Christmas | Three Dot …

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Candy & I spent Christmas week in Colorado, visiting with her daughter Wendy and son Jason and their families …

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Sunday, December 22nd

… we flew out on Southwest Airlines on Sunday … with just a little disparity in our baggage …

Candy’s Baggage

Jim’s Baggage

… to be fair, though, Candy had packed most of the gifts we were taking with us in her bags.

We spent Monday, Tuesday and part of Wednesday in Aurora, CO, at the home of Jason, his wife Heather and their kids, Finnegan & McKinley …

… the first day, while Jason fixed dinner, Finn wanted me to play with him in the basement … so we went down there and played with his Thomas Train set, race car ramp, Hot Wheels & mini basketball backboard …

… then we had dinner (meatloaf with bacon that was excellent … good job, Jason) … after which it was time for Finn to go to bed … he asked me to read to him, so I went up to his bedroom with him and read “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “A Very Merry Christmas” …

… then he asked me to lie down with him and hold his hand “like Mommy & Daddy do” … so I did … and after a few minutes, he said he was ready to go to sleep and I could go downstairs!

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Monday, December 23rd

The next day was Finnegan’s 4th birthday …

The Birthday Boy

… and Finn wanted to play in the basement again right off the bat, so we did that for about an hour … then Candy, Finn & I went to the Woody Creek Bakery & Cafe for lunch …

… after which it was back to the basement to play again until it was time for dinner (Jason cooked pork) …

… then after dinner it was back to the basement (!!) … and then reading again when it was time for Finn to go to bed.

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Tuesday, December 24th — Christmas Eve

Early in the day, we had a combined Finnegan birthday party and family Christmas gathering … Wendy, Dale, Hannah & Quincy came … and then Joe & Cecilia Davis …

… after which we did Finn’s birthday party …

… Finn opened his birthday gifts …

Finnegan with Coast Guard Helicopter

Finnegan & Spiderman Suit

… and then the Davis family exchanged Christmas gifts.

Heather McKinley & Jason

Heather Davis

Then Candy & I and the Deibert clan headed to their home in Longmont, while Jason & his family got ready to travel to Indiana to visit with Heather’s family …

… as soon as we got to Longmont, Quincy wanted to play air hockey … and then down to the basement (!!) to play WII games for a couple of hours … despite the fact that I had no idea what I was doing, we had fun …

… and then after dinner, it was Christmas gift time … mostly Ninjago for the Q-man …

Quincy with Ninjago Brickmaster

… and a WII Just Dance 2014 and clothes for Hannah …

Just Dance 2014

… and finally iPad minis from Grammie & Grampy Jim for both …

Candy & Hannah with iPad Mini

Candy & Quincy with iPad Mini

… and a blanket with pictures of her cats for Grammie from Wendy and Dale … it has pictures of the current crew (Frasier, McDuffy, Murphy & Maggie) … the three cats Candy brought with her to California (Macavity, Midnight & Samantha) … and several of her earlier cats, including Sydney, Cassie & KC … all of which made Grammie cry …

Candy with Cat Blanket

… also talked on the phone for a few minutes with Sean, Kohl & Cheyenne to wish them all …

… then after Hannah & Quincy went to bed, Dale & I worked on their big “Santa” gifts … a digital keyboard for Hannah and a full-sized basketball backboard for Quincy.

The Deiberts recently adopted an orange tabby cat named Butterscotch … cute little guy …

Butterscotch

… who ended up sleeping most of the night with us in the guest room.

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Wednesday, December 25th — Christmas Day

The kids were up really early today to open their Santa gifts …

Candy Quincy Hannah & Wendy

Hannah & Quincy Exchange Gifts

… and for me to give Candy her gifts … J’Adore perfume (guaranteed to make her look like Charlize Theron!) and a GoPro camera (yes, that’s what she asked for) …

GoPro Hero 3

… other gifts that I ordered for her (a HurryCane and a pair of Uggs boots) did not arrive in time to take them with us …

… and Candy had already given me my gifts (a new CAL sweat jacket, a winter down jacket, Uggs slippers and a navy blue shirt) …

… Joe & Cecilia also here with their gifts for the kids … with the end result that they had quite a haul.

Then it was back to the basement for more WII …

… until dinner (turkey with all the trimmings, mostly prepared by Dale & excellent) …

… after which we played a game of “Blitz” (or “31”) … which ultimately resolved down to a head-to-head match between Joe & Cecilia … with the latter emerging victorious.

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Thursday, December 26th

Candy & I decided to give Wendy & Dale a day off from the kids … giving them a chance to see a grown up movie for a change … they chose American Hustle …

… while we took Hannah & Quincy to Chili’s for lunch …

… and then to the Flatiron Mall …

… where we went to Build-a-Bear for Q …

… Justice & Brothers for Hannah …

… and Yankee Candle for Candy …

… after which we went to the 29th Street Mall to go to the movies … while I was parking the car, Candy and the kids headed up to the Apple Store … with Candy lagging behind and Quincy coming back to make sure she was okay …

… Candy & Hannah then saw “Frozen”.

Quincy & I had frozen yoghurt until it was time for our movie to start … while walking back to the theater, Quince asked me if I believe in Santa Claus! …

… thinking it was not my place to disabuse him of that belief, I turned the question around on him, asking if he believed in Santa … he said yes … so I told him that was all that mattered and that Santa had brought him some great gifts this year … which seemed to satisfy him (though I’m guessing not for much longer) …

… then we saw the movie “Walking With Dinosaurs” in 3D.

We got lost on the drive home … and Hannah had to rescue us by using the maps function on Candy’s iPhone … she put in the address and then read the directions to me to get us back on track …

… two sixty-somethings saved by a 9-year-old!

Back at the house it was also back into the basement for a final WII session with Quincy.

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Friday, December 27th

Had a light breakfast … after which Hannah taught me how to use the Facetime app on my iPad … lol …

… then it was time for Candy & I to head back to California … got packed up and said our goodbyes to Dale & Quincy (who told me that he was going to miss me a lot) …

… after which Wendy & Hannah drove us to the airport for the trip home.

Had two good flights … with a layover in Las Vegas … stopped at Risa’s to pick up Nano … and got home shortly before midnight … completely worn out.

All in all, a fun trip.

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