Nathan's 30th

Nate officially left his 20's behind on February 3rd. I was happy to have a snow day on his birthday so I could get organized for the big party. My gratefulness wore off when I realized it would be virtually impossible to get downtown, and that most sane people were not going to drive in the weather that dropped almost two feet of snow on Denver.

We waited for two hours for a cab to show but no one wanted to brave the unplowed streets of Wash Park. I am not a big fan of driving in general, let alone driving in the snow, and the birthday boy wasn't going to drive, so I was sure that we'd miss the entire party.  We called Nathan's sister Marissa and she said she'd pick us up.  A half our later, she showed up in her Jeep and we hopped in to find his mom waiting for us.  She flew in for a birthday surprise and was miraculously able to land in the heart of the storm earlier that afternoon.

It was 7:30 when we finally go to Falling Rock, and some of our guests had beaten us there.  We scrambled to decorate and get set up, which wasn't as difficult with so many extra sets of hands.

 I think Nate had a great birthday! 25 people came to celebrate with him. The night ended with mom-in-law Diane driving us through the Taco Bell drive-thru: a sign of a good night!

My Pinterest birthday craft!

Mom to Denver

My mom visited us this weekend.  We did our best to balance some downtime with things that require more energy, like eating and shopping.

Highlights: 

Sunday morning brunch at Lucile's.  We waited an hour and a half to be seated but when they brought out piles of Louisiana comfort food, we were thankful to be so hungry.

House browsing in Stapleton.  When I was little, I used to go to open houses with my mom (is that a typical mother-daughter pastime?) All three of us went on Sunday and saw brand new houses that are about the same price as our house but three times bigger.  Selling out to suburbia may not be such a bad idea after all.

Crafts with Cathy. I love my mom's craftiness!  She taught me how to make these stars out of scrapbooking paper.  She is like the MacGyver of crafts.

Mom also helped me make peanut butter dog treats for Kiowa.  Kiowa liked them at first but now I think she realizes that I swapped her meaty Milk Bones with vegan kitchen crafts.  Next time I'll add beef broth.

I was sad to drop her off at the airport today.  She is such an amazing mama!

Back on the Market

We relisted the house! The past couple of weeks have been full of cleaning, painting, trips to Ikea, teaching the dog not to jump on people when they come in during the middle of the day, etc.

The house looks better than the last time we tried to sell (over the summer) and the market is speeding up: we had four showings yesterday and we'll have two more tomorrow. An agent was supposed to come for a preview yesterday but he turned around when Kiowa greeted him. She looks scary, but she's not!

Here's the link:  http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1080-S-Washington-St_Denver_CO_80209_M22840-32600?source=web

We're praying it goes quickly, but not too quickly since we have nowhere else to live yet!

Copper Mountain and the Edith Ann Chair

We went to Copper Mountain in between Christmas and New Year's, when the snow was so thin and icy that it seemed like they sprayed the mountain with a garden hose and let it sit over night. It was my first time going to Copper, and it didn't make a good first impression.  We didn't stay long, partially because of the mental images I had of me falling down the mountain and breaking bones, but we did get a few runs in and got to take pictures (the highlight of my day) in the big red chair that reminds me of the Edith Ann skits I used to watch on Sesame Street.

Long-Lost Family

My dad had told me over and over again that the next time we are in Iowa, we should stop to see his cousin Dick.  He said that Dick would love to see us and treat us like royalty.

Even though I had every intention of stopping in some day, my dad's passing made it seem like visiting his cousin was urgent. We drove to Iowa on Thursday and met Dick and his wife, Joan, for lunch on Friday.  They picked the fanciest restaurant in Ames and ordered like rock stars, telling the server that they knew the chef would meet their special requests: a spinach salad that wasn't on the menu, a half glass of wine, and a caramel macchiato that the chef had to Google to learn how to make.

They brought pictures to show us, including a Christmas card from 1987 in which I am making a terrible face at the camera, and pictures of my Grandma and Grandpa on trips to Iowa. I didn't hear too many stories about my dad, but it was fun to learn about his family.

I'm glad that we remembered to bring our camera!

Christmas Canvas

When I moved to Colorado, my (second) cousin Julia gave me a picture of the house that my grandpa and her grandma grew up in together. It's a shabby little house in Mississippi and the picture always generates questions from visitors, but I love it because it's where this man that meant (means) so much to me became a strong, God-fearing person.

That's why Nathan's Christmas gift was the sweetest, most thoughtful gift ever. He got the picture scanned in from my mom, and had it blown up on canvas.  We put it on the barn board in our bedroom. 

After we had hung it up and were admiring it, we both thought of the same saying: "You can't know where you're going until you know where you've come from."

Christmas Crafting

We got all decorated for Christmas a few weeks ago, and I realized that no one would see our festive house. I decided to invite my craftiest friends over for a Christmas craft party. Everyone brought enough supplies for the whole group and we painted, glued, and created for hours.


I love making centerpieces for our usually cluttered table. This one has lots of vases- my painted snowflake votives and other clear vases- that I filled with candles and epsom salt.

 I had to pretty-up these plastic wine glasses. Wine glass charms would have worked if I had had any, but different colors of ribbon were festive and helped everyone keep track of her glass.

 

I've always wanted to paint one of these glass blocks- the stick-on stencils were perfect!  

 

Glass ornaments with acrylic paint dripped inside makes for a cool affect. Mine is still drying and looks different every time I check on it!

I love these cute little bookmarks!  Popsicle stick, fancy ribbon, and 3D stickers to make these cute little bookmarks- so much better than the receipts I usually use.  I'm thinking this would be good for my class next year! 

We also made yo-yos with lots of fabric, gift tags out of paper bags and metallic paper, and snowflake vases. Now I have lots of projects to do over my break!