My husband and I had a wonderful trip to Colorado Springs visiting our son and his family for Christmas. The views were wonderful right in their neighborhood.
It was a joy to view the sunrise from their kitchen window every morning.
It was enjoyable to view the moon every morning, too.
I never tire of sunrises and sunsets. Psalm 19:1-6 is especially meaningful to me:
Let this scripture soak into your entire being.
" The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world,
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth."
This shot was particularly beautiful! You can see the sunrise lighting up the mountains through the trees.
On Christmas Eve, it started snowing which was a delightful surprise.
It became a 'thing' to jump in the car and see this view a short distance from their house. This was Christmas morning.
And the result: A spur-of-the-moment, unplanned, beautiful, and treasured family Christmas picture. A mile-high Christmas.
I installed an app on my phone that you can take out unwanted signs etc. I put my best picture on Instagram stories where I had removed a street light and now I can't find it. The app is called Lightleap.
Pike's Peak is prominent in Colorado Springs. We hope to ride the cog train to the summit on one of our visits. It has been in operation since 1891 and recently has undergone a $100 million renovation.
My grandson and his friend had a great time making a snow fort. They worked very hard packing snow in plastic containers to build their fort. There was always so much going on, I didn't take this picture until two days later when the snow had begun to melt.
When I say, there was always a lot going on I mean there is always activity in the kitchen and food prepping going on. Here is an example of one fabulous meal we enjoyed. I can still smell the scent from this leg of lamb roasting. My daughter-in-law, Sarah, loves to cook. She served delicious roasted potatoes and a salad along with the lamb. Our Christmas present from our son's family was a two-night stay at The Boardmore Hotel in Colorado Springs. We spent one night and insisted they stay the next night.
The hotel is a huge complex and has numerous restaurants.
The lake was very icy and full of geese, swans, and mallards. The swans with their long necks are able to eat from the feeder.
Swans feeding on the icy lake.
This is a picture made from the window in our room of the sunrise on the mountains.The 10-foot tall gingerbread house is a great hit with all ages. The pastry chefs create a new spectacular creation every year. There is a video showing former pastry creations over the years that is quite interesting.
The sheer volume of ingredients used to create the house is amazing.
Later in the week all six of us enjoyed a winter tea tasting brunch at Glen Eyrie Castle there in Colorado Springs. It was a cold snowy day and their winter brunch was a special treat.
The Glen Eyrie Castle is now owned by The Navigators, a Christian organization headquartered in Colorado Springs.
Will is 11 and Elise is 9! My other two grands are 17 and 19! Time is passing too fast!
Fast forward a few days and our Alabama family joined us for a ski getaway at Keystone, Colorado. It was about a two-hour drive for us coming from Colorado Springs. Now, we are a group of ten! My daughter-in-law got a new Cheese Raclette appliance for Christmas. The cheese Raclette experience was so much fun and the large round table at the ski house was perfect for our family of ten.
After eating, we played games and there was a lot of laughter. It warmed my heart to have our family together again.
Have you ever enjoyed a Cheese Raclette experience?
Three of the grandkids had fun making a fort from all the snow on the deck at our rental chalet.
The men worked several hours the next day shoveling the driveway so one car could get out of the garage. It was a lot of work to get the snow off the cars too. 
The day we left it was beautiful after all the snow from the day before. The snow-laden trees made you feel like you were in Narnia. I don't have any pictures of the other two days but the day I tried to ski the weather was brutal. Truly a blizzard! Not good conditions. I was disappointed but you can't plan the weather!
We had a wonderful time as a family sharing meals, talking, and laughing. The time passed so quickly. I'm usually taking pictures but I didn't this time. I am shocked I did not insist on one group picture. Our flight home left from Denver very early. This sunrise was ethereally beautiful captured from the back seat of my son's moving truck as we drove to the airport.
Having been gone 18 days, it was hard to do my usual blog visiting and commenting in December and January. I have missed reading your posts and even missed the deadline on the usual tablescape blog hop I usually participate in. Hopefully, things will get back to normal soon. January has flown by.
Stay warm and safe!
I adore using the Crown Linen Designs napkins and table runner that I won in the Monday Morning Blooms giveaway last November. Thank you again, sweet ladies and Crown Linens for your generous giveaway! View the giveaway post by clicking on the title below.
