Blame it on the Weather

It's finally snowing here in Colorado and we're stuck inside, so why not update the blog?!?

Many of you have asked "when are you going to update the blog?" so hang on, this will be a long one. The Sparknotes version is...we had a wonderful holiday season traveling to California for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and then back to Colorado to continue to focus on Kevin's rehab. In between we're getting back to the "real life" as best we can traveling and spending time with our kids.

Thanksgiving 2019

Home sweet home! We traveled to California for Thanksgiving. Kevin was happy to be in his own home for the first time since August 1st. We were greeted by a beautiful "Welcome Home" banner courtesy of our wonderful friends and neighbors. All three kids and Sinna were home to celebrate Thanksgiving. We feasted on all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes, sharing the day with the Schnebles, Fators, Haneys and Marie Astrup.

The Coopers hosted our annual progressive dinner on Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend...no progressing this year but a festive evening celebrating with good friends.

The Thanksgiving weekend was over in a flash and Dylan went back to school; Sean and Carolyn went back to work. Kevin, Jean Anne and Sinna headed out to Palm Desert for a couple of days with Cathy and Tom Haney and Marlo and Scott Cooper. We celebrated Cathy's birthday at the Old Dominion concert, had an amazing dinner at Lavender and took in our first holiday light display "Wild Nights" at the Living Desert.

Back in Irvine for a couple of days, Jean Anne decorated the house for Christmas while Kevin made succulent Christmas tree decorations for our Boat Parade party. We returned to Colorado for two weeks where Kevin continued his rigorous PT routine at Craig Hospital. Back in Colorado, Jean Anne embarked on a 12 days of Christmas lights quest seeking out various holiday light displays including the Blossoms of Light at the Denver Botanical Gardens and the Christkindl Market with Dylan, an early Christmas celebration with Sean at Kona Grill at the Cherry Creek Mall. Jean Anne and Dylan got out on the slopes for a cold but beautiful day of skiing at Breckenridge Ski Resort. Other holiday light displays included the drive-thru light display at Cherry Hills Community Church and the Craig Hospital Tree lighting.

Christmas 2019

On December 21 we flew back to California and were treated to a spectacular view of the snow on the Rocky Mountains. We hosted a celebration at the American Legion to watch the Newport Beach Boat Parade. It was a real treat to see so many people who have helped take care of our house, our dog, our cars, our family members, etc. and to celebrate the season together. Marlo Cooper worked her magic transforming the Fireside Room into a Christmas wonderland highlighting Kevin's succulent Christmas trees. It was a truly magical night!

Our Christmas celebration was a multi-day event. We continued our Christmas Eve Church and Chinese food dinner tradition with the Schnebles, Marie Astrup and Eileen and Jack Maloney. Christmas morning we headed down to the beach for breakfast at Charlie's Chili. Kevin thinks this should be our new tradition! Carolyn joined us late on December 26th having worked Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Santa finally arrived at the Astrup's on December 27th. During the Christmas week, Jean Anne fit in some tennis with Mark Fator and the Haneys. Mark took Kevin cruising on PCH in his Porshe.

New Year's 2020

A fun New Year's weekend celebration in Palm Desert with the Haneys, Manoses, Busheys, Heliers, Lorenzes and Howards. Thanks to Brenda Manos, our succulent caretaker for organizing a weekend of fun and games and food.

Eileen and Jack Maloney arrived in California in mid-December and are spending their winter in Irvine taking care of our house. The first few weeks were busy with Christmas, New Years, the kids coming and going, but things have quieted down now and they're enjoying the sunny, warm SoCal winter, getting ready for a mid-February Hawaiin cruise.

January 2020

We've been back in Colorado for a month already. Kevin continues his daily rehab activities at Craig. They're working on building his core and leg strength. He's also started working with the Rocky Mountain VA Center. They have a fully integrated Spinal Cord Injury Center offering full service medical care, wheel chair support, PT, OT, etc. Jean Anne has started pilates at the Englewood Rec center and is "hooked on knitting." We continue to explore the local restaurants and breweries. Kevin participated in a Craig Hospital outing at one of the local climbing gyms. Kevin gives all the credit to his belayer, but he was definitely doing his part to muscle his way up the wall.

January means the start of the Astrup Family Birthday Season. We celebrated Kevin's birthday with a trip to the Western Stock Show Rodeo, dinner with Sean at Safta in the Source, one of the new, trendy markets in the RiNo area of Denver, near Sean's condo. Kevin's birthday celebration continued with a trip to Las Vegas with Cathy Haney and Marlo Cooper. In Vegas, we went to the Foreigner Concert, the Shelby and Mob museums, dinner at Pamplamouse and breakfast at Hash, House a Go Go and of course quite a few hours were spent playing black jack and craps.

Carolyn came to visit for Sean's birthday on the 28th. They celebrated the day with a snow shoe hike in Lost Lake and dinner with mom and dad at Il Posto in RiNo. Sean's birthday week celebration continued with dinner at Hops and Pie with Jess and Jenny. We also took a drive through the Rocky Mountain Arsenal to visit with some of the local wildlife.

This past weekend was spent helping Sean move to his new condo in Denver. Superbowl Sunday was a beautiful sunny day in the 70's in Denver and in the 40s in the ski resorts, perfect skiing weather. We headed up to Breckenridge so Sean could break in the ski boots that Santa brought and Kevin could check out the apres ski venues.

So what's next? Our apartment lease ends at the end of the month and then we will be heading back to California. We'll spend the next few weeks packing up, getting rid of our furniture and furnishings, and planning our road trip back home. Right now, we think we'll head south to visit Taos, NM, then head west through AZ making a stop in Prescott to visit Dylan and then back to Irvine sometime in mid-March.

Thanks again for all your love and support. Keep the prayers, calls, text and cards coming. They're definitely working! Enjoy the pictures!