, the rest of the Leahy crew enjoyed their time with just Reid in tow. We dined on Old Pearl Street in Denver at the Crushery (amazing panini sandwiches & salads), bought a family cupcake to share at Mulberries Bakery, and then jetted down to Castle Rock to do some holiday shopping at the outlet mall. After we got home, we also managed to work in a lot of projects like some rewiring, cleaning of our storage room, hanging more pictures, and the much overdue toy-closet-tidying. Reid didn't seem to miss Luke too terribly much, but he did ask about him and was very glad to be reunited with big bro today. In all, I think everyone enjoyed their weekend and the change of routine!

Luke's Big Adventure.

For some time, Luke has been asking about spending the night -- all by himself -- at Mimi and Papa's. He LOVES going to their house and never wants to leave (guess their toys are more exciting than ours at home!) So yesterday, we took Luke to their house, and he was excited to go with his green backpack, jammies, and a change of clothes. Jami's parents had been planning a surprise outing with Luke, and they took him to the Heritage Square Music Hall to see a special Christmas musical called "The Santa Rescue." Mimi and Papa reported that Luke was very attentive at the show but wasn't so interested in volunteering for any audience-participation opportunities. This morning, we met Mimi, Papa & Luke at a coffee shop in Castle Rock, and Luke was all smiles about his big adventure this weekend! When asked about his favorite part of his 'trip,' he said it was going to McDonald's with Papa this morning. What a fun-filled weekend! 

Family Night Out.

We have found a place in Downtown Colorado Springs called Poor Richard's, and it just might top the list of local restaurant experiences for our family. We love going there! Here are the reasons why...

• It serves pizza which is the food-of-choice for 3 out of 4 Leahys.
  
• It also serves healthy fare with tofu, veggies & brown rice for the other 1/4 of our family (Mom).
  
• Way in the back of the restaurant is a room with dining tables and a castle built into the wall. Children entertain themselves while adults enjoy finishing a sentence. What a luxury! 
  
• It is a great place to meet other families for a Family Night Out. The kids have fun, and the adults do, too!
  
• It is one of 4 shops under the same roof. The unique establishment also features a toy store, coffee shop, and wine bar! Yes, what a dream!
  

This past Friday night we met our friends there - Jeff, Britny, Hunter & Hudson - and had a ball. We can easily spend a couple of hours there watching the boys play, chatting, eating (their food is GOOD!) and enjoying the evening.

Awesome moves.

Out of the blue one day last week, Luke said, "Wanna see my awesome moves?" Hmmmm ... we watched with great curiosity, knowing that neither of us as his parents taught him any such 'moves.' This is a sample of what followed. Wood floors. Breakdancing. End pose.

Hop, skip & a jump!

We had a hoppin' good time at our Junior League playdate today at ArtSports! Reid LOVED jumping in the foam pit, swinging from the rope, and bouncing on the trampoline (Luke missed out on the action because he was at school). We've been to ArtSports before, but it was amazing to see the adventures Reid took on today! Below are two videos of the lil' mover and shaker. Enjoy!

Move over, Tarzan!

Jump for Joy!

3 Generation Bike Ride.

What better way to spend a 70+ degree day in November than off on a long bike ride! You gotta enjoy the good days when it's NOT cold and snowy. Papa joined us for our afternoon adventure cycling on the Santa Fe Trail to Palmer Lake. We stopped for a brief recess at the park for Luke (Reid was asleep in the bike trailer.) What a fun fitness outing for the family!

1 bike trailer + 2 bikes + 3 generations = 4 happy outdoor enthusiasts today!

Caution: Riding in the bike trailer may make you  snooze.

Papa's Helpers.

Luke and Reid love to help Papa. When it comes to a project, they are always right there ready to assist.

Fixing the broken bike chain.

Planting flower bulbs TODAY ... it was a gorgeous day over 70 degrees!

Rompers.

In November, Monday mornings have taken on a new twist (or shall we say tumble) with Reid taking a class called Rompers at the YMCA. The 45-minute class involves singing, jumping, tumbling, parachute games, and more. Many activities for our lil' man on the move! In today's class, they treated the kids to some Bounce House fun. Reid loved it (can you tell by the smile on his face!) Mimi and Papa gave this "class" to Reid as a birthday gift ... let the good times roll!

Swedish Chef.

No, it's not the Muppets ... but instead the Leahy family was busy this week preparing for the Swedish supper. Every year for the holidays, we look forward to fixing a Swedish meal using recipes passed down the family tree. This year, we decided to share this culinary delight with our neighbors. Beforehand we fed the kids pizza (not Swedish but a nod to Scott's Italian roots) and then the adults sat down to a nice dinner with all the trimmings. While different than the usual American fare, it's nice to step outside the box and fix a meal that's pleasing to the palate with a different combination of flavors. Those Swedes really like to incorporate potatoes and sweets! The favorites of the meal were the potatis korv (potato sausage made by our neighbor James)and the ostkaka (almond cheesecake) with lingonberries. What a treat to live (and eat) like Swedes for the night!