'TIS THE SEASON

December has been an eventful month so far.

Joe's Boss, Craig, was in town, from London, a couple of weeks ago. The Saturday after he arrived in Denver, Craig was hosting a work group of about 25 people at the Fox & Hound for cocktails and conversation, and he invited us to join them. After that, a group of 9 of us went on to a great sushi dinner at Bara Sushi in the DTC. It was an evening for putting faces to the names; and for meeting significant others.

The next night we had Craig, Craig's daughter, Brooke (who lives in Castle Rock) and Rudy, a work associate from Frankfurt, join us for a Paella Dinner.

CHEF JOE INSTRUCTING GUESTS ON THE "SECRETS" TO THE PERFECT PAELLA.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: BROOKE, RUDY, CHEF JOE & CRAIG

THE FINAL PRODUCT............OH YEAH............

Last Friday we got together with the Suegros (The In-Laws) for a Chicken Tinga Dinner. Joe was going to Arizona for a meeting this week, and Amy was also working all week, and we wanted to say "!Feliz Navidad!" before everyone got too busy.
The Suegros put the "Hand Made" Pitcher to very good use. (Internal joke here. We'll have to tell you about the "Italian" Hand Made Pitcher from CHINA some time)


The next day, Saturday, Gerd,another one of Joe's work associates from the Frankfurt office came into Denver, on his way to the Chandler, AZ Meeting.

We had a good ol' Steak & Baked Potato Dinner, and some VERY good California wines, a St. Supery Dollarhide and a Fantastic Far Niente. Gerd is THE Wine Enthusiast of the group, and the Gentleman KNOWS his wines.

Joe attended a dinner at Gerd's home in Germany just last month, and it was an elaborate, interesting and very formal event. Gerd invited 4 people from the office and they tasted five different wines throuhout the evening. Joe said it was a great experience as ALL the wines were European.



Joe introduced Gerd to The Special Edition of 150 year old Grand Marnier................YES, .....Gerd said he thought he died and went to heaven...............he LOVED it and said he would google it and find out EVERYTHING about how it is made!


Joe also took Gerd to the Broncos/Chiefs game on Sunday and they had a BLAST. Joe took lots of oictures but unfortunately the older camera he took with him decided to go KAPUT in Gerd's honor. You are all probably thinking "Thank God.........we don't have to look at more pictures."

One more story to share for the day.....ONE more, I promise.

I have several groups of friends from the different places where I have worked in the past. I have been meeting with them for lunch or coffe throughout the month to catch up on everyone's lives and basically pick up where we left off.

Don't worry, I don't have pictures of ALL my latest lunch dates but I will share a photo from our lunch today at the new Los Arcos Mexican Restaurant in Lone Tree.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: MOONRAKA, DAYNA, HEIDI AND SHEILA


The DUBLETREE MUCHACHAS is a group comprised of 9 women with varied, interesting and, most importantly, FUN personalities..... can you tell we LOVE ourselves?
We worked together over 10 years ago and have been able to remain in pretty consistent touch . Our lives and jobs have changed and will continue to change throughout the years. Our commitment to our Friendship only grows stronger with each e-mail, each christmas card, each new baby, each new marriage, each break up, each loss of a loved one, each tear of joy or sadness. We are TRULY Great AMIGAS and I feel privileged to be a part of this group. Friendship is a gift from heaven.

December is here!

Hard ot believe we right in the middle of holiday season and less than a month from our new years resolutions will begin!

Julie and I went to Las Vegas last weekend on our third annual trip with my high school friends. Unlike the two years before, we actually won money this time! 1500 bucks!! This was won playing blackjack, Craps and our big winner was..... WAR!!! hahaha..

One of the benefits of travel - we had a free weekend at the

"Planet Hollywood" hotel - courtesy of hotel points. Then we were upgraded to an 800 sq ft suite!

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino after a suchi dinner at Nobu

Brett, Todd and I have been friends since we were 12. Below is a proud glance to the future at 31! Lucky guys indeed!

Julie "the squirrel" - counting the winnings!

After returning from Vegas I spent the week in Alaska for a work trip. It was 9 degrees. In AK they say it is actually warmer when it snows in the winter. Unfortunately there was no snow last week..

After my return from Anchorage. We ordered pizza and watched a horror movie Friday Night. We watched 28 weeks later and Julie was a real trooper for such a scary movie.

Saturday I went with my mountain biking group for a morning ride in the Santa Cruz State University area. Here are some photos.. Big day and back by lunch!

Log Ride

Banana Slug. This is the mascot for SCSU. Amber - these slugs may rival the Fawns for the championship.

My buddies Eric (left) and Russ

Santa Cruz in background

Root of a single tree!

Log Jump

Last night Julie and I had an awesome date night which was very spontaneous. We left the house thinking we were going to a local flamenco show. While on the road we abandoned that idea and decided to go for a gastronomic adventure.. We went to two very good restaurants in the area. We basically just ordered a ton of very random tuff a-la-carte and had some fantastic findings!! We both agreed that the best plate was a pear salad. It was so good even I appreciated the blue cheese.

Today we woke up and I biked 10 miles to the Los Gatos farmers market. Julie met me there in the Prius and we rode home together. While there we bought food for dinner and had coffee. In the afternoon we went for a mountain bike ride at Almaden Quicksilver park.

Julie getting ready
Steeper than it looks!

Riding off into the sunset

(i.e. time to go home for beef stew!)

The End...

THANKSGIVING IN SILICON VALLEY

FAMILIA,

We had not had the opportunity to visit Joey & Jumie since they moved to San Jose a year and a half ago; so we decide to spend the Thanksgiving Holliday in Silicon Valley .............and it was FANTASTIC!

California Moralitos, thanks again for a very special time. We can't wait to visit you again.

WELCOME TO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA (JUMIE WAS AT WORK ON OUR FIRST DAY )

SIN PALABRAS...
LOS HERMANOS
SANTA CRUZ SUN SET />

FROM THE SANTA CRUZ PIER

THANKSGIVING DAY /CHEF JOE JR. AT WORK

THE JOES..... "COOKING WITH GAS"...........AND A LITTLE SIP OF WINE....YUM!

JOE SR. & JUMIE, THE TURKEY MISTERS

EVERYONE PITCHING IN IN THE COCINA.............JOSH WAS THE "OFFICIAL TASTER".

THE OFFICIAL TASTER MAKING SURE THE APPETIZERS ARE UP TO PAR..


ALMOST READY FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER.

PJ LOVED HIS THANKSGIVING DINNER TOO


Wii BASEBALL.....INTENSE!


."Wii BOWLING........CHECK OUT THE "JUMIE SPLIT"
HOENIG WINE TASTING


" /> THE CALI COUPLE AT ST. SUPERY WINERY

QUIEN ES ESTA ESPANOLA TAN BONITA ?
AAAHHHH.......... NAPA VALLEY


JOSH & P.J.....HARD DAY'S NIGHT!

JOEY'S NEW ROAD BIKE

November News from Greg and Amy

Hello family,

November has flown by and it was filled with lots of fun with family and friends! My mom's birthday was November 1st and Amy and I had not told her that we rented a place in Salida so.....for her birthday we gave her a card that said, "your birthday present is a 24 hour trip to the mountains for food and music....." but we didn't tell her where. So the following weekend we picked her up and drove her to Salida....which didn't surprise her too much as she always hears us talking about Salida....but it was a BIG surprise when we opened the door to our little rental

and she saw our furniture inside! We gave her a tour of the house (which doesn't take long as it's only about 700 sq ft) and then we walked around town showing her the sights. In the evening, we walked (you can walk to everything in town) to a new restaurant in town....then walked to Bongo Billies Cafe for dessert and live music...then walked her home to the Gazebo Bed & Breakfast where we were putting her up for the night.

The next morning when we came to check her out....the owners said their was no charge....that having my mom stay with them over night was their Thanksgiving gift to us. We were all very touched by their generosity! After breakfast at our little rental...we walked along the Arkansas River, then home for lunch, then we walked back to the Salida Steam Plant which has been renovated into a small theater and we enjoyed a chamber music concert by the Walden Chamber Ensemble.

By that time the day was ending and we drove back to Denver. My mom told us over and over that she thoroughly enjoyed every minute of her 81st birthday present.

The following week was Thanksgiving and while the numbers at our table were small this year (Fritz, Estelle, Polly, and Amber) we all enjoyed sharing the day with family and the wonderful food traditionally served at Thanksgiving.



The last week of the month Amy and I managed to get back to Salida to soak in the hot springs, walk along around town, check out the snow conditions at Monarch Ski area (not enough snow now...but it was snowing hard while we were there), listen to music, and just relax and enjoy the slower pace of small town life.

Love to everyone in our extended families!!!

Greg and Amy

In mid-November a