Christmas in Colorado

Another month has passed; more trouble with my home internet is slowing down the posts. That, and the holiday season in general. We left KS 12/24/08 with my friend Paul and his friend Kim at 5:00 a.m. in a snow/ice situation. After driving 3-4 hrs at 45mph, we were able to resume full speed and arrived in Ft. Collins in 12 hrs (9 is typical) just in time for Christmas Eve. JCG did great, partly due to an extra dose of Benadryl, partly I believe because Paul and Kim were with us and helped keep him entertained. I'm so grateful to both of them!!

The holidays have been great, we've been staying at Aunt Scott and Uncle Karla's, and JCG is in his element. Scott and Karla love to play with him, tickle him, etc. He "helps" cook every meal, clean up, do the laundry, sweep the floor. He is in charge of turning lights on and off all over the house; that was established the first hour we were here. They spoil him and he eats it up. He loves their house, he loves the toys, he loves meeting all his cousins. Last night we went to my niece Shauna's house with all her family as well as niece Natalie's family (visiting from Seattle). There were 4 little cousins age 2-3, and they went to town. Jumped on the bed together, played with the racetrack, etc. I must say Joaquin does not lack for cars this Christmas. I am so so grateful to be here with family. Everybody is meeting him and loving him.

He had a bad chest cold before we left town, and just finished up the course of amoxicylin, doing much better. However, due to the upcoming surgery, there's a little extra pressure that he knock it all out before next week. I am optimistic and putting out good thoughts.

Tonight Scott is taking me to a movie, the first since JCG came. I cried when he offered! Ha! I'm getting caught up on rest and getting a lot of help with odds and ends I haven't had time for. For example, we downloaded all 486 photos from the China trip onto a CD. I'll look for a way to post some of them here.