Christmas morning in Denver

First one up....Josie....She wrapped herself in ribbons

Soon everyone was up and we got a picture of the kiddos....impatiently waiting for the present-opening to begin.

 More waiting...

 Mark has opened a collection of sea life and zoo animals... and for a while it seemed like that would be all he needed/wanted

 Now the present-opening is in full swing with each of the children bringing gifts from under the tree to be opened....

 Both grandma's got new picture of the grandkids---Yay

 And here is Josie taking one more look at the tree

L

For Su! December in Denver

Making Great-Great-Grandma Matter's tie-knot cinnamon rolls...our family tradition at Christmas.

The Party is over! :(

After several weeks of non-stop company including nice long visits from both the grand kid families AND a three day family reunion at our house....everyone is gone and it is quiet .......and somewhat sad here.

I collected the chairs from where they last were sat in on the lawn and put them back around the table. 
The only activity out here now is Mark's birthday balloons swaying in the breeze.....

I had a good laugh after all three of the grands had left and I discovered they had left me a Raspberry Pie near the sandbox.....

 And, of course, the other thing left for me was all the laundry.  It was three loads just to wash the sheets and towels.......

Ah well, I have lots of great memories too (but not so many pictures this year).

Little Projects

I guess my cousin Jody is right.......It wouldn't be the Matters if we didn't have a project going on.  On top of building a 12'x24' bunkhouse this summer- we are also trying to squeeze in some other projects.

Here is the latest......

We put a couple sections of picket fence out at the end of our driveway.  Now we can tell new guests to just look for the fence to find our driveway.

 Hopefully the flowers will survive - if I remember to water them once in awhile

Earlier this spring Kurt took down about 6 pine trees and did some leveling with the excavator.  The resulting mound of dirt has been planted with left over flower seeds-- It should make quite a show in another month.

Last week, while we were doing cement work for the bunkhouse, we also cemented in major gate posts, here is one of them.  Later we will hang metal gates.

And we cemented in a new clothes line- since the bunkhouse is going up where the clothes line has been forever.

Still a work in progress is a stone pad at the entrance to the garden......

An addtiion to our arsenal of tools has been a riding lawn mower- Given to us because it wasn't running and Kurt was able to rehabilitate it.  Thanks to 6 inches of rain in June and the ability to mow the whole place in under an hour........our yard looks great! (even though much of it is just mowed weeds)

We can even mow behind the garden

And finally......getting ready for the grand kids to visit starting next week.....
There is a new sand box for them (not yet filled with sand)

Shush--don't tell anyone

We went scouting for huckleberries over the weekend.  At higher elevations we found lots of berries- but they were very green.

Then we stopped at our favorite easy picking spot......and looky-there....huckleberries to eat!  :)

Busy Mark

Mark is showing up in fewer pictures because he is hard to catch....
mealtimes is one good time to catch him sitting down, however briefly...

 He can be a big help with Josie (at times...)

 But mostly you have to look for him outside- climbing and digging....

 And the rest of the time it is just hard to get a picture because of his constant movement......

Lilly and Josie are more like sisters than cousins...

(a continuation of cute grandkid pics...)
Here is just a sampling of the ways Lilly and Josie play together......
OK, meal time isn't that pretty...

 But aren't they so sweet sharing the contents of a box....

 And here they are both helping to bring in Amy's purse.....

 Can you just imagine what trouble these two will get into when they are teenagers......

 Sometimes they just hang out together...

 Water play is fun no matter what age you are........