BB spent Friday night with us and, Aidan loves to help take care of his nephew.  Then on Sunday morning GB called and asked if Aidan would like to come out to the community center in the next town over to play basketball with him before all of the guys/the real players showed up.  So we went for half an hour before church.  They shot a couple of hoops but the hoop is too high for Aidan, then dribbled, then played catch, then played air hockey, and last of all they played a little soccer, with BB and me helping out occasionally.

 

G's sister and her husband have now been married for 25 years, so we celebrated on Saturday with a surprise party.  They did very well, despite the loss of their 20 year old son last summer.  Here are some photos of various family members and friends celebrating.

 

These photos are taken between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m. Sunday afternoon-proof that the winter solstice has passed and the days are already getting longer.

 

Today we had our celebration with "the big kids" and their families. 

GB and his family with Mom


G getting his fiber (ha-ha)


PB and her babies


LB and RB


Aidan with yet another stocking (so he wouldn't feel left out)


 

It is the end of the usual crazy day, though it was a little calmer than usual.  Here are pictures of various family members celebrating the holiday.

BB wearing his third outfit of the day by noon-still a cutie pie.


My third sister's two children along with my fifth brother's daughter in the middle.  Oh, and Mom to the right.


RB before the opening began.


Our son in-law (RB's dad) and a niece.


 

Ice Storm-Round #2.  The storm in the late '90s wasn't as bad because it was warm.  That meant we couldn't put food outside to save it, but we also weren't freezing.  Here are some pictures from this weekend:

One of the lilac bushes.


Birches laying down in the back yard.


This is the pin oak by the deck.  I love this tree because it keeps its leaves all through the winter and the sound of them rustling in the winter wind is beautiful.  If you look closely, though, you can see that every limb is coated with ice.


 

We have a tradition of going every other year to PB's house and hosting Thanksgiving every other year at our own.  However, since this was their first year in their new house for PB, JM and the boys, they hosted again for the second year in a row.

 

It is rare and special to have all four kids at the house at once.  Here are some pictures from Sunday-both a morning visit by GB and PB and their children, and then an afternoon visit by RB alone.

Okay, but seriously-the top photos are great grandparents of G-yes, the woman is American Indian; two of his great grandmothers were.

The second photo is of my grandmother-she is the second to youngest girl in the picture.

We've been playing around with old photos and were actually photographing photographs with our camera, hence the flash over my great grandparents' faces.

Now, on to the intended photos:

 

Aidan got to play at his grandparents' house, showing off his mechanical expertise (G already has RB pegged as a future race car driver, since he's small, and Aidan as his future mechanic or pit crew chief)

 

One of this year's calves; ice already forming across the road; Aidan thinking that he can outrun me back to our house.