Christmas #1 with Nana & Papa

As usual, the weekend before Christmas, we head to Elmira to celebrate Christmas with Brian's family.  Thankfully, his Aunt Shelley is quite the photographer and we get some amazing pictures courtesy of her being willing to snap away with our sometimes uncooperative bunch.  We were very excited when it started snowing as, up until this point, the temperatures had been unseasonably warm and it did not feel very much like Christmas.  Here are the kids out in the snow  At first we couldn't get Eric to come out and participate:

But he soon joined in:

Evan was actually enjoying getting his photo take and looked very handsome in his Christmas outfit:

And now Eric, who was a little chilly outside:

Back in the warmth indoors, Lily made herself at home:

All of the kids on the couch:

Eric getting excited to open presents:

All of the grandkids who were there:

 Evan opening presents:

Now Eric's turn:

Cousin hugs!

And now the end of the night, with all kids in their coordinated John Deer pajamas from Nana & Papa:

This was Christmas #1 (of 3), so lots more photos to come!

Longwood Gardens 2015

On  an unseasonably warm December day (hit 60 this day), we headed to Longwood Gardens to see their Christmas display.  Here we are at one of the many Christmas trees on display:

Beautiful tree:

This tree had beautiful ornaments with live flowers in them.  Nana & Papa would like these ornaments:

 

Here we are with the McKinnon kids, who we typically go to Longwood Gardens with.

Evan at the poinsettias:

Brothers:

The pond with trees floating in it:

It's always such a nice trip visit Longwood and get into the Christmas spirit.

Evan's Winter Concert

On December 11th, Evan had his very first school concert . . . which was just adorable.  Here is the kindergarten class.  Evan was right in the middle with the navy blue sweater vest on:

And if anyone should want to watch the concert, here is the link.  The kindergarten class starts at about 12 minutes in:  Pocopson Winter Concert

Once the Kindergarten portion was done, Eric decided it would be a good time to take a nap:

After the concert, they boys actually cooperated for some photos!

With Deedee & Pops:

I love this one: 

All my parents wanted was a good picture for their Christmas card . . . and we took this one after their card was ordered:

Rare family photo, including dog:

And Evan really likes taking pictures, so we let him take over as photographer:

Some pictures I capture of Evan the photographer.  He was taking it so seriously:

More Christmas-related pictures to come soon.

NYC 2015

For the 4th year in a row, we headed into NYC to see the Christmas decorations on the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We were at Macy's on 34th St bright and early (8:30 AM) to meet Santa. The boys aren't quite comfortable with Santa yet (especially Evan), so we sat with them again.  I need to formally scan this photo but here is just a picture of it that I took with my phone:

After photos were done, it was off to see the windows outside:

This photo sums up exactly how Eric was feeling about taking pictures this day. It was in the 30's at this point and he was also refusing to wear a coat:

Exploring NYC:

Surprise trip to the outside of the Morgan Library & Museum for our niece Morgan . . . and also for me as it is the library of JP Morgan:

Next were the Lord & Taylor windows:

 With Deedee:

And now with Nana:

The lion statue outside of the NYC Public Library:

Inside the NYC Public Library and the beautiful Christmas tree inside of it:

Guess who still hasn't made an appearance in a photo?  Instead we had to settle for lots of picture with just Evan in them:

We also made it to Rockefeller Center to see the tree, along with St. Patrick's cathedral.  But the crowds were pretty large and cooperation for photos was wearing thin.

But when we made it to Central Park (their favorite place) someone decided he was finally photo ready:

Happy as can be to be in Central Park:

Love this photo of the two of us with the sunshine in the background:

Onto some fun with gymnastics in Central Park:

My other favorite photo from the day - I still have my gymnastics skills, as does Morgan:

And quite comical was Brian's attempt at a backbend:

The day was about as beautiful as can be (50 degrees and sunshine in December). We walked over 4 miles and everyone slept well that night.  Looking forward to next year already!

20th High School Reunion

Just after Thanksgiving in Elmira, we headed to NJ for my 20th high school reunion.  I'd guess there were about 50-60 graduates and maybe 10 spouses, of which Brian was one of them.  It was great to catch up with people I had lost touch with.  I'm sure you can't even find me in the photo below, but I was there in the back:

And I always love the comparison photos, so here we are on the last day of school one year and again now, 20 years later:

And another with Rachel, my best childhood friend:

Most of the rest of my photos were taken on my iPhone and were not the best quality.  So these were the best of the night.  All in all, we had a great time and I was glad I went.  

A Few Random Fall Photos

Took another break from blogging as the Christmas season kept us more than busy!  I'm hoping to catch up over the next few weeks, but here are a few random pictures from the fall.  First, to say we had some more leaves to handle this year was an understatement!  In our last house, we thought there were a lot.  The new house put the old one to shame . . . though at least we have some woods where we can blow the leaves into behind our house. Here are the boys enjoying the leaves:

Next are some photos from Evan's soccer team this fall.  Soccer is, by far, Evan's favorite sport.  And, as usual, he gave us trouble the very first game.  After that, he was so thrilled to be at every game and practice.  Here is the team after their last game:

Boys will be boys and had to pile on each other:

And since Brian was the coach, he got a free photo with Evan:

And one day I caught my girl looking beautiful in the sunshine of our living room.  She's getting old but still looks beautiful:

And another photo set from this fall.  After a game of freeze-tag gone wrong on a Sunday night, we sent Evan to school with this shiner on Monday morning.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  And then the very next Sunday, riding his scooter, he did a nose dive onto the street.  So there he was the very next Monday, in school, looking like someone skinned his face.  He still has a scar from that fall and it happened before Thanksgiving.

Lots more to catch up on, including NYC trip, Evan's first school concert, Christmas celebrations and more.  Let's hope the more quiet pace of the post-Christmas winter will give me more time to keep up with this blog!