Wednesday, February 28, 2007
I'm still here...
...and haven't been frozen in the ice storm or overwhelmed by babies during Babies in Bloom at work or deafened by the last Anime Freaks meeting. Ivan did dig his claws into me last night but discovered that's the fastest way to get evicted from his mistress' lap.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Now that it's February, here are the Christmas pictures!
Two things happened before our trip, one good, one...not so good. A few days before we made our NY-VT-NY-NJ run, Ken found an excellent bargain on a GPS (global positioning system.) This was most useful when we had to pull off an highway in Massachusetts to search for a gas station and took numerous turns, found one, then took further turns to hit a donut shop with a bathroom we could use. The GPS kindly led us back to the highway and on track.
The less useful event was that about an hour before we were due to go, I found out that temporary crowns and dried cranberries do not get along well. So, a delay while I recovered the crown and finally got it on, the right way, with Fixodent.
Anyway, pictures. Vermont first, at Ken's sister's house with her family. Here's Ken reading to just-turned-two-years-old Mary...
Mary's big brother Ian had received two sets of medieval armor before Christmas and enjoyed being Sir Ian immensely (so did we!)
Next is a more sedate family grouping: Ken's dad with Mary on his lap, and Ben (Mary's dad) on the sofa. I think Ben's watching football...
Mary again, with the family's little-kid's set of Nativity people...
This was all pre-Christmas. Christmas Eve we walked to the local church (United Church of Christ/American Baptist--Karen, Ben and the kids live in a very small town) for a cozy, simple candlelight service with Nativity readings, bell and vocal choirs, sacred dance, and candles. A wonderful way to celebrate the Nativity once again...
Late Christmas Eve, Ken's brother Ron, his wife Carolyn and their daughter Rachael arrived, with Rachael sound asleep after her plane and car trip up from Texas.
Christmas morning, now! Ian got a Hot Wheels racetrack set with a charger to push the cars to go very fast. I was delighted because my brother Ralph had gotten an earlier version of the set many, many years ago, when he was just a few years older than Ian. I helped a little with putting the set together on the kitchen floor...
Well, since Ian owned two sets of armor, we also had Sir Rachael!
Another view of Rachael, this time in one of her many holiday outfits--yes that is real fake pink fur on her sleeves and the hem of her skirt! And the hat is so cool!
I didn't do too well on pictures of her parents--the flannel in the foreground is her mom Carolyn's nightgown, though. (Ken did get in a good line to her dad, his brother Ron, when Ron got fancy golf balls as a gift: "Great! Now you can hit the balls further in the wrong direction!)
We "did Christmas" with my family on Christmas night, after a short stop in Kingston to see my cousin Stephanie, who has gone back to school to study nursing as a new career. Yay Stephanie!
Brian got a few high-tech-robot type toys, they remind me of Transformers. I forget what they're called but Brian wanted them to be put together, so my brother, being a good Dad, did what good Dads do on Christmas and successfully (& patiently!) put the dudes together!
Evidently, "Hello Kitty" is back "in" again, or maybe it never went away. Anyway, Sheila's a big fan! She also enjoys reading Tokyo Mew Mew (manga! Yes!! They are raising her right!)
Underneath Sheila is Pirate Brian. The kids got tons of Pirates of the Caribbean stuff, they're both very big on it. Brian got an entire pirate ensemble (well, not a peg leg or a parrot--I think). I believe Kathryne got a PotC calendar too!
And we actually got a picture of all of us, thanks to my "adopted brother" Daryl.
The morning of the 26th, Aunt Sheila and Uncle Tony came to see us since we had to run out and head toward home, stopping in NJ to have lunch with Ken's close friend Tamara, her husband Craig, their son Michael and Tamara's parents. Craig cooked his usual excellent former-chef luncheon-with-leftovers and we caught up on life.
Then, after dealing with the usual bumper-to-bumper on the NJ Turnpike (with a useless detour to try to avoid it), we got home...
...where Ivan enjoyed Christmastime too! NO, he doesn't eat candy canes, he just enjoys batting things around, and is attracted to cellophane.
The less useful event was that about an hour before we were due to go, I found out that temporary crowns and dried cranberries do not get along well. So, a delay while I recovered the crown and finally got it on, the right way, with Fixodent.
Anyway, pictures. Vermont first, at Ken's sister's house with her family. Here's Ken reading to just-turned-two-years-old Mary...
Mary's big brother Ian had received two sets of medieval armor before Christmas and enjoyed being Sir Ian immensely (so did we!)
Next is a more sedate family grouping: Ken's dad with Mary on his lap, and Ben (Mary's dad) on the sofa. I think Ben's watching football...
Mary again, with the family's little-kid's set of Nativity people...
This was all pre-Christmas. Christmas Eve we walked to the local church (United Church of Christ/American Baptist--Karen, Ben and the kids live in a very small town) for a cozy, simple candlelight service with Nativity readings, bell and vocal choirs, sacred dance, and candles. A wonderful way to celebrate the Nativity once again...
Late Christmas Eve, Ken's brother Ron, his wife Carolyn and their daughter Rachael arrived, with Rachael sound asleep after her plane and car trip up from Texas.
Christmas morning, now! Ian got a Hot Wheels racetrack set with a charger to push the cars to go very fast. I was delighted because my brother Ralph had gotten an earlier version of the set many, many years ago, when he was just a few years older than Ian. I helped a little with putting the set together on the kitchen floor...
Well, since Ian owned two sets of armor, we also had Sir Rachael!
Another view of Rachael, this time in one of her many holiday outfits--yes that is real fake pink fur on her sleeves and the hem of her skirt! And the hat is so cool!
I didn't do too well on pictures of her parents--the flannel in the foreground is her mom Carolyn's nightgown, though. (Ken did get in a good line to her dad, his brother Ron, when Ron got fancy golf balls as a gift: "Great! Now you can hit the balls further in the wrong direction!)
We "did Christmas" with my family on Christmas night, after a short stop in Kingston to see my cousin Stephanie, who has gone back to school to study nursing as a new career. Yay Stephanie!
Brian got a few high-tech-robot type toys, they remind me of Transformers. I forget what they're called but Brian wanted them to be put together, so my brother, being a good Dad, did what good Dads do on Christmas and successfully (& patiently!) put the dudes together!
Evidently, "Hello Kitty" is back "in" again, or maybe it never went away. Anyway, Sheila's a big fan! She also enjoys reading Tokyo Mew Mew (manga! Yes!! They are raising her right!)
Underneath Sheila is Pirate Brian. The kids got tons of Pirates of the Caribbean stuff, they're both very big on it. Brian got an entire pirate ensemble (well, not a peg leg or a parrot--I think). I believe Kathryne got a PotC calendar too!
And we actually got a picture of all of us, thanks to my "adopted brother" Daryl.
The morning of the 26th, Aunt Sheila and Uncle Tony came to see us since we had to run out and head toward home, stopping in NJ to have lunch with Ken's close friend Tamara, her husband Craig, their son Michael and Tamara's parents. Craig cooked his usual excellent former-chef luncheon-with-leftovers and we caught up on life.
Then, after dealing with the usual bumper-to-bumper on the NJ Turnpike (with a useless detour to try to avoid it), we got home...
...where Ivan enjoyed Christmastime too! NO, he doesn't eat candy canes, he just enjoys batting things around, and is attracted to cellophane.
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