Dralion~

Grandma Kristie and Grandpa Bear gave us an early Valentine's gift...tickets to Dralion!  Its been about 10 years since Justin and i went to see Cirque Du Soleil,  and it was Jordyn's first time, so we were all excited to go to the show yesterday.  We arrived early, so we grabbed a hot pretzel and a beer and headed over to our seats.  The show started with 3 clowns that wandered into the audience teasing individuals while they were still searching for their seats.

These guys were hilarious...and made several appearances during the show, one time mocking the four main characters, who then came on to the stage and chased them away.

 

The entire show was amazing, but these were a few of our favorite parts...

 

 

I borrowed these images from the Cirque Du Soleil website, as i wanted to share with you some of their fantastic costumes and stage design.  Total eye candy!  There was so much going on...performers on stage, on the walls, and on the ceiling, and even popping out from under the stage...it was thrilling from beginning to end and we all had a blast!  If they come to your neighborhood, be sure to see the show...you will not be disappointed!

Snow Day!!!

 Heavy snow was expected last night, so it wasnt really a surprise this morning when the phone rang...no school today due to weather, aka  SNOW DAY!!!  Snow days are such a treat...we get to sleep in, lounge in our pjs and curl up by the fire.  Of course, playing in the snow is fun too!

 We have about 18 inches out there so far, and the snow is still falling.  We are expected to get another 5 inches or so throughout the day, so we shall see.  Justin is excited to replenish our sled run, as the snow was almost completely melted away.

 I love days like today, especially when i dont have to drive anywhere.  Im curled up on the couch with a mochaccino and a good book.  Im reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, and im almost finished with it. 

 Jordyn is playing polly pockets and pony rescue, and i think theres even some mermaids involved in the adventure.  Meanwhile, the cats are not too happy with the snow...they went out for about 2 minutes and decided it was not for them.  They are pouting on their cat tower right now, but im sure theyll be chasing each other around the house later.  Two sibling kittens are sooo much fun!

Well, it looks like the start of a beautiful 3 day weekend!  Hope its warm and cozy where you are...looks like Punxsutawney Phil was right. 

Chuck E Cheese and Other New and Fabulous Things ~

 Last Saturday we got off the mountain for some birthday fun!  Oriana, the birthday girl, chose Chuck E Cheese as the destination, so off we went to the land of bad animatronics, noise and chaos!

 I have to admit, this is not the Chuck E Cheese i knew 20 years ago...this one was really clean, had fun updated rides and games, and the staff was wonderful.  A far cry from the one i went to in LA, when i swore i would never set foot in one again :)   Ahhh...the things we do for our kids!

 So needless to say, we all had a great time!  The kids were given a large cup of tokens to play games, so they ran around trying out all of the fun.  Jordyn liked the horse, and rode it several times.  She also liked the photo booth, basketball hoops, climbing tube and monster truck ride....but most of all she had fun playing with all of her friends!  The only thing she didnt care for was the animatronic characters...she thought they were "kinda creepy"...and i had to agree :)  Thats my girl! 

 Over the last few weeks we have been redoing Jordyns room.  It was time for a big girl bed, and since we were at it, we decided to paint her room and get some accessories to match.  She chose the colors...pink and orange, so went for a peach and pink theme with black details.  Its sort of hard to tell in the photos, but you get the idea.

 She loves her new pink and black zebra rug and im also making her a new quilt to match her new room...

 These are the fabrics that i purchased to make the quilt, i just LOVE batiks!!!  The pink and white zebra flannel will be made into a few pillows for the bed...

 and here is the pattern i am using.  (photo from the keepsake quilting catalog).  It looks like a simple pattern, that should be fairly easy and quick to put together...so stay tuned.

 

Meanwhile...heres a fantastic update about Jen by my cousin Christy...

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 7:35 PM, MST

written by Christine Wolfe
Blessings all around
What an amazing day Jennifer had today! With that ventilator out, she is making great progress. Jen's Mom Barb said after Chad visited with Jen this morning, he came out smiling from ear to ear and said, "she's back!" Brandy was able to talk to her, (yes, she is talking!!!) and ask her questions, Jen was responding very well. Jen knew the names of her girls, and indicated that Chad had been in to see her. Jen's talking is rough, its a very low raspy sound as having that vent in for a long period of time has made her throat very sore I am sure. She can't talk very loud so you really have to get in close to hear her. Her eyes were open, she was trying to look all around the room, she would see someone walk by her window and ask me, "who's that?". She could hear the machines making noise behind her and was trying to turn her head to look and see where the sound was coming from.

Jen is still a little confused, at first she called me Sarah, but once she got my name, she got it right the rest of the time I was in the room. She is working hard to put things together. She asked Brandy to take her home, she asked Kelly how Parker was, and she told me she was hungry! She said "Lets make biscuits" then after a minute said, "Lets make gravy" then she looked at me (her eyes open, her left eye a little more then the right) and asked me, "what are you going to make?", so I said "how about bacon?", Jen said, "ya, bacon". She also kept asking for water, when we would say, no sorry you can't have any now, she would think about it, and say "Iced tea?" we would say no again, she would think about it, then said, "Is there any milk?" :) After awhile the nurse came in and told Jennifer all the squirming around made the "pulse ox" come off her finger, to which Jen said, "I'm Sorry", then she lifted her left hand, and pointed her index finger so that the nurse could put it back on. The best news though, Barb that said with the help of two physical therapists Jennifer was able to walk a short distance and sit up in a chair.

While I was in with Jennifer today, a nurse named Peggy (who we love) came to visit her. Peggy has been there since the beginning, and has always been hopeful, positive, and optimistic for Jennifers recovery. Peggy really helped us to keep our hopes high for Jen. Peggy poked her head into the room today to check in on Jen, when she saw Jens eyes opened, and that she was talking she hugged me and said, "I knew she was right there, I knew she could do it, I'm so happy!" How awesome is that, Peggy was not Jen's nurse today, but came to see how she was doing, it was wonderful of her to still be thinking of Jen.

We were all very encouraged today, we know this road for Jennifer is going to be long and slow. She was not quite sitting up being the animated, talking with her hands, loud, crazy Jen we all know and love, but she is taking small steps back to us. Your prayers, love, and energy, are working, she is fighting to get better, she has a long way to go, but look how far she has come.

We are grateful for everyone one of you, and all the support, donations, prayers, and love you sending out to Jennifer, Chad, the girls, and our family right now.
Thank you so much!
Love~
Christy

Creative Construction and Some Good News!

 Jordyn's school has started a program on Friday afternoons called Creative Construction Enrichment.  The older kids get to do Lego Robotics, which is awesome by the way...and the younger kids get to create with Legos, and other fun building materials.  They had to create something and then describe what it does.  Then they had to draw a picture of it and write a sentence about it...very fun indeed.  Jordyn created a pumpkin launcher, for punkin chunkin...guess she caught the bug from her cousin Greg :)  I went to help and take photos...well, mostly take photos, but it was a lot of fun for the kids and i think they all had a great time.  I wish we did cool stuff like this when i was in school :)

And for those of you that read my last post and have sent get well wishes and hugs, here is Jens latest up date from her sister in law Kelly~

Brown eyed girl
Today, Jennifer made a little more progress SHE OPENED HER EYES!!! She opened her eyes for her wonderful nurse Peggy, didn't keep them open for long but just enough to give us all more HOPE. She will still squeeze your hand on command and is still moving all her limbs. They removed the drainage tube from her head as well YAY!! She had spiked a fever yesterday, but thankfully it has... gone down. Her vitals are stable and she is getting lots of rest today. Physical therapy was in today and sat her up for a little while so that was good.

Are you ready for some even more good news?? McKenna Grace got to see her mommy for the first time since the accident! She handled it so well and stayed strong for her mommy. Jennifer's nurse was in the room explaining all the machines and tubes to her and when she came out to the waiting room she was grinning ear to ear :)

Please keep the thoughts and prayers coming. Also, just wanted to remind everyone if you are wanting to donate money to Jen, we set up a donation website at www.giveforward.com/jenniferstoddard.

Love,
Kelly M

We Love You Jen!!!

On Saturday i received a call from my cousin Christy...her sister in law, Jen, had a serious fall down some stairs and was admitted into the hospital with a critical brain injury.  I immediately headed down the mountain to be with family.
We went to the hospital early Sunday morning, and Christy and i got to visit her in the ICU before it was decided she needed surgery to have a tube put in, to help relieve some of the pressure from the swelling and bleeding.  We all sat for hours as more family and friends joined us in the waiting room, in fact there was quite a crowd of us hogging up a good portion of the waiting room.  We all cried, shared stories, laughed, and then cried some more...waiting to hear some good news.
Finally, the doctor came out to tell us that the surgery went well, and that the pressure had been relieved, and after a few days of heavy sedation, she might be able to come out of the medically induced coma and we could go from there.  She is not out of the woods yet, but the life threat has been taken care of, and that is comforting.  Hang in there Jen...WE LOVE YOU!!!

 

Moose and a playdate ~

 Okay, so these photos are a bit old...two weeks in fact, but i got a bit side tracked with Patricks memorial and the back to school stuff.  The holiday break was fabulous, and we stayed up late every night and slept in every morning, so getting back on schedule has been a bit tough.  I think we've got our groove back on now though, so i thought i would share some fun photos from a play date Jordyn had while we were still on holiday.
 On the drive over we spotted this majestic moose enjoying the weather...she glanced over at me for few seconds, but then the wind kicked up again and she turned to face the breeze, clearly enjoying the winds coming at her (sort of like a dog sticking its head out a car window on the road).  She stood there for a long time enjoying the moment, so we decided to leave her to her thoughts and headed on over to the play date.

 The kids had a blast together, and so did the moms!  There was a wonderful array of snacks for the kids....and for the moms...wine, cheese, olives and more wine! :) 

 We decided we should do this every couple of weeks, as it was quite refreshing to have adult conversation, while the kids trashed the house :)  The kids played Wii...chased each other around the house...played with every toy in every room...played the piano...then chased each other some more. Thanks for a fabulous afternoon Tabby...lets do this again real soon!

Goodbye Patrick ~

This funny card arrived in the mail 4 days ago...Patrick always makes the best Christmas cards!  One year he glued all kinds of seasonings to the front in the shape of a tree, with the words, Seasonings Greetings!  Another year, he printed a hilarious picture of his family back in the 70's all staring up at something on the ceiling.  Here are a few more of his funny cards...

Sadly, this will be our last Christmas card from Patrick, as he passed away two days ago. 

Patrick was such a wonderful man...told the best stories...loved to tell Ollie and Sven jokes...and knew everyones life story in the canyon.  Patrick, and then wife Abby, were Justins teachers through his elementary years at Poudre Canyon Elementary School (a one room schoolhouse for grades K-7).  According to Justin, Patrick created the best Christmas Programs, and the entire community showed up to attend these performances...in fact, it was always standing room only in that little one room schoolhouse!  Patrick loved a good book and read to his class every afternoon...Justin recalls tales from Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, The Three Investigators, Old Yeller, and The Little House books.  Patricks sister married Justins Uncle, thereby making him part of the family, so they were always very close.  He even lived in the black bear for a while, and a few of his wood carved knot heads are still hanging over our fireplace.  He was one of the first friends i made in the canyon when i moved here in 2003.  I went into the Rustic Resort to see if i had gotten the job, and he was sitting there at a table and he told me, "you're already on the schedule!" I thought it odd that he knew that, since he didnt even work there. He then asked me if my sister was related to another Mullin family that lived in the canyon, and i asked, "How did you know my sisters last name was Mullin?"....Well, it was then that i realized he still used our mailbox as his mailing address after all those years :)  When i started my first garden up here, i told Patrick, "come see what my tomatoes are doing?"  Patrick teased me "ill tell ya what they're doing...nothing is what they're doing!"  And he was right! :) He seemed to have a special place in his heart for Jordyn too, and often picked up little goodies for her along the way.  A few years ago he purchased two of his favorite books for Jordyns library, "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls and "My side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George.  I look forward to reading these books to Jordyn as i am reminded of my dear friend Patrick.  Goodbye Patrick, we will miss you!