Catching Up

This was Stella's first Christmas and she got special treatment from Santa. Since it has been so long since I've blogged, I am going to take a backward look at the last two months. It has been a joyous time with family. There is so much for us to be thankful for.
Vera had fun with her little cousin Stella.
We enjoyed the view from Amy and Brian's condo.
We made cookies.
We had fun playing with Barbies.

Amy treated Starr and me to a pedicure.

Ella went ice skating, skiing, swimming and hiking while she was here.
She dressed up a lot.

Ella loved the princess room.

Christmas morning with the gifts from the New York grandchildren. We hope next year to have them here in person.
The Christmas Eve group.
Anna loves her cousin.
Emma makes a beautiful Mary..so tender and sweet.
Stella is helping to unwrap.

Early morning visitors. Two mommies and three babies.


The house is ready and waiting for the family to come.
Two Grandmas, two beautiful grandsons at Thanksgiving.
We hiked to a Mica mine..all sparkly and beautiful.
Hank hitched a ride with Grandma.
Sally set a beautiful table with wonderful food.
This is a very cute little face.
Thanksgiving in Grand Junction, CO with both sets of grandparents going to the park.

Halloween Cuties

No scary costume here. Emma is a beautiful Bee princess
Anna and Megan dressed as princesses when they visited this week-end.
Stella's first Halloween as a very cute pumpkin.
Sweet Wyatt takes the cake with his scary vampire costume. (ode to his mother's obsession with "Twilight")
Vera looks much older than her two years as a beautiful fairy princess to match her sister's
regal pink princess outfit with sparkly magic make-up.
The New York Stratfords opted for Harry Potter attire. I think Calder has the right look as Harry.
Scout looks like a wizard from Hogwarts. No photos of Hank as Spiderman or Crosby but I'm sure they were darling.

The Rest of the Trip

While not neccesarily in order here are 1/10 of the photos we took. This one is where we went to a really wonderful Vivaldi concert in Venice.
The whole purpose of the trip was to take a gondola ride with someone I really loved. Even though riding the gondola cost an arm and a leg..it was a dream realized.
Beautiful setting for dinner before the concert.
Our guy didn't sing but he showed us the home that "The Italian Job" was filmed.
Our hotel was near the Rialto Bridge.
Our hotel. We had a pretty hard time finding it.
Everything was picturesque.
San Marco Square
Ephasus Turkey where Paul taught and the Apostle John and Mary spent the last of their lives.
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. We made a quick trip through since David isn't as much a shopper as Amy and Sally and I. The girls and I spent hours in there.

The Blue Mosque
One of the best parts of the trip was sitting around reading and relaxing.
Dubovnik, Coatia. We thought it was wonderful and charming. We'd like to go back there someday.

Kataloon Greece
Bari, Italy watching babies being baptized.
Medieval Castle in Bari
Our huge cabin on the boat. We had a wonderful time and are so glad we went. Amy gave us a piggy bank with an Italian flag on it and started a trip fund for us to motivate us to go. Calder arranged the flights which went off without a hitch. Greg drove us to the airport and left our car there when we got home. Thanks to everyone for encouraging us to go.