Friday, December 17, 2010

Merry Christmas from the Zimmers

I just mailed out 80 cards with little notes on them saying to catch our Christmas letter on our blog. Then realized, I did not actually write the Christmas letter (oh my). So here's a quick review of our year to let you know what we've been up to. Mostly in picture-form because I've been super busy -- full time work, school (okay, back in November I stopped for awhile to get my bearings, I plan on resuming my MSN program in February), the kids, their school, their sports, a remodel (yeah, yeah, I still haven't gotten around to pictures yet, I'm waiting for the window treatments, then I think I'll be done and I'll post pictures) and still trying to find time for that guy I married.

My review is backwards, because I still can't quite figure out the whole picture thing on blogger.


Friday after Thanksgiving we go cut down our tree. We normally find a tree farm, but this year we got it together in October and sent in our request for a permit so we went to the forest and picked one out. It was a fun day for the family.


Beautiful fall foliage off of my in-law's deck (for those of you who don't know, my sister-in-law and her husband live down the block, my mother-in-law -- across the street from them -- it's Everybody Loves Raymondish around here -- Jason would be Raymond). I was trying to get a nice shot for the Christmas card, but who am I kidding, my kids just won't sit still long enough.


Halloween, I would love to show you pictures of how scary the boys were, but I forgot to take any.



Our trip to Glenwood Springs ended with a gruesome-uh-I-mean-awesome hike to Hanging Lake. Great view when you finally get to the top.




The caverns above Glenwood Springs. Over Labor Day Weekend we celebrated Jason's birthday with a family trip. We did a lot but didn't end up actually going to the Glenwood Pool. Next time.


First day of school, they look thrilled, don't they?



Neighborhood fourth of July party. It was supposed to be a pie eating contest...Jake and Isaac had their own twist of how that was supposed to go.


Isaac with his decorated bike during the bike-scooter-wagon parade.


Isaac was on the swim team for summer and fall. By the end of this last season, his dive started to look a bit more like a dive and less like a belly flop....he's getting there. This December he started Karate.


Jake's on his 6th year of doing baseball in the summers. He likes the infield positions but pitching is his favorite, no short stop, no pitching, wait maybe first base....he can't decide. He's taking a break from baseball and trying his hand at basketball this winter.



Early summer hiking in Castlewood Canyon. Great area just minutes from home.



Apres skiing-snowboarding in Breckenridge over Spring Break.

Spring Skiing-snowboarding. Yes, for most of you this doesn't quite look like Spring. Spring in the Rockies is a different animal then the rest of the U.S.

Father-son snowmobiling trip last winter.
Well these are the highlights of 2010. All in all a pretty good year for the Zimmers (knock on wood). We are so very thankful for the Blessings in our lives, particularly those blessings that come in the form of friends and family! Our hope for you is that this holiday season brings you much joy and the coming year is full of blessings of love and friendship.
The Zimmers
Merry Christmas

Thursday, December 09, 2010

retro christmas card ornament - easy peasy

Every year I throw an ornament exchange party (totally stole the idea from someone awhile back....theft really is one of the best forms of flattery). She would make an ornament as a take home gift for all of her guests. I have fond memories when I put those hand made ornaments on my tree each year. Because I steal all her good ideas, I adopted the same practice. This is this year's ornament.

The first step is to look all over for something cute and more importantly, EASY. I found some adorable Seed Packet Ornaments off of a Martha Stewart (of course) ornament website. I wasn't too into the seed packet thing, or the fringey stuff on the side, so I adapted it and I did it my way (FYI, I'm singing that in my head right now).

If you choose to do this guy on your own (I did 40) you will need:
card stock
find (steal) a picture of the Internet or find a retro card somewhere and make copies
fabric glue
glitter (I used the Martha Stewart brand, because it's so fine)
spray glue
ribbon
hole punch
Rick a Rack
patterned scissors
paper cutter
regular scissors
Cut your card stock in fourths, glue Rick a Rack around the edges with fabric glue

Make color copies of your image, not sure of the size but smaller then 1/4 of the page....I'm very technical - can you tell? Cut them out with patterned scissors (have no idea what they're called, but if you scrapbook you have some).


Glue the retro card on with the spray glue, spray some more glue on the surface and sprinkle some of the glitter all over. Then hole punch two holes at the top.


Find some nice ribbon with wire and cut to size. Feed each end through each hole and knot in the back.



I put them all in a Christmassy basket to pass out as favors as people left the party.




Here's one on my tree.






Et viola...ze fineeshed product.