Christmas Day

Christmas morning, 22 degrees and the snow is falling. Matter of fact it has snowed all day and the temp is now down to 15 degrees by 5pm. Audra wanted a white Christmas and she got it.

Believe it or not, Audra and I slept until 7:30am and we didn't wake the kids up until 8:30am......Yes, we actually had to wake them up. Oh how things change....8 year old's wake up at 5am ready for Santa and teenagers sleep into the daylight hours.

It has been a good day. The exchange of gifts with Cinnamon rolls and sausage balls started off the morning. After about 4 hours of cooking, playing Guitar Hero and the Wii, we gathered around the dinner table for Audra's amazing Christmas Ham and fixins.

Enjoy the pics.....


Cassi opening up the Wii.


Audra with her new Northface Jacket.





Guitar Hero has been a HUGE hit!




I am getting serious into a Tennis game, while listening to my IPod on my 'airline', noise reduction headphones.

The Basement

We have come a long way since the first board was cut.




Family and Friends, if you will look at the date on the first pic (Blue Print), you will see Oct 26, 2005 (click on the pic to enlarge). That is the date that we pulled the permit to begin work on the basement. Yes, Colorado is one of the states that requires home improvements to be inspected (4 Inspections, Twice each.....Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing and Building). That is real piece of mind when one sells a home and purchases a home.....at least you know that everything has been done correctly and in our case, significantly raises our property value. So, 25 months later we can say that we have been approved and we are finishing up some final touches and moving in this week. Yes...thank you Lord...we are completely approved and have added the additional 900 square feet to the house. The boys have a larger room to share (which gives the girls their own rooms), they also have their own bath (which also gives the girls their own bath), I have a real office (the fifth bedroom in the plan) and we have another living area....which we are going to call the Den.


The 'completed' permit card.



The Den. The boys did not waste any time to hooking up the new TV and playing the PS2.



My office, which also has a full closet to classify as the fifth bedroom.



The boys room with pine furniture.


The opposite view of the boys room. We are purchasing mattresses on Wednesday.



The hallway.



The stairs. This is the second staircase in the house. It is weird to think we live in a 3-level house. I am thinking I will have to put in an intercom system.



I wish we could say we were completely finished but we still have some trim carpentry in the bath and closets, caulking, touch-up painting and remounting the freshly painted doors. I am planning for it to be completely finished by Sunday.

This was an outstanding family project. Everyone pitched in and worked hard in one phase or another. The boys were involved in everything and it was great to teach them everything I knew and learned from a book. Audra and the girls were outstanding with all the detail work while taping, bedding, texturing and painting.

By the way, the boys bedroom will also double as the "Hotel Room". With two queen beds, a living/TV room (The Den) and a bath, it will be a splendid place for any 'company' that wants to come to the Rockies for a little fun. Book a date with us if you want some Spring 2008 skiing.

Boxes and Snow

Regardless of the age of a child, whether they are 2 or 19.....they still love a box.







The storm has been reasonably mild here in Colorado Springswith about 3-4" of snow, but in the mountatins...it has been big. The resort where we skied this past week, Crested Butte, has had 65" of snow in the past 48 hours and Wolf Creek Pass/Ski area has had over 6 feet. We had planned to go skiing and riding on Sunday, but the roads aren't allowing it.

The plus to bad weather.... we have had a very productive weekend of house cleaning, honey-do's and basement work. Thanks to Gary and a 45 minute call on 3-way switches....I was able to knock out the rest of the electrical with the boys help. Audra painted all the trimwork and it is ready to be cut and nailed. We are getting close....maybe a week or two to final inspections.

Crested Butte

I have done a very poor job of taking vacation this year, which has left me with a bunch of days that I must use in only 4 weeks. A day of vacation that I recently took was an overnighter to Gunnison and Crested Butte. Crested Butte had just been dumped on, getting about 32" of snow over the past week. The skiing conditions were awesome with 40 degree temps, clear blue skies and no wind. It was really good to get away, enjoy the snow, smell some mountain air, enjoy the views....etc.

Cassi held down the fort and the kids did great while we were gone.

Thanksgiving and Basement Work

It has been a busy, last few weeks. Besides the normal challenges of family life with Dad, Mom and 4 kiddos....we had Thanksgiving Holiday, including a lot of work on the basement.


Audra really out-did herself this year. She has set the bar one step higher in terms of preping and cooking the Thanksgiving Dinner. She even baked sweet potatos and made, sweet potato pie from scratch.... the best ever. We opted for a smoked Turkey, but Audra made outstanding dressing to go with the Turkey Gravy that I made from scratch. Yep, I am bragging on us....but it was outstanding.



Here is a pic of the boys, as they are finalizing the wiring for the surround sound in the "Den".



This is the first of two pics of the tile work we completed in the shower, bathroom floor and the closet floor.







This is what happens when a guy drops one of those 18 volt, cordless screw guns, point down....into his foot. Even ten days after the injury, I am still bandaging and doctoring the wound.

Skiing and Monday Night Football

The past three days have been a lot of fun and a lot of work. On Sunday, my boss flew in to Colorado to help me with interviews. I convinced him to come in early on Sunday, so that we could have a little fun. Audra and I picked him up at the airport and immediately headed to Breck for an afternoon of skiing. We had a great time and it was wonderful for Audra to meet Dave.

We had interviews on Monday and Tuesday, but once we learned that the Broncos were playing at home on Monday night, we immediately began hunting for tickets. BINGO...we found some. Audra drove up after work and we had a wonderful time. As you all know, the Broncos won and it was great to be in attendance.

Business Trip

This week I did my annual business trip to Hawaii. I wish I could say that I took Audra along and that we had plenty of time for golf, beach, etc....but this was a quick trip, loaded with meetings and dinners.

I did have one evening where I walked the beach. It was awesome to feel the sand between my toes, hear the crashing waves and let the cares of life just slide off me. Also, due to the time change, I awoke one morning at 4am, purchased a cup of coffee, walked out one of the rock piers and watched the sun rise.

Enjoy the pics.




The view out my hotel balcony.



Waikiki beach with Diamond Head in the background.



The awesome sunsets are just about a given every evening.

Ski Season Is Here....Opening Day at Breck!

Ski season has officially arrived for the Lane Family. Audra and I took a vacation day and we allowed the kids to cut classes to continue our tradition of skiing the opening day at Breckenridge. The day was just beautiful, 50 degrees and clear, blue skies.... with no wind. In typical fashion for opening day at Breck, we also enjoyed the fine music from a Mariachi Band. (Click Here) We also munched a couple of huge pizza's for lunch. Enjoy the pics.... (Click on each pic to get a much better view.)



The morning starts off with a free pancake breakfast. The kids are munching down. The two extra kids are a couple of boys that graduated with Cassi at Falcon HS, DJ and Jared.



Audra is loading her cakes up with butter and real maple syrup.



I was able to catch Bryce riding the board, when Audra and I were riding up on the lift. Bryce is the second kid. DJ is the First kiddo.


Here is Cassi and Tyler, just after getting off the lift and ready to head down.



Katie girl.... ready to go



Audra with Tyler in the background.



Cassi with Bryce and Tyler in the background.



Tyler, Bryce, Katie and Cassi.










Perfect timing. Of course this is a great pic of Audra, but if you look closely, you will see Bryce and the other kids on the chair lift. I wish I could claim great planning and timing... but it was total luck.

YouTube Video of Bryce and Friend

In the Spirit of Family Funnies........You got to watch this video.

Bryce and his friend, Caleb, produced this video for a Chemistry assignment. I don't think it will be a YouTube Smash...but it is worth watching....

Video...Click Here

The Basement and 4Runner

The basement continues to be a weekly project. The pics below will reveal our current progress. On Friday we ordered the carpet and it should be installed in about three weeks, hopefully the Monday or Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving.





In this pic, I have finished tiling about 1/2 of the shower. The pink wall is a lifetime, waterproof coating.




This is a pic of part of the boys room.



This is a pic of the closet in my office.







This is a pic of the 'Den', looking at the hallway leading to the bath and the boys bedroom . If you click on the pics, they will enlarge and you can better see the paint colors and the texture that we applied. The ceiling is an off-white and the walls are a mocha color called Timber Dust. The next couple of weeks, while we wait on the carpet, I will finished the bathroom, install the doors and install all trim, except the baseboard (which we will do after the carpet is laid). Also, I will be finishing all the electrical, installing switches, light fixtures, recepticles and sub-panel.





And.... we have 'sort of' turned a chapter in life in getting rid of the Suburban (Family Hauler), opting for a Toyota 4Runner. The Suburban has been wonderful for the past three years, but it was time for a change. The 4Runner has the third row seat and is built out pretty nice....but it is getting 21 mpg (awesome for a 4x4!!). Audra loves this vehicle and I will have to agree, it drives wonderfully and it capable of tackling just about anything Colorado Mountains or Weather can throw at us.

October 31st

Trick or Treat time!!!!!!




Tyler enjoyed putting on the Hard Rocker wig and handing out candies.



Simply a sugar high...



Bryce had to work and he was allowed to costume up. He went to work as a 1970's NBA Basketball Star. Katie dressed up as the Tooth Fairy.



Cassi, dressed up in her Banana Republic work garb, handing out candy after she got off work.