In the picture above, Beth and Stephen react to some sage advice offered by their father... Actually, they're catching up on some sleep, as we had left at about 2 a.m. that day to start driving up north for our annual Christmas/New Year's trip. This time, we also brought our cats Bella and Draco. Below, Draco assumes his favorite riding position, slung across my arm:
We left so early that morning because we wanted to drive all the way to my sister Laurie's house near Cross Plains, Wisconsin, in time for supper (and a Packer game, of course). Brother in-law Mark
Valasky prepared a nice supper and helped entertain. My brothers Bob and John, who also live in the Madison area, stopped on by and helped watch a close loss by the Packers to the Patriots. Below, Laurie (aka Lulu) and I ham it up with Beth and Kenny:
No, that's not one of Lulu's many pets attacking my face--for those of you who we didn't see while up north, I decided to grow a beard starting in November. Even with the abundant gray hairs scattered amongst it, Hope likes the beard, but I don't expect to keep it much past spring, with the warm and humidity we get in the South. Fortunately, we had a wonderfully white Christmas in Wisconsin this year, with an abundance of clean, white snow:
In the picture above, Kenny and Beth are helping their grandmother clear a sledding trail down the hill behind my parents' house, which they immediately put to good use:
We didn't have a lot of time this year, but we did manage to take several walks in the woods. Below, we walk Oscar in the pines:
We arrived in
Rhinelander on the Monday before Christmas, and only got a couple day's respite from traveling before we drove to western Wisconsin to visit my sister Lisa and her family at their house in the country near Colfax:
They also had gotten a lot of snow, which all of the kids enjoyed thoroughly. Mom also joined us on this overnight trip (Dad stayed behind because of a doctor's appointment). Below, Mom enjoys a little bit of quite time near Lisa's Christmas tree:
Our kids had big fun playing with their cousins Michael, Emma, and Leila. Below, Michael hams it up while eating Christmas cookies:
The kids planned a big slumber-party type event downstairs, which didn't materialize. Beth actually ended up having a bad fever that night, but we got her feeling better soon, so her sickness didn't really impact her holiday fun. Below, a pile of cousins:
I also managed to slip and slide down a good number of Lisa's carpeted steps into basement, providing a very uncomfortable wake-up call to most of the house (but not my sound-sleeping older sister!). After a couple of delicious meals and a lot of nice visiting, we returned to
Rhinelander for the next few days. We had the formal Christmas present opening at Mom and Dad's house, much to Stephen's pleasure:
Kenny was also very pleased to get his first digital camera:
He took lots of pictures and some video--we have yet to see how well they turned out! Later that day, my brothers John and Bill and their significant others Jim and Scott came up for an overnight visit on Christmas day, which was big fun for all, including the big dinner Mom and Hope whipped up. Unfortunately, the holidays being the busy season that they were, we didn't get long to visit before people had to go their separate ways. After sticking in
Rhinelander long enough to see the Packers beat the Giants, we drove to Michigan and spent most of the next week at Hope's parents' house. Camera problems kept us from taking too many pictures for the rest of the trip, but I will close this entry with a picture of me driving us towards Arkansas after the New Year:
We were headed to a hotel in western Kentucky to spend the night and watch the Rose Bowl (note the red Wisconsin Badger Rose Bowl t-shirt I'm wearing). The Badger's lost the game, but we had a safe trip back to Arkansas, and got back in time to see the Packer's clinch a playoff spot with a victory over the Bears. I'll post a few more pictures later from this trip, as we download them off of our cell phones. Believe it or not, we are supposed to get some snow here in Arkansas during the next couple of days, so maybe I'll have some winter wonderland pictures to join them!
In the picture above, Beth and Stephen react to some sage advice offered by their father... Actually, they're catching up on some sleep, as we had left at about 2 a.m. that day to start driving up north for our annual Christmas/New Year's trip. This time, we also brought our cats Bella and Draco. Below, Draco assumes his favorite riding position, slung across my arm:
We left so early that morning because we wanted to drive all the way to my sister Laurie's house near Cross Plains, Wisconsin, in time for supper (and a Packer game, of course). Brother in-law Mark Valasky prepared a nice supper and helped entertain. My brothers Bob and John, who also live in the Madison area, stopped on by and helped watch a close loss by the Packers to the Patriots. Below, Laurie (aka Lulu) and I ham it up with Beth and Kenny:
No, that's not one of Lulu's many pets attacking my face--for those of you who we didn't see while up north, I decided to grow a beard starting in November. Even with the abundant gray hairs scattered amongst it, Hope likes the beard, but I don't expect to keep it much past spring, with the warm and humidity we get in the South. Fortunately, we had a wonderfully white Christmas in Wisconsin this year, with an abundance of clean, white snow:
In the picture above, Kenny and Beth are helping their grandmother clear a sledding trail down the hill behind my parents' house, which they immediately put to good use:
We didn't have a lot of time this year, but we did manage to take several walks in the woods. Below, we walk Oscar in the pines:
We arrived in Rhinelander on the Monday before Christmas, and only got a couple day's respite from traveling before we drove to western Wisconsin to visit my sister Lisa and her family at their house in the country near Colfax:
They also had gotten a lot of snow, which all of the kids enjoyed thoroughly. Mom also joined us on this overnight trip (Dad stayed behind because of a doctor's appointment). Below, Mom enjoys a little bit of quite time near Lisa's Christmas tree:
Our kids had big fun playing with their cousins Michael, Emma, and Leila. Below, Michael hams it up while eating Christmas cookies:
The kids planned a big slumber-party type event downstairs, which didn't materialize. Beth actually ended up having a bad fever that night, but we got her feeling better soon, so her sickness didn't really impact her holiday fun. Below, a pile of cousins:
I also managed to slip and slide down a good number of Lisa's carpeted steps into basement, providing a very uncomfortable wake-up call to most of the house (but not my sound-sleeping older sister!). After a couple of delicious meals and a lot of nice visiting, we returned to Rhinelander for the next few days. We had the formal Christmas present opening at Mom and Dad's house, much to Stephen's pleasure:
Kenny was also very pleased to get his first digital camera:
He took lots of pictures and some video--we have yet to see how well they turned out! Later that day, my brothers John and Bill and their significant others Jim and Scott came up for an overnight visit on Christmas day, which was big fun for all, including the big dinner Mom and Hope whipped up. Unfortunately, the holidays being the busy season that they were, we didn't get long to visit before people had to go their separate ways. After sticking in Rhinelander long enough to see the Packers beat the Giants, we drove to Michigan and spent most of the next week at Hope's parents' house. Camera problems kept us from taking too many pictures for the rest of the trip, but I will close this entry with a picture of me driving us towards Arkansas after the New Year:
We were headed to a hotel in western Kentucky to spend the night and watch the Rose Bowl (note the red Wisconsin Badger Rose Bowl t-shirt I'm wearing). The Badger's lost the game, but we had a safe trip back to Arkansas, and got back in time to see the Packer's clinch a playoff spot with a victory over the Bears. I'll post a few more pictures later from this trip, as we download them off of our cell phones. Believe it or not, we are supposed to get some snow here in Arkansas during the next couple of days, so maybe I'll have some winter wonderland pictures to join them!
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