good morning 2011

a breathtaking sunrise start to the new year as seen from my bedroom balcony..........

early, way too early this morning

i couldn't resist taking a myriad of photos after the storm passed in the night and we woke 

to clearing skies....

eldo mountain or polar express mountain as we call it because of the railroad track that encircles it, 

as seen from our driveway.....

the mountains directly west of our property........

abby and dan directly east.........

my garden boxes fast asleep.......

roxy giving sleigh rides

      the kids and i decided to go for a snowy walk with roxy.......

cool, white candy

mush roxy....mush!

mush sebastian....mush!

there goes sab!

fun but slippery......

this is what our colorado mail truck looks like.........a four wheel drive jeep

thanks guys, we love the snow!!!!!!

i made margo and i hot lemon balm tea when we got home......

it is lemon balm from my herb garden which seems only a long ago dream.......

gabi made up an original recipe for fancy confetti hot chocolate......

and made it for sebastian...lucky boy

we spent the rest of the afternoon playing bored board games...........

it is raclette night.......

we decided to have a raclette for our new years dinner!

we first experienced this favorite dinner of ours in a snowy chalet up in the french alps.......

our dear friends paul and faith o'neil gathered both our families together around a long, wooden table with snow falling outside and we were hooked.........

so simple and so fun....

  

 slice chicken, beef, seafood, sausage into bite sized pieces and grill on the top of the raclette...

pile creamy cheese over boiled potatoes in your own little skillet and melt under the grill...

when meat and cheese are done scrape onto your plate...

 add gherkins, pearl onion, sauces......

divine!

you should try it!!

the raclette in action.........