Jimmy and Sylvan

Rosie and Jimmy came for a quick weekend visit a few weeks ago.  It was fun having them here, but my camera seemed to focus mainly on Jimmy and Sylvan.  So here is a little cousin time.

We dressed them up in matching Santa hats with mixed results.

This is from Roque's new phone, cool action from still pictures, only slightly annoying.

We went to our ward Christmas party where the boys  had the obligatory Santa picture.

And a little time to hang out in a box.

While they were here we decorated gingerbread cookies.

Sylan knows what to do with cookies and frosting.

 And to prove that a few other people were around, here is Peter going out to sushi in his great grandfather's letter sweater.

And Calvin and Rosie having a little reading time.

The quest for the perfect tree 2016

For years we have roamed various forests in quest of the perfect tree.  We brought back pinon pines on our first few trips. Then we discovered the forests around Frenchman's Lake and brought back fir trees.  This was a good location for trees, but a long drive for us.  The last couple of years we have harvested trees from Dog Valley without great results.  This year we discovered trees can be harvested from the LakeTahoe Basin management area.  There were several locations around the lake but we chose a short drive up the Mt. Rose highway.  The road was dry, the pull out clear of snow and it was right off the highway.  We needed snow shoes to hike into the trees, but it was a spectacular location.  We also say every year that we don't need to get such a giant tree for just the two of us, but somehow we always manage to bring home a tall tree.  This year was no exception. Sometimes the trees don't look quite as big in the forest, but this one looked pretty big.

Tree chopping in snowshoes adds an extra dimension of difficulty, but Calvin is a true woodsman and had the tree down in no time.

 And with a lot of help from Peter they managed to drag it back down to the car, but not before we took trophy photos.

A gorgeous location.

I'm sure that we didn't give Peter as much help as he gave us. It is a joy to have adult children.

They managed to get a slightly more reasonably sized tree.

And a we took a group photo to add to the Christmas tree chopping book.

I truly enjoy the tree covered with lights.  It brings brightness into the long winter days.

Such a good tradition.

Thanksgiving in Alexandria 2016

Calvin and I got to spend Thanksgiving with Sarah's family in Alexandria this year.  We arrived Monday afternoon and made it to the Bordelon's home in time for a little reading time with the grandkids.

After reading time their neighbor came over to babysit and we walked down to Kings Street to have dinner with Sarah and Toby. I adore our grandkids, but I love spending time with our kids. After all, I have loved them much longer than I've loved the grandkids.  

Tuesday Calvin was feeling a little under the weather so stayed at the hotel and I went to the National Archives and then had lunch with Sarah.  I hitched a ride home with Sarah in time to pick up Clare from school.

Wednesday we had a big sight seeing day.  First we went to the Great Falls of the Potomac National Park.  A spectacular location that just begged for photos to be taken.

Here is a look at the Great Falls hiding behind us

Clare and Garrett are sitting in a hole in the rock scoured out by the river.

The more adventuresome members of our crew hiked down to the river.

Then everyone posed again for more pictures.  Getting five people to look at the camera at the same time is a real challenge.

Getting Nick to smile when anyone but Sarah is holding him is also a challenge.

Toby packed a picnic snack with hot chocolate for all of us.

Once we were finished our snack we headed to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum. This is where the really big aircraft are on display.

Including the space shuttle.

I'm not a big fan of air and space museums, but this was pretty impressive. Clare and Garrett doing a little "Flying."

Thursday morning we left Toby to the cooking and we went to the park. Clare made an impressive "run" across the rings. It was the first time she made it all the way across.

 And much to Calvin's delight there was even time for a little bike riding.

The Thanksgiving Feast

We have so much to be thankful for, but number one on my list is always our family.  They are our greatest joy. Thank you Bordelons for a great Thanksgiving.

16 faces of Clare

Calvin and Clare started having staring contests while we were visiting in Alexandria. Clare is a formidable opponent.  When Calvin started making funny faces to break Clare's stare, she started making faces right back, so here are some of the many faces of Clare.

She just might be the coolest sister ever!