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| Petting 5 wk old sled dog puppy "Hitch" |
We got to celebrate Christmas at home this year! My parents
flew down on the 20th and stayed with us until the 23rd.
We had so much fun with them there. We watched Christmas movies, made bread,
cooked yummy dinners, checked out Nebraska furniture mart and spent a lot of
time playing outside and walking on the walking trail because we were having
March in December weather.
Christmas eve day we spent almost entirely outside. It was
so hot. I think it was almost 80. We went to Christmas eve services at our
church and we had hot dogs for supper. It was great to keep things low key and
simple. I really enjoyed our Christmas eve. Before bed we read the kids “The
Night Before Christmas” and “One Bethlehem Night”. Maddy insisted on leaving
cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. We finished our advent season
with the story of Jesus’ birth. I loved that we were home all the way til
Christmas because we actually got to finish going through all the stories in
the book I have. Usually we kind of lose it about a week before Christmas
because we are traveling. Both girls truly loved the celebration of advent this
year. Every night when I told them it was time to do advent Kelsay would run
through the living room yelling, “Adbent! Adbent!” They got a chocolate each
night from their countdown calendar so that was part of the excitement but they
both really loved the story and activity pages we did each evening. It was
usually about a 5-10 minute thing so nothing huge but so meaningful and
beautiful to watch.
Christmas day we got up and enjoyed opening presents. We got
Maddy a Rockin’ Royals guitar and microphone. I don’t think I could have done a
better job this year picking that magic gift that she was over the top excited
about. Kelsay loved it too. She took her turn strutting around with the
microphone and being the rock star. Kelsay got some miniature ponies and a
magnet set. She is such a funny baby. She likes toys that are small. She does
not like baby toys except the baby swing in the garage. I was laughing because
I didn’t notice til she opened the gifts, but I think everyone we got her had
the suggested age of 3+.
After awhile, we got dressed and I finished up some cooking
for Christmas dinner and then we drove over to Brad and Cindy’s. My parents,
Tam and Jeff, the Hall crew, and us were there for Christmas dinner. Brad fried
a turkey and the guys enjoyed hanging around the turkey fryer outside and
talking. Brad also fried Brussel sprouts. Tam made quinoa stuffing that was
very different from traditional stuffing but delicious, and I contributed
mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce. Cindy had veggie and cracker trays
out and Tam made a bunch of plain cookies and an apple pecan pie and I made a
pumpkin pie. Everything was sooooooooo
good. The kids had a great time playing and opening presents and we watched
“The Empire Strikes Back”.
After our celebration we went home to finish getting ready
to take off for Grand Junction the next day. We flew this year so that was so
nice. I managed to pack all our clothes in one duffle bag and then presents and
coats in another duffle bag. I was pretty proud of my “light” packing job.
On Sunday, we went to Kim’s for the Fletcher/Murphy/McCluskey
Christmas celebration. Dinner was supposed to be at 3 but, in true Fletcher
fashion, we didn’t eat til about 5. Fortunately I had gotten Aaron to get the
kids and myself a snack from Wendy’s in Delta on the way down so we did fine.
The kids opened gifts when we got there so that kept them entertained. They had
a really good Christmas. Aaron’s family is always so generous with their gift
giving. Christmas dinner was delicious again. We had turkey, the “pink stuff”
(strawberry salad), mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, rolls, greek salad, green
bean casserole, cranberries, broccoli salad, and sweet potato casserole.
Everyone was so full we didn’t even touch the pecan or pumpkin pie. I got to
have some pecan pie the day when we went to Kim’s for lunch.
On Monday, we visited with Kim and then on Tuesday we drove
over to Fletcher Ranch and stayed the night. Maddy LOVES her cousin Preston
that lives at the ranch, so the next day, when Aaron and I had to go meet with
our house designer in Woodland Park, Maddy and Kelsay stayed and played with
Preston and Aubrianna. They had such a good time. We really appreciate Ashely
and Aunt Kami for watching them while we were at the meeting. We got a lot
accomplished. The meeting went from 9:30-3. We drove out to the property and
decided how we wanted the house to set on the build site. Then we went back to
the office and went over some things that needed to be finalized on the plans.
We took a lunch break and went to McGinty’s in Divide. Excellent food! Highly
recommend if you ever need to eat lunch while you are in town. Then we went
back to the office and finished up. One of the things we spent a ton of time on
was the woodstove and where it was going to go. We finally got that figured out
and it is going to look really neat and feel very cozy. After the meeting we
zipped back to the ranch, picked up the kids and headed back toward Montrose.
We stopped for the night at Monarch. We stayed at Monarch
mountain lodge which is about 5 miles from the ski area. The people were nice,
the rooms were adequate, but it was way over-priced. Same for dinner at the
restaurant there. Mediocre food for way too much, but we still enjoyed. The
next morning we got up, had breakfast and then went to meet our sled dog team
for our sled dog ride adventure. We went with Monarch Sled Dog Rides. We all
loved the experience. We got to meet the dog teams. Super high energy dogs that
are very sweet but ready to play and go. One of the dogs barked at Kelsay
because she was petting another dog and not him. It made Kelsay cry. Then
another dog grabbed her snowsuit sleeve, playing, but since Kelsay is so little
the dog basically body slammed her on the ground. Poor girl did not have a good
start to the adventure. Once we got on the sled and moving though, it was
nothing but love from both of the girls. The sled dogs pull at about a 12 mph
pace. They don’t look like traditional sled dogs that you would think of
because they are now bred more for speed and competition rather than hauling
freight like in the good ol’ days of the Alaska gold rush. The dogs would get
so mad when the sled driver would have to stop to untangle a dog or take a
break. Our sled driver had just completed the Iditarod in March. It was his
first time to do the competition. He completed it in a little over 12 days. The
winner finished in a little over 8 days. He told us that the first time they
held the race the winner finished in 14 days. This year, the last person to
finish the race completed in 14 days. The funny thing was that the driver was
born and raised in Houston, TX. After we finished our ride, the drivers made
hot chocolate and cider for us and then we got to meet some 5 week old sled dog
puppies. It was pretty pricy to go but I would say well worth it if you ever
get the chance. The whole experience is about 1.5 hours. We had a pretty nice
day as well. In the single digits but the sun was shining and we stayed pretty
cozy in the sled. We all had cold fingers and feet by the time we were done.
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| Dresses girls got from Grandma Kim |
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| G&G Fletcher's Christmas tree was cut from our property |
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| Maddy made an igloo out of snow |
After the sled ride we headed back to Montrose. We got there
and went to an early dinner with Kim and then went to Eric and Amanda’s for
nye. I did not make it past 9:30. I basically went to bed right after I put the
kids down. I was so tired. Aaron stayed up til 2:30 playing cards and talking.
The next day we hung out in the morning and then went to see the Chipmunks
movie. Not great for us but the kids enjoyed. We then took off back to GJ and
had supper, snacks and cards with several family members. The next day we spent
some time with the Bavors and then hit the airport and the plane home.
It was a great time but I am ready for home and routine,
more exercise and less sugar. Maddy starts school on Wednesday so we still have
a couple days of Christmas break to enjoy.
Comments
Brittany