Christmas 2009

Here's Christmas in a nutshell.  Oma sewed cowboy outfits for Katy and David and then ordered hats and bandanna's to go with them.  They were a big hit!  But the most fun was watching Katy learn to play "Go Fish" and playing with David's new truck on the living room floor. 

We had a great time on Saturday eating City Barbeque with Granny and Grandpa, Bonnie and Neil, Brian and Emily, and Melanie and Aaron.  I hereby declare Christmas a success!

Melanie and Aaron checking the lottery tickets Santa left.

Katy playing high-stakes card games.

David and Mommy in front of the Christmas tree.

Opa and the kids . . . . .

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and is heading into a good new year!

Christmas, 2009



Family and Friends:


This year seems to have flown by even faster than last. It’s time for another state of the family letter.


We made a lot of trips to Columbus this year. Brian and Emily moved into a bigger house in Westerville in May, so Oma and Opa were around fairly regularly in the spring for David’s birthday in March and Katy’s birthday in May and then helping with the move. Then throughout the summer, we took care of Katy and David a couple of times on weekends when Mom and Dad were attending weddings. So we have enjoyed spending time with the M’s this year. They are expecting a new baby next June, so there will be even more fun to be had next year.

Oma can’t wait for Katy to be big enough to come to Pittsburgh so we can go to a Fiddlesticks Concert down at Heinz Hall. Now that she is 3, I am watching for a good opportunity that might fit the schedule. David will be 2 in March, and he likes trucks and bikes and buses and things with wheels in general. He also likes it when Opa holds him WAY up in the air so he can touch the ceiling. I think he needs a drum set, though. Music, music, music . . . .

Melanie finished raising her support and is now full-time on the staff of H2O, the Great Commission Ministries church plant on Ohio State campus. Melanie has made the transition from college student to career life very well. It has been a great year for her as she moved to a non-campus apartment with 2 of her former room-mates and experienced her first year of life without a summer break. Her job is both exciting and demanding. She is planning a trip to the Dominican Republic over spring break with the OSU students. She recently became engaged to Aaron Wibberley, who is raising his support and preparing to work with H2O in the near future. He is an OSU graduate in biology who likes snakes and stuff. (I think a conversation about pets might be in order.) Wedding plans will fit in there as well.

Matt and Mary also visited with us a couple of times. They were here in February for a cold trip up the incline to Mount Washington. Then they came back in the warmer weather so we could go to the Carnegie Museum to see the dinosaur exhibit. We’ve also met up with them in Columbus a number of times, and they joined us for dinner at Brian and Emily’s house in September. It has been fun catching up with them and spending time together.

Greg and I took a vacation to Charleston, South Carolina, this fall with Mom and Dad. You can see one of the pictures here. It was a relaxing trip. In July, our good friends, Bill and Susie Antolec, moved to Chang Rai, Thailand, to be missionaries. We were actively involved in helping them disperse some of their household goods and have become trustees of some of their prized possessions that couldn’t make the trip. Thank goodness for Skype; we get to talk to them periodically in spite of the 12 –hour time difference.


I continue to do a lot of volunteer work, and I finished 2 terms as president of the board at Sojourner House in June. I thought I would take a rest, but I ended up as president of our local chapter of Zonta in August. We have been doing some women’s advocacy and education in the area of human trafficking; and I’ve added this to my list of heart issues.


We hope that this year finds you well. Merry Christmas from Pittsburgh, and may God bless you in the coming year.


Greg and Kathy

Mount Washington Dinner for Aaron!!

Aaron and Melanie came over for the weekend, and we did our customary trip up the incline to have dinner on Mount Washington.  It was cold, but MUCH better than it was last week when high temperatures were in the low 20's with 30 mile per hour winds!  It was calm and clear last night, and lots of people were riding the incline with children to show them the lights of the city.  What a wonderful evening!

Here is the customary photo on the Duquesne Incline with the 3 rivers in the background.

Our standard favorite place for dinner is GeorgeTown Inn.  We had a great corner table overlooking the skyline.

The Tree is UP!

We stole an idea from the Friedl's in our home group, and decided to put our Christmas tree up yesterday with just the lights.  It so happens that we were out of bread, and I decided to pop a loaf into the bread machine in the morning yesterday.  We brought the tree home after lunch, and the bread finished baking about 2:30 p.m.  I cannot tell you how the house smelled with the pine scent of the tree and the fresh bread.  All I can say is, this smells a lot better than it looks.

I hope your Thanksgiving was safe and happy, and I hope it is filled with great memory-making and smells from the past as well.  I have made a stab at starting my Christmas shopping, and there is a music program at the church on Friday, December 11, that I will be playing string bass with the orchestra.  All that's missing is a couple of dozen hugs and . . . maybe a brief but pretty snow to make things perfect.  But I'll settle for the plan as it stands.  :-)

Tinker Bell & David's Truck Sweater

Well, Oma got Katy's costume done!  And I brought David a new shirt and sweater vest with a TRUCK on the front.  Both of the kids were thrilled with their new duds.  It made it worth the trip!

 

BEST TREES ON THE BLOCK!

Our trees are by far the prettiest in the neighborhood!  They are gold on the inside with red leaves on the outside.  They look like they are on fire!

P.S.  There isn't a cloud in the sky . . . it's a beautiful morning.

Why I want to live at the beach:

Shoes are not required.  They're not even important.

 

Hats, however, ARE required.  Sunglasses are preferred.

 

Everyone enjoys the beach, the sand, the breeze, the sound of the waves.

Weeds are pretty at the beach.  It's called "naturalized."

There are always boats nearby when you are at the beach.  And that means you can go out on the water and see the world from a whole different angle.

G-20 and Federated Investors!

Besides the fact that the Steelers stank (?) yesterday, Pittsburgh faired pretty well with the G-20 Summit last week.  Some of you have asked me where I work and what I do for a living.  I have a pretty good "elevator speech" to answer this question; however, I'm embedding a video here of our CEO, Chris Donahue, in an interview from last Friday.  Chris is describing the economy and talking about the recovery along with his sales pitch. 

As a business architect at the company, I work with the business people who are trying to read these tea leaves and plan for the future growth of the company.  Once we get a picture of where they want to take the business, I team up with a technical architect to align the technology to make these things possible operationally.

Enjoy!

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1275534459

Weekend with Katy & David

This weekend Opa and I stayed with Katy and David while Mommy and Daddy went to Chicago for Cindy and Chan's wedding.  We got to Columbus on Thursday night, and it was a wild and crazy time on Friday and Saturday and most of Sunday.

On Saturday morning, I French-braided Katy's hair.  It looked really pretty . . . for about a half an hour.  Oh, well!

We started planning a party for Mary and Matthew and Aunt Mel for Saturday night when we got there.  The party was actually dinner on Saturday night, which Opa cooked.  It was pork loin and baked potato and glazed carrots and bread.  YUMMY!  However, Katy was in charge of DESSERT.  We went to Kroger on Saturday morning to get food; and Katy picked out a marvelous Funfetti cake mix and white frosting and M&M's for decoration on our cake.  When we returned to the house, the baking and fun began!

Here Katy wears her apron and helps crack eggs and add ingredients to make the cake.  She is such a good helper!

Licking the spatula after you get the batter into the pan is part of the bakling process.  Katy particularly like this part of the process.  :-)

David was extremely helpful in the icing process.  He really likes almost anything that has to do with food.  His favorite part is eating, but he also likes to help.

After all that cooking, it was time for some romping and playing with Opa in the living room.  Nothing makes you feel better like a game of being tossed in the air or turned upside down!

Finally, the party started when Mary and Matthew arrived.  They showed Katy the pictures that Oma had brought and told her who all the people were in the pictures!  Cool!

After the party started, Katy put a bazillion M&M's on the cake for decoration.  It was a perfect party, and a perfect dessert, too!

On Sunday, we went walking with Aunt Mel in the morning, and then Katy and Opa made a run to Half Price Books.  When they came back, it was a perfect time for some Hopscotch on the driveway.  Katy is getting really good at this game!

LOOKING FOR A NEW DO?


I ran across this video while watching a spoof on Barack Obama and the economy (believe it or not).  I think it is a scream!  This is definitely something you should plan ahead for if you want to wear this hairstyle out for the evening.  Enjoy!

LIBERTY SPIKES HAIR STYLE INSTRUCTIONS!!

Catch Up on Melanie . . . and the Renaissance Festival

Melanie has been busy this summer, and she moved to a new apartment with her own room and just two room-mates instead of 5 over the weekend of August 22-23.  Last weekend she was a bridesmaid in her friend, Abby's, wedding.  Below is a picture of Melanie with Jonna (on the left) and Beth and Natalie; all of these girls were part of the group of six that lived together all last year.  Right now Melanie is working really hard to raise the last of her support for Great Commission Ministries by the end of September.  The students will be back on campus before you know it!

Today Greg and I drove down to the New Stanton area to visit the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival.   It was a beautiful day, and we got there around lunchtime and saw a mime show and then wandered around the festival.  Here are a few memorable moments.

 

Jousting was the order of the day.  The actors were good, but the horses were the real stars in my opinion.  They were amazingly well-behaved with so many people around.  Still it was a good show with Henry VIII and his court on the daise.

There were a lot of people wandering around in costumes.  Some of the men wore armour and chainmaille suits.  Not everyone had a lance, however.  (Thankfully.)

 

There were sword fights.

And more sword fights.

And the court processed in and out of the arena around every show!

There were Mad Mechanical players doing a bad job with Shakespeare.

And there were people acting as villagers and street people all throughout the festival.

I really liked the glass blowing demonstration.  This glass blower was making a vase shaped like a fish.  I would have bought one, but it was $63.  Uh, I don't think so.

Anyway, it was a lovely way to spend Sunday . . . even if some of the stuff was kind of bawdy.  But, in Henry VIII's day, it was AT LEAST bawdy and probably much worse.  Definitely a PG kind of time period.

Lucky Clover Golf Outing

Today was our annual, year-end golf outing at Chestnut Ridge Golf Course near Indiana, PA.  Six or seven of us met at Eat 'N Park on Route 8 for breakfast at 6:30 this morning.  After that, we made the hour-long trek out the Turnpike and beyond to the course.  About 30 of us teed off starting a little after 9 a.m.  We finished up about 3:00 this afternoon with a meal fit for a king and our prizes and awards.  It was a great day on the golf course.

For some reason, there were lots of bugs on the course.  Here Joanne models the mosquito net headwear that made the course so much more enjoyable for her.  (That's Fritzie driving the cart.)

My photography skills are not very good.  This is Coleen and Ruth rounding a curve on the cart path.  (So, use your imagination, for Pete's sake.)

Here are Pat and Jenn, who were part of our foursome!

This is Kathy B., who is a Zonta buddy and the person who invited me to join the Lucky Clover league.  She was my partner today.

This is an example of the beautiful course we played.  Thankfully this water hazard was not this wide in front of the tee box.  It was even prettier when you didn't have to hit over it.

I had not played 18 holes all season, and this was a long course for me.  I had a whopping 150 on the round and 'won' the prize for the most putts.  However, I did win a skill prize for the longest drive in my flight.  I also had the most points for the year in my flight; which means I showed up almost every week and with my handicap I managed to beat my opponent.  I improved a lot this year even though I still have a long way to go to be mediocre.  But . . . the operative word here is PLAY golf.  And playing is something none of us get to do enough.

Thanks, ladies, for a great season!

BLOGGER CATCH-UP: Babes in the 'Burgh

Brian and Emily were here last weekend with Katy and David. We went to the pool on Saturday, and Sunday we made an exciting trip to Costco, went to lunch at Bar Louie, cut the grass, rolled down the hill, and made a scrumptuous chicken dinner. Here are a few excerpts from our weekend.

Here's Katy eating Saturday morning waffles from a Jimmy Buffet plate with a parrot on it and wearing a bib made out of "Red Hat Society" fabric. What could be more classic Opa & Oma?!!

Katy and David really liked the Cranberry Water Park. We found a shady spot under an umbrella.

David and I hung out for a while eating fish crackers while other people were in the pool. Oma did eventually get a turn and tried out the way cool slide - - - several times!

David liked the fish crackers . . . a lot. Below you can see David doing a little dance by the outdoor shower beside the sand area. I don't know who does his choreography, but this is pretty good.

Many of you have heard about the legendary "Cat in the Hat" topper that Greg wears when he cuts our grass . . . with a push mower. He runs up and down our hill to keep the momentum going, and Katy found this part of the job to be a lot of fun. She chased Opa up and down a ba-zillion times skipping and talking as she went.

Later, Brian tried his hand with the blocks. He successfully built a tower using every single piece of material in the canister. Isn't this amazing?

I always really enjoy having visitors, but this was a particularly fun time with the kids and grandkids. I will look forward to seeing them again in a few weeks when we head to Columbus. Until then, it's Skype and blogging to keep in touch. Thank goodness for technology, or I would be so sad.

Cindy's Shower!

On Saturday, I went to Columbus to Emily's house for a bridal shower. Cindy has been a friend to Emily since junior high school. They went through the phases of life together. You know . . . the big bangs with hairspray, Cindy's fish phase, honors classes, AP exams, summer physical education classes, the whole nine yards. Jen was in on all this as well. They have all spent many a night together working on various projects and just plain hanging out.

Cindy is marrying Chan in September. This extravaganza got the friends and family together for some fun and some laughter! It was a marvelous shower.

Saturday was also Melanie's birthday! After the shower, I went to dinner with Melanie and Aaron at Cap City Diner. That was marvelous as well . . . eating out on the patio. Melanie got a GIGANTIC piece of chocolate cake to take home. It took her 3 or 4 days to eat it.

From there, I went to New Carlisle to visit Mom and Dad. Brian and Katy and David were there, too. Katy and I were room-mates Saturday night; she slept in her "tent" (Pack 'N Play) in my room. She is a fun room-mate, but she gets up a little early. :-)

All in all, it was a great weekend.

Back from Columbus and a Visit to Katy and David

We went to Columbus this weekend to stay with Katy and David while mommy and daddy went to a wedding for JT and Adrianne. Oma and Opa had a fun time with the kiddos. A couple of pictures are worth a thousand words.

Katy had a fun time with the new Dora the Explorer pony car and stable from Miss Susie, who found it in her garage when she left for Thailand earlier this month! Thank you, Miss Susie!

Doing a puzzle is part of the thing for morning when you are waiting for a chance to put your shoes on and go outside to play in the sand.

That David . . . he is such a funny boy!

We also got to meet Melanie and Aaron for lunch on Saturday; and we even had a chance to meet Mary and Matthew for lunch on Sunday before we headed back to Pittsburgh. Melanie and Aaron joined us then, too. It was a busy, fun-filled weekend.

Hey, Emily. I left a tiny bit of grapefruit juice in your refrigerator. If you don't want it, just throw it away. I forgot about it. Hope we got everything else. See you in a few weeks!

The Minnie Skort . . . a Lucky Clover Day!

Today was golf day, and I wore my new LizGolf skort for the first time. I had one of my fellow golfers take my picture on the first tee before I had to put on my jacket because it was 60 degrees and drizzling out there today. Here's the picture . . . for you Emily!!!!

I shot 56 on 9 holes today. This is the lowest I have ever shot in league play. As a novice my scores in the past have been in the mid 60's. A 56 is a VAST improvement. I'm thinking the Minnie Skort is a hit. What do you think?