The Magic of Christmas...

Christmas 2009 is over, but what a wonderful time it was! Spending time with all the new babies in our life and their parents brought back the magic of Christmas.

As a child, Christmas was so wonderful and special. For 40 years, I spent Christmas at my grandparents, and each year I looked forward to that time eagerly. We had our traditions--eggnog at 4 on Christmas eve, followed by the opening of the gifts, pizza for Christmas eve dinner, and then that much anticipated call from Santa, putting the children on notice that he was on his way, and would NOT stop if the children were not asleep...which was really hard if you were a kid that was so excited about Christmas! And, Christmas morning brought those special Santa gifts and birthday presents for my dad. First my grandfather and then my grandmother died, and my mom got sick, and the children grew up...and Christmas was harder. We've had a harder time establishing new Christmas traditions, as things change quite rapidly. As I think back to those earlier Christmases, I know now that the magic was not in the gifts but in the people. The gifts and toys were often left untouched after a while, especially as soon as the 3 and, later on, 4 generations gathered at the card table for those fierce games of Pitch. It seemed to me, as a child and even as I grew older, that time stopped for a brief while, allowing the family to spend time together, without any outside distractions; there were no errands to run, the weather didn't matter, the cooking was done amdist great companionship. And, as a family, we did come together, young and old alike enjoyed those card games and I have fond memories of those times and I miss them.

This year, with the addition of the two new babies (well, little ER was here last year but still...), I realize that life and Christmas traditions are beginning anew...things are different, but the time spent with family is especially precious and, I now know, short-lived. My dad, who was 81 on Christmas Day, is still in great shape but the time for these 4 generations to come together for food and fellowship is not guaranteed and, thus, is all the more precious.

To my friends and family, I hope the new Year finds you happy, healthy, and may you have days to spend with those you love.

Mush and little ER in Stillwater. Mr. Lynn got to babysit for the Marvelous Macy and Little ER for the weekend. Mimi was jealous, of course, but Mr. Lynn was worn out! Little ER is walking now, which makes him hell on wheels and hard to keep up with!

My friend Mary wanted me to post some pictures of the snow, she misses snow! So, I took a little walk around campus, so that you can see how beautiful the place is where I work...this is the garden area at the hospital

The cafeteria and....

the wireless study station

The bike rack

Mr. Lynn comes for a visit...

Mr. Lynn came to town and we had a blast! We went to the CU-Texas A&M game, so we got to see our good friends, the Cassidys. We went downtown to Jackson's and watched the OU game, such as it was, with the OU Alumni club. We went to the Avs hockey game, and we also did some sightseeing, visiting the Capital (beautiful and well worth the time). We tried to visit the mint, but the tours were full for the day. We ate lunch at a sidewalk cafe downtown, dressed in Steelers paraphenalia, and one thing I learned--there are lots of Troy fans around! I have a special t-shirt of Troy's, designed by his brothers, and I got lots of comments on it! My cousin Shelley's boy is famous! We watched the pregame at the Sports Column, owned by a friend from Iowa City-- it was quite fun!

Anyway, it was a great time, and I am so thankful for those days with Mr. Lynn. Now for some time with the little ones...

A special phone call...

Last night, the phone rang. I answered and said, "Hello?" and I heard what sounded like Hello, but not quite...more like elllloooo. So, I said again, "Hellooo?" and another echo...elllllooooo--sounding like someone was just mimicking me! Then I heard laughter in the background and my daughter said, "Who are you calling, ER?" LIke, I can't believe she even had to ask that question. Who else would he be calling but Mimi? I mean, Mr. Lynn was on a plane back from Temecula and unavailable, so I would think his next choice would be his Mimi...Anyway, the little bugger even put me on hold a couple of times! It is so cute, though, when they begin to mimic what they hear and see!

Afterwards, I also got to talk to Macy Moo, well...that is mostly I listen and she prattles on about school, about friends, about a sleep over. When I finally say, "Ok, Macy, thanks for calling" she says, "Mimi, please don't stop talking, I really miss you!" well...what's a Mimi to do but continue to listen? Especially when she says, "I love you bigger than the universe!" I mean, is there anything better than that??

I am happy though, because more and more, she is referring to my daughter as "Mommy" instead of "Lyndsey" an indication, I think, that she feels like a part of a family and is no longer afraid of being left by Lyndsey--or by Mimi.

All non essential personnel should stay home...

I am pondering that statement in the email. If I am non-essential, what does that say about my future? I walked over to the hospital for breakfast, and they are working. The chef cooked a hot breakfast just to my liking. The paper had been delivered, the sidewalks were cleared--well, at least as much as you can clear them while it is still snowing. Some places in the Colorado foothills have almost 40 inches of snow! It started snowing (sleeting first) on Tuesday night, and it hasn't stopped yet--and it is Thursday!

I am hoping to get brave enough to go out and look for some tattoo sleeves and a sweatband for my Halloween costume, but I don't know--the roads are pretty bad!

Some pictures from my morning walk: Beautiful children's hospital and the sculptures on the walking path: parents reading to their children and rabbits!

The construction workers were shoveling snow out of the building so they could work.

I think ER really wants to be a farmer! He seems to be having such fun! notice the difference in the size of the Marvelous Macy's pumpkin (in the front) and little ERs pumpkin (in the back!)

The Blevins family--aren't they cute?

Just for a laugh

Grandbabies

I have just returned from a week of visiting and celebrating birthdays with my very special gifts from God, known to others as my grandbabies...I have been thinking about how blessed I truly am. The Marvelous Macy just turned 6. She spent her birthday at Disney World, dining with Cinderella and dancing with the "very handsome" Prince Charming. I know where I stand with Macy; when she saw me over the weekend, she gave me a big hug and she whispered in my ear, "I've missed you, Mimi". She even wanted to spend the night with me, rather than hanging out with her numerous cousins, which she loves to play with. Macy is a child of my heart; I don't have to entertain her, I just have to enjoy her. We love to browse through the flea market, and we are very pleased with our purchases--I got some beautiful liquour glasses and Macy got a mirror and magnifying glass set--things we are sure belonged, many years ago, to some southern belle like my great-grandmother, Pearl.

Little ER, well, when I think of him, I think of a happy baby with the cutest of grins. He likes to show off his new teeth, four baby teeth, with his happy smile. He celebrated his first birthday, but more importantly, he is starting to show his personality--you can definitely tell when he is NOT ready to stop doing something. He is not really MY baby, though, not yet--he adores Mr. Lynn, and Mr. Lynn adores him. When I watch them together, I just feel happy, they are so cute.

Here he is, enjoying his first birthday cake--a cake in the shape of a John Deere tractor and made by his Daddy!! See his smile? Can you see his teeth?

And, finally, there is the very special Eli, who wanted to meet his Mimi so badly that he came 5 weeks early, just as she arrived for a visit. When he was first placed in my arms--well, he owned me from that moment on. I remember being mesmerized by his daddy, I would sit for hours on end and just look at him. I could do the same with Eli (and I did sit, for 3 straight hours, and just held him and looked and him and kissed him). And when I watch my son lean over the crib, and whisper, "Daddy loves you so very much" it reminds me once again how very rich I am. Life gets better and more special every day with the births of these children...riches I can't imagine, don't deserve, but am so very thankful for.

Little Eli came home from the hospital today--Yeah! Mimi had to rent a car to drive out from downtown to see the boy...and it was certainly worth the drive! He is a precious little blessing, and we are so thankful that he got to come home. From surprise, to purple to yellow, and now to healthy pink...a rainbow with a bright future!

A Fairy Tale...

Once upon a time (last Friday night) Mimi headed to San Antonio. She was going for a conference, and because her son, the handsome prince and his beautiful princess, lived there, she thought she would go for the weekend before and spend some time in their kingdom before moving onto the conference. So, when her flight arrived, she called her son to let him know that her plane had landed, and he informed her that his wife, who was 8 months pregnant, well...her water had broken in the cell phone waiting lot at the airport. So, Mimi and Ben and Brooke went straight to the hospital and early the next morning, a new prince was born--Elisha Samuel Blevins, weighed in at 6 lbs 6 oz, and he is beautiful and perfect. Because he was considered a "preemie" he is spending some time in the NICU, but Mom and baby are doing great, and should be coming home in a day or two.

This and That

Time to update, but i have just been so busy! I have had a lot of company and enjoyed them all. Today is the first day of fall, and we are scheduled to get some snowflakes--crazy!

Here is a new picture of Little ER, isn't he cute?

He is walking, at least a few steps at a time.

So, Lyndsey and family are headed to Disney World for the Marvelous Macy's birthday. She got some new clothes to wear to her luncheon with Cinderella. What do you think??

Amy

My cousin Amy came to visit. She had work to do in Denver, and wanted to stay on and see the sights, and of course, she picked the right person to ask! Anyway, I had never gotten to spend any time with Amy by myself, so I thoroughly enjoyed our time together. We had a blast, and I finally found someone who is like me when it comes to hiking...she would say, let's just go a little farther and see what's up there!

Anyway, we had a progressive dinner in downtown Denver, sampling some of the city's finest foods--Ahi tuna, ceviche, and lamb. On Friday, I took off early and we toured the Coors brewery, and sampled some of the city's finest beer. We also toured Mt. Evans, and had a little snow come down on us. WE got close enough to mountain goats to touch them! WE had Thai food in downtown Evergreen...well, both of us love to eat!

On Saturday, we drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park, having breakfast at the original Hard Rock cafe in Empire, then hitting the trial head to Little Yellowstone and Lulu City. It was raining at the trailhead, but Amy was undaunted and we pressed on...the hike was truly spectacular, and we came upon elk two different times--and these elk were also close enough to touch, of course, we didn't though...

We drove Trail Ridge Road, and had dinner in Boulder. Boulder was at its best, this being one of the first weekends that college students were back. They had there spectacular street theater going, and we enjoyed it all.

We had such a great time, and I was sorry to see Amy go...but so very thankful for our time together!

The Boss and the Boy!

I don't know which is which though!

And here is my favorite son and daughter-in-law, the proud parents-to-be!

Weekends!

So my friend Toby came to town, and left tickets at will call, so I called my Aunt Bazilla, who is always good for anything, and my friends Carol and Michael who weren't too sure about country music, and off we went to Fiddler's Green, and beautiful outdoor venue to see Toby Keith. As usual, he was fantastic--a good Sooner show--even some Boomer Sooner! Anyway, Toby is a great entertainer, hwe was onstage for a full 2 hours--two curtain calls, and even then, the crowd did NOT want to go home. My friend Carol said she would go to see him anywhere, anytime--I had opened up a whole new genre of music for her! Toby even did a few minutes of good old rock and roll! He does Ted Nugent better than Ted himself!!

Trace Atkins opened for Toby--he was also terrific! We had tickets on row G--7 rows back so I didn't even have to use the zoom lens to get this, the two of them doing their patriotic thing!

Because Aunt Bazilla was in town, we went up to Georgetown on Sat morning, had a leisurely breakfast in the mountains, and rode the train around the loop. We couldn't stay too long, because we had Rockies tickets, courtesy of another OU friend, George Frasier!

Sitting in front of us at the Rockies game were a beautiful family--it was FAITH day. This family had 5 beautiful children, two of which had been adopted from Ethiopia. These are two of the girls, and baby Fitz. Isn't he just precious?! The Rockies won both games that we saw. Tonight begins a 3-game series with the Dodgers--is another World Series in our future??

Saturday's hike

I haven't been able to blog lately...we welcomed 160 new students last week for orientation, so I spent the week in Winter Park, leading teambuilding and all sorts of activities. It was great, and we have a terrific new class, but I was worn out! So, I took Saturday off and headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park--one of the most beautiful spots in all of the U.S., I think. I started out at the Glacier Gorge trailhead and headed up to Sky Pond. The first mile was crowded with dozens of people--it was a "free entrance" day at the Park. However, after the first mile, the travelers dropped off, and it was just a beautiful hike. This first picture is the falls from the trail down below.

This is a picture of Loch Lake--you can see that there is still snow in the backcountry--even in August!

This particular trail is not for the faint of heart...

Luckily, there were some people going up ahead of me. I say luckily, because it is really hard to take a picture of yourself climbing! This is the trail, we had to scramble up these rocks to the falls, but the view from above was spectacular!

I made the entire 10 miles in 5 hours and 10 minutes--pretty good for altitude and the fact that I had to take cover from lightening and hail for a short time, and then I had to take a break on the way down, to put away all of my rain gear!

Oh and one last bit of exciting news (two bits, actually). The Marvelous Macy started kindergarten last week AND she lost her first tooth. The girl is pretty excited about her missing teeth!

Last weekend, I met my family (dad, sister, nephews, and wonderful son!) in Red River, NM.

The boys wanted to go camping, and I am always up for camping! This is what I look like when I have slept on the ground, have campfire in my hair and clothes, and have been traipsing through the woods looking for firewood! I was impressed that Ben could get a fire started, it rained all night! Ben is quite the camper. Dad didn't stay all night, he just drove out in the morning for the delicious campfire breakfast! Red River was really lush this year, beautiful wildflowers, tall grass, despite the pine beetle problem in the Lodge Pole pines...

We've got the Boy working, and the Girl is in Charge

At nine months, a guy's gotta get a job. And what better job than riding a tractor? I mean, chicks dig tractors.

And while we at it, let's get the marvelous Macy in some self-defense classes!

Living in Colorado in the summer

One of the things that I have come to appreciate about Colorado is the weather. Honestly, it is almost always nice here. When I get up to walk-jog in the mornings, it is still in the 50s or 60s. By afternoon, it is warm, but frankly, if you get in the shade it is perfect because it is so dry. We have had some severe late afternoon thunderstorms, but by the time I leave work, it is once again beautiful. Nice enough to hit golf balls or play tennis without sweating, really.

Even last winter, there were very few days that were cold and nasty. 50 miles from Denver, there was several feet of snow, but here in the Denver metro area, not much and none that stayed around more than a couple of days.

Especially right now, when I look on my facebook page and so many friends in Oklahoma and Texas are complaining about the heat, I am thankful for the weather here. There are many beautiful vegetables to be had at the farmer's market, my flowers are growing like crazy, mornings I can still sit outside and enjoy my cup of coffee...not much to complain about here!

See What I Mean...

Happy, cuddly, fun...the perfect man.