Colorado, 2011 — Part 2

We went down the mountain a bit. I'm not sure where we were, but it was beautiful.


Pretty, pretty, pretty.


Don't ask.


Seriously.


Really nice walking path.


Beautiful.


And guess WHO was crawling in the bushes, taking photos? NOT ME!


PHOTO TIP: Switch your camera to a manual setting and FORCe the flash. With the baseball caps on, out faces would have been in shadow otherwise.


You can see a bit of the flash in mom's sunglasses (2nd from right). But don't we look well exposed?

A few from Christmas, 2011

Theodore wasn't sure at first about the whole Santa Hat thing.


Eventually, he decided it was OK. :)


Theodore unwrapped the first gift of the night.


Uncle Paul scores a win with an empty box. What kid doesn't LOVE a big box to play in? It also occupied small bodies as the big people did gifts.




Sorry sweetheart, worst face ever. But we're now ready for spring training around here!

Merry Christmas!

The recycling bin is filled with shreds of wrapping paper and there was a mountain of dishes on the counter. It must be Christmas morning!

My family came to chill with us yesterday. It's the fourth year we've hosted, and I like doing it. We keep tweaking and working to find the best timing for everyone and everything. I think we're getting closer.

Menu*:

Salad
Pot roast. Easy and always tasty.
Mashed Potatoes with Broccoli as our side. It's one of our faves and my mom seems to like it lots.
Tuscan Polenta Bread. I couldn't find the right tomatoes, so I used dried ones. I'd cut the amount in half. I also forgot to make the bacon ahead, so we went without. Still good.
Cherry Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding for dessert. This is one of my all-time faves. And there's *some* sugar, but not TONS .... and I use my Irish Soda Bread for the bread cubes.

*This is more so I'll remember what I did. What worked; what didn't.

My friend Kristine stopped by and grabbed a full family photo, but I don't really want to download it now; I'll share later.

Christmas Cookie baking, 2011

Remember yesterday's post? How little Theodore was. Well, this is the 2011 version of him:


What a change, eh?


The morning started as every does at my parents' house. With coffee. And Papa teaching Theodore how to make a good pot of coffee.


Cookie cutters make FUN NOISE when you bang them on the counter. Just ask Theodore. :)


The FIRST cookie.


Adding a little pre-baking decor.


Working on those fine motor skills.


AHA!


I'm not gonna lie: eating the cookie dough is the best part. I get sort of sad when it goes into the oven to cook.


"Q: What's in there?"
A: The best part, kid!




He finally caught on!


This is a cute little series of photos.






... see, disassembling the rolling pin is just as much fun as using it!


Waiting for cookies to bake.



iTheodore. :)

Papa Wayne is showing him the joys of technology. Next year, the kid will be able to re-program my cell phone.

Christmas Cookie baking, 2010

Yeah, so I'm a year late on this. I've been meaning to post it, but life has happened.

So, this is from LAST year before our nephew could crawl or walk. BIG difference from this year, where he was running around the house! :)


I'll share photos from this year's installment of cooke baking SOON! :)

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! :)

Nope, we're not in Vegas.


But on Tuesday night, it DID snow in Wichita, and if you will refer to the list of dates, you will notice Karen won. :)

I actually LOVE how we have friends and friends of friends who know about our nutty competition, and when they spy snow, are sure to let us know.

Thanks, peeps!

With this win, it brings 2 Bonar names onto the traveling trophy. Erik is quick to point out this is the second most frequent name to appear on the trophy (after Mikols) ... but let's not run percentages, because it'd be tiny.

Sooooooo close :(

There was a chance of snow last night in Wichita.

The ever compassionate Baby Paul sent this along to me.






Stinker pants.

I have another 10 days or so left in my slot for this year, but it looks like it'll stay warm. :(

The dates are in!!!!!

Alrighty!

We opened snow dates yesterday, and here's the 2011 rundown:

Karen: Now - Nov. 10 at Noon
Paul: Nov. 10 at Noon - Nov. 10 at Midnight
Robin: Nov. 11 - Nov. 16
Grandpa Benny: Nov. 17 - Nov. 23
Carl: Nov. 14 - Nov. 29 at Noon
Wayne: Nov. 29 at Noon - Dec. 6 at Noon
Erik: Dec. 6 at Noon - Dec. 12 at Noon
Chris: Dec. 12 at Noon - Dec. 16 at Noon
Kathy: Dec. 16 at Noon - next year

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, you can read a bit about the contest HERE.

I gotta say, my dates are early ... after this hot summer, it's a bit of a risk. But we'll see. I really like Erik's dates. I think he has a really good shot. This year, everyone (except for poor Paul) has a really good spread of dates ... so let the games begin! Or, more clearly, let the SNOW START FALLING!!! :)

And in an effort to have a more neutral source for the weather/snow, Dad tromped around to the TV stations and tried to talk to meteorologists; all of whom wouldn't even see him. Even if he'd wait. Nope, they didn't want any part of this madness. He finally found a sympathetic ear at the airport, and they have some sort of hour by hour observation of the weather ... so this seems to be a good solution, because there is ALWAYS arguing & bickering about if it snowed or not.

Imagine that. ;)

Robin on the job

When we were in Wichita awhile ago, I twisted my sister's arm to show us around her job. She does cool things like fly small airplanes. :)


She brings sexy to a flight suit. No joke.


Erik and I sardened into a cockpit.

Theodore's 1st Birthday Party

I made a brief post last month when our nephew turned 1. I've now had time to sift through the photos and share. There are LOTS, so get cozy.


Check out the crowd!

After he woke up from his nap, it was time for presents.


Check out that grin!


"Auntie Karen, what the heck are you doing???"


Opening.


As with kids, though, the bag or box the gift comes in is almost always better than the gift itself.




He seemed pretty excited!


Leftie. For sure.



"Quit it already, Auntie Karen."


Next up: Cake!


Sans milk.


Getting strapped in & ready. No clue what's coming. Robin's been strict about no sweets until he was 1. So poor kid didn't know what he had to look forward to. ;)


Closer to showtime, but he's not sure what's going on.


Patiently waiting. If he knew how good his cake was, he wouldn't have been so patient.


(left) after; (right) before. :)


Dad is giving him an assist on the candle, but as you can see, Theodore already has his fingers in the frosting. Smart kid.


"Hmm, not sure what this is but I like it."


A little more ....


Aaaand, out comes the candle.


Chow time.


Leftie. All.The.Way.


Cute baby cupcakes.


Eating Auntie Karen's ice cream. This kid loved it. He's smart like that.


I love Theodore in this series. In the top, he's looking for more cake that was caught in his bib (which had a pouch to catch food), then he's looking up, and finally at me. Silly goose.


After, he was banging on the door b/c daddy was outside cooking dinner.