December 30, 2008

Not The Mayhem I Had In Mind

SHOCKER! When I said that when the teen cousins got together, mayhem was abound, I didn't mean this! This morning the Eldora Mountain Ski Resort was closed due to a murder that took place at the same time my family pulled out of the driveway to go there for a day of fun.

To read about the tragedy, click here. Of course, we are sad about such a terrible act, but I am so grateful my family was not there. They ended up over at Loveland Ski Resort instead.

More later....I have shell-shocked, injured, altitude-sick, and hungry snowboarders on my hands. Please say a prayer for the folks in Eldora.

December 28, 2008

The Goods

Well, finally I get the pictures up. It has been busy around here, getting ready for my brother and his boys. They arrive tomorrow, so the next week will be filled with teenage mutant mayhem and lots of snowboarding!

Here are a few pics from our good, old-fashioned, GarzaClan family Christmas. We start off with the kids by the Christmas tree. They are too big now to actually be in front of the tree and they are by all means too cool as well. So, they opted to sit next to the tree. We don't dress up much around here. It's come as you are...
But that's not to say, we don't try to look our best! For those that remember last spring, Tony loves to maintain that "beach-boy-skateboarder-dude-look". And, well, now he can!
And, as for Marisa, we are thrilled she is out of the "black-beetlejuice-gothic-look". White does become her better.
But, that's not all for Marisa. This was where she sat to open her gifts. I think this says it all about my teenage girl. Let's see...makeup, Vera Wang perfume (not toilet water), Red Bull, and a small crystal bowl of candy. The hot chocolate in the Christmas cup is mine.
And, there you have it. Now, I look forward to taking oodles of pictures this coming week of the "Fab Four". On guard...

December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

For my 200th blog posting, I am wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! God's Blessing to all...

December 18, 2008

Teenagers Equal Grey Hair

Today was Marisa's last final and the end of her first semester in high school. Oh, heck! I can't believe it. So, of course, she wants to hang out with friends. I get home from work, it's starting to snow AGAIN, and I get slammed with requests to take her and a friend to the mall. I say okay.

Marisa gets on the phone and I hear, "Okay, Adam, my mom and I will pick you up in 15 minutes." I don't get a chance to even open my mouth, because the social princess has run upstairs to put on her makeup and her favorite hoodie.

We get in the car and I ask about Adam. He's just a friend, Mom.

We arrive at Adam's house and he and his dad come out to the car. We introduce ourselves and the dad says, "Nice to meet you, I'll pick them up about 5:30 or 6pm AFTER THE MOVIE."

We drive off and I say, as casually as possible, "So, what movie?" Well, neither have decided yet, but they are thinking about the James Bond movie or the Four Christmases movie.

On the way home, I stop off at Nick-N-Willy's for a pizza. Since it is snowing again, I text Tony to see if he wants me to pick him up from school. His reply was:

"No"...

December 16, 2008

Tis The Season

Every year I put out our Christmas dishes. Nothing fancy, just dishes that have a winter scene on them. (I would post a photo, but the batteries are dead). Anyway, the point is that I LOVE eating and drinking from my Christmas dishes. I could eat a bowl of cereal and drink a cup of milk from these seasoned dishes and the meal would transform to Christmas cereal and Christmas milk. Which means that the simple cereal and milk are now special in some way.

So, with that said, I think I'll nibble some of the goodies from our two-tiered Christmas candy dish!

December 14, 2008

December 13, 2008

Finals

Next week is Marisa's first round of (and experience with) finals. She spent the entire day working through study guides. At one point she acknowledged my supreme organizational skills and study tips. I've been ragging on her all semester to keep her notebooks up to date for this every event. I hope it pays off.

Meanwhile, Tony had his girlfriend, Rose, over this afternoon. They watched TV in the basement. Never fear....I was at my computer the entire time, watching but not watching.

We rented The Dark Knight, Wanted, and Get Smart to watch tonight.

December 10, 2008

Updated Family Photos

We took new family photos tonight. Fisrt one is Danny and me. We've been married almost 17 years now. Yes, we are a little older and a little wider...wiser...wider, but we are still productive members of society!
Next, is our baby girl, Marisa. She is 15 years old and LOVES high school with a passion. But, her favorite subject is not academic...it is boys! Heaven help up!
Because, this is our baby boy. He is Mr. Popularity. Girls love him. Teachers love him. We love him. He's only 13 years old.
And, here we are all together. Stunning bunch we are, if I do say so myself.

December 8, 2008

Keeping Busy

...because Mom is back in the hospital. This time to treat pulmonary edema, at least that's what my dad is telling me. I have called Mom a couple of times and she sounds strong, but she is the classic silent sufferer. So, prayers are welcome!

Since I'm a basket case again with worry, I've managed to finish Christmas shopping, wrapping, and mailing. Danny keeps asking what I got him and my standard answer is a cigar case. Man, he will be surprised!

Yesterday, Danny and Marisa fixed the fence and put up the outside Christmas lights. We are expecting another snow storm tonight, so I'm glad they got it done.

December 6, 2008

CRASH! BANG! POW!

Came home yesterday to find a police card on the door that said "please call about the fence". My first thought: "Damn it, what did Tony do now?" (I know, poor kid!)

Then, I noticed another card that said, "I am the Dad of J** P** that slid into your fence. I would love you to call me so I can get our fence fixed or even fix it for you with his help. PLEASE CALL. Thank you, M***"

I honestly didn't notice anything wrong with the fence until I turned the corner and...

Apparently, this 16-year-old boy was driving down the street and slid into the fence. It was icy and snowy earlier in the day and he lost control of the car. He was honest enough to call his dad who met him at the crash site. They called the police. The police did not ticket him, however, according to the dad, "lectured him to no end". As a result, the kid and his dad are fixing our fence. Danny and I both called the dad to make sure the boy was okay and to arrange for restitution. The dad stated several times how he appreciated our understanding and kindness.

I didn't tell the dad this, but 1) we have a teenager almost at driving age, 2) our school had recently lost a teen to a driving accident so we have that on our minds, 3) nothing beats good, hard manual labor for a teenager doing restitution, and 4) KARMA...what goes around comes around.

December 4, 2008

Fotos

One of the best things about Thanksgiving is that we celebrate Marisa's birthday.

And, the "Fab 4" cousins get to hang out and chill.

And, they get to party at Main Event.

But, the sad part is leaving...especially with road conditions such as these through New Mexico.

Or, these through Colorado Springs.

Or, when the dog just can't take it anymore in the car with her humans.

It's only been a week and we miss our Texas family already! We also got to visit our little cousins, Ben and Nora, but those pictures turned out orange. Don't know how that happened. We're staying in Colorado for Christmas, but come Spring Break, we're on the road again.

December 3, 2008

Supper's Ready

It's so cold here today! So, we're having chili and homemade bread for supper.

In case you haven't noticed, I have no Thanksgiving pictures yet. Here's why: Marisa took 227 photos and her battery died as she was uploading. Danny is charging the battery now. Maybe in a couple more days I'll get some of those wacky kids' mugs up.

This weekend Danny and I are doing a marathon Christmas shopping trip. We've already finished the extended family's gifts, so this marathon is strictly for our kids. We haven't decided on a volunteer activity yet, but there are plenty to chose from. I'll start planning our Christmas menu soon. We are having company after all, so I'll keep them all well fed.

December 1, 2008

The Aftermath

Hi ya'll! (Sorry, had to do that...my kids said I sound "hick-y" when I come back from Texas.) Anyway, we had a great time with our families. And, of course, I have no photos yet. Marisa got a really nice camera ("the Ashon Kutcher" as she calls it). So, all pictures will be from the view of my 15-year-old-texting-is-boring-now daughter. That is, once we figure out how to get the pics off the camera without accidently uploading everything to Youtube.

We were able to spend time with both sides of the family. Once again, Marisa and Tony spent time with their cousins, Parker and Jaron. When they get together...brains leave and the havoc begins. More on that when the picutres come to fruition and you can "see" what I'm talking about.

It took us 17 hours to drive home. We ran into a blizzard in New Mexico and icy road conditions that had us to a crawl on I-25 in Colorado Springs for the 4 extra hours. Needless to say, I was a basket case when we got home. But, today, I get to pay bills, do laundry, go shopping for food, and go to the dentist.

So, bye for now! Marisa and I will work on those pictures for ya'll. Sorry...