Abundance

After an wonderful round of parties and gatherings with friends here in Tucson, we set off for Christmas in New England.  We arrived in a blizzard and Susie had to rescue us when the windshield wipers on our rental car failed.  But we were undaunted!  We set off to connect with old friends and neighbors despite the weather and road conditions.  Sue spent a day with her sister Kate at the Sargent exhibit at the MFA.  What a treat.  The best part of course was seeing all the grandkids.  It was so fun to watch their new skills and antics.  How lucky we feel with such an abundance of friends and family!!   Here are some images from our Christmas 2013.  

That is the family octopus atop the tree, made by Memere many years ago!!

Mia in her new bath robe from Aunt Maki and Uncle Jeff.

Then we headed to VT.  Here is a candy version.

How cute is that!!  

Real Vermont.  Beautiful and cold.

Katie and Bobby are very inventive in entertaining the twins.

Bridgette and Annabelle really like their new chairs from us.  

Home to warm Tucson.  Merry Christmas and many thanks for all the wonderful gatherings.

Update on the grandkids!!

We just completed a marathon trip to visit the households of all our children!!

In Vermont:

Annabelle and Bridgette turned 1 on October 28.  

They are happy in the bath.

Their parents are keeping up after a year of little sleep!!

In Newton, MA:

Gus started kindergarten this September and Mia is 1 1/2.

Susie and Gus created this jellyfish costume. 

Mia was a kitty cat. 

 In Boulder CO:

Beckett was delighted with his birthday cake.  He turned 4 on November 5.

Kelan just started kindergarten and was happy to help Beckett celebrate.

They all love puzzles, legos, Star Wars and skiing coming up this winter!!

Dream Trip

Bob planned a bucket list trip for us to Glacier National Park.  We hiked, played golf and visited family and friends along the way.  We traveled almost 5000 miles to see the most spectacular sites in the West.  There are too many pictures to share, but here are a few.

Molas Pass in Colorado 

Ouray Colorado

The top of Vail with the Connollys

Vail Village with Kelan and Beckett

They found a new friend!! 

On the Snake River in Jackson Hole WY

Yellowstone Falls 

Going to the Sun Road--our destination

We seem to like the tops of mountains.  

June in New England

We feel pretty smart to have escaped the record heat in Tucson for the month of June.  We planned a great trip focused on grandkids but adding visits to siblings and friends, some hiking and exploring, and even some golf.  We got to all the New England states, putting 2500 miles on our little rental car!  Here are some highlights.

First we stopped in Newton where we got to see Gus play T-ball.  Although Mia liked her reading she joined us for a family game.  She ran the bases in Bob's arms and even scored!!  

Then Sue got away with sister Kate for a road trip to visit our old neighborhood.  Our parents great friend Cici Baker still lives there.  How fun it was to have a reunion with her.

Then we headed to VT for a week to play with the twins and catch up with the busy lives of Bobby and Katie.

While they were at work and day care we got in some golf at Sugarbush.

Made a visit to see Kim and Ron Dull, ski friends from Breckenridge, who now live in Quechee VT.  We were introduced to Kim's new passion--Mel!

Then our old ski buddies offered us their condo at Loon Mountain.  How fun it was to reminisce with them and visit some of our old favorite places.

The newly renovated Mt. Washington Hotel.

This might be the most beautiful view on earth!!

The Flume in Franconia Notch State Park.  

After visiting with Bob's brother Phil in Winthrop Maine, we managed to gather some of the clan for the 4th of July at the Bethel Inn in Bethel Maine.  

The Inada Family enjoys their first gondola ride at Sunday River.

 Some day we will post the complete family photo.  It is hard to get everyone together at the same time.  We missed the Connolly's who were off to Disneyworld for the 4th.  But we take what we can get and look forward to more of these family trips in the future!!

Preschool graduation

Never heard of such a thing??  Neither had we, but it ended up being so cute.
We are so glad we didn't miss it.  We will be 83 when the first of our grandchildren graduate from college, so maybe it's not a bad idea to get going.

The proud parents

The proud grandparents

Graduation aisle

Graduation procession

The darling class

Kelan shows his parents all his work from the year

Off to the Boulder Creek Festival

Is this an appropriate activity for a recent graduate?

Beckett is fine with it.  

The first Ferris wheel ride