I feel like I should try to wrap up the year somehow with a concluding post on this the last day of 2013. Ideally it would be insightful and thought-provoking, but that sounds like a lot of work so instead I'll just paraphrase a year-end letter that Andrea wrote yesterday to send out with our family picture.
After two and a half years in Monticello, we're definitely feeling at home.
The kids are growing. Andrea and I are trying to keep up.
We managed to squeeze a few adventures into the year, including a birthday reunion in Missouri, a camping trip in Indiana, a romantic get-away for Andrea and I to Pensacola Beach, and a very memorable Thanksgiving trip to Seattle.
We acquired two little grey kittens this summer, named Flour and Sugar.
We have the best friends anyone could ask for.
That probably sums up the year pretty well.
We're looking forward to the new year, with resolution to laugh often, to love more, to eat well, to find adventure in everything, and to get back in shape.
Hope you have a wonderful and prosperous 2014!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Funny Kids That Things Say
Paxton asked me a while back, "Dad, is the next day going to be tomorrow?"
"Sure Paxton."
Then, the next day: "Dad, is it tomorrow?"
I wonder what's supposed to happen "tomorrow"? I guess the concept of time is still a bit fuzzy.
One Friday evening a few weeks ago we were at the dinner table discussing plans for the weekend and the kids were looking forward to sleeping in. Kenrick said, "Hey, it's Friday night! That means we can sleep in until ... Monday!"
He's not even a teenager yet.
"Sure Paxton."
Then, the next day: "Dad, is it tomorrow?"
I wonder what's supposed to happen "tomorrow"? I guess the concept of time is still a bit fuzzy.
One Friday evening a few weeks ago we were at the dinner table discussing plans for the weekend and the kids were looking forward to sleeping in. Kenrick said, "Hey, it's Friday night! That means we can sleep in until ... Monday!"
He's not even a teenager yet.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
An Especially Thankful Thanksgiving, Part 3
The last third of our Thanksgiving adventure was actually the original reason for our trip to Seattle - a long overdue reunion with my mother's side of the family. A couple of the locals arranged for a vacation house at the Suncadia resort outside of Cle-Elem, just across the pass from Seattle, and we filled it with siblings and kids and grand-kids and in-laws.
Our house for the weekend.
Dad and Lavern settle in next to the fire.
The kids settle in to some games.
Anya gets some quality iPad time.
And everyone else gets familiar with the kitchen.
Meal duties and cleanup duties were divvied out by my sister's Master Plan, but everyone pitched in for the Main Event. Thanks to Kathy for cooking the bird and bread (and probably a few other things) ahead of time. The challenge of hosting Thanksgiving dinner in a rented vacation house is that the selection of dishes and cookware can be limited, but we worked it out. Nobody went hungry.
The Thanksgiving Feast! Dig in kids!
Mom opens some early birthday presents while her sister and brother look on. Family photos from when everyone came to Missouri this summer for my birthday. She was delighted.
Anya snoozes.
And the big kids get out the poker chips.
What to do on the day after Thanksgiving? How about a little run to work off all that turkey and dressing? The resort hosted the fourth annual Elk Run/Walk around the golf course, complete with horns and jingle bells for all. (Watch for elk droppings!)
Lavern and Kathy on the home stretch of the three mile course.
Back to the kitchen! Mom and Dad work on replenishing spent calories. Mmmm, bacon.
Our time together was made extra special by another happy event - the Big Belly of little sister Sally! And since no opportunity for Dramatics should be passed up, she arranged with my sister in law to host the Big Reveal while everyone was together in one place. The result of the ultrasound was sent to Shanna a few weeks before Thanksgiving. She set up an ice cream Sunday bar and bottled up some "magic sprinkles" to help decipher the results.
Close your eyes Matt and Sally, here come the magic sprinkles!
It's a boy! Pandemonium ensues; hugs, tears, whacks on the back, speculation about The Name... I voted for Under B.
Wrestle-mania with Matt in the middle!
The Cousins (missing only one), and the cousins kids (2nd cousins, I guess)
A ping-pong tournament broke out in the garage. Andrea caught me "eyeing" the ball.
The champions! Matt just beat me in the finals. He cheated - he practiced the day before.
One last picture with little sister.
Thanks again Sally for organizing a fantastic trip, one we'll be Thankful for for many years to come.
Our house for the weekend.
Dad and Lavern settle in next to the fire.
The kids settle in to some games.
Anya gets some quality iPad time.
And everyone else gets familiar with the kitchen.
Meal duties and cleanup duties were divvied out by my sister's Master Plan, but everyone pitched in for the Main Event. Thanks to Kathy for cooking the bird and bread (and probably a few other things) ahead of time. The challenge of hosting Thanksgiving dinner in a rented vacation house is that the selection of dishes and cookware can be limited, but we worked it out. Nobody went hungry.
The Thanksgiving Feast! Dig in kids!
Mom opens some early birthday presents while her sister and brother look on. Family photos from when everyone came to Missouri this summer for my birthday. She was delighted.
Anya snoozes.
And the big kids get out the poker chips.
What to do on the day after Thanksgiving? How about a little run to work off all that turkey and dressing? The resort hosted the fourth annual Elk Run/Walk around the golf course, complete with horns and jingle bells for all. (Watch for elk droppings!)
Lavern and Kathy on the home stretch of the three mile course.
Back to the kitchen! Mom and Dad work on replenishing spent calories. Mmmm, bacon.
Our time together was made extra special by another happy event - the Big Belly of little sister Sally! And since no opportunity for Dramatics should be passed up, she arranged with my sister in law to host the Big Reveal while everyone was together in one place. The result of the ultrasound was sent to Shanna a few weeks before Thanksgiving. She set up an ice cream Sunday bar and bottled up some "magic sprinkles" to help decipher the results.
Close your eyes Matt and Sally, here come the magic sprinkles!
It's a boy! Pandemonium ensues; hugs, tears, whacks on the back, speculation about The Name... I voted for Under B.
Wrestle-mania with Matt in the middle!
The Cousins (missing only one), and the cousins kids (2nd cousins, I guess)
A ping-pong tournament broke out in the garage. Andrea caught me "eyeing" the ball.
The champions! Matt just beat me in the finals. He cheated - he practiced the day before.
One last picture with little sister.
Thanks again Sally for organizing a fantastic trip, one we'll be Thankful for for many years to come.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
An Especially Thankful Thanksgiving, Part 2
We squeezed the second part of our Especially Thankful Thanksgiving adventure into the couple of free days we had before the reunion with my mom's family - a quick trip down the coast to visit some especially special friends in Raymond and then a short stay at my sister's house in Seattle.
Driving up to Ned and Jan's rustic log house nestled among the cedar trees and overlooking the quiet river valley brought back a flood of memories. We used to come down to the farm for Sunday morning meeting once a month and it seemed like we almost always stayed for lunch and then helped with the chores afterward. We kids would warm ourselves by the stove and enjoy the smell of fresh buttermilk biscuits and drive toy tractors on the rug while the adults visited into the evening. Often, we would stay for supper too. I can't think of a more cozy house, nor a more friendly couple who made it a home. I think I was seven years old when I was there last.
Of course, many things had changed in the years, including the addition of a cute little log cabin adjacent to the main house. Ned and Jan's son lived in the cabin for a few years before moving over to the farm, so now it serves as a very capable guest house. Kenrick and Anthony enjoyed making use of it for the night.
What hasn't changed is Jan's amazing eye for landscaping. I thought her cedar-stump fountain was fascinating.
One of my fondest memories was looking down over the kitchen from the loft that Ned had built in the hallway behind it. Anya tries it out for herself.
The loft attracts kids like bees to honey. Anthony and Paxton were no exception.
You can't go visit the farm without, well, putting on your boots and going out to take a look at the critters. The kids check out some curious calves.
Paxton gets a picture with the stuffed monkey from his kindergarten class. 'Bruley' traveled with us and shared his experiences with the class after we got back.
The whole crew, before heading up to Seattle the next morning.
Ned and Jan. Thanks again for making us feel at home.
Poor little Anya spent most of the weekend running a fever. She seemed to be getting better by Monday, but then started feeling icky again after we got to Sally's. She'd recovered again by Wednesday morning, but looked pretty pitiful while it lasted.
On Wednesday morning we took the kids up to the top of the Seattle's Space Needle. It was a nice day to do it. Looking to the north over the Sound.
And south, over downtown Seattle with Mt. Rainier barely visible in the background.
The iconic landmark.
Next up: a short drive over the pass to Suncadia Resort to meet the rest of Mom's family for Thanksgiving.
Driving up to Ned and Jan's rustic log house nestled among the cedar trees and overlooking the quiet river valley brought back a flood of memories. We used to come down to the farm for Sunday morning meeting once a month and it seemed like we almost always stayed for lunch and then helped with the chores afterward. We kids would warm ourselves by the stove and enjoy the smell of fresh buttermilk biscuits and drive toy tractors on the rug while the adults visited into the evening. Often, we would stay for supper too. I can't think of a more cozy house, nor a more friendly couple who made it a home. I think I was seven years old when I was there last.
Of course, many things had changed in the years, including the addition of a cute little log cabin adjacent to the main house. Ned and Jan's son lived in the cabin for a few years before moving over to the farm, so now it serves as a very capable guest house. Kenrick and Anthony enjoyed making use of it for the night.
What hasn't changed is Jan's amazing eye for landscaping. I thought her cedar-stump fountain was fascinating.
One of my fondest memories was looking down over the kitchen from the loft that Ned had built in the hallway behind it. Anya tries it out for herself.
The loft attracts kids like bees to honey. Anthony and Paxton were no exception.
You can't go visit the farm without, well, putting on your boots and going out to take a look at the critters. The kids check out some curious calves.
Paxton gets a picture with the stuffed monkey from his kindergarten class. 'Bruley' traveled with us and shared his experiences with the class after we got back.
The whole crew, before heading up to Seattle the next morning.
Ned and Jan. Thanks again for making us feel at home.
Poor little Anya spent most of the weekend running a fever. She seemed to be getting better by Monday, but then started feeling icky again after we got to Sally's. She'd recovered again by Wednesday morning, but looked pretty pitiful while it lasted.
On Wednesday morning we took the kids up to the top of the Seattle's Space Needle. It was a nice day to do it. Looking to the north over the Sound.
And south, over downtown Seattle with Mt. Rainier barely visible in the background.
The iconic landmark.
Next up: a short drive over the pass to Suncadia Resort to meet the rest of Mom's family for Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
An Especially Thankful Thanksgiving, Part 1
The Pandemonium Fam packed up and headed west again for the Thanksgiving holiday, but this year we set our sights a little further west than usual and landed among some very special memories indeed.
Andrea and I had some Flier miles to burn, so we lined all the kids up like ducklings, made our way through the chaos that is Chicago's O'Hare airport, and took off for Seattle.
Our first destination was to the coast of Washington, near where it all began for me and for another special family with whom we were going to re-unite for the first time in 17 or so years. My sister found a couple of vacation houses in Moclips that would accommodate us and so that's where Part 1 of our Especially Thankful Thanksgiving adventure begins.
The Pacific coast.
Our houses for the weekend.
Our first breakfast with the whole crew together - old friends getting to know each other again and the new additions to the mix quickly becoming new friends.
Anya, Kenrick, Paxton, and Anthony run off some energy.
The weather was fantastic, so when we weren't eating we were usually out on the beach.
The Youngs challenged the Olds to a game or two of football. The Olds prevailed.
The Ancients look on.
The whole group on Sunday morning.
The four friends who started it all, almost fifty years ago.
The seven who kept it going.
Our days together were, as they always have been, wonderful.
The above pictures and more have been uploaded to a web album, here.
Also, for a nice, short-and-sweet history of how it all began (and some more photos), take a look at Jeannie's post on Mountain Memories.
Part 2 coming soon...
Andrea and I had some Flier miles to burn, so we lined all the kids up like ducklings, made our way through the chaos that is Chicago's O'Hare airport, and took off for Seattle.
Our first destination was to the coast of Washington, near where it all began for me and for another special family with whom we were going to re-unite for the first time in 17 or so years. My sister found a couple of vacation houses in Moclips that would accommodate us and so that's where Part 1 of our Especially Thankful Thanksgiving adventure begins.
The Pacific coast.
Our houses for the weekend.
Our first breakfast with the whole crew together - old friends getting to know each other again and the new additions to the mix quickly becoming new friends.
Anya, Kenrick, Paxton, and Anthony run off some energy.
The weather was fantastic, so when we weren't eating we were usually out on the beach.
The Youngs challenged the Olds to a game or two of football. The Olds prevailed.
The Ancients look on.
The whole group on Sunday morning.
The four friends who started it all, almost fifty years ago.
The seven who kept it going.
Our days together were, as they always have been, wonderful.
The above pictures and more have been uploaded to a web album, here.
Also, for a nice, short-and-sweet history of how it all began (and some more photos), take a look at Jeannie's post on Mountain Memories.
Part 2 coming soon...
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