Laurie's Baby Shower

What do you do when your step-sister-in-law lives in AZ and is having a baby? You have a baby shower, a little early! Though little baby girl N isn't due until early June, we had to act quickly for her and proud papa-to-be Vinnie's visit to CT.

They're so excited, can you blame them? I can't wait to meet their little bundle. They're going to be amazing parents.

Trish, Lisa, their Mom Chris and my MIL Gail planned it all out at this great little spot in Old Wethersfield. Since they couldn't pack a lot of stuff in their suitcases, lots of people gave them gift cards or were having the gifts shipped.

And, of course, it was a good chance for me to take more pictures of my niece and Lindsay. Soooo cute!!! So smiley!!

We can't wait for you little baby N!!!!

New Year's Eve

Spent NYE at the L's again this year. I warned her that this was becoming a tradition that we were getting very used to...:)

The M's and G's were there too, a perfect little gathering to ring in the new year. We had this rocking chili with every possible topping in the world that Ellen made. The kids loved it (I had 2 bowls, I admit).

Anyone else think the "9" in the "2009" sign on tv looked funky??

Butter-nutty

Ah the hubris of youth. I don't ski. Some of you have seen me ski and would wholly agree that I don't ski. However, Neil does ski, well I might add, and I'm determined to have kids that don't grow up hating it like I did.

Devin and Neil have been going to Ascutney for a couple years now with Cub Scouts. Devin has my cautious nature and Neil's testosterone, a tough combination. Sometimes he's gung ho, sometimes, well, not so much.

Julia had never been skiing and I suspected she was a bit more like her Dad than her Mom on this one.

Neil decided to take them for a day during their Christmas vacation week. A quick trip to Butternut. I was torn - be a lodge bunny with my book or clean the house. Sadly cleaning won, but Neil got some great pictures.

I guess it's a law (and one I think is a good one) that everyone (not just kids) who skis has to wear a helmet. So, $200 worth of helmets later I was REALLY hoping Julia would take to this. You can't rent them b/c of lice - whatever.

Devin decided he didn't need a lesson this time and even did a few solo runs (that's him on the lift by himself). What a dude.

Julia took a lesson and did very well according to her instructor. She had a few near-meltdown moments trying to get on the lift (I guess she is like her Mom a bit) and then really took off. Check her out on the cool pulley-up-the-mountain thingy they have there. Isn't that cool? I'd have broken something for sure.

They were all very pooped out when they got home, but reports were that it was a good time. They proudly showed off their lift passes at school the next week. And I even got some stuff done in the nice, quiet house. Ahhhhh, vacation.

Dec 26th at Papa's (Xmas # 3)

We mixed things up a bit this year with Papa and had Christmas at his house last instead of first. To the delight of his Grandkids (all 3 of them this year!) he did get his tree up. Yeah! Kids got a couple of big "musical" gifts from Papa. Julia got a piano for her Julia doll (the most requested gift of 2008 for her) and Devin got his trumpet! This concept was a little tough for him to wrap his brain around initially. We've been renting his trumpet since July and Papa, knowing how much he loves the trumpet, bought it for him for XMas.

So we had to sneak it in for Papa to wrap up. But when he opened it, he didn't "get" it right away. What was so funny was watching him slowly react to the news that this trumpet was now HIS to keep forever. Then...he fell over on the floor in shock. Very dramatic!!

I finally got to give my niece the little Ugg boots that I knit for her. Lindsay sent me THE cutest picture of her a couple days later wearing them with a giant smile on her face. Cutie pie!!

Dec. 26th is also...Adam's birthday! The old geezer turned 35 this year. He's so old he should think about Depends and Geritol soon, don't you think? He can still party like a rock star though (or at least pose for pix like he does). Check out the size of that Kahlua martini. Ouch, my liver.

Christmas Day at Mima and Stipa's

After a very leisurly morning at home we headed all of 5 minutes over to Mima and Stipa's house for XMas dinner (But we all wore jammies!!). It was very relaxed and casual and such a nice way to spend the afternoon.

Julia got a new bike from Mima and Stipa (she was practically tripping over her old one, and it gets LOTS of use now). And Devin got this very cool interactive globe that we had a ball playing with. Did you know the leader of Vanuatu has a name that sounds like "Scaly Kelly". Makes us laugh every time.

Hands down though, best present of the day (besides the crazy hand sculpture I got as a goof for Heather) was a Shutterfly book that Mom, Dad and Heather (and the kids) had put together in secret.

We are not hugely religious, church-going people. To assist in the teaching of Bible stories to the kids my Mom wanted to do a "nativity Story" with the kids. Then it got really creative.

They put together a little set, got costumes and took pictures of the kids acting out the Nativity story. It was HYSTERICAL. The kids faces were priceless and it literally made us howl with laughter.

I still can't believe they kept the secret for as long as they did!! They also both personalized the books for us. It was a very heartfelt and special gift, and we LOVED it. Here is perhaps the worst picture of me EVER, but captures the howling moment. I think I was in pain with laughter!

It was a day of hand made gifts. Heather and Dana teamed up to hand carve two stamps for us for our Letterboxing team name. Can't wait to use them!! Think we can use them on our cruise???? What a creative family!!!!

For Bec

Since Santa didn't bring it for me under the tree...I bought it for myself!!! I also ordered the very cool floating strap for it too.

What is it?? It's a waterproof (up to 11 feet) impact resistant (up to 6 feet, perfect for me I'm short) camera. It takes photos and video (like what you see here on Bec's blog). And the picture quality is pretty amazing. Far better than any underwater camera I've ever seen.

http://becodellsblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/last-obx-post-i-think.html

As you can see Devin and Emma had a blast with this in the pool one night.

I was going to beg Bec to borrow hers for the cruise and then I thought...every vacation we take involves water: Maine, Florida, cruise, lake. Why not get one for us to have all the time? Plus it's not hard to talk me into getting another camera!

I'm sooooo stoked about this camera. We only signed up for one excursion on the cruise - to go snorkeling in St. John's. How sweet will this camera be for that?? And in the Mickey pool, and going to see the Flying Dutchman...endless possibilities. AND I don't have to worry about lugging around the "good" camera the whole time.

Christmas Morning 2008

We had some new fun this Christmas morning! This year (I think Devin started it with the Tooth Fairy) the kids decided to write notes and questions to leave for Santa next to his milk and cookies and carrots for the reindeer.

They were curious about who his friends were? Does he have pets (besides the reindeer)? Where does he eat the cookies? I wasn't sure Santa would have time to sit and write (since it IS the busiest night of the year for him) but I'm not sure why I would have doubted him? The kids got answers to most of their questions (apparently Julia's page was two sided, but Santa didn't realize that). He sits on our couch to eat the cookies, his friends are Mrs. Claus and the elves and he has a polar bear as a pet. Who knew??

Julia and Devin (aka Twiz) gave us wonderful gifts. Some were re-wrapped items we already owned (ala Alvin and the Chipmunks) but we also got some wonderful colored pictures and a wonderful note (which, of course, I kept). One of my favorite gifts of the whole season! (The other came later at Mom and Dad's house.)

The kids got DS's as their big gift from Santa this year. Devin got lots of sporting equipment (new baseball glove, basketball, couple of golf clubs). Julia got a neat gift from Mrs. Claus. A whole box of clothes for her "Julia" doll with a note from Mrs. Claus. I had no idea that Mrs. Claus was a seamstress! She must have a lot in common with my Aunt Linda, because she is the only other person I know that can sew this well!

Neil got 6 jars of his beloved habanero salsa (thank you Chuck!!) and some clothes. Kelly got a new seat for her bike (yeah!!) and some GORGEOUS earrings.

BUT the best present was a family cruise to Disney!! Neil and I planned it last March and have kept it quiet for months. It's still weird to talk about it out loud! We gave the kids a box full of pirate gear (including the Mickey pirate ears they already owned). And they thought, cool, but don't really get it. Then we gave them a tube with 2 posters in it of Mickey and Minnie on a cruise ship. See the picture of their best pirate "HAAARRRRR!!!!"

It's hard to tell who's more excited now? The grown ups (who are dieting madly) or the kids (who love the idea of missing a week of school). We'll be there in just a few weeks!! Aloha and Merry Christmas!!