The year in review?

When did life get so busy? I wonder when I stopped having- or making- time to blog, when I actually enjoy it?

In any case, it's been nearly a whole year since I posted anything and I guess that means that I have a little catching up to do here :) Brevity is not normally my strong suit, but I will make an extra effort this time!

In October, we finished up marching season with the two girls, and in early December, the Columbine football team won the State Championship! The girls attended and played at that game- we watched it on TV.

Then came December with my birthday, some minor surgery, our holiday Open House, and Christmas with the kids and our little granddaughter! Isn't she just the sweetest thing?

We also had some sadness too, as our across-the-street neighbor was killed in a car accident just two days before Christmas, leaving behind his wife and two small children. We have tried to help out in as many ways as we can, and they have become part of our family.

Life is just so unpredictable and we always have to remember to cherish the ones we love. 

The new year rolled in quietly. In January, I joined the After Prom Committee to make the Senior Wall, and we worked all the way through April on it. And I took a mozzarella-making class at the Truffle Cheese Shop in Denver. That was SO fun!

There isn't much to write about February; Rich had eye surgery in both eyes, and recovered well.

March was rather fun; my sister Sandy and I flew to Regina, Saskatchewan to surprise our baby sister Becky for the weekend for her 40th birthday! Sandy made these t-shirts and we all wore them for the whole day.

April brought about Prom- and after Prom. This was Heidi's Senior year.

The Senior was is made up of 10 panels on each side- and each panel measures 4' wide by 10' tall. The theme was "Games Rebels Play".

Heidi turned 18 years old in May, and my eldest, Holly, turned 23. Heidi graduated from Columbine High School at the end of the month, and school ended for the year for both girls.

June saw Chloe get her braces off!

Heidi started a six-week program up at CU Boulder in June as well, which prevented her from joining us on our Canada trip in July.

We stayed in Ottawa with my sister Sandy, and had a little reunion of sorts with everyone.

Then Rich and I continued on to the Maritimes, where we spent 12 days eating all the seafood we could manage. 

We went to Halifax, Nova Scotia:

Prince Edward Island:

And St. John's, Newfoundland:

(these are statues of a Newfie and a Lab)

Back home again, it's August, and just in time to get the girls ready for a new school year. Chloe is a sophomore and in marching band again. 

We got Heidi moved up to Boulder, into her dorm room, and she loves it up there!

I have been canning up a storm since getting home from our holidays at the beginning of August. I have done tons of tomatoes, dill pickles, peach jam, peach salsa, tomato salsa, peach butter, and I have grilled corn for the freezer. I still have a lot of jam to make, but the really seasonal stuff has to be done first.

This weekend is not only Labor Day, but the baby of the family celebrates her 15th birthday :)

They say there is no rest for the wicked- and if that is true, I must be VERY wicked! 

How's that for a brief year in review???