BELIEVE....

Sometimes it's so difficult to believe in much especially with everything that we've all experienced over the last few months.

So, I thought I would share this story with you. Maybe it will give us all a little hope.

A few weeks ago Joe, Amber, Claire and I visited a craft fair in Denver to check out the goodies.

We also knew that we might have the opportunity for Claire to visit Santa. She knew exactly what she wanted to tell him.

She was very patient. We actually had to go back. He had to take a little lunch break. Claire was okay with that. We actually found a booth that had a product that made "snow" when you added water to it. She thought that was pretty cool. So did the grown ups!

So, we went back and the line wasn't very long. Again, it didn't matter. Claire was bound and determined to tell him about the castle she wanted. There were four children ahead of her. A group of girls around 7 years old offered to let her go first. She said "No, thank you" and waited her turn.

When it came her turn she went right up to him and let him put her up on his knee. He was very good with her but she was speaking so softly that he couldn't hear her so he asked Mommy (Amber) to help him to know what Claire wanted.

So, Amber knelt down beside Santa and translated. At that point Santa noticed that "Mommy" had some bruises on her hand. Claire told Santa that "Mommy has owies because she's sick". At that point Santa finished up with Claire and then her turned to Amber and asked if he could talk to her for a few minutes all he while making sure Claire was comfortable.

Amber explained what Claire was talking about and at that point he took her hand and Claire's hand an offered to pray with them. He spoke softly and in a very comforting manner. He then told Amber to have a seat on his knee. He wanted to talk to her some more. I couldn't hear the words he was saying but I could tell by the look on his face and the look on Amber's face that he was very genuine in what he was telling her. I stood on the side and cried. I knew that this was no ordinary Santa. He was there for a reason.

You have to keep in mind that most Santa's will take about 2-3 minutes per child. At this point between Claire and Amber is was already over 15 minutes and there were several children and parents in line. This didn't seem to matter to him because as soon as he was done speaking with Amber he stood up and came over to speak with me and Joe. He held our hands and told us that he wasn't just a representation of Santa but that he was there as a representative of God and that the reason he plays the role of Santa is because he believes that it does help children. He said that he spends time with children that are dealing with terminal illnesses but spends most of his spare time with cancer patients. He knew what he was looking at when he looked at Amber.

When he was done speaking with us he explained that he had given Amber a Teddy Bear Angel. Something that he doesn't give out very often. Amber was only the second person he had given one too at this event and the first person begged him to give her one just because she wanted it. He said Amber truly deserved the Teddy Bear Angel and that it meant so much to him that he found someone to give it too.

The encounter was a little emotional for all of us. It was, in itself, a mini miracle and something that we will never forget.

Thank you Santa. Merry Christmas.

Do you know the way to Santa Fe (la la la la la la la la la)

OK...Channeling Dionne Warwick. I actually think I sang it in my head several times while on the trip. And yes, I do know it actually San Jose.

We took the long way or scenic route down (so I'm told). We did pass a beautiful hillside that had a single grave stone with a couple of wooden crosses stuck in the ground behind it. It was so striking that I made Joe stop and go back. Pics attached.

Our goal was to meet up with Joe's daughter and her family. They were actually just two hours behind us because they spent some time in the Colorado Springs area being tourist.

Santa Fe is such a different culture. Earthy is the best way I can describe it. Laid back. No one in a hurry. Just how it should be on vacation.

Joe found the perfect place for us all to stay. It's called Fort Marcey and it was the perfect home away from home with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a full kitchen and a large living room which became a stage and/or train station almost every night we were there.

It was just a few minutes from downtown but with a 2 year old and 5 year old in tow it was always just a van ride down the hill.

Our second day there Gramps had a plan to take his girls fishing. With a Princess and Snoopy fishing poles in hand we found a place with three ponds set up just for kids.

It was perfect. Joe's plan was to teach his grand daughter how to fish. He gave her the Princess pole the day before and she casted her line all over the house. So, it was no surprise that as soon as she put her line in the water she had a bite! She caught the first fish! It was short lived though. She caught her second fish (one more than her mother and her grand mother) and then she was done. Grampa showed us all up catching 6 of the little blue gill that stole our bait more than anything. We didn't leave them hungry.

Did I mention that the Snoopy pole was rescued from the barn at Joe's mom's house? It was Joe's daughters when she was about the same age as her daughter. Priceless right?

A couple of days of shopping and checking out the area and a lot of time spent with the kids and grand kids. It was exactly what we needed.

We miss them already.

I'll have a chicken sandwich, fries and the afternoon with my Grand Daughters

I have a large dislike of Burger King. I really do.

I have never had one meal there that hasn't given me horrible indigestion.

But, if it means that I get to spend a couple of hours crawling around the BK playground with my Granddaughters than I will put up with a little heartburn.

The weather was iffy so the back up plan was lunch and the play area inside BK. They loved it. See....you don't need all that fancy equipment at places like Jump or Fort Fun and pay through the nose when you local lunchery has enough tunnels, slides and soft matting (no skinned knees)to sufficiently wear them (and you) to a frazzle!

It was fairly uncrowded for a Saturday at lunch time. The girls had the room almost to themselves. This was a good thing considering you couldn't stick a stick between the two of them at first. They had to do everything together. Climb into the tunnel, sit on the slide, slide down the slide....over and over again.

Actually the youngest was a little more brave...I think she would have dove in head first if it would have been a pool. But her older cousin only took a couple of turns down the slide before it was old hat.

It was a photo op for Grams, a little rest for Mom/Auntie and a place for them to burn off some serious energy and get a few chicken fries and mac and cheese (yes BK has mac and cheese)on the side.

They enjoyed themselves, each other's company and were on there best behavior...even with the kids that eventually showed up to invade "their" space. It was very sweet.

Something to Do

It becomes so easy to hibernate once it turns cold. It's natural. Get comfy. Stay dry. Stay warm. But, we needed something to do.

So, what did we do? Got up early.... checked the weather...it said snow in the high country. Great! Just where we planned to go this early Saturday morning. Got the nervous call from our traveling partner(Sharen/Tish) "The weather's not good. Snow in the mountains. I70's a mess.

I'm still in. Let's go! Worse case scenario....we turn back, have lunch and call it a day.

Well three hours later we are standing at the Square in Breckenridge. Our planned destination. We are bundled to the core and ready to check out some snow sculptures. We weren't disappointed.

This was the first time to this event for Joe and I. We almost decided not to make the trip. It was snowing and yep, the roads were awful and it was cold and going to get colder. But, you can't have snow sculptures without snow and cold, right?

There were some beautiful exhibits. Some very talented people put a great deal of time and effort into their crafts so I thought I'd share some photos with you.

We checked out the exhibits, met up with with my nephew and his girl friend, ran into an old friend (Nancy "used to be" Goodwin said to tell Mom and Dad hello), found a place to enjoy lunch and then made the trek back home. Yep, three hours back. Yep, the roads were awful.

Was it worth it? Yep! You bet.

We didn't stay home. We didn't stay 100% warm or dry but we didn't miss the exhibit we've been trying to get to for several years now.

We saw the movie the next day when it was 19 degrees in Greeley. We saw Ink Heart. Cute movie but we could have stayed at home, warm, dry and comfy and waited for it to come out on DVD.

Enjoy the photos!