Writing From the Rockies by The Pioneer Woman

It’s nice to enter Christmas at The Merc now that we’ve been open over a year! Last Christmas was wonderful but sooooooo new and frenzied and different, and it just feels calmer, cooler, and more collected this year.

 
We still have the same signature wrap we launched with, and I still love it from the depths of my soul.

 
Christmas cookies are filling the bakery cases…

 
And look! There’s a PW and MM on the balcony of the gingerbread Merc!

 
I haven’t had a chance to mention that I brought four kids to Colorado for a few days. Two of the kids are mine, two are their friends, and we head home tomorrow. We had this trip planned for months, but Bryce is now wrestling, and he decided that he wanted to stay home and stay caught up on practice and school. And since Marlboro Man has started feeding cattle, it wasn’t a great time for him to leave, so he told me to go take Paige, Todd, and their friends and have fun.

This is one of those marital moments where my beloved wanted me to do what he knows I wanted to do, which was go to Colorado. I just finished my book tour (it was so much fun!) and he knew I could use a few days of mountain air, but of course I had to put forth the obligatory objection since I felt guilty about leaving him back at home. It went something like this (and we have had this exact exchange a few times before):

MM: Bryce decided he wants to stay home, and I need to stay home and feed anyway.

Me: Oh, darnit. BUT I WANTED US ALL TO BE TOGETHERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

MM: It’s okay, you go with Paige and Todd and let them both take a friend. You need to go.

Me: I’m not going anywhere without you. Forget it!

MM: No, you need to go—it’s just a few days.

Me: Okay, bye honey!

So yeah…not much arm twisting required on my part.

 
It has been a nice few days, just long enough to take in a few deep breaths and enjoy time with Paige and Todd (and Stanton and John, their buddies!)

And actually, Marlboro Man is quite strategic in his decision to stay back. He knows that if he and Bryce had come along, I would dig in my heels, wrap my arms around the nearest tree, and chain myself to the mountain when it came time to leave. But since they’re home, it gives me more of an incentive to pack up and head back to the ranch.

Yep, the dude knows how to navigate me.

 
We went bowling in Vail Village last night, and Todd and I snapped this selfie to text to Marlboro Man. It was just after Todd had a strike and came over to high five me and (the best part) give me a kiss on my cheek.

It could be that all thirteen-year-old boys do that when they go bowling with their mama, but still…it made me feel pretty lucky.

See you back in Oklahoma! I’ll try not to slip and break a wrist in the next 24 hours…but I can’t make any promises.