Anna in her flower girl dress for Aunt Robyn’s wedding

On Christmas Eve we went to a church service in Boulder where our good friend Scott is the minister. It was a beautiful service and it was great to connect with him again. That night we watched Mary Poppins and we (really, it was 99% Marcy) got everything ready for Christmas morning.

The presents were stacked under the tree when the kids awoke on Christmas morning. The kids appreciated their gifts with Anna spending most of Christmas Day upstairs putting together her 800+ piece Harry Potter lego set. Jude played with his Perplexus but like most days his thoughts soon turned to soccer. It was a pretty nice day so we went out in the afternoon and played a family game of soccer in the park.

Playing soccer in the park on Christmas Day

The day after Christmas, as we do most years, we left on a drive to Iowa. So as to make Christmas Day a bit more relaxing we decided to leave after lunch and just drive part of the way. There was a winter storm on I-80 in Nebraska so we decided to take I-70 to Kansas City. It was raining a good part of the way and the drive was a little nasty with heavy rain but there was no snow thankfully. We made it to Topeka where we spent the night before heading to West Des Moines on the 27th.

Jude wearing Baba’s battery powered Santa hat

Jude and Anna were so happy to see their Iowa family again. The kids have been playing really well together for the most part and as always there has been lots of fun activities. There have been lots of games, breakfast at IHOP, a trip to the indoor trampoline park, a movie theatre outing and more. Jude, Nathan and I even went to play indoor golf in a simulator where we “played” Pebble Beach.

Breakfast at IHOP with Baba

There has been lots of playing around the house as well. The kids have been playing with Lola who at 16 years of age just keeps on going.

Sharing Lola’s favorite chair

The entrance to Cherokee Ranch and Castle

On September 4, 2004 Marcy and I got married at Cherokee Ranch about 30 minutes south of Denver. We had not been back there since…until yesterday. They now do a Christmas tea and so instead of the Brown Palace this year the family drove down to Sedalia to Cherokee Ranch and Castle.

In the Churchill Room amid the beautiful Christmas decorations

We had a delicious afternoon tea and then were treated to a tour of the Castle, something we did not do 14 years ago. It has an amazing history with more historic objects than most museums. The last owner of the ranch was a very well known and wealthy landowner who was invited to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1952 as well as the inauguration for Ronald Reagan. It has been hosting weddings and functions since after she died in 1999.

The cutest photo of the two kids that we have taken in a long time

We went up to the turret, where we took a bunch of photos 14 years ago. It was a lot colder but the view was still fantastic.

In the turret at the top of the Castle

On our way out we stopped in the courtyard which we found out used to be a pool several decades ago. It was where our ceremony took place.

Standing on the exact spot where we were married in 2004

On to more somber news. Our dear friend Jen Heth passed away on December 9th after a long fight with breast cancer, a disease she faced with amazing courage and grace. Her husband Rick, has been one of my best friends since I arrived in the US in 1991, Rick was in our wedding, and they were an integral part of “food group” our regular dinner party gathering. Her funeral was on Wednesday and it was an amazingly beautiful service. The church, where Rick and Jen have been regulars for a couple of decades, was packed with 600 people. She touched so many people and Marcy and I were blessed to call her a friend.

Jen Heth, with her husband Rick, taken at our engagement party in 2003

Friday night was the annual Briere Christmas Party and it was great that Rick decided to come along. We all had a lovely time and the kids enjoyed the food and of course the movies that are always on show. The kids had their latest night in a long time as we were the second last family to leave just after 10:30pm.

Marcy’s birthday dinner at Charcoal

Saturday was Marcy’s birthday. The weather was decent so Marcy wanted to spend some time outside. First, she wanted to clean up the trash on the main road near our house. She takes this walk regularly with Anna, walking her to school, and the amount of trash is quite staggering. We picked up about 10 trash bags full as well as five election signs that were on the side of the road.

Cleaning up trash along University Boulevard

In the afternoon we played soccer in the park with the neighbors. It was quite an epic game, it lasted a full 90 minutes and we were all delightfully exhausted in the end.

After the epic soccer match in the park

In the evening we walked down to South Gaylord Street and had dinner at Charcoal, a place where Marcy actually had her birthday lunch last year. We ordered a cheesecake for dessert and we all sang Happy Birthday.

Speaking of birthday’s, our neighbor Hilmar turned 80 this week. So the kids got together at his place to help him celebrate.

Our neighbor Hilmar celebrates his 80th birthday

Today, we went to get a Christmas tree. We usually like to wait until after Marcy’s birthday before we get fully into the Christmas decorating here. Anna and Marcy dressed the tree just like they always do with Marcy marveling at the age of some of these ornaments. This afternoon Anna and Marcy went to Wash Park to meet with one of Anna’s school friends and Jude and I played another game of soccer in the park.

Our Christmas tree for 2018

Anna showing her style on her first ski day of the season

We had a couple of special guests this week at our home. Our brother-in-law, Nathan, was out in Denver on business this week so Marcy’s sister, Mandy, came out to join him. They stayed at our house on Thursday night and then went up to the mountains for a long weekend.

On Saturday night Anna and I drove up to Keystone for our first ski day of the season. Anna had a birthday party Saturday afternoon and we headed up right after that. Sunday was a cold but mostly sunny day in Keystone and we had a great day on the slopes. It really wasn’t that crowded for a Sunday and Anna wanted to go non-stop. We did about 12 runs and were still done by 2:15pm; more accurately, my knees were done so we called it a day.

That evening Mandy and Nathan came over to our place in Keystone for dinner and what was the last night of their trip. We had takeout pizza before heading back down the mountain.

Sunday night pizza dinner in Keystone with Nathan and Mandy

Meanwhile in Denver today Marcy and Jude had a quiet day. They played a little soccer at the park, and Jude played baseball with the neighbors. Jude discovered a new favorite movie, Pants on Fire. And then in the afternoon, Jude went to a birthday party for a new school friend.

Visiting the Arc de Triomphe on our last day in Paris

Our week began in Paris with one last day on Monday. It was a cold and somewhat drizzly day but we braved the elements. Jude and I caught the train to the main soccer stadium to visit the soccer store there where they had a jersey Jude wanted. Then we met up with Marcy and Anna at Luxembourg Gardens. We were hoping to try the remote control boats on their lake there but because of bad weather they were not available.

Jude and Anna wanted some familiar food and thanks to the wonders of American franchising there was a Chipotle less than half a mile away from the gardens. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the comfort food that Chipotle provides, while Marcy wandered around the block to find a crepe.

Digging in to a Chipotle lunch on our last day in Paris

We left Chipotle to go to the Arc de Triomphe. We decided to ride scooters most of the way which the kids loved, it put them in a far better mood than if we had walked. We climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe (277 steps, both kids counted) but we did not linger given it was pretty cold.

Tuesday we had to get up very early to catch our train back to London. We awoke at 5:50am, two hours earlier than the day before and then it was a taxi to the train station to catch the 7:43am train. We then took an Uber to Heathrow and the direct flight back to Denver. All in all it was about 18 hours of travel to get home. The kids did really well considering but they were super tired when we got home and were in bed by 6:30pm.

Waiting for our luggage at Denver airport

Wednesday morning everyone was up early as both Jude and Anna were awake by 3:30am. They have been jet lagged really until today with neither kid sleeping past 5:30am. They have been so tired they have been in bed by 7:30pm most nights.

This weekend was a very low key one. Jude had nothing planned and we stayed at home the entire weekend but for a lunch at Noodles on Saturday and a trip to the bookstore. Anna went to the Waldorf School Holiday fair on Saturday and brought Reed home for a playdate afterwards. Today, Jude and I watched the English soccer in the morning and the Broncos later in the day while Anna had a friend from her new school over for a playdate.