Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013

We had low energy but enjoyable holidays this year. I was off work from the 19th until the end of the year. I was supposed to go back to work today (January 2) but we are having a perfectly timed, 36-hour snowstorm so I won't go to work for four more days!

We buy our tree from the high school band. This year we went a little later than usual and they only had larger trees left. We bought the widest tree we've ever had. Good thing we had room for it.

We have friends a few streets away who are from Germany. They invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner. Antje made a traditional German Christmas Eve feast:

• Grapefruit Endive Salad
• Wedding soup (small meatballs and vegetables in chicken and beef broth)
• Roast Goose
• Fruit and walnut stuffing
• Dumplings and gravy
• Red cabbage
• Parsnips and celery root
• Pears with cranberry sauce
• Chocolate mousse and macaroons

It was all quite delicious. My challenged taste buds liked the variety of new flavors.

The girls really enjoyed Christmas and their gifts. Their biggest gifts were huge stuffed bears.

Santa brought Wii U, the newer version of the Wii video game system, and also a couple of games for it. The girls spent much of Christmas Day playing the new games.

During the break we got out for a couple of good walks.

On New Year's Eve the Giuliana-Lattas came over for dinner and games. They brought a bunch of ice cream with dry ice to keep it cold (they distributed ice cream to several neighbors). The next day the girls and I played with the dry ice in warm water. Great fun!

Charlotte Turns Eight

Charlotte Turns Eight

Charlotte's birthday was the day before Thanksgiving this year. We had a family celebration on her actual birthday, then a party the following weekend when her friends were more likely to be available.

The main thing Charlotte asked for was a guitar. We got her a "3/4 scale" guitar that will be easier for our little peanut to play. We plan to sign her up for lessons in the new year.

Carol organized a party with a Cowgirl theme. Charlotte chose the dessert design: cupcakes with ponies. They also had a scavenger hunt outside, s'mores by the fire inside plus some more games.

Until February we have 8- and 9-year-olds. Not quite sure how that happened.

Fall Photos

Fall Photos

In the fall we started to venture a little further from home.

As a way to regain some strength and endurance, Carol and I started going for longer and longer walks. At first they were around the neighborhood and Melrose. We spent a lot of time looking at house colors since our's needs paint next year (we're thinking a warm yellow). Then we started wandering farther afield and visited some open spaces that were new to us.

Thanksgiving weekend we drove to New York to visit my dear friend Brady and his family. Our girls have always been in love with Brady's daughter Isabel (she's 17 now). Brady and family have been living in Abu Dhabi for two years and just returned this summer so we got to see them for the first time and catch up.

We resumed our practice of getting outdoors on the weekends. In early December we visited the Crane Estate to see it decorated for Christmas

Summer Snaps

Summer Snaps

I was supposed to go to work today and tomorrow, but we're having a perfectly timed big snowstorm so I get four more days of vacation! A good time to try to catch up on blog posts.

I notice that these photos are all taken very close to home. I was in cancer treatment from June into August and then recovering for a few months so we weren't getting very far afield.

We had a lot of visitors to help, though. The girls got to spend a lot of time with their aunts and grandparents. We are so grateful for their help, love and support!

If you are new to the cancer story, you can get all the gory details over at Cancer Fun Time!

Girls Rock Camp

This past summer Audrey attended Girls Rock Camp for the second year in a row. This year she chose drums as her instrument.

Over the course of the week at camp the girls form a band, pick a name, write a song and then rehearse it. They also participate in other activities like self-defense. Then on Saturday after the week at camp there is a "showcase" at a real bar where all of the bands perform their songs on a real stage with real lights and sound system and a real audience of friends and family. It's a blast.

There is a volunteer professional videographer who shoots the showcase. They just posted the results on YouTube. Here is the video of Audrey's band, "The Lone Wolf's" performing.