Turkey Dinner, Christmas Decorations, and more...

Hey folks,

We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday season. D and I are having a wonderful time enjoying these first holidays as a married couple. A little quiet at times, but so relaxing and romantic. We've been takin lots of pictures of not only Turkey day but of getting our house all ready for Christmas, so we thought we would post a few of them.

Our delicious turkey dinner!

We had it all! Turkey, stuffing, green been casserole...and the list goes on. It was delicious...and of course...we had...lots and lots of.......LEFTOVERS. I think we just finished the last of them this week!

Of course, here's the man of the house carvin' the turkey........

...and doing the dishes. I've trained him so well :)

Turkey day sure was fun. I had such a blast cookin'. I even tried out a few different things this year such as French Silk pie. I think D is a fan! Before we move on to the next holiday, we realize we never announced a winner for our famous turkey contest. Of course, we all know that I won...and because of that D says it's my decision. So....I'm going to have to go with my Dad's vote...Gob and Bull...took me a second to get it...but pretty clever! Thanks to all for your contributions. We enjoyed our little Thanksgiving competition. We're working on coming up with one for Christmas.

Speaking of...we were so excited for the Christmas season to get started, that we headed out and cut down a Christmas tree on the Saturday right after Thanksgiving.

We proceeded to decorate the rest of the living room on Sunday. We had such a blast and the house looks great. We also just purchased a nice coffee table and console table to help our living room more...well...lived in :) Check out our decorations. D also put up some lights outside...I'll have to post those pics soon.

The finishing touch!

And the final product!!!!

We can't forget the nativity scene and advent calendar. I think we'll even stick with the tradition in my family of putting baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas morning.

We thought we would be kids again and sleep under our newly decorated tree that night. I woke up with sore back...definitely not 19 anymore! We had so much fun though! We have gotten all our Christmas music together and we are really enjoying this time together. I love this whole teacher thing...I mean it's like I get Christmas break all over again just like in school (well, sort of...I still have to go to work...I just get a little break from the cadets). As much as I love the job, every once in awhile you need a break. It will be a very nice rest.

We plan to enjoy the beautiful snow-covered mountains here soon. Since D is a novice on the slopes, we're going to take it slow and smart. I think I'll put him in a lesson...a marriage saver! :) Hopefully he loves it as much as I do. We'll let you know how our first trips up the mountain go. Hopefully we'll get a little more snow here soon.

Although we are having such a great time, we really can't wait for all the future holidays we will get to share with family. We sure miss everyone so much, especially during this time of the year. We love you all, and wish you the best this Christmas. Until next time...happy Christmas season. Remember to slow down and remember why we all celebrate this time of the year with such joy. Sometimes its so easy to forget with all the hustle and bustle. But, He is the reason we have so much to celebrate and be thankful for!

With Love,

DTC

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day everybody! The day is here and the vote is in. T and I had a lot of fun with the turkey contest and we appreciate our family, friends, and colleagues participating in the fun. The turkey that recieved the most votes was . . . turkey #2. That means that T wins the contest...some of you guessed it right...her detail-oriented personality gave it away. Congratulations, T...the best turkey won! Now let's eat some real turkey.

We began making our Thanksgiving meal yesterday. We made sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and french silk pie, and pumpkin and cranberry muffins. Today we make the turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, greenbean casserole, corn (to put on top of the mashed potatoes, of course), and rolls.

T and I have been getting out our Christmas decorations which we will probably set up tomorrow...of course after do our annual tradition of going to cut down a tree (something we've been doing since we first met). We are so excited. There is snow on the ground and a chill in the air. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I have already downloaded the tv listings of the Christmas movies and tv shows for the next month. Our must sees are Miracle on 34th St. (both the black and white and color versions), The Polar Express and the classics like Rudolf, Frosty, and The Grinch.

T and I are still trying to get out and have some fun. I attended a seminar a few weeks ago and took a lunch at a nearby park. The weather was fantastic the next morning so I took T to the same park and we walked around the lake, played on the equipment, fed the ducks and talked for a couple of hours. It was a lot of fun.

We went to Denver the next week and walked around Larimer Square and The 16th Street Mall. It was another wonderful day out and a great time for taking pictures. We stopped at this little outdoor restaurant that served nothing but crepes. They were huge and delicious. Especially the dessert crepes. We walked around the river and bike paths and then finished our day shopping and stopping in all the stores along the 16th Street Mall. The street mall is just that, an outdoor mall that is spread out along a street. The whole thing is about a mile long (16 blocks). I am guessing that there is some law in Denver that requires Starbucks to be on each one of those blocks.

Last weekend, we went to a park close to the house and broke out our lasso golf set. We played a few games, enough for T to beat me twice, and walked around some more. I am a new fan of this game. I figured since my whole family plays horseshoes all the time that I would destroy T when we played. That was not the case. So far, she has beaten me in Texas Hold'em, Mario Cart, Lasso Golf, and Mancala...not to mention the most recent turkey contest. She's lucky that we don't have Guess Who? The Mystery Face Game!

T and I also went to a marriage conference at New Life Church. We read the book, Love and Respect, before we were married and the authors of the book had a weekend conference that was just phenomenal. We learned a lot and were very energized by it. We would recommend it for everyone.

Well, we miss everybody and hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! Ciao.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

So D came up with the idea to get into the season by taking ourselves back to our grade school days by making some turkeys outta construction paper (it must be his continuous exposure to the kids at school...or maybe he's just that much of a kid still :)). I can't remember the last time I made construction paper turkeys...scratch that...I can't remember the last time I made anything outta construction paper! Anyway, it was a great way to get ourselves into the season, have a little bit of fun, not to mention make a few things to make our house look a little more seasonal. Ok, so now that our turkeys are done...we just can't seem to decide on who's is the best...go figure. So.....that's where you come in. We decided we'd leave it up to our friends and family to decide. There's a catch though...we know you may be biased, so no telling who's turkey was made by who. Just send in your vote and we'll announce the winner on Thanksgiving. Oh, and one more thing...we can't seem to decide on a name for them...so send in your ideas...and we'll announce our favs when we post the winner. Hey, it never hurts to spice things up with a little competition once in awhile, does it?? Have fun...and may the best turkey win! :)

Turkey 1

Turkey 2

Halloween '07

Hey everyone,

So D and T celebrated their first halloween as a married couple. It was the first time I'd ever handed out candy before since I've always lived in an apartment until now. The little kids were so adorable. Especially some of those really little ones who looked like they had no idea what was going on. I mean, if you really think about...you walk up to strangers' houses, ring the doorbell, say "trick or treat" and you get some candy. I mean, a pretty strange custom if you think about it...yet fun all the same. Of course D dressed up for the little kids at school. He pulled out his old hippie costume with a huge black afro wig. It was too funny. I think he probably scared quite of few of them (see the picture below). A few weeks ago, in anticipation for halloween, I went out and bought an entire paper bag full of candy. Since this was my first time handin' it out, I wasn't sure how much we would need...and I certainly didn't want to run out. D didn't mind b/c he figured whatever was leftover he'd just help himself too. I made sure to hand out at least 4-5 pieces of candy per kid. We actually managed to get rid of most of it...yes! Hope you all had a wonderful halloween! Take care...DTC

USAFA game, pumpkin carving, and more...

Hey folks,

D and I have been busy these last couple weeks. We finally made it to a USAFA game despite the fact that I am convinced they lose everytime I watch a game (not that I'm superstitious or anything). But, it was cool for D to see the antics of a service academy game. It was a gorgeous 70 degrees and sunny (we actually got quite sunburnt...on just the left side of our faces of course). When D went back to school on Monday everyone was giving him a hard time that he took his "sick" days before the weekend and took off skiin'. Amazingly, I have yet to catch the cold that his little elementary school kids likely gave to him. Here are some of the pics from the game. It was my first USAFA game out of uniform. For some reason, it's so much more enjoyable that way!

March On! All 4000 cadets...old news for me...in fact one of the dreaded cadet activities. But D enjoyed it...definitely different than the OSU games...

Cadet mayhem...I remember those days...and I'm so glad to be past them!

Now they have just a weak little "push-up flight" of freshman when they score. Dare I say the words that every grad eventually utters..."Man, it was so much harder when I went through..." DTC enjoyin' the game

The 70 degree and sunny weather on Saturday was of course followed by below-freezing temps and snow (our first of the winter!) That's CO! This weekend we had some friends over for the very first time in our new home. Of course it took numerous hours of cleaning, organizing, and food prep, but it was all worth it. We got some pumpkins, pulled out our pumpkin carving kits and enjoyed a relaxing evening of pumpkin carving, socializing, and eatin some seasonal goodies (pumpkin bread, pumpkin seeds, caramel apples, and some mulled apple cider...yum!) We also had some seven-layer dip and spinach-artichoke dip - two of my newest recipe experiments that have become new favorites. We had a lot of fun...and also have a new motivation to enjoy our time together now before kids come along (yes, our friends brought their 18 month old and 6 month old along...sweet kids...but, it's tough to carve a pumpkin when your kid tries to eat everything that comes out of it). Here are some pics from our night with friends...and some more of our house. A little bare still, but we're taking small steps... Can you guess who made which one? Yeah, let's just say I kinda broke her broom...not bad for two relatively non-artistic people...we did have a kit however :)
Some pics of our clean house!! A little under-decorated...but we're takin baby steps... Today we went outside for awhile to enjoy some of the simplest of activites...throwin a baseball around. Man, I haven't done that since I was probably about 10 years old. Then we tried out our limberness with a few gymnastics moves (don't we look like pros!). It sure is nice just being able to do those simple activities together. No big planning...just a nice relaxing afternoon spent together.We've really been having such a great time in first few months of marriage. We are so excited for the holidays. We miss everyone so much! It's been tough to meet folks out here. We're still trying to find the right church for us. We're definitely becoming experts on all the different churches available in C-Springs. But, we are definitely anxious to find a church home...get into some small groups...and hopefully make some lasting friends during our time here. We hope everyone is doing well. Call us...write to us...let us know how you are doing. We miss you all! With love...DTC

more pics

Hey everyone...

So, we thought we would try to post some more pics from our time so far in CO..some we've been meaning to post...so they may be a little outdated :). We've sure been busy, but yet we've had a lot of fun. We enjoyed our first snow this past Sunday. D was like a little kid! It sure gets us excited for the holidays. For me, it just got me all excited to start cookin'. I spent the whole day in the kitchen cookin' up pumpkin bread, chili and other tasty stuff. We are both so excited to spend our first holiday season as a married couple. It will be so nice to take a nice long break from work and relax in our new home :) Enjoy some of our latest pics.

Our first dinner in our new home

Lotsa yardwork....

Cripple Creek...yellow aspens...and a train ride in an old steam train to see all the old mines! D had been told by some of his co-workers that this was the time to go see all the aspens turning yellow. They told us to head toward Woodland Park and to keep going towards Cripple Creek to see the best sights. Of course, we have high standards for fall colors coming from the midwest...so we kept driving until we were sufficiently impressed. Of course, that took us within minutes of Cripple Creek, so we decided to check it out. All I ever knew of the city was that it was the place all cadets went to do a little gambling. Let's see, it was a Sunday afternoon and I think were were the youngest folks in the city by far! It's pretty amazing to see so many folks so dedicated to gambling...a new cultural experience! The old steam train was pretty cool though as we drove through the old mine country and learned quite a bit about the mines. We also learned that Cripple Creek was only 4 votes away from becoming the capital of CO instead of Denver. A spontaneous trip one Sunday afternoon, but turned out to be lots of fun!

And that's it for now folks. Hopefully we can keep up some regular posts.

Hope you enjoyed our pictures. We miss you all...and hope everyone is doing very well.

Here are some of our fav wedding pics from our fabulous photographer...we can't wait to get our album...that is after we go through all 900 pics and choose just 60 or so for the album...yikes. Maybe that'll be a project to do over the holidays. Enjoy some of our favorites