Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day friends and family! We hope you have enjoyed a delicious day filled with wonderful memories!

We were able to visit a replica of the Mayflower when we were in Massachusetts this fall. It was wonderful to see the location of our country's first "Thanksgiving" and appreciate all that the pilgrims endured. This particular ship actually took the same voyage that the Mayflower travelled. Character actors were on board to tell us of the many hardships endured during the 2 month journey. There was no fresh water on board so everyone, including children, drank beer due to the nutritional properties of the barley. Hearing of their adventures made us appreciate our 21st century lifestyles!

This is "Plymouth Rock", a small rock showing the location of where the Mayflower landed in 1620. What a neat experience to walk where the first pilgrims did close to 400 years ago.

Centuries later we too celebrate the meeting of pilgrims and indians and the foundations our country is built on. Here Ashlyn awaits the turkey that took an hour longer than expected to cook!

Tom carves the bird, and our tiny 13 lb. turkey gave us plenty of leftovers for a week! It was just the four of us this year, so it has been a quiet and relaxing day. I jogged around the lake this morning and the rest of the day was all about cooking, eating, celebrating, and cleaning up. Now we wait until we're hungry, or can make room for, pumpkin pie and pumpkin ice cream!

We hope you have had a wonderful day, and that there is much to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving!

With love from Colorado, Denise :-)

"The family that exercises together, stays together!"

Last weekend we all ran in our city's "35 Annual 10K Turkey Trot!" Kyle and I participated in the 10K run, (6.4 miles) and Tom stayed back with Ashlyn so she could complete the 2 mile run. It snowed the day after, so we were fortunate that we didn't have any weather to contend with except for a cool morning start time. Kyle finished in just over an hour, and my time was 1 hr. 11 min. We were both pretty slow, but still felt a good sense of accomplishment when we were done!

The 2 mile runners and our cheer section at the finish line!

The shirts were were an eco-friendly bamboo organic material...too bad they couldn't have found eco-friendly pretty colors! :-)

We've been on the go the past few weeks. Lots of kid's activities, concerts, lessons, job hunting, volunteering, church activities, etc...fill our days and nights. My biggest news is that for the past 12 weeks I have been working on dieting and exercising and have now lost 26 lbs! It feels great to be lighter on my feet, and now I am only 6 lbs. away from my wedding day weight 21 years ago! I'm going to try and get there again...the real challenge will be if I can maintain it. I have found that over the years, losing weight is much more motivating than holding steady. I will keep you posted!

Tom is still job hunting and following leads, but jobs are few and far between. In the meantime he is working around the house, organzing finances, and helping me with all my duties. I don't know what I will do when he returns to work! It is so nice to have help with the cooking, chauferring, and all the simple things like having him home during the day to carry in groceries! I will manage once again though, and we are keeping our fingers crossed he finds work before Jan. when the severance salary ends. Keep your fingers crossed!

Quick post tonight as I want to stop by your blogs and visit! Happy Fall!

Bearded man shaves for symphony!

At last, the time has come...the beard is gone! Whoo hooo! :-)

Tom has enjoyed growing a beard since Aug. when he was laid off from his position at work. As much as he enjoyed the beard, he promised to shave it when a special occasion or job interview was lined up. Well, the special occasion came first, so Friday he shaved his wooly face for a night out with friends to attend the symphony!

Our friends Kevin and Robin graciously invited us to attend the opening night of the "Boulder Philharmonic". We started the evening out with a romantic dinner at a local Boulder hot spot called, "Black Cat." The chef grows many of the ingredients used in the restaurant's organic menu. We then enjoyed a musical treat with a full orchestra playing spooky selections to usher in Halloween night the following day!

Halloween was full of fun for our 8 year old fancy leopard, and our 14 year old crazy 70's guy! Kyle's shirt was actually one that Tom purchased at a "Grateful Dead" concert years ago, making the outfit especially authentic! :-)

Look at all that loot!


Sadly, Halloween was also the 3rd anniversary of my dad's passing in 2006. The day is always full of meloncholy emotions for me, but I find peace in knowing that my parents spirit and legacy lives on in us, and in how we live our lives to honor them.

Have a wonderful week filled with memories to last!

Smiles to you,
Denise :-)