A Family Christmas

We're having a great time being together! It has been very eventful since an intestinal bug has swooped through the house--part of the family bonding experience! We're mostly recouped so we headed out to the Football Hall of Fame for some punting and running. And then we went over to the Choco Cafe.

Thankful week in New Orleans!

Dan and I enjoyed every moment of our wonderful trip down south. We drove the scenic route through Kentucky, Tennessee (where we had a flat tire!), and Alabama. We spent 2 nights in a little cabin in the woods in the hills of Alabama. It was a good way for Dan to "rest-up" after his busy nights in the hospital. We paid a visit to Mother Angelica's Monastery which is a huge edifice in the middle of nowhere in Alabama. Then we headed down to fun times with the Reinhardts. My brother, Mike, from SF, and Liz flew in to join us. (We really missed the presence of Dan's sister, Ellen, her husband, A.J., and our nephew, Adam. They were detained in Texas with a virus.) We had relaxing walks at the zoo and the sculpture garden, some delicious po' boys!, a Thanksgiving feast hosted by some of the Reinhardt's friends, and lots of time just sitting around loving up the 3 kidlets!

Favorite moments:
Danny crawling in to bed with Dan and I early in the morning.
Danny asking grandpa for "dam"(graham) crackers first thing in the kitchen.
Jane, singing her A, B, C's and The Wheels on the Bus.
Watching Jane trying to twirl around in her pretty Thanksgiving dress.
And we had a great time playing Ring Around the Rosy, over and over!
Peter is sooo sweet. I loved going in after his nap and being greeted by his quick smile!

Birthday fun!

Thought I'd share all my fun times with you! Dinner with Peter, Meg and Lilly, fun evening with my Women's Group, and a great trip to Indy with my two friends, Nancy F. and Betsy. Trish gave us the royal tour. Thank you Lord for another birthday to celebrate the life you've given me!

Thinking of my dad on my birthday!

From Grandpa videos

One of the amazing things about my dad was that singing was a part of who he was. I remember him singing as he drove and singing as he worked. He loved to sing at church. So I thought I'd share one of his favorite songs with all of you! He's painting the finial of our victorian style house in SF--way up on the scaffolding!

Ready or not....

Here I come! Lilly has learned the fine points of Hide and Seek. She was at our house for dinner this week and discovered the small door to the ironing board closet. She positioned herself behind the door and started counting. Meg and Sheila hid in the living room and after counting to 10 and saying "Ready or not, here I come!" Lilly ran looking for them. It didn't take her long to unearth them. Wow! That's a little girl in action!

October Fun!

Big news! Our household has expanded. Liz has joined Dan, Sheila and I. She is full of energy and life so we are all enjoying her presence.

We got to go apple picking with Lilly and Peter and Meg on Saturday. It was a beautiful fall day! We picked lots of apples. As you can see Lilly was too busy to pose with us!

My cousin, Mary, came down from Dinkytown, Minnesota, for the weekend. She and her friend spent this morning with us. We took them up through the woods on our Holy Cross College walk. It was great to see Mary. We listened to Hawaiian music while having breakfast together and talked about our great 2002 visit to Hawaii.

Household Reunion

We had a very fun weekend with Jenny who came all the way from Portland to visit us! Friday night we had a big party. We spent the weekend in South Haven enjoying the beauty of Lake Michigan. Gretchen and Sean joined us for Lord's Day, and then we ended the evening with a fun trip to Sherman's for ice cream. Monday, Gloria gave Jenny and I a tour of downtown Goshen. The highlight was the chocolate soda at the Soda Shop!

It was very encouraging to hear of all the great things going on in the Portland/Vancouver branch. It was a refreshing weekend for all of us. We missed our dear friend, Madeleine. We enjoyed some goat cheese in her honor. She's at Harvard working hard on her qualifying paper.