Blasting into the New Year

After the Wimsatts made their trek back to the Front Range, the next installment of guests arrived: The Highlands Ranch Linstids.  Ben's brother, Nick, and his fiance, Liz came to celebrate the New Year with us.  The guys had a vendetta with a turkey and a fry pot, and Liz and I had supervisory duty.

Over Thanksgiving, the guys had an unfortunate run-in with a turkey, fry pot, and a football game - here's the link to the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WmEjCVYBhg

Ben and Nick got a better plan, a bigger pot, and an...outcome - which was quite tasty!  No videos of this escapade, as it was dark and freezing cold out!

Let's get a closer look at that turkey...

Yup, its split in half - the pot was a little larger than needed, and the oil didn't quite cover the whole turkey, so an axe was retrieved and poof - the turkey fit!

After our feast, the guys went out and set off a ton of fireworks - huge booms and bright colors abounded.  It was quite the show.  Improvising was needed a bit for this part of the evening, too, as it was so cold, the lighters didn't work.  So, Ben came in and got our mini propane torch designed for creme brulee...and evidently fireworks :-)  It worked and much fun was had by all.

Sean and Melanie came on the 1st with their son, Brian, and pup, Ollie.  Yet again Peli and Biz were excited that they got a playmate, too :-)  Ollie was super excited to be running around like a crazy dog with our two pups - here is a picture of a very familiar scene with Ollie in it:

Check out those ears!!!

Ben got to try out the tracks he made with the grooming equipment we got for the snowmobile - both skate and classic cross country lanes were made and well used by Sean, Brian, Ben and Melanie.  Meanwhile, Nick, Liz, Anika, and I all went snowshoeing.  We were all pretty tired by the end of the weekend from our hard playing!

Skiing out the back door...or the front door - whichever you choose, its niiiiice :-)

Peli racing Ben down the track...she's winning!

Brian LOVED the snowmobile!

Brian holding Anika - he totally got into checking on the "Baby!"

The blue-eyed bald triplets at breakfast.

And of course, not to be forgotten, the Legend of the Avenging Narwhal was passed down to Brian by Nick.  Check out: http://www.mcphee.com/shop/products/Avenging-Narwhal-Play-Set.html for more details.  And just know this: get the Linstid boys together and logic is completely replaced by comedy, puns, and tall tales of arctic creatures.

Phew!  I think we've covered the highlights from our Christmas and New Years celebrations!  Now its onto adventures for the rest of the year!