Happy Birthday Baby Bear!

COLE TURNS 2 TODAY!!!!!!

Unbelieveable!

Cole and Nessa a couple months ago.

Me and Cole...just before I moved here.

Good Luck Penguins

Well, some concats goes out to Nessa, long time penguin fan. They are going to meet the Detroit Redwings for the Stanley Cup. The team is young- very young. And no matter how talented 4 guys are on that team, I cannot believe they made it this far!! Well, I wish them luck, because as a Duck fan, I hate Detroit. But they don't have a chance-- unless you start seeing penguins in hell (hehe).

~

I say Detroit in 5 games.

Playing With Pictures: Nessa

Poor Nessa

The Colorado Avalanche are going to the playoffs.

Poor Nessa.

Now she has to watch them die a slow death,

and she has to feel all those confused feelings of

"who should I support?"

I just don't see her dilemma.

Geography be damned.

We are Ducks Fans!

Orange County Freebies

For the friends left at home, I would like to leave this parting gift:

10 freebies in Orange County

I personally recommend the Bower's Museum. It s great!! But not there is usually a fee to get in. Hmmm.

(Maybe you can get in there the way Nessa used to go to Disneyland for free- all shady-like.)

Update on CO news:Steffy in hospital

Steffy went to her Dr appointment today. They sent her to the hospital saying that she would probably have the baby tonight.

However, she has not dialated more (I think she is still at 4). They said they might induce her tonight, because it was Steffy's plan to induce on Feb 11.

Her mom is on her way now, she is flying in from CA tomarrow morning.

Now, they are waiting some more. Trying to decide if they want to send her home.

I know 1st babies are slow coming usually, but tonight we are expecting a big amount of snow. That would not be fun hurried drive through snow and ice tomarrow if they send her home tonight. Grandma said the hospital is about 30 minutes away.

Nessa, Mom and Ernie are there with her and Clayton. Nino stayed for a while, but then he had a date. Grandma, Cole, and I stayed behind and had pizza! Woohoo!

Update: Nessa just came home and said Steffy is staying overnight,

because her bloodpressure is high.

She will most likely have the baby tomarrow.

Good Luck Steffy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also- as a post script: Nessa and Stan broke-up.

No biggie, no drama, just no more Stan.

Happy Birthday!!

Nessa Bear turns 28 today.

OH YES 28 YEARS OLD!!

We had chili and noodles with ham on the side for dinner and then went out to the "wings" place to play trivia games and have wings.

Then we cae home and played games and watched Kids In The Hall!!!

Happy 28!!

Red Hat and Boulder

Today, Grandma and I went to her Red Hat meeting! I got to meet all her friends there. They were all decked out in their purple shirts and red hats. Some had feather boas and scarves and lots of jewelry. Everyone was so friendly and talkative. I had a wonderful time.

I had to wear a pink hat, because I am under 50 years-old. We went to a mexican resteraunt here in Pueblo and they had a drawing for door prizes. As a guest, they let me pick the 4 or 5 names and the last name I picked was Grandma! She won some Red Hat earings.

It was so much fun, I would go again, but their next meeting is after I leave here.

Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory:

I did not get too many pictures in Boulder. We mostly did shopping, and the Celestial Tea factory did not let us take pictures there. But click HERE for what I did get.

The inside of the tea house:

I talked to John today, and he is in the middle of the classes you have to take when you go to a new country's base to learn customs, get shown around, and get your driver's license for Spain. I cannot wait to go to that class. In a couple days, John goes to Cadiz, which if you remember from your Spain Geography Lesson is right accross the bay and is a larger town than Rota.

Colorado News

Extra Extra Here is the latest:

Mom has a new job!! She is working at a drug clinic doing what she did in CA. But the hours are way better. They are from 6am to 2 pm. She bought a whole buch of new, cute scrubs. It seems to be going pretty well. She has gotten out at noon a couple of times too.

Steffy has less than 1 month to go before she has the baby. It is a girl, and they have the name Emily picked out, but so many moms change it after they have the baby, so we will see. She is inducing labor on Feb 11th, because all her family is coming out to see her be born!

Clayton is working at Mission Company, so he brings home tons of chips and pork rines and snacks. We love him!!! He doesn't usually come home until 11PM or so.

Nino started the new semester, but he is only taking one class. A night class. He says that he cannot take any of the other classes until he takes this one. He and I have been lil night owls and have been getting up VERY late in the day. My excuse is that I am on Spain time. Haha!

Ernie has a job that gets him up very early in the morning, so I only see him for a lil while in the evening. He is usually in bed by 8:30.

Grandma is still doing her Red Hat meetings and she invited me to the next one. But because I am under 50 years old, I have to wear a pink hat!! Won't I look just fantastic in a PINK hat!! But I am excited to go.

Nessa has an interview for a job that will pay her to go to school for 9 months before she works. So we are wishing her luck on that one. She also has been seeing a guy named Stan for a while now. I introduced them last time I was here. I just thought he was cute, but he turned out to be a really cool guy. He works for the prison here, but on the side, he does the sound for concerts, so Nessa has been able to go backstage at a few concerts here. Next week there is a music festival at the art center here. She will be going to that as well. Click HERE to see his website. But has no pictures of himself on there. Never fear:

Nessa and Stan:

They are threatening us with more snow, and it is COLD, but I have not seen a flurry since a last week. I hopeit does not all come at once, I wanted to go to Grandma's property in the mountains this weekend, but the roads may close for the weather.

All us kids went to dinner a few nights ago. We have had some fun nights of snacks and games. Clay works late into the night now, though, so we have to wait for when he is feeling perky.

Clay and Steffy

Whispering Aspens Trip

We had a wonderful time at the property in the mountains, which Grandma named Whispering Aspens. We stayed 2 nights. It was relaxing and so gorgeous. You are so high up there, that you can see all around you.

The scenery is really breathtaking.

Cole went hiking with me and Grandma. He walks so well now! He hits his head on everything too. He is incapable of being careful. That is ok. It is good training for his budding hockey career.

He also hates open doors. He ran around the cabin, closing doors after him. We tried propping them open with something heavy, but he works at it and works at it, until he gets it closed.

Enigma loved the hiking too. He is a really good rock climber! He will not even try jumping onto the couch at home, but out there, he was like a mountain goat. I kept him on a leash the whole time he was outside though, because I was afraid of a large hawk or owl taking him away to eat him! He is not bigger than any of the rabbits out here.

As you can see by the pictures, he has also perfected his cheesey smile. Whenever he sees that you are taking his picture, he makes this smile now!

We also made a "horse" out of a rolling fold up bed, so Cole could "ride" it. Yes, it is dangerous, but it is so cute! Besides, Nessa is right behind him, ducked down, making sure he does not fall. We used to do this horse-out-of-roll-away-bed all the time when we were little at my Grandma Edna's house. We have tons of pictures of Nessa, me, Alicia, and Rodney on it.

Video of Cole of his horse:

Click HERE to see more pictures of Cole hiking and our time at Whispering Aspens.

One of the days, we took a trip to a nearby town called Cripple Creek. It is a gambling town with lots of casinos, but it is TINY- just a main street really. It used to be a great big mining town in the 1800's. There is a lot of history there, so that is what we went to see. Well, not Grandma; she loves to gamble. But we went to the historical museum and talked to a lady there that knew all the old, scandalous stories of the old days. Click HERE to see more pictures of Cripple Creek.

A painting from the historical museum.

Mom being naughty!

Halloween Part 2

Cole and Nessa, Me and Nima, Steffy and Holly

Last night we decided to have Halloween all over again. We put Cole in his monkey costume. Nima was in his Bee costume. And Holly, Steffy and Clay's dog, was a pumpkin. Click HERE to see more pictures (the ones from Colorado are later in the album).

Nima and Nino

Colorado Vacation- The Holy Cross Abbey and Winery

Mom showing Cole the fish.

Yesterday, Ernie took me for a ride on the Harley! It is really the only way to see a place. Now I know why they say that they do so much riding out here as opposed to California. The scenery is so relaxing and fun. You also see so many animals: vultures, groundhogs, hawks, etc.

Today, Mom, Nessa, Cole, Grandma, and I went to the Holy Cross Winery, which is right next to an old abbey. It used to house monks, then it was a winery and Abbey, then it was an Abbey and highschool. The abbey was closed in 2005. Now it is more of a museum. Click HERE to read more about its history. It is a very beautiful building. You can tour the bottom floor and chapel.

Outside the Abbey

We also went to the winery where Nessa and I tasted wines (YES-COLORADO MADE WINES!), and we picked a yummy Syrah for Thanksgiving Dinner. The grounds of both the Abbey and winery were so pretty. It was all fall colors and well-maintained, and there were some horses between them. It was not the season to tour the actual vinyards, but we could see where the Chardonnay grapes were grown.

It is so much fun to get wines from the actual winery. You learn so much about them, and they seem more special. I also loved visiting the volcano winery in Hawaii.

Picking our wines.

Click HERE for more pictures. I took a few pictures of the Abbey windows, because it is supposed to be haunted. See if you see anything spooky.

We were also going to go to the prison museum which is still a prison, but parts of it are for touring, because it was the prison when Colorado was still a colony! But it was closed. There are a lot of prisons here.

Cole at the Park

Nessa and I took Cole to the park yesterday. He had a great time. It has been warm here during the day. He loved just walking around and playing in the pebbles. I like the slides! Oh and Cole made a friend!

We have also gone to the zoo and Bishop Castle, but those pics are on my camera, and I did not bring my usb cord for it! Duh! Soon though~

Colorado Vacation- Pictures

There are 3 new albums of Cole that I snagged from Mom's camera! His first birthday, his halloween costume (above) and his trip to Texas. Click HERE to see the photo site. Scroll down to see more albums.

Having a great time- pretty relaxing. It has been somewhat warm (high 60's) during the day, so I only get cold if I am standing still.

Steffy at 6 months preggers

Me and Nessa going out last Friday with Nino

Sunday Seven

Cole was under the weather yesterday, so Nessa could not go to Denver. Nino came with me instead. It was his first hockey game. I was just excited to see some of the players that I have not seen in Anaheim, although it felt wierd cheering for another team! We stayed the night in Denver and went to the Denver Art Museum the next day. All our fun inspired this next Sunday Seven. Sorry it's late!

At the Hockey Game

Sunday Seven List of Reasons to Visit Denver

1. It is relatively clean and safe- especially compared to DC or LA.

2. Traffic and parking were not a problem, and it was not hard to get around. We never really got lost, although we had some trouble finding the Pepsi Center. Really. How hard is it to see a Stadium!

3. The leaves change and fall off, and it snows! Seasons! Cities look gorgeous changing in the seasons. I think that was DC's only saving grace.

4. The Avalanche are a good team, and the fans are even better. The stadium was fuller and louder than most of the Ducks games I have been to. And the Avs lost!

The Avalanche from our seats

5. The Denver Art Museum is the best museum I have been to so far. Smaller than LACMA, it is two buildings with gardens and large sculptures in the courtyards. It was pretty easy to find what we wanted and they had a ton of interactive games and things to do. Also, it is located downtown right next to the state capital buildings and park, which made for a pretty walk.

Nino playing dress up at the Museum

6. You are only two hours away from the fantastic city of Pueblo West (where my family is)!

7. I had a wonderful time and I want to go back to do some of the things that we did not have time for this trip. I really want to go back to the Museum as well. They are having a show of paintings, drawings, furniture, and treasures on loan from The Louvre that were once housed in Versailles. That is all right up my alley. There is also a big amusement park right next to the stadium, but it was closed for the winter.

Colorado Vacation- Part 1

I made it here night before last (even if my luggage did not). I gave my seat up on a full flight and was able to switch to a nonstop flight (instead of a 5 hour layover in Vegas) AND got a $200 voucher for another flight. And my luggage came yesterday- whew!

Cole is doing so much more now than the last time I saw him (Easter). He is walking great, and he sings and dances. He is still pretty unsure about whether I am going to hurt him or not, but I seem to interest him also. He jumps a mile everytime I yell, laugh, but he does not cry and I can pick him up without fuss, so we seem to be getting along fine. Yesterday, I told Nessa I wanted to hold him as much as possible, so he would remember me when I get back from Spain. I said that way he could recognize my smell. She said that cats do that, not babies. I asked if that meant cats were smarter than her baby. She then tried to run me down with a shopping cart.

Nessa and I went out last night. Considering we are in the sticks, we found a couple nice places to chill, have drinks, and play those video-bar-games. Nessa complained that it is too hard here to feel dressed up in the winter, because you have to wear so many layers of clothes (it was freezing-literally), but we looked cute in the end.

Steffy looks SO cute! She is 6 months along and is as slightly built as ever except for this perfectly round belly.

We also got some great news yetserday! Ernie just got a new job! He will now be working here in town. No more truck-driving or being gone most of the week! Yay!

Now for what you really want to know:

Enigma LOVES it here. He loves all the activity and he gets along fine with all the dogs. I have to be careful letting him outside, because there a lot of birds of prey here that could get him before I even know what happened. Also, I don not know if it is the altitude or dry air, but whatever makes it so hard for me to breathe here, makes him stop all that gagging and coughing. Wierd, huh?

TONIGHT Nessa and I go to Denver to see the Avalanche play Vancouver!! I have not been to a hockey game in forever! Go Avs!

My phone is almost dead, but I hope to have pictures for you soon!