A Very Colorado Christmas

January 24, 2013

A Very Colorado Christmas

Our First Colorado Christmas

Christmastime was festive, white, and filled with family...what's not to love?! Merry Christmas to all!

2012 was a big year for Team Rockley; we had a lot to celebrate! We survived only being together one third of the time for the first few months of the year; Graham works so hard and keeps his head up, but the leaving NEVER gets easier-- he's our hero! I finally became a stay at home mom, a goal we pursued for a very long time before it actually happened and something that brought an intense amount of relief to our family. I said goodbye to my eight year career as a social worker; I never looked back, but it was a fulfilling career where I became myself, learned a lot, and met boatloads of lovely people along the way. We had three super memorable road trips. Graham got a promotion which lent us twice as much time together as a family. We moved out of state, saying goodbye to some vital people in our lives with bittersweet feelings. And now we are working on making a new life for ourselves and seeking new friendships. CHEERS is what we have to say to that! Let the adventures continue!

Merry Christmas everyone! I love SNOW!

The kids had so much fun finding Herbie the Elf every day. Glad we started this tradition this year!

Sipping on some hot cocoa at Longmont Lights

Uncle Ry and Aunt Tami joined us for the Parade of Lights in Downtown Denver

Getting ready for her "pink date" with her Daddy

He brought her pink flowers for their date....adorable.

Alastair and I volunteered one Sat morning to help hand out toys to families in Longmont. It was a good experience with my boy <3>

This girl used to wake up every day and put a dress on with a huge tutu underneath. She's obsessed....and always gorgeous!

The title of the previous post "It's Always Sunny in Longmont" couldn't ring more true (and, of course, matches the title to one of our favorite shows.) It's nice, but it's almost annoying how often it is sunny here. This is Fran at our neighborhood park.

Baking Day with Nonnie...teaching the girls the good stuff in life :)

Team Rockley took the short trek up to Estes Park for a little hike and snow play at Hidden Valley in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was windier than one can imagine, making it bitterly cold, but we still managed to play and get a few shots.

It is rare that we get a picture with Team Rockley in its entirety

It is an annual tradition that we have breakfast with Santa with Nonnie. This year, we got to add Uncle Ry, Aunt Tam, and Selah. The kids were pretty stoked about Santa, no melt downs :)

Snowboarding with Graham. Thanks to my mom, we got to leave the kids and head up the mountain alone. We still cannot believe that we live close enough to snowboard whenever we want!

The presents from Santa (presents from Mommy and Daddy were under our big tree.)

Christmas morning excitement....while sporting his new robe from Nonnie.

The Aftermath

Snuggles with Dad before he has to leave

Who doesn't ride scooters in jammies, Hello Kitty shoes, and a princess dress?

She's in princess, fairy, and Hello Kitty heaven!

There was lots of funpacking to be done during our visit from Boompa and family! We snowboarded, went tubing, went snowmobiling, and hit the hot tub to warm up.