Welcome 2011!

Hello friends!

My goodness, I can't believe it has been almost a year since I last made a blog entry! Time presses forward, and I have feared that our mundane lives just weren't of interest any longer, so my posts had stopped for some time. Just in case you still stop in and "visit" from time to time, I wanted to update you on the latest! We are all alive and well despite my silence for so many months!

Kyle is now 15 years old and a freshman in high school. He loves playing guitar, violin, and playing on the boys JV tennis team. Ashlyn is 9 years old and a 4th grader. She is very active in Girl Scouts, and loves serving on the Student Council at her school.

Tom was hired with "Ball Corporation" last spring and is enjoying his new position in Finance. I am currently working on obtaining my Colorado Teaching License so that I can start substitute teaching in our local elementary schools. In the meantime, I am busy as C0-Leader of Ashlyn's Girl Scout troop, working in the classroom, serving on our school PTO board, etc...life is full and we have been happy!

After my parents passed away, we started "The Appletree Scholarship Fund" in their memory. To date, we have awarded 6 $500 scholarships to worthy educators in Tehama County who are committed to enriching their students academic experiences through innovative teaching methods. We plan to continue to awarding the scholarships yearly in the fall. I think my parents would have been pleased to see these smiling students! BIG thanks to all of you who have contributed to our fund! Your generosity has made so much possible!

I look forward to catching up on your blogs and hearing the latest in your lives! I have missed you all, and hope that the new year is off to a wonderful start! Here's to good health, happiness, and much love in 2011!

Love,

Denise and the entire Kofford Family in Colorado! :-)

"Before and After"

"Before" my weight loss...these photos were taken in Aug/Sept. when I was 40 lbs. heavier. I was feeling good when these were taken as I got some new pants that fit well. I took the time to have them altered so they were a perfect fit.
There's nothing like a pair of crisp white pants! A fine pair of white pants have been my favorite article of clothing to own since I was in college. Then I lost 40 lbs. and discovered it was time for new white pants!
"After!" Now I have lost 40 lbs. and feel really good! I didn't realize how much energy it drained in me carrying around the equivalent of four 10lb. sacks of potatoes!

Those are the Rocky Mountains behind me and the snow capped peak is one of our "fourteeners" called "Longs Peak."

For 4 months I walked/jogged/ran(shuffled) on this 3 mile loop around McIntosh Lake with these pretty views.
It was always inspirational and I spent a lot of time thinking about my parents and my goals in life.
My friend Lorri is a wonderful photographer and she graciously offered to take these 'after' photos for me! She is so talented making even a 43 year old gal like me look youthful! (And these are originals before "Photoshop!" Can't wait to see what magic she can work next on my many wrinkles!)

So remember my love of white pants?

Well, I may need to rethink how I feel about them. After Tom carefully looked over the photos and complimented my weight loss and Lorri's fine skills, he said, "You know what these photos on the swing remind me of?" A commercial for Tampax!" Gee, if only I'd have known that with a little planning all these years of wearing white pants could have lead to a fruitful tampon career! :-)

Good News!

Good news to report from the Kofford Household!

We are excited to announce that Tom started a new job today, in his field of Financial Planning and Analysis! The position is with a good company that is over 120 years old, and is located about a half hour away. Great benefits and health insurance, an easy drive, and an exciting new opportunity!

Inspired by my mother's influence of growing up in Hawaii, and all the skills she and my grandmother taught me from dancing the hula, making beautiful floral leis, and teaching our elementary school students about our 50th state Hawaii, I will be taking on a new part time job!

I am sending in proposals to local schools and am going to be teaching our "Hawaii Unit" to Ashlyn's Girl Scout troop and a local elementary school as part of their enrichment program. It will be a four week class after school, and the children will learn how to speak simple Hawaiian phrases, perform 2 hula dances, a bamboo stick dance, they will make leis and grass skirts, and host a luau for the parents on the last day! I'm excited to get started and share this special love of the Hawaiian islands with local students. Here is the cat involved in my sorting and organizing...

We had an enjoyable Easter complete with an uplifting church service, a jelly bean trail that the Easter Bunny left,

Easter baskets....


dying eggs....

hunting eggs...
a lovely Easter brunch at a local restaurant owned by Charles Dicken's family... isn't that Easter bunny ice sculpture interesting?

(Mmmmm...the chocolate fountain was a favorite for me!)


and a casual tastey ham dinner to complete the day.

This owl visitor has been lounging on our roof top, we can only hope he catches the woodpecker that is knocking on our exterior bedroom wall every morning!
Tonight Kyle will be playing in a district wide Orchestra Concert, Ashlyn and I will be bowling with the Girl Scouts, and Tom will be at work! He was singing the "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go" Seven Drawfs song this morning! Today I am busy cutting pineapples, making sample erupting volcanoes, and dancing the hula in preparation for my class.

We look forward to hearing the latest in your family's life! Happy Spring!

P.S. Our friend Lorri has generously offered to take some "after" photos of me next week. Will share as soon as we get together...I'm down to 120 lbs. and am feeling great! :-)

It's a miracle...spring has sprung!

What a blessing! The sun has come out, the snow has all melted, and we are enjoying a little bit of spring...until the next snow storm arrives! :-) We won't talk about that though, what a sore subject when there is a little bit of green coming up in that brown frost bitten earth! Until that next snow storm, we are getting outdoors to enjoy the good weather. We were finally able to use the new kayak Tom got for Christmas. Our pond has thawed, so we were all able to try the kayak in a safe place before we take it to our local lake.

You can see the snow capped view of Long's Peak in the background. It felt like such a luxury to have near 70 degree weather, we just sat in the kayak at sunset and enjoyed the warmth on our legs! What you don't see is that Tom has a nice cold beer to enjoy on the water!

We grilled some yummy shrimp and veggie skewers, burgers for the kids, and enjoyed being able to use the BBQ for the first time in 7 months! :-)

I am anxious to show you some before and after photos of me, but need to get someone to take some new photos with me standing up, then you can see what 40 lbs. less of me really looks like!

Our kiddo's are on their spring break this week, so tomorrow we are going to take the kids to tour the Denver Mint and see how money is made. I will try and get some photos at that time. Show and tell is always fun!

In closing, I wanted to share a favorite quote when it comes to accomplishing our goals...weight loss or otherwise...

"The secret of success is constancy of purpose." ~Dioradi

What did you eat today?

I have been thinking about food a lot. I love food. I love junk food as well as healthy food. I love food that has once had eyes, and food that grows in dirt. I love processed food, sugar, juices, and sodas. I love butter and popcorn, and chocolate cake. I just love food! Food gives me comfort, and is a reward late a night.

All of the above make for a pretty unhealthy relationship with food. Just as some people have a glass of wine after a long day, my reward has been a nice big slice of chocolate cake. For so many years I ate what I wanted, because it felt good, and tasted good. Although nutrition mattered, it didn’t matter as much as how good, bad foods tasted.

I have lost close to 40 lbs. recently. I have had to rethink my relationship with food. I am very mindful of what I eat and what I am fueling my body with. Amazingly, there is a big difference in a body fueled with junk, and a body fueled with healthy choices. I will show you my transformation in an upcoming post.

I thought I would show you tonight’s dinner. Now, a fresh salad with berries, nuts, goat cheese, sliced chicken, and crisp greens takes the place of what once would have been a meat dish with potatoes and sour cream and butter. Do I still cheat? Yes. Do I still make poor choices? Yes. Now though, I try and make good decisions 90% of the time, and it has paid off.

I am still a long way from being a poster child for clean eating, but I am trying one day at a time to make sure I eat more quality food vs. junk food. And I just wanted you to know.

How do you eat? Are you a junk food junkie, a strict vegan, or somewhere in the middle? I’d love to know what you think about food.

Welcome Spring...Or maybe not!

Hello Friends!

We thought spring had arrived in Colorado, but then we got 6 inches of snow! No school for our kids today, so it will be a day filled with snow boots and hot cocoa.

It has been several months since I last blogged and I have missed you. We have had holidays come and go... Valentines Day at the Kofford Household.... California friends have come and gone....

St. Patrick's Day arrived with sunshine and bag pipe players at a local restaurant...

Ashlyn turned 9 years old on March 22nd...

And it has snowed,

and snowed some more!


Despite almost every picture above with sweet treats, Tom and I have been losing weight. I'm down 39lbs. and Tom over 20 lbs.


There has been job hunting, (Tom's most recent prospect is very promising!) and I have been sending out proposals to teach several summer classes in our community.


There have been field trips with school, Girl Scout events, Band and Orchestra concerts, horseback riding, kids growing, and trips away. We are well and we have missed following your stories...


Now that you are all caught up in our lives, it is time to get back to regular blogging! Time for funny stories, sharing recipes, pictures, and weight loss tips! And if you have any spring weather, please send some our way! :-)

Happy New Year...27 days late!

Happy New Year friends and family! It has been a busy month filled with many wonderful memories. Here's a little sampling of all the activities!

New Year's Eve at our friends the Johnson's. We enjoyed a delicious 3 course fondue meal with so many sauces and tastey treats it took us over 3 hours to eat everything! Yummy!

Christmas was filled with special memories, although it was a sad time as well, since it was the one year anniversary of my mom's passing on Dec. 26th. We were able to make it a happy one for the kids though and enjoyed reminiscing of Christmas' past. Here are a few photos of Christmas morning...

Tom and Kyle enjoying the new mini ping pong table... and I model the beautiful diamond tennis bracelet Tom gave me! It is gorgeous, and I felt quite glamorous with diamonds and a bathrobe on Christmas morning! hee hee :-)

The oil painting I had commissioned for Tom. A wonderful local artist created this beautiful painting of the kids on our bridge. It took 3 months for her to complete it and was such a wonderful Christmas surprise!

Santa left a nice note for the kids along with a new computer for Kyle and a Barbie Glamour Camper for Ashlyn!

After Christmas we got our new curtains hung...and enjoyed a wonderful trip to Breckenridge with our friends and neighbors who have a cabin there.

January also included a fun weekend trip to Las Vegas with my girlfriend Charlene! We hadn't seen each other since my mom's funeral, so it was nice to have a positive reason to get together and reconnect.

The pretty botanical gardens in the Bellagio...

The beautiful Bellagio where we stayed for the weekend!


I came home with $200.00 from the slot machines!




Charlene before the "O Show" that Cirque Du Soleil performed. It was fantastic!

It has been a whirlwind month which has been a good diversion as it had been one year since my mom passed away on Dec. 26th. Her birthday was on Jan. 15th so there have been many reminders of my parents and that sense of loss that they are not here with us. What a blessing though to create so many special memories over the past few months...living fully and appreciating friends and family is what life is all about! May the new year be filled with good health and special memories for you!

With love from Colorado,

The Kofford Family :-)

Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Friends! We wish you and your family wonderful memories to share together today! It is after midnight as I write on Christmas Eve...everyone is dreaming of sugar plums, and I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your friendship during this entire year! It has been a year of changes and challenges, but your kind words and encouragement have been such a blessing to us! Thank you! Enjoy this special day, and know that we send lots of love and all our wishes for a healthy, happy, and joyous Christmas Day!

Today was Christmas Eve Day and we are anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival! It was a busy day for the Koffords and full of fun! Here's what we were up to...
We awoke to a beautiful winter wonderland, and had a fair amount of snow in the past few days!
Today we delivered cookies to the neighbors...
Enjoyed the beauty on our pond...
Delivered ham for 45 local police officers who are keeping our community safe on Christmas Eve...
Got dressed up to attend Christmas Eve services at church...
And fed Santa's reindeer before leaving cookies and letters for his arrival. We celebrate Jesus' birth in the morning, as well as Santa'a arrival, and wish you all a very Merry Christmas filled with joy! With love from Colorado, The Kofford Family :-)