Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Mike's (Part 3 of 3)

 

Here is a family picture of the whole crew.  It has been quite a while since we have had the group together, so it was great to relax and celebrate with everyone there.

This is just the grandkids with Grandpa and Grandma Mike.

Here we are on the way back home after spending several days there.  The kids had a great time, and Tara is enjoying spending some quality time between our two boys on the flight back.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Mike for having us!  We come back with great memories and likely a few more pounds due to all the great food!

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Mike's (Part 2 of 3)

 

With everyone being there for a few days we had to find some things to do to keep everyone busy and my mom made reservations at the Snohomish Aquatic Center.  They have this wave pool thing that you can go on and practice your surfing and boogie boarding.  Here is Gage working to figure it out first.

Gavin was kind of impressed and it quickly became more of a friendly competition between the two to see who could stay on longer or try more tricks.

Here is Gavin working on the stand-up surfing, which he did surprisingly well.  I guess all that wake boarding practice with friends is starting to pay off.

Gage did another turn working on his stomach this time and trying to do some "rollovers" or barrel rolls.  The facility here is pretty awesome actually.  Beyond this wave pool space, they have a huge indoor kids waterpark and then next to it there were some competition swimming pools.  It made me jealous that I couldn't sneak in a few laps myself, but there were some teams already practicing and I didn't bring all of my gear.  Maybe next time!

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Mike's (Part 1 of 3)

 

Christmas day turned out to be a bit more exciting this year than in many years past.  After doing our normal morning Christmas tradition, we quickly drove out to DIA and jumped on a plane to join Grandma and Grandpa Mike in Snohomish, WA for several days of festivities!  Their house is amazing and they had everything loaded up for us to go once we all arrived.  Michelle and Mike (my half-brother) have been living with my mom for a year or so and Aunt Jackie and her family had come into town a few days before we got there...so it was a full house.

It was great to have everyone, and my mom's house always just seems cozy...no matter where it has been located!

Here we are gathered around the kitchen table just catching up and relaxing while Grandpa Mike cooks in the background.

Even Gavin got in to help a bit with the cooking, though it is hard to tell how much he retains from these short bouts of kitchen help.  We can only hope someday he learns to cook beyond the toaster oven and the microwave, mostly for his sake!

Christmas at Our House

 

Though our fireplace doesn't exactly work as perfectly as we had hoped, I do love the way it looks with our stockings hanging up and the really nice golden deer hangars we got from my mom.  It makes Christmas morning so much more fun to collect our stockings from the fireplace rather than the old way where they were just lying on the ground or hanging from a tv stand.

We continue to have a great time opening presents in the morning after some Monkey bread and reading one of the Christmas stories from the bible.  Here is Gavin opening his gifts.

Among other things, I got these lovely turkey socks to go run in.  I think they are pretty hilarious!  We had another year with lots to be thankful for, and I am specifically very thankful for the time I have with my family and the joy and laughter we can share with each other.

Christmas with the Borgers

 

We are always thankful that Zach and Lorna host a great Christmas party for all of us each year that includes most of the McBride clan.  There is always great conversation, laughter, some musical performances, and of course some standard Christmas Carol singing.  It's amazing to be surrounded by such humble and friendly people!

Christmas Church Service

 

Flatirons Church holds it Christmas celebration a week early so that its staff can also celebrate Christmas with their families without having to worry about putting on a service for everyone else.  I happen to think this is a great idea!  My favorite part of the service every year is when we sing silent night, and they turn out the lights and let us hold up these lit candles.  It's peaceful and beautiful...and apparently according to our former Pastor Scott Nicol, are certainly not words that would describe what Joseph and Mary were going through that cold winter night!  That always kind of makes me laugh as well.  Anyways, Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Party with Leprino

 

This year we were determined to make the Leprino Christmas party after last year's disaster!  We also reserved a room at the Hyatt downtown (where the party is) so we could get there early in the afternoon and check in without issue, and it was a success!  Here we are all dressed up (with apparently the same tie as last year even) and ready to head down to the celebration.  I am thankful for the company celebrating its employees and taking time to have a Christmas celebration.

Winter Rides with a View

This view never really gets old.  This is the highway that goes out towards I-93 from Boulder to Golden and sits on top of this ridge that overlooks the flatirons.  December weather, while generally is alright in Colorado, can be a bit spotty but this turned out to be a beautiful day.  I really enjoy the times when my body and the weather cooperate to get some two-wheeled exercise!

Christmas Tree Decorating

 

This is the standard picture of the yearly tree decorating tradition in our family.  The boys always help Tara get everything up, but I will say it is mighty helpful to have boys that are 6'2" to help put on those top-level decorations.  I will give myself some kudos this year in that it is only December 12th and we already have everything rolling out for decorations!

College Showcase in Texas (Part 2 of 2)

 

We did actually play some soccer, and I think Gage's team tied their games here.  The temperature dropped a bit and with the rain, it made for quite a chilly game.  The fields were really nice, so I am thankful that they let them play the games and didn't cancel because of the rain.

They next day I saw this beauty parked in the parking lot of the Whole Foods which was close to my hotel.  I guess everything is bigger in Texas!

Another rainy day, though, which seems funny for Texas...but I guess it's not always hot and dry.  December seems to be a bit cooler and rainy.  This is a picture of the front of the hotel grounds.  When I originally checked in, I was a bit confused and hoped I was in the right place.  It doesn't really scream hotel!

Besides the amazing outdoor pool, it also had this crazy fitness center.  I did a bit of lifting and then hoped onto a stationary bike to get some miles in.  This place had every machine you could think of, a small basketball area, plyo areas, and treadmills/cycling bikes galore!

I took advantage of this water massaging chair thing after the workout.  I swear I could get used to this.  What a great pull for a hotel room for the weekend while the guys are playing some local soccer games!  I will surely be back to this place if I am staying in Dallas for another tournament!

College Showcase in Texas (Part 1 of 2)

Gage's Colorado Edge team was down in Dallas, Texas to play a game and also participate in their first college showcase.  Most of the kids on his team are Freshman, so they are a bit early in the recruiting process, but it was nice exposure to see what these camps are about.  This picture above is the initial opening of the coaches that will be running the session.

Gage followed the group of goalies to start their individual session that was separate from the field players.  What was hilarious was they were asking what year in school he was and they all thought he was at least a junior or maybe a senior.  When he told them he was a freshman, they were blown away.  He seemed a bit intimidated but did really well in the session and was probably one of the best with at least the kids I watched.  They then joined the field players and the goalies, mixed up the teams, and had some 11 v 11 scrimmages.  Overall, Gage did well but you could tell they were underclassmen.

I joined the trip to watch but thankfully wasn't a chaperone so I was able to find this gem of a triathlete retreat just down the road from where the kids were staying.  This is the pool at my hotel: The Cooper Hotel & Conference center.  It had an outdoor heated pool, and I basically had the entire place to myself!  I made sure to swim here each morning.

 Also, being in Texas, I had to have some Torchy's tacos.  While we have one of these in Boulder, I would say the Texas variety seems to taste better...either that or I was just really hungry!